This doc, produced by Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine, about two teens from the Dominican Republic trying to get signed to an MLB team may recall for some the similarly themed doc Hoop Dreams or the 2008 fiction feature Sugar. The two boys, Jean Batista and Miguel Sano, are top contenders for getting a big league contract and a signing bonus of potential millions. During an interview with Sano, his father gets frustrated with him for "not saying something profound, something with meaning" and for not talking about his struggle, to which his son just shrugs. I wish that directors Josh Finkel, Trevor Martin, and Jonathan Paley had taken that advice, instead of focusing on the most boring and shallow element of their story: money. The film midguidedly aims for high drama over Batista's disappointment with a $450,000 signing bonus. Ballplayer initially declares that it is about dreams, ambition, and family struggles, but by focusing almost entirely on money and market values, it strikes out.
