Papiro's son, Felix Genao, eats an ice cream bar while standing with his father's players during an after practice pep talk on May 29, 2015. Felix stays close to his father during practice, and is given chances to bat and field along with the older players.
Papiro, the buscone who got Starling Marte signed with the Pirates, stands with his son, Felix Genao, 7, after practice with his academy on May 29, 2015. At this point, more than a month before the signing day of July 2, Papiro had verbal commitments for 14 of his players. Buscones typically receive 25-30% of a players signing bonus, tax free. Papiro boasted of one player earning a bonus of $550,000 this year.
Local children lie on top of a roof while scouts from the Pittsburgh Pirates, the Philadelphia Phillies, the Tampa Bay Rays, the Los Angeles Angels, and the Florida Marlins clock pitchers from the Born to Play Academy on May 29, 2015.
Wild chickens scavenge for food from the trash along the outskirts of the field where the Born to Play Academy practices on May 29, 2015.
Players from Papiro's academy watch their teammates from the dugout during batting practice on May 29, 2015.
Player Luis Miguel Dominguez is celebrated by his teammates after hitting a home run during Born to Play Academy scrimmage on May 29, 2015.
Scouts from the Pittsburgh Pirates return to their vehicle after watching a practice and scrimmage at the Born to Play Academy in Haini, Dominican Republic, on May 29, 2015.
Players at Niche Academy in Villa Mella practice on June 2, 2015. Niche is run by Christian Batista, the buscone that got Gregory Polanco signed by the Pirates for $150,000.
Players at Niche Academy in Villa Mella practice on June 2, 2015. Niche is run by Christian Batista, the buscone that got Gregory Polanco signed by the Pirates for $150,000.
A sports oath is painted to the wall of the dugout at Niche Academy in Villa Mella on June 2, 2015. Niche is run by Christian Batista, the buscone that got Gregory Polanco signed by the Pirates for $150,000.
Elian Peralta, 15, a catcher at Niche Academy, drinks and cools himself off with water from a fountain adjacent to the field in Villa Mella where they play on June 2, 2015.
Players from Niche Academy move batting nets off the field during practice on June 2, 2015.
Fidel Castro stretches before taking batting practice at Edwin "Ray" Castillo’s academy practice on June 4, 2015. Castillo has an agreement with another academy where they share Castro.
Fidel Castro connects with a ball at batting practice at Edwin "Ray" Castillo’s academy practice on June 4, 2015. Castillo has an agreement with another academy where they share Castro.
Players at Banana Academy, run by buscone Raul Valera, go through practice on June 1, 2015.
Players from the Banana Academy walk form the practice field back to the boarding house where they stay on June 1, 2015.
Banana Academy players talk together after practice at the boarding house where they stay on June 1, 2015.
The Pittsburgh Pirates sign is illuminated just before dawn at their academy in La Gina, Dominican Republic, on June 5, 2015.
Yondry Contreras takes off into a sprint after being called in by a coach at practice on June 5, 2015.
Yondry Contreras comes off the field for a drink of water during the Pirates season opener against the Yankees on May 30, 2015.
Pirates scout Cristino Valdez, right, gives Yondry Contreras some advice during the Pirates Dominican Summer League opener against the New York Yankees on May 30, 2015.
Along with his teammates, Yondry Contreras bows his head for a prayer after their opening game against the Yankees on May 30, 2015.
Maritza Ramos, left, speaks on the phone while her son Yondry Contreras, 17, visits the family home in Santiago, Dominican Republic, while on a weekend break from the Pittsburgh Pirates Academy on May 31, 2015.
Yondry Contreras, 17, looks over a vacant parking lot adjacent to his family's home in Santiago with his older sister Pricille Contreras Ramos, 19, on May 31, 2015. Yondry's parents purchased the parking lot as an investment with part of his signing bonus.
After defeating the Yankees, players from the Pirates, including, second from left, Yondry Contreras, give high fives to their opponents on May 30, 2015.
Yondry Contreras checks his cell phone while on the street outside the parking lot/garage his parents purchased as an investment with part of his signing bonus with the Pittsburgh Pirates on May 31, 2015.
Maritza Ramos, left, walks with her son Yondry Contreras, 17, outside of the parking garage she and her husband Ramone Contreras purchased as an investment with part of Yondry's signing bonus in Santiago, Dominican Republic, on May 31, 2015.
