OKLAHOMA CITY – For many children growing up in the Dominican Republic, it is their dream to make their way to the United States and find a spot on a Major League Baseball team. Even though his MLB journey wasn’t quite what he envisioned, former Mid-America Christian University outfielder Leonel Bejarán-Specht’s baseball adventure took many twists and turns before finding himself in the MLB’s Office of the Commissioner of Baseball in New York City.
In August, Bejarán was hired as the Career Transition Specialist with the MLB’s Baseball Assistance Team (B.A.T.), a brand new position established within the league after a two-year career of serving in the Oakland Athletics organization.
In his new role, Bejarán is responsible for assisting former players, major league players and minor league players in finding educational opportunities as well as scholarship resources, developing new skill sets, expanding external resources and connecting them with potential careers from within and outside of baseball.
“It was kind of surreal how I found myself here,” Bejarán remarked about his transition into his role with MLB. “My former boss (with the Oakland A’s) told me about the position and I was intrigued by it because the responsibilities that were highlighted kind of came full circle with my own experience with B.A.T. as a former professional baseball player. In this role, I get the opportunity to help provide the same sort of support that I received from B.A.T. on a much grander scale and I had the full support of my family and my former bosses in making this transition.”
Over the last two years, Bejarán has already made a splash in a supportive role at the MLB level. In January of 2022, Bejarán was hired as the Coordinator of Educational and Cultural Programs for the Oakland A’s organization in Mesa, Arizona.
Primarily tasked with assisting international players’ migration into the Minor League Baseball system, Bejarán’s duties with the A’s involved creating and implementing initiatives for player education, connecting with colleges and universities to develop educational awareness programs, creating video and live streaming platforms to provide to players’ families, serving as a translator for incoming Hispanic players in the minor league system as well as a myriad of other duties to assist in player development.
Growing up in the Dominican, baseball had always been a big part of Bejarán’s life. As he started to play baseball in his community when he was six years old, Bejarán idolized many great Dominican baseball players before him, with his favorite player being MLB Hall of Famer David Ortiz. Bejarán also had the same dream of becoming a professional baseball player along with many youths from the impoverished Caribbean island.
“In the past, many of us in the Dominican considered baseball as a way out,” Bejarán remarked while recollecting his mindset toward wanting to become a pro player. “Many of us saw it as an opportunity to create a better life for your entire family. For Dominican kids, the thought of becoming a professional player is a dream come true and incredibly rewarding.”
Beginning to compete in organized baseball when he was 12 years old, Bejarán’s professional baseball journey began in 2014 when the then 17-year-old Santiago native was scouted by the Kansas City Royals and signed a contract to compete for their Summer League affiliate team.
Unfortunately, after competing with the Royals’ development team for the 2015 and 2016 seasons, Bejarán was released, abruptly ending his prospects of becoming a MLB player. However, his dream of becoming a baseball player in the United States was far from over.
Despite being cut, K.C. Royals Director of Professional Development Jeff Diskin and GO Ministries Athletic Coordinator Kyle Bradley believed Bejarán had a bright future as a student-athlete at the collegiate level in the United States. Bradley was able to introduce Bejarán to MACU Baseball Head Coach Adrian Savedra, who was no stranger to recruiting Dominican-born student-athletes to compete for the Evangels.
After meeting with Savedra, Diskin was able to help facilitate Bejarán’s move to the United States as he signed his NAIA National Letter of Intent to compete for the Evangels, enrolling at Mid-America Christian in the fall of 2017. Redshirting his freshman season with the team, Bejarán competed during the 2019 and 2020 seasons for the Evangels, helping lead MACU to one of its winningest seasons in program history in 2020 when MACU went 21-10 (.677) before seeing his collegiate baseball career come to an end on March 13 when the season was abruptly ended due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, while making strong improvements on the diamond for the Evangels over three years, Bejarán was developing skills in the classroom at MACU that would prepare him for life after competitive baseball.
In his time at MACU, Bejarán was elected to MACU’s Student Government Association as the Athletics representative while also being decorated in the classroom, garnering NCCAA Scholar-Athlete honors before eventually receiving his Bachelor’s of Science in Business Administration: Sports Management degree in May of 2020.
“I look at Leo as an absolute success,” said Savedra while reflecting on Bejarán’s time at MACU. “He took advantage of every opportunity he was given athletically and academically, but more importantly, he found the Lord here. That’s the idea of any experience we would want for student-athletes to come to MACU.”
While still attending Mid-America Christian in the winter of 2019, Bejarán received the distinguished honor to speak at the MLB’s Winter Meetings, where he got to discuss his experience with B.A.T. and how it was able to help him further his education as a student-athlete at MACU.
Bejarán’s story was so profound, he was invited to speak again at the MLB Winter Meetings in 2022 after being hired by the Oakland A’s. He spoke to several MLB executives and front-office personnel about his journey and the importance of the resources that B.A.T. provides to help those who aren’t fortunate enough to make it to the big leagues.
“It’s been a rewarding experience,” Bejarán said, reflecting on his journey and how he’s able to use his experience to help others. “If you would have asked me six years ago that I would be doing what I’m doing today, I never would have imagined it. I’m elated that the work I’m doing is very impactful to many people’s lives in helping them bring stability and preparing them for what’s ahead in the future.”