16-year-old female French shortstop added to international registration list

16-year-old French shortstop Melissa Mayeux is first female to be added to Major League Baseball’s international registration list and is eligible to be signed by any team.

[video:A Whole New Approach: Female French teen makes MLB history elissa Mayeux, a 16-year shortstop on the French U-18 junior national team, is the first female to be added to the Major League Baseball’s international registration list, reports MLB.com’s Lindsay Berra. 

Mayeux, a right-handed hitter, is now eligible to be signed by any MLB club starting on July 2.

She is one of four players from the French team selected to participate in MLB's European Elite Camp starting in August.

Of the 76 players who have signed with major league teams in the 10-year history of the camp, only two have reached the majors, according to MLB.com.

“I would like very much to continue playing baseball in France until I'm 18 years old and then have the ability to leave for university or another opportunity abroad. I'd like to stay in baseball as long as possible,” Mayeux said.

MLB director of international game development Mike McClellan says he has seen Mayeux play for the past two years.

“She's a legitimate shortstop who makes all the plays and is very smooth and fluid in the field,” McClellan told MLB.com. “She swings the bat really well and is fearless.”

Even if she doesn’t sign with a team, Mayeux could possibly play for an American university or for France in a future World Baseball Classic. France did not qualify for the 2013 World Baseball Classic and did not enter the 2006 or 2009 tournaments.

Mayeux’s 18-year-old brother plays for the U-19 club French national team.

“I grew up with the same boys, so we've known each other since I was very little,” she said. “I've never had a problem with integration or respect. We're very well connected, and that makes a good team.”

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- Scooby Axson