Never Forget 69

Winter Ball Update

Lou Di Falco — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 14:59:56 -0500

The Arizona Fall League's regular season ended on Thursday. On Saturday, MLB Network will air the championship game live (check local listings for time and channel). There is only a single championship game between the two division leaders. This year the Phoenix Desert Dogs and the Peoria Javelinas will play in the championship game. No Mets prospects will be involved since the team they were on, the Surprise Rafters, finished last in the western division. Regardless, it's still live baseball on TV with less than a week till Thanksgiving.

The only baseball from now until spring training is what is taking place in the Caribbean. The Venezuelan, Mexican, Dominican, and Puerto Rican leagues or in full swing. Champions of the four leagues will play in the round robin Caribbean World Series in early February. Last year, the tournament aired on MLB network. It likely will again this year.

Many Mets are competing in the Caribbean. Josh Thole is still leading the Venezuelan League in hitting with a .411 average for Caracas. In thirty games, the young catcher has a .525 on base percentage and a .547 slugging average.

Pitching prospect Toby Stoner is doing a fine job in the Dominican Winter League. He is 4-1 with a 1.94 ERA and 25 strikeouts in 41.2 innings. Opposing batters are hitting just .205 against him.

Carlos Delgado is slated to begin play next month in the Puerto Rican league. The Mets will be watching closely. A healthy Delgado could be just what the Mets need for some of the power production they lost last season. Delgado says he feels great and wants to prove it in the Caribbean.

Winter Mets 2009

Lou Di Falco — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 12:00:00 -0400

For those of you yearning for anything to do with the Mets, here is a list of Mets players currently on the winter league rosters in the Arizona Fall League and the Caribean Leagues. You can link to the MLB stats page for each player to see how they are doing.

I included all Mets even though it is likely Francisco Rodriguez will not throw and Jose Reyes will definitely not play in winter baseball. Jenrry Mejia is listed twice but is currently pitching for the Surprise Rafters of the Arizona Fall League. The Puerto Rico winter league is not included since they do not begin play until November. Daniel Murphy is slated to play in the PR league.

Player	Position	WL Team	Winter League	2009 Last Team
Jenrry Mejia	Pitcher R/R	Surprise Rafters	Arizona Fall League	Binghamton AA
Scott Moviel	Pitcher R/R	Surprise Rafters	Arizona Fall League	St. Lucie A
Eric Neisen	Pitcher L/L	Surprise Rafters	Arizona Fall League	Binghamton AA
Josh Stinson	Pitcher R/R	Surprise Rafters	Arizona Fall League	St. Lucie A
Ike Davis	First Baseman	Surprise Rafters	Arizona Fall League	Binghamton AA
Reese Havens	SS/2nd Base	Surprise Rafters	Arizona Fall League	St. Lucie A
Ruben Tejada	Shortstop	Surprise Rafters	Arizona Fall League	Binghamton AA
Lucas Duda	Outfielder	Surprise Rafters	Arizona Fall League	Binghamton AA
Francisco Pena	Catcher	Aguilas Cibaenus	Dominican Winter League	St. Lucie A
Fernando Tatis	Left Field	Estrellas de Oriente	Dominican Winter League	New York NL
Rhiner Cruz	Pitcher R/R	Gigantes del Cibao	Dominican Winter League	Savannah a
Julio De La Cruz	Pitcher R/R	Gigantes del Cibao	Dominican Winter League	Binghamton AA
Jeurys Familia	Pitcher R/R	Gigantes del Cibao	Dominican Winter League	Savannah a
German Marte	Pitcher R/R	Gigantes del Cibao	Dominican Winter League	St. Lucie A
Elvin Ramirez	Pitcher R/R	Gigantes del Cibao	Dominican Winter League	Savannah a
Jose Reyes	Shortstop	Gigantes del Cibao	Dominican Winter League	New York NL
Wilson Valdez	Shortstop	Gigantes del Cibao	Dominican Winter League	New York NL
Rafael Fernandez	Center Field	Gigantes del Cibao	Dominican Winter League	Savannah a
Raul Reyes	Right Field	Gigantes del Cibao	Dominican Winter League	Savannah a
Tobi Stoner	Pitcher R/R	Leones del Escogido	Dominican Winter League	Buffalo AAA
Argenis Reyes	2nd Base	Leones del Escogido	Dominican Winter League	New York NL
Jenrry Mejia	Pitcher R/R	Tigres del Licey	Dominican Winter League	Binghamton AA
Salvador Paniagua	Catcher	Tigres del Licey	Dominican Winter League	Binghamton AA
Richard Pena	Right Field	Tigres del Licey	Dominican Winter League	St. Lucie A
Jefry Marte	3rd Base	Tores del Este	Dominican Winter League	Savannah a
Auturo Lopez	Pitcher L/L	Caneros Del Los Mochis	Mexico Pacific Winter League	Buffalo AAA
Matias Carrillo Jr.	Pitcher L/L	Tomateros de Culiacan	Mexico Pacific Winter League	Brooklyn ssA
Manual Olivares	Pitcher R/R	Aguilas del Zulia	Venezuelan Winter League	Binghamton AA
Wilmer Flores	Shortstop	Bravos de Mararita	Venezuelan Winter League	Savannah a
Fernando Nieve	Pitcher R/R	Caribes de Anzoategui	Venezuelan Winter League	New York NL
Jose Coronado	Second Baseman	Caribes de Anzoategui	Venezuelan Winter League	Buffalo AAA
Lance Broadway	Pitcher R/R	Leones del Caracas	Venezuelan Winter League	New York NL
Josh Thole	Catcher	Leones del Caracas	Venezuelan Winter League	New York NL
Edgar Alfonso	Pitcher L/L	Navegantes del Magallanes	Venezuelan Winter League	Binghamton AA
Manual Alvarez	Pitcher R/R	Navegantes del Magallanes	Venezuelan Winter League	St. Lucie A
Angel Colero	Pitcher L/L	Navegantes del Magallanes	Venezuelan Winter League	St. Lucie A
Phillips Orta	Pitcher R/R	Navegantes del Magallanes	Venezuelan Winter League	Savannah a
Jose Sanchez	Pitcher R/R	Navegantes del Magallanes	Venezuelan Winter League	Buffalo AAA
Adam Bostick	Pitcher L/L	Tiburones de La Guaira	Venezuelan Winter League	Buffalo AAA
Junior Guerra	Pitcher R/R	Tiburones de La Guaira	Venezuelan Winter League	Buffalo AAA
Chris Mason	Pitcher R/R	Tiburones de La Guaira	Venezuelan Winter League	Buffalo AAA
Francisco Rodriguez	Pitcher R/R	Tiburones de La Guaira	Venezuelan Winter League	New York NL
Chris Carter	Outfielder	Tigres de Aragua	Venezuelan Winter League	Pawtucket AAA

