Winter Leagues Coverage | Update on La Liga de Beisbol Profesional Roberto Clemente

(Photo Credit: Yamaira Muñiz via Twitter)

     Due to the significant damage sustained across the entirety of the island of Puerto Rico, the LBPRC Board of Directors have agreed to a an abbreviated itinerary for the 2017-2018 winter league season.

     According to league President Héctor Rivera Cruz during a press conference, the season will no longer begin on November 15th, 2017 as previously scheduled. Instead, league play will now begin on January 6th, 2018 as a 21 game schedule. Teams will play single games on Thursdays and Fridays at 1:30 PM, and 7 inning doubleheaders on Saturdays and Sundays starting at 1:00 PM with the 2nd game starting twenty minutes after the first. Due to significant damage to Roberto Clemente Stadium, the Gigantes De Carolina will not play this season.

    The team that finishes in 1st place will gain an automatic spot into the championship game. The teams that finish 2nd and 3rd will participate in a one game sudden death with the winner moving on to play the 1st place team. All games will be played during the day in order to limit the amount of power draw that each game requires as to not interrupt recovery efforts. In addition, all games will be FREE to the public as a way to give back to the community. Under this abbreviated schedule, the league is expected to finish either January 30th or 31st, 2018.

     Due to the significant late start to the season and the fact that the other 3 Caribbean League regular seasons will already be completed, players committed to Puerto Rico based teams will be allowed to play in other Caribbean leagues, but will be required to return by January 1st. In addition, they will only be able to participate for Team Puerto Rico in the Caribbean Series once it begins on February 2nd, 2018.

   Mets Players who will be affected by this situation include, but are not limited to, Chasen Bradford, Phillip Evans, Nabil Crismatt, T.J. Rivera, and Seth Lugo.

Position Battles Worth Watching: 13 Pitchers, 3 Bullpen Spots

One of the largest fights this Spring Training, as it is every season, will be for the final spots within the bullpen. This year only 4 guys are really guaranteed spots going into the season; RH Bobby Parnell, RH Victor Black, RH Carlos Torres, and LH Scott Rice. That leaves 3 spots left in a normal 7 man bullpen. Let's break this battle into two separate sections and assume that the team will carry 2 lefties this year.

Battle to be the 2nd Lefty

Favorites- Josh Edgin

Guys w/ a Chance- (none)

Longshots- Adam Kolarek

This is more of a minor ST battle that probably won't be a fight at all. While Josh Edgin is the incumbent and most likely winner, he was heavily criticized last season for his atrocious start. In 11 April appearances, Edgin held a 9.64 ERA and allowed a .325/.386/.525 batting line in mostly low leverage situations. Even worse, after being sent down to both AA and AAA, Edgin did not improve posting ERA's of 7.88 and 5.91 respectively. Edgin also suffered a season ending injury in August 

Adam Kolarek, meanwhile, had a career best year for the Binghamton Mets making appearances in 44 games and posting a 1.71 ERA and holding lefties to a .214 AVG and only 3 extra base hits all season. His low 90's fastball has a two plane break away from lefties which induces plenty of weak contact. He combines it  with an advanced change-up and a newly added slider which makes him just as effective against righties as well.

While Kolarek has looked good, Edgin has looked good in bursts at the MLB level and is on the 40 man roster. The team is almost certain to give Edgin at least one more chance while Kolarek gets some work in at AAA but he'll give Edgin a run for his money this ST. Don't be surprised if you start to hear his name more often if Edgin gets off to another rough start.

Royal Rumble over Last Two Spots

Favorites- Jeurys Familia, Gonzalez Germen

Guys w/ a Chance- Ryan Reid, Joel Carreno, Miguel Socolovich, Kyle Farnsworth

Longshots- Jeff Walters, Chasen Bradford, John Church, Cory Mazzoni, Logan Verrett, Jack Leathersich

Both Familia and Germen are expected to be major players in the bullpen this season but they may receive some stiff competition from recent minor league contracts signings in Reid, Farnsworth, Carreno, and Socolovich. 

The 29 yr old Reid had a career year in AAA last year and earned an 11 inning cup of coffee at the MLB level where he performed well in all but 1 of his appearances. 

The former Blue Jay, Joel Carreno, brings eye popping K rates into the competition thanks to a plus slider that's extremely tough on righties. In 2013 he held righties to a .101 AVG while striking out 41% of them. 

Lastly, there's the journeyman, Miguel Socolovich. The 27 yr old Venezuelan spent time in Boston, Chicago, Baltimore, and most recently in Japan for 2013. He didn't rack up many innings there (11.1) but he only allow 1 ER in his short time there.

The rest of the guys are longshots to make the team but, with chance to showcase their abilities, good performances could lead to potential promotions to the MLB level in case of injuries or ineffective by the other guys. Walters should be the 1st in line though since he is on the 40 man roster already. 

Cutnpaste: - Chasen Bradford, Andres E. Perez, Wally Backman, Johan Santana, David Wright

8-14-11: - http://metsmerizedonline.com/2011/08/kingsport-mets-team-report-stretch-run-edition.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+MetsMerizedOnline-GetMetsmerized-NewYorkMets+%28Mets+Merized+Online%29&utm_content=Twitter  - Chasen Bradford - Drafted this year in the 35th round, out of Central Florida, the RHP Bradford has gotten off to a quick start in the Kingsport pen. In 28 IP, he has given up 23 hits, only 1 HR, his K/BB is 33/6, opponents are hitting .221 against him. His record is 0-0 and his ERA is 2.22, and in 9 IP since Aug began, he has not allowed a run, given up only 3 hits, and is 11/1 in K/BB ratio.

8-23-11: - DSL 2011 End of Season Wrap-Up - http://www.nyfuturestars.com/community/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=35808&sid=e8719b8eddffd9bc033d0ab708d8aff5  - Andres E Perez, 20, SP - Andres, also in his 3rd year for the Mets foreign rookie teams, pitched in 17 games and started 9. His ERA was 2.04 for the year, and in 61.2 innings he allowed only 46 hits while striking out 66.

Former New York Mets World Series champion Wally Backman has become a YouTube legend for his ejections while managing the South Georgia Peanuts. Now a days Backman is the manager of the Double-A Binghamton Mets where it appears he still has a hearty temper. This video is from the July 10th B-Mets vs New Britain Rock Cats game. Immediately prior, Binghamton designated hitter had been ejected for arguing a called third strike. Backman comes out to protect his player and gets run too, and after picking up the hat that threw, Backman kicks dirt at the umpire like a pro. - http://topprospectalert.com/  

The New York Post wrote on Thursday that while it hasn’t been ruled out, “it seems unlikely” that Johan Santana will return in 2011. With the Mets slipping further and further from contention, why rush him? “We’re starting to look at Instructional League and winter ball and all those sorts of things,” said Alderson. “But at some point, he’s going to need a good period of rest also.” - http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2011/08/26/report-mets-johan-santana-unlikely-to-return-in-2011  - (didn’t I tell you this a month ago?)

8-25-11: - http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=ycn-9021595  - David Wright - I love Wright. He's a warrior, a role model, and the kind of player you want desperately to succeed. While he displays glimpses of immortality, there aren't enough of them. I know he's missed many games, but in the games he has played, he's hitting .252…not good enough.