While we await the eventual start of spring training, there is baseball going on elsewhere.  Baseball is my favorite sport and even though the NFL begins their playoffs this weekend, as usual I’m thinking about baseball and the up coming Mets season.  But while news of trades and free agent signings has slowed to a screaming halt, I have begun to wonder about baseball currently being played south of the border.  Certainly we are all aware that some players from the Major and minor leagues go to play winter ball in the Caribbean to help hone their skills or get in shape after rehabbing an injury.  And also there are many Latino players who enjoy playing for their home country in the off season but how familiar are you with the winter leagues of the Caribbean?  I wasn’t too knowledgeable myself but being the baseball junkie I am, I went to work to find out.  Since all of the Caribbean team sites are in Spanish, I used an online Spanish to English dictionary and various hits and misses on Google to cobble together a lot of information regarding Caribbean winter baseball.  Below I have outlined the four major winter leagues, how their regular and post seasons work, and the teams that make up the leagues. Also I have included current and former Mets players who are currently playing in the Caribbean.

The Leagues

Venezuelan League

There are eight teams in the Venezuelan league with 4 teams each in an eastern and western division.  The teams play a 62 game schedule.  At the end of the season, the top two teams from each division plus the 5th best team overall qualify for the playoffs. The regular season begins around the middle of the second week in October and concludes at the end of December.  There are two rounds of playoffs which occur during January.  The first round is a 40 game round robin tournament in which the five qualifying teams participate. Each team plays the 4 other teams 4 times (2 home and 2 away) for a total of 16 games each. The teams with the two best records at the conclusion of the round robin advance to the finals.  The final round is a best of seven series to determine the Venezuelan champion.

Venezuelan League Teams

West (Occidental)

Navegantes (Navigators) del Magallanes

Leones (Lions) del Caracas

Tiburones  (Sharkes) de La Guaira

Caribes (Caribbeans) de Anzoategui

East (Oriental)

Tigres (Tigers) de Aragua

Aguilas  (Eagles) del Zulia

Cardenales (Cardinals) de Lara

Pastora (Shepards) de Los Llanos

Current Mets playing in the Venezuelan League

Jonel Poncheo OF (batted .270 with 1 homer and 17 RBI)

Miguel Pinango RHP (1-0, 3.72 ERA)

Jose Coronado SS - Navegantes del Magallanes (4 for 17 in 7 games)

Lino Urdaneta RHP (0-1, 6.30 ERA)

Edgar Alfonzo -  Navagantes de Magallenas  (2-1 3.38 ERA in 17 games)

Former Mets currently playing in the Venezuelan League

Edgardo Alfonzo - Navagantes de Magallenas (technically still under contract with New Orleans)

Richard Hidalgo - Navagantes de Magallenas

Roger Cedeno -  Leones (Lions) del Caracas

Dominican Winter League

The Dominican League is made up of six teams that play in a single division. The teams play a total of 50 regular season games with the top 4 teams making the playoffs. The regular season runs from the middle of October to December ending just before Christmas. The playoffs begin after Christmas and run to the middle of January. Like the Venezuelan League, the playoffs are made up of two rounds with the first round being a round robin. Each of the 4 qualifying teams plays each other 6 times (3 home and 3 away) for a total of 18 games each (36 games total).  The top two teams after the round robin tournament advance to play in the final round which is a best of nine game series.  The winner of this series is the Dominican Winter League Champion.

Dominican Winter League Teams

Aguilas (Eagles) Cibaenas

Gigantes (Giants) del Cibao

Tigres (Tigers) del Licey

Los Toros (Bulls) del Este

Estrellas  (Stars) del San Pedro de Marcoris

Leones (Lions) Escogido

Current Mets playing in the Dominican League

Anderson Hernandez    2nd  - Tigres de Licey (batting .417 in 6 games)

Carlos Gomez OF Leones de Escogido (Batting .242. in 35 games played)

Jason Vargas LHP Leones de Escogido (2.13 ERA in 12.2 innings pitched)

Former Mets currently playing in the Dominican Winter League

Jose Lima RHP -  Aguilas Cibaenas

Manny Alexander – Los Toros del Este

Felix Heredia LHP – Los Toros del Este

Puerto Rican League

By far the shortest season of the Caribbean leagues is Puerto Rico’s professional league.  They play a 44 game regular season that begins around November 1st, the latest of the 4 leagues to start, and concludes at the end of the first week in January.  There are six teams that play in a single division.  There are two rounds of playoffs.  The top four teams in the regular season standings make the first round of playoffs.  The first round includes two 7 games series.  The number 1 seed plays the number 4 seed and the 2 plays the 3 seed in the two best of seven series.  The winners of both series in the first round advance to the finals where the best of 9 determines the Puerto Rican League Champion.  Also, the Puerto Rican League and the Dominican League hold an all star game that is played in the middle of the regular season.