Caribbean Series Set

Lou Di Falco — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 09:47:10 -0500

This article is for the complete baseball junkies out there. The wait for live baseball is over. The teams are set for the Caribbean World Series starting Monday and airing live on the MLB Network, two games a day for six consective days.

The qualifying teams from the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Puerto Rico, and Venezuela are TIGRES de LICEY, VENADOS de MAZATLAN, LEONES de PONCE, and TIGRES de ARAGUA respectively. The format used is a round robin. Each team will play six games, an away game and a home game for a total of six games each. The tournament has a total of 12 games. All games will be played in Mexicali, Mexico, the site of this year's series.

The TV schedule is as follows -

Monday 2/2 5:00PM EST/2:00PM PST - Tigres de Aragua (VN) vs. Tigres de Licey (DR)

Monday 2/2 10:00PM EST/7:00PM PST - Leones de Ponce (PR) vs. Venados de Mazatlan (MX)

Tuesday 2/3 5:00PM EST/2:00PM PST - Tigres de Licey (DR) vs. Leones de Ponce (PR)

Tuesday 2/3 9:00PM EST/6:00PM PST - Venados de Mazatlan (MX) vs. Tigres de Aragua (VN)

Wednesday 2/4 5:00PM EST/2:00PM PST - Tigres de Aragua (VN) vs. Leones de Ponce (PR)

Wednesday 2/4 9:00PM EST/6:00PM PST - Venados de Mazatlan (MX) vs. Tigres de Licey (DR)

Thursday 2/5 5:00PM EST/2:00PM PST - Tigres de Licey (DR) vs. Tigres de Aragua (VN)

Thursday 2/5 9:00PM EST/6:00PM PST - Venados de Mazatlan (MX) vs. Leones de Ponce (PR)

Friday 2/6 5:00PM EST/2:00PM PST - Leones de Ponce (PR) vs. Tigres de Licey (DR)

Friday 2/6 9:00PM EST/6:00PM PST - Tigres de Aragua (VN) vs. Venados de Mazatlan (MX)

Saturday 2/7 5:00PM EST/2:00PM PST - Leones de Ponce (PR) vs. Tigres de Aragua (VN)

Saturday 2/7 9:00PM EST/6:00PM PST - Tigres de Licey (DR) vs. Venados de Mazatlan (MX)

The MLB Network will also reapeat games. Check times and channel number for local listings.