Yondry Contreras crosses the street as his mother, Maritza Ramos, watches on outside the parking garage she and her husband Ramone Contreras purchased with Yondry's signing bonus as an investment on May 31, 2015.
After getting on the bus to return to the Pirates Academy, Yondry Contreras leans out of a window to say goodbye to his mother, Maritza Ramos, on May 30, 2015.
This is the view from the shack that Pelotero lives in, adjacent to the field where he coaches in Villa Mella, with his wife and two children, on June 1, 2015.
A youth player stretches while at practice with coach "Pelotero," not pictured, whose real name is Juan de La Rosa, Starling Marte's youth coach that was unable to get him signed, on June 1, 2015.
Pelotero, whose real name is Juan de La Rosa, walks through the shack where he lives with his two children adjacent to the field where he coaches on June 1, 2015. Pelotero was Starling Marte's youth coach. After the death of Marte's mother, he became a father figure in Marte's life.
Starling Marte's grandmother, Brigida Gonzalez (Ponga),85, and his uncle Pedro Heredia, tell stories about Marte to the Post-Gazette from her home in Villa Mella on June 1, 2015.
Children play in a field as its being grazed by several cows and horses within several miles of the Pirates Academy in La Gina on June 3, 2015.
Francis Hichez, of La Gina, eats mango off a tree while riding his bike through the village on June 5, 2015. Francis' mother and father both work for the Chicago Cubs Academy, which is adjacent to the Pirates'. His father works in maintenance, and his mother works in the kitchen. Many of the village's residents have found jobs for the nearby MLB Academies.
Pirates players line up and stretch their necks at the start of a practice in La Gina, Dominican Republic, on June 5, 2015.
Photographs of past teams line the walls of the entrance to the Pirates Academy in the Dominican Republic on May 30, 2015.
This is a bag of balls used for practice at the Pirates Academy in La Gina, Dominican Republic, on June 5, 2015.
One of the coaches at the Pirates Academy shows off his skill by holding seven baseballs in his hand on June 5, 2015.
Members of the Pittsburgh Pirates Academy cheer on their teammates during their Dominican Summer League opening game against the New York Yankees Academy on May 30, 2015.
Players take batting practice at the Pittsburgh Pirates Academy near Boca Chica, Dominican Republic, on May 30, 2015.
Victor Munoz, a 28-year-old Cuban player, is helped with his stretching before a tryout opportunity in front of Rene Gayo, the Pirates Director of Latin American Scouting, on May 30, 2015. Cuban players will leave Cuba for a country like Ecuador. They then try to make it to the Dominican Republic for the opportunity to try out for an MLB team.
Yondry Contreras, fourth from the right, laughs with his teammates while waiting for the start of a team meeting at the Pirates Academy in La Gina, Dominican Republic, on June 5, 2015.
Andre Watson, 20, of Jamaica, studies for his 12th grade exam inside the Pirates Academy on June 3, 2015. Watson, a signed player for the pirates, takes classes through a private company called Cenapec that tries to provide baseball players in the Dominican Republic with their equivalent of a GED. Pirates Academy players receive 3 hour of schooling a day. While playing for a buscone in order to get signed by an MLB teams, most players receive, at most, 3 hours per week of schooling.
The clerk at a small mercado in Santo Domingo watches a Philadelphia Phillies game on June 6, 2015.
Carlos Garcia holds a ball signed for him by Starling Marte inside his room on June 6, 2015. Garcia got the ball signed at Wrigley Field in Chicago, where he attended a Pirates game while on a trip there to play in a baseball tournament.
A photo of Carlos Garcia as a child, left, and his older brother Carlos, hangs on a mirror in his room on June 6, 2015.
Carlos Garcia, right, and his elder brother, also named Carlos, play an MLB video game in Garcia's room on June 6, 2015.
The van for Papiro's academy, featuring Starling Marte's image, is parked outside his penthouse on June 3, 2015.
Papiro, the buscone that got Starling Marte signed with the Pittsburgh Pirates, tells a story to the Post-Gazette from his home, a 5th floor penthouse that he recently bought for $227,000 U.S., on June 3, 2015.
Papiro speaks with Willie Gonzalez, a man who lives 45 minutes from Santo Domingo, and brought his son Willie Jr., at his right, to see Papiro's academy, on June 4, 2015. Papiro then pitched his academy for the following hour, as his players, including Carlos Garcia, left, slowly formed a circle around the group in order to hear Papiro's tale of getting Starling Marte signed.