WORLD BASEBALL LEAGUE - The Billionaire's Baseball Club!

[jaysdailydose]

World Baseball League -- The Billionaire's Baseball Club

It was an idea a long time in the making, but now Mark Cuban was sitting in a room with thirty of the richest men in the world. Since the rumors had begun that Cuban had decided to forego his longtime ambition to own a Major League Baseball club and had decided to become founder and commissioner of his own league, people wondered if he'd be able to pull it off. Once they heard about his "pet project" -- the media and skeptics termed it "The Billionaire's Baseball Club" and didn't figure

Pull it off he had, and he may have solved some of the world's problems at the same time.

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The stadiums had been constructed, and now here they were, billionaires from across the world -- from Bill Gates and Warren Buffett, to the enigmatic Masayoshi Son and Francois Pinault; ready to sign the league Constitution to seal the final deal and begin play in 2014.

Cuban's greatest accomplishment was literally earth shattering. The Havana Hitmen would be a member of the league, and in a strange way, Cuban had liberated Cuba. It will cost the owners of the league every season, but there will be world cooperation with the nation of Cuba from this point forward, all in the sake of world peace and baseball! Every season, each of the other 23 team owners will send $20,000,000 to Raul Castro and the Castro family, that Castro has vowed to put into his player budget and create a baseball juggernaut in the nation of Cuba. A final term of the Cuba deal is that the Castro family and their descendants will have perpetual control of the Havana franchise, and the franchise or its ownership may never be removed -- unless the owner breaks the "World Baseball Peace Treaty of 2013" -- which, in Castro's case, would be an open declaration of war on the entire world. It is safe to say that we'll have a peaceful, yet perpetual, ownership situation in Cuba.

As the final owner, Warren Buffett, signed the league Constitution and the Treaty, he said "We may have saved the world today. Baseball can only bring people together, and with all of the countries in good, clean, competition... maybe we can worry about the wars on the baseball fields, and let the tales of the player's heroics stand the test of time when generations hence look upon what we have created." PLAY BALL!!!

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The setup of the World Baseball League -- Billionaire's Baseball Club

With so many media moguls and just insanely rich people in the league, the founding members of the league worked out an amazing TV deal and baseball will be streamed locally and nationally FOR FREE to every person on the planet. The owners have also established a discretionary fund to where a certain amount of tickets to each game, along with transportation, are given away so that everyone is able to see a game when they choose. (Billionaire Financials)

There is no cash maximum except the $2.167B instituted by the game itself.

Each team has been budgeted out using the Market Size system that I wrote up in 13 or 14 after initial research by The Wolf. There are large markets, small markets, medium markets, lots of fun.

I think I know what team I am taking at this point, but it is still a surprise.

Rules for the most part mirror MLB's other than the financials, but other than the designated hitter and the 25 and 40 man rosters, I've left the league to expand on its own. I do reserve the right to alter the game's expansion plans to bring in a character more relevant to my story -- but for the most part, whatever happens, happens. This is not Major League Baseball.

As far as Major League Baseball goes, we are not in competition for their players, and assume the prestige and the much higher salaries afforded by the ownership of the league will draw the premium talent. (I.E. I'm not writing anything about MLB or how it has progressed in this dynasty report. We may reference the greats of the game, but that's not the purpose of this report.)

I have three levels of minors, AAA, AA and a Short-Season A which will serve as my rookie league.

I have a Senior Academy (college feeder) and Junior Academy (high school feeder) that has produced ALL of the talent currently contained in this league.

During league creation, I started the league in 1989, and simmed it out the 25 years with the feeder system in place, and then nuked the history of the league in 2014. So, all of the players have been produced by our WBL Academy System.

None of the leagues use, or will ever use, the designated hitter.

I have changed all player creation source to draw players from ANY nation that has at least 1* baseball quality, and any nations that are represented in the league and don't have it the quality. Every feeder league operates the same way, so we have an amazing player pool.

I have a thank you post coming, but this dynasty absolutely uses QuestDog's modern names, and if you don't -- WHY NOT. One of the best mods ever made.

All teams at all levels have at least one cap, one jersey and a logo created. Most of the credit on those goes to the amazing work done by all the creators on the CephasJames "Nickname Project." Thank you both so much and bravo. More in the thanks to come.

I have used 1969 statistical settings as an ode to the great days of the game. That was the first year of the expansion era, and the statistics for that season are just amazing, so we'll hope to have fun with them.

I may come back and edit this if I can think of anything else that was done in the creation or setup to help others with their own leagues or that will make things more clear about the dynasty report -- but for now, I will just say WELCOME and THANK YOU for checking out the World Baseball League.

I'll be posting this quickstart later tonight, it actually has eight options. Billions financials or normal modern, drafted or undrafted, and cash maximum's or not for both versions = WBL Billions and WBL Final. I will edit and post the links here as well as in the Quickstart Mods forum as soon as they are posted!

[jaysdailydose]

THANK YOU TO ALL THE FOLLOWING AND MORE:

The entire OOTP Developments Team.
Orcin
VanillaGorilla
Gehrig38
NYY#23
QuestDog
Silvam14
CephasJames
JustaFan
gRaider2001
The Wolf
Eugene Church
The Game
RchW
Lukasberger
Westheim
Everyone who realizes "Everyone needs a break!"

...and oh so many more. If I forgot you, take a THANKS here and I'll update you in later!

[jaysdailydose]

2014 Grand Champions: Stay tuned.

[jaysdailydose]

Hall of Fame Voting Info to Come!

[jaysdailydose]

Hitters

Top 20 - Career Hits

Top 20 - Career Home Runs

Top 20 - Career Stolen Bases

Top 20 - Career Batter WAR

These lists will be updated after the first season, and all seasons thereafter.

[jaysdailydose]

Pitchers

Top 20 - Career Wins

Top 20 - Career Earned Run Average

Top 20 - Career Strikeouts

Top 20 - Career Pitcher WAR

These lists will be updated after the first season, and all seasons thereafter.

[jaysdailydose]

The North American Division

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Redmond Apples