Puerto Rican League Teams

Lobos (Wolves) de Arecibo

Criollos de Caguas

Gigantes (Giants) of Carolina

Atenienses (Athenians) de Mantati

Indios (Indians) de Mayaguez

Leones (Lions) de Ponce

Current Mets playing in the Puerto Rican League

Jose Valentin 2B and co-owner -  Atensienses de Manati (currently hitting under .200 in 30 games—yikes!) 

Pedro Feliciano LHP – Leones de Ponce (0.00 ERA in 7.1 innings pitched, 7Ks, 2BB)

Alay Soler RHP – Leones de Ponce (1.06 ERA in 17.00 innings pitched, 14Ks, 4BB)

Former Mets currently playing in the Puerto Rican League

Bill Pulsipher LHP -  Lobos De Arecibo

Bruce Chen LHP – Criollos de Caguas

Rey Ordonez SS – Gigantes de Carolina

Mexican Pacific League

Soccer is the big sport here but baseball isn’t far behind and is gaining steam. There are 8 teams in the winter Mexican Pacific League that play in a single division. Each team is scheduled to play 68 regular season games, the most of the four Caribbean leagues. Unlike the other Caribbean leagues, the Mexican Pacific League’s season is divided into two halves with 35 games in the first half and 33 in the second (why not 34 in each half?).  The regular season starts around the 10th of October and runs to the end of December. The playoffs are held in January.  In the regular season standings, teams are awarded points based on where they finish in each half season.  The first place team is awarded 8 points, and then 7, 6, 5, 4.5, 4, 3.5, and 3 are given for the next seven places respectively. The combined points of the two half seasons determine which 6 of 8 teams qualify for the playoffs. The playoffs start at the beginning of January. The Mexican Pacific League incorporates 3 levels of playoffs. The first round has 6 teams playing in three series.  The number 1 seed plays the number 6 seed in a best of seven series. The same is true for the number 2 and 5 seed and the number 3 and 4 seed.  The number 1, 2, and 3 seed have the home field advantage.  The 3 teams that win the three playoff series advance to the next round. Also the best losing team advances as well to create an even number (4) of teams for round 2.  This extra team has the best record of the three losing teams from the first round and of course there are a few tie breakers such as number of runs scored, etc. What’s odd of course is that a team can lose a series in the first round but then become the champion if they were to get hot and win the second and final round. The second round is made up of two seven game series.  Seeding is based on first round results with the extra team being seeded 4th. The winners of round two moves on to the final round and play each other in another 7 game series.  The winner of the final round is crowned the Mexican Pacific League champion.   

Mexican Pacific League Teams

Naranjeros (Orange Growers) de Hermosillo

Yaquis de Obregon

Venados (Deer)  de Mazatlan

Mayos Navojoa

Caneros (Buccaneers) de Los Mochis

Tomoteros (Tomato Growers) de Culiacan

Aguilas (Eagles) de Mexicali

Algodoneros (Cottoners) de Guasave

Current Mets playing in the Mexican Pacific League

Mitch Wylie RHP (16K, 8BB, 12 2/3 inings)

Jabob Cruz 1B (.258,  2HR, 9RBI)

Former Mets currently playing in the Mexican Pacific League

Brian Bannister – Tomateros de Cullican

The Caribbean World Series

Once the four Caribbean league champions are crowned, the fun really begins.  The winners from each league then compete in the Caribbean World Series (CWS) that is held each winter at the beginning of February.  The CWS has become a huge event among the Caribbean islands and countries. Although we in America might argue that it pales in comparison to our playoffs and World Series, you would not prove it by polling the Latino residents who proudly root for their team.  All four championship teams compete in a round robin tournament.  There are a total of 12 games with each team playing the other twice, one home and one away.  The one team that stands on the top of the heap at the end of the tournament is declared the CWS champion. All 12 games are played regardless of necessity. Second and third place is important for the pride of the competing countries. The Lions from the Venezuelan League were last year’s CWS Champion.

If you are a baseball junkie like me, you may want to check out these web sites:

Dominican - http://www.lidom.com/

Puerto Rico - http://www.hitboricua.com/

Venezuela - http://www.lvbp.com/

Mexico - http://www.ligadelpacifico.com.mx/cms/content.asp?company=137

Each one of these sites has links to all the team sites.  The sites are in Spanish so a Spanish to English dictionary may be useful.  There are many on the net, just Google Spanish to English. 

Adios amigos!