[tablegrid=]LEAGUE OPENS WEB WIKI TWITTER FACEBOOK Dominican Winter League (DWL) 10/17/14 web wiki twitter facebook Liga de Béisbol Profesional de la República Dominicana (LIDOM) Mexican Pacific League (MPL) 10/11/14 web wiki twitter facebook Liga Mexicana del Pacífico (LMP) Puerto Rican Winter League (PRWL) 10/30/14 web wiki twitter facebook Liga de Béisbol Profesional Roberto Clemente (LBPRC) Venezuelan Winter League (VWL) 10/09/14 web wiki twitter facebook Liga Venezolana de Béisbol Profesional (LVBP) Cuban National Series (CNS) 09/21/14 web wiki twitter facebook Serie Nacional de Béisbol (SNB)
Figured we could use this thread to track the performance of any participating Sox players & prospects over the next several months. None of the team rosters reflect the coming season, but it won't be long before they do.
As an overview, MLB allows players under team contract to participate in winter ball with their club's consent (and it's usually at team's behest). In most cases these are players who missed significant time during the MLB season due to injury, and may not be as in need of off-season R&R as those who've played a full slate of games. In other cases, they're coming off poor seasons that may have cost them playing time, and they're working to rebuild their games before heading to spring training. The majority of winter leaguers from the majors also reside in (or are natives of) the countries in which they play.
The top four leagues in the table above will send their champions to the Caribbean World Series, which takes place annually in early February. The first round involves a round-robin schedule with each team playing each other once. The top teams are then seeded by first-round record to create a four-team bracket for the semifinals, with the winners squaring off for the championship. The 2015 CWS will be hosted in San Juan, Puerto Rico (Feb 1-8). FWIW, MLB.com has its own site for following these four leagues, but it hasn't yet been updated for the upcoming season.
For the first time since the communist revolution more than five decades ago, a team from Cuba was invited to participate in the CWS last winter, when it was hosted by Venezuela and won by Mexico. Cuba's representative (Pinar del Río) finished last in the five-team round-robin and was eliminated from the semifinals. Cuba has again been invited by the CWS to send its National Series champion to this season's event, but due to simmering tensions with the USA their participation remains in question. Even last winter's return by Cuba was not without drama leading up to it, but it wasn't the US government that stood in the way. Instead, Major League Baseball threatened to pull out of its working agreements with the participating leagues, though a compromise agreement was eventually reached.
There's been chatter that a club from Panama could also be invited to the 2015 CWS, though it's unclear whether that would be dependent on Cuba pulling out or if the field would have six teams. Just for edification, the Cuban league is presented by the nation as "amateur" in accordance with the laws of the land, but most players would be of professional caliber on the level of AA or AAA in the US minor leagues.
Anyway, on to the games which begin shortly. The MPL's exhibition/training season starts this Thursday. Training camps for the DWL open with available pitchers and position players reporting Sept 26. Obviously additional players will join the various leagues once MLB's regular season ends, and more will filter in as MLB's postseason proceeds.
Figured we could use this thread to track the performance of any participating Sox players & prospects over the next several months. None of the team rosters reflect the coming season, but it won't be long before they do.
As an overview, MLB allows players under team contract to participate in winter ball with their club's consent (and it's usually at team's behest). In most cases these are players who missed significant time during the MLB season due to injury, and may not be as in need of off-season R&R as those who've played a full slate of games. In other cases, they're coming off poor seasons that may have cost them playing time, and they're working to rebuild their games before heading to spring training. The majority of winter leaguers from the majors also reside in (or are natives of) the countries in which they play.
The top four leagues in the table above will send their champions to the Caribbean World Series, which takes place annually in early February. The first round involves a round-robin schedule with each team playing each other once. The top teams are then seeded by first-round record to create a four-team bracket for the semifinals, with the winners squaring off for the championship. The 2015 CWS will be hosted in San Juan, Puerto Rico (Feb 1-8). FWIW, MLB.com has its own site for following these four leagues, but it hasn't yet been updated for the upcoming season.
For the first time since the communist revolution more than five decades ago, a team from Cuba was invited to participate in the CWS last winter, when it was hosted by Venezuela and won by Mexico. Cuba's representative (Pinar del Río) finished last in the five-team round-robin and was eliminated from the semifinals. Cuba has again been invited by the CWS to send its National Series champion to this season's event, but due to simmering tensions with the USA their participation remains in question. Even last winter's return by Cuba was not without drama leading up to it, but it wasn't the US government that stood in the way. Instead, Major League Baseball threatened to pull out of its working agreements with the participating leagues, though a compromise agreement was eventually reached.
There's been chatter that a club from Panama could also be invited to the 2015 CWS, though it's unclear whether that would be dependent on Cuba pulling out or if the field would have six teams. Just for edification, the Cuban league is presented by the nation as "amateur" in accordance with the laws of the land, but most players would be of professional caliber on the level of AA or AAA in the US minor leagues.
Anyway, on to the games which begin shortly. The MPL's exhibition/training season starts this Thursday. Training camps for the DWL open with available pitchers and position players reporting Sept 26. Obviously additional players will join the various leagues once MLB's regular season ends, and more will filter in as MLB's postseason proceeds.
