Preview: Spanish League
Although the Spanish League has been reduced from 12 to nine teams for the 2008 season, the two-horse race last season between defending champions Marlins Puerto Cruz and runner-up FC Barcelona should see stiffer competition as both Sant Boi and San Inazio significantly improved their rosters this past winter.
The Marlins will open the upcoming campaign with a new skipper, player/manager Nestor Perez, who takes the reigns from his father. He will have the challenging task of having to replace three top pitchers (Yoel Hernandez, Fernando Gutierrez and Pedro Belmonte) who signed free agent contracts with other teams.
Hernandez, who led the Spanish League with a 0.56 ERA, jumped ship to Sant Boi while Belmonte found a new home at San Inazio and Gutierrez landed in the Dutch Major League with Mr. Cocker HCAW. The three hurlers played a major role in last year’s march to the title and a sparkling 1.43 ERA that was tops in the league.
However, the cupboard is not bare in Tenerife as the Marlins will feature Leslie Nacar, who won a league-leading nine games last season, and Venezuelan ace Renny Duarte who is 25-0 in three seasons with the Spanish champions. Duarte sported a 1.26 ERA along with six wins a year ago.
Newcomers Ivan Granados and Audie Nunez will also have to step up if the Marlins are to repeat this season in a more balanced league. A southpaw, Granados is a 22 year-old Venezuelan and former Oakland A’s minor leaguer. He pitched for Sant Boi in 2007 with a 2-5 mark and a 4.61 ERA with 69 strikeouts and 57 walks in 54.2 innings. Nunez, a right-hander, is a rookie who saw action with the national team at the Final Olympic Qualifier.
The Marlins also lost infielder Jose Luis Riera and speedy outfielder Jose Cruz who both signed with Sant Boi. But player/manager Perez, who batted .342 and scored 34 runs, welcomes back national team mainstay Dewis Navarro, who hit .402 last year.
Sant Boi made more than a splash this offseason going on a shopping spree that has made the club serious contenders for the 2008 Spanish League title. Along with new Venezuelan skipper, Flores Bolivar, Sant Boi also added some quality arms and capable bats.
Perhaps their biggest acquisitions this winter is Dominican relief ace Fernando Quijada and Venezuelan right-hander Albert Vargas. Quijada is a former US minor leaguer with both the Philadelphia Phillies and Baltimore Orioles farm systems who fanned 19 in 14 innings while going 1-1 with seven saves in Venezuela last year.
Other high-profile signees includes ace pitcher Yoel Hernandez (Marlins PC), infielders Jose Luis Riera (Marlins PC), Rafael Rivas (Amaya), Milko Jaramillo (Venezuela) and outfielder Jose Cruz (Marlins PC).
Hernandez will be making his second stop at Sant Boi after playing for the club from 2002-2004. He won eight games for Marlins Puerto Cruz last season and is generally regarded as one of the top pitchers in Spain. A power-hitting first baseman who hit .346 with four home runs in 2007, Riera should boost an offense that hit .276 a year ago.
Rivas is a talented shortstop who led the league with 23 stolen bases last year while playing for Amaya and Cruz is a young switch-hitter oozing with potential. Jaramillo is a natural shortstop who can play a variety of positions and will serve as a utility specialist.
PROJECTED FINISH:
1. Sant Boi
2. Marlins Puerto Cruz
3. FC Barcelona
4. San Inazio
5. Navarra
6. Viladecans
7. El Llano
8. Pamplona
9. Astros
San Inazio lost batting champion Jhonny Carvajal but added three key free agents that should help ace pitchers Joan Lopez and Jose Taveras compete for the league championship.
Former Marlins Puerto Cruz pitching standout Pedro Belmonte will provide much-needed experience and depth to the San Inazio pitching staff. The 35-year-old won four games last season while recording two saves with a nifty 1.08 ERA.
The club also inked former Arga hitting star Kelvin Marianucci, a Dominican slugger who hit .417 a year ago with 30 RBI and 14 extra-base hits, and Venezuelan national team shortstop Dirimo Chavez.
A former minor leaguer in the Boston Red Sox and New York Mets organizations, Chavez is a slick-fielder who started all seven games for Venezuela at the 2007 Baseball World Cup in Taiwan.
New skipper Aldo Tarife takes over the helm at FC Barcelona who almost toppled Marlins Puerto Cruz in last year’s championship. The club has also added a pair of arms, right-handers Andoni Ortiz and Jorge Balboa, as well as infielders Jesus Golindano and Gil Kim.
A talented hitter, Golindano hit .384 for Sant Boi in 2007 and is a key addition to the FC Barcelona batting lineup. Kim competed for the Beijing Tigers in China last season.
Pamplona, which finished with the worst ERA in the Spanish league last year with a 7.55 mark signed several pitching prospects for the upcoming season to bolster a staff led by 40-year-old Albert Casanellas.
The brightest gem among the signees might be Alexis Fumero, a 23-year-old who pitched in three games for U.C.V of the Liga Nacional Bolivariana with a 1.93 ERA with 12 strikeouts in 14 innings.
Other hurlers to watch includes lefty Patrice Birones and youngsters Eneko Del Burgo, Daniel Celaya and Aritz Leiva who saw limited duty for Irabia and Arga last season. The club also signed 45-year-old Spanish baseball legend Carlos Leon.
Offensively, Pamplona added signal-caller Daniel Erice, infielder Ibon Arevalo, and outfielders Patxi Arnal and Daniel Sanchez. A national team player, Sanchez should provide a spark to an anemic offense that was worst in the league in 2007 with a .220 mark.
Viladecans added a pair of right-handers, Alberto Magallon and Yulman Ribiero, as well as Edgar Hernandez (C), Abel Jiminez (OF) and Jehan Machado. A Venezuelan who played for Sant Boi the past eight years, Machado will be seeking to rebound from a poor 2007 in which he hit only .259 with 13 RBI. The club lost two talented players in catcher Rotsen Gil and right-hander Marcos Castillo.
El Llano added a pair of free agents in former San Inazio outfielder Pedro Mendez and FC Barcelona right-hander Fidel Torres. The club finished in seventh place a year ago nut had the second best hitting unit (.300) in the league and the third best pitching staff with a 2.92 ERA.
A Cuban, Mendez hit .280 and scored 21 runs last year and is considered one of the fastest players in the league. Torres – a Dominican – had a 5-1 record with a 2.54 ERA in 2007.
Navarra, which comprises of players from Arga, Irabia, and Amaya should be competitive as well with top players like Gorka Anduela, David Erice, Miguel Lasa, Victor Martinez and hurlers Juan Lopez and German Arroyo.