In February of 2019, USA Baseball launched the all-new Athlete Development Program, or ADP. A four-day, invitation-only development opportunity for athletes, the inaugural ADP will consist of top-notch athletes age 13-and-under and will take place at the USA Baseball National Training Complex from June 19-22.
USA Baseball will provide an off-field component for the athletes that will focus on education regarding the NCAA and the recruiting process, umpire interaction, nutrition and wellness guidance, strength and conditioning education, media training, and character and leadership development. Athletes will also suit up into "Stars" and "Stripes" squads to square off against each-other in a three-game series. 
Two-time national team coach Butch Chaffin will serve as the Field Coordinator for the 13U ADP in 2019, along with eight coaches who will serve on the instructional staff as well as direct the Stars and Stripes teams.
With plans of expanding toward more age groups in the future, the ADP is structured to grow athletes' skillsets both on and off the field, with a focus on off-field instruction just as much as on-field training. 
Read the full, in detail press release about the ADP here.
Major League Baseball and USA Baseball announced the new "Prospect Development Pipeline (PDP) League" in November of 2018. A premier development and showcase experience for dozens of high school baseball prospects based in the United States, the PDP League will be held from mid-June through early-July at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla. and is an invitation-based development opportunity for approximately 80 of the top high school baseball players ahead of the 2020 MLB Draft.
The participants will be split into four separate teams to play games against one another as well as be provided with unique on- and off-field instruction from some of the greatest to ever play the game, including Team USA alums Ryan Howard, Derek Jeter, Chipper Jones, and Barry Larkin. 
The PDP League will provide participating athletes with an unprecedented experience, including weekly practices and competitive gameplay, evaluations using modern technologies, as well as off-field leadership, skill-building, and educational seminars. 
USA Baseball will also utilize the PDP League as an identification event for the 18U National Team Trials, which will be conducted in late August in Los Angeles.
Read the full press release about the PDP League here.
Over the course of 2019, USA Baseball will host various 10U, 11U and 13U youth championship events throughout various parts of the country. The newly introduced "Futures Series" will take place over the course of four days each and will allow teams to compete with programs from all over the nation to showcase their ability. 
Winners of each 10U Futures Series tournament will receive a bid to the next year's 11U Futures Invitational, while the programs that claim gold in each 11U Futures Series event will get a bid to the following year's 10U Futures Invitational. In addition, the winners of each Futures Series at the 13U age level will receive a bid to the next summer's National Team Championships.
To apply for a Futures Series near you, or to learn more, check out the official Futures Series page here.
In December of 2018, USA Baseball announced several changes coming to the National Team Identification Series (NTIS) for 2019, including implementing a new region structure and adding a new 12U age group. 
As the primary identification event for USA Baseball, the NTIS process begins at the local level. Beginning in 2019, the NTIS will now operate under a six-region structure, including the Midwest, South, Northeast, Southeast, Northwest, and Southwest regions. Players will continue to tryout at the local level with the hopes of being identified and selected to an all-region team. From there, they will head to Cary, North Carolina to compete with their region at the NTIS Champions Cup. 
Additionally, the 17U age group has been removed from the NTIS and USA Baseball introduced an all-new 12U age division. With the change, the NTIS now features six consecutive age divisions, from 11U through 16U.
Tryouts for the 2019 NTIS are currently underway. To view all tryout dates and locations for each region, sign up for USA Baseball E-News here, or follow @USABaseballNTIS on Twitter. 
Read the full press release detailing all of the offseason changes to the NTIS here.
USA Baseball made two significant additions to personnel in the offseason, including the additions of Senior Director of Player Development Scott Brosius and 18U National Team Director Frank Jagoda.
As Senior Director of Player Development, Brosius occupies an entirely new role to USA Baseball, serving as the organizational lead in the development of on-field programming for its six national teams and three National Team Development Programs, as well as producing curriculum related to player development that will be available as part of USA Baseball's educational resources. 
Brosius was twice named the manager of the USA Baseball 18U National Team, where he managed Team USA to gold medals in 2011 and 2012, a world championship title and a combined 16-2 overall record. He was recognized as the 2011 and 2012 USA Baseball Rod Dedeaux Coach of the Year.
Frank Jagoda, who is serving as the new 18U National Team Director, will primarily oversee the day-to-day operations of the 18U National Team program, as well as the 16U and 17U National Team Development Programs. He will also work closely with the Prospect Development Pipeline League. 
Jagoda returns to USA Baseball after serving as an assistant coach for the 2017 15U National Team that won a gold medal at the COPABE Pan-Am "AA" Championships, and as a task force member for numerous national teams and national team identification events over the last five years.
Read the full press release about Scott Brosius's hiring here and the full press release about Frank Jagoda's hiring here.