Twins in Foreign Winter Leagues

[TheDean]

With the Dominican Winter League (Liga Dominicana, aka LIDOM) opening play today, I thought it would be good to highlight some of the Twins or Twins minor leaguers that played in Winter Leagues last year and discuss the leagues themselves.  This post focuses on the Caribbean Leagues, but feel free to add other leagues of interest to the discussion.

 

DWL:

Last year, some former high-profile Twins were crucial to Licey's bid to take the DWL championship from the Leonoes de Escogido, who were trying for a three-peat. A friend of mine is originally from Santo Domingo and tried to convey how raucous the championship really was as the bitter cross-town rivals faced off in a best-of-nine series in their shared home stadium, Estadio Quisqueya. Lew Ford was a late season addition and proved to be a clutch player for Licey in the posteseason, and old friend Jose Offerman managed Licey despite his tendency to have trouble following "the rules" during his career.  Brief Twins callup Jorge Polanco was a key piece in los Leones' lineup at various points in the season (.294/.361/.383 - 180 AB), but his club could not come back in the series against Licey, losing 3 games to 5. The teams will face off again today at 7:30 in Santo Domingo at the former Estadio Trujillo, a replica of old Bobby Maduro Miami Stadium.

 

Miguel Sano will attempt to return to form with his hometown club, las Estrellas de Oriente, where he only had 5 ABs last year before being shut down.  Hopefully he'll get practice reigniting interest in a perennial basement dweller as the Estrellas are historically one of the most downtrodden DWL franchises.

 

Danny Santana got significant at bats last year with his team, Aguilas Cibaenas, who are the second of the DWL's "big three" (along with los Leones and Licey).  He performed well down the stretch.

 

Maybe the DWL knows something we already know: the Twins lack quality Dominican pitchers.  Only AA reliever Adrian Salcedo logged even a single pitch in the DWL, and he only played 2 outs for the Gigantes del Cibao.  The Gigantes must have liked what they saw though, as they drafted Kernels youngsters Randy Rosario and Fernando Romero in consecutive rounds this year.

 

VWL:

The VWL started play earlier this month. I know substantially less about baseball in Venezuela, but I did keep track of Escobar and Arcia's notable success there last year.  Arcia almost touched .500 SLG and .900 OPS.  Pinto had a limited number of at-bats and little success.

 

Many Twins system pitchers had bullpen roles in the VWL last year, and they were largely good at there jobs, most holding low ERAs.  Oliveros and Ibarra are maybe the most recognizable names, though Aaron Thompson, Mark Hamburger, and Dakota Watts also had their chances in Venezuela.

 

Aaron Hicks is playing in the VWL for the Bravos de Margarita this year and has 2 hits and 2 walks in 8 PAs so far.

 

PWL:

Play won't open in Puerto Rico till later this month. I also don't know much about baseball in Puerto Rico, but I kept track of what I considered to be the main three prospects from the Twins there: Danny Ortiz, Kennys Vargas, and Eddie Rosario.  As for the numbers, Kennys had a decent but unspectacular performance for the season, while Ortiz and Rosario had mostly disappointing seasons, considering their expectations.  All three had quite a bit of playing time last year (Rosario especially with AFL and PWL experience).

If all three play again this year, I think each of them can improve.

 

 

I know I've missed a lot, but that's why a great community like TD is here!

Please add your thoughts, insight, observations, and inside knowledge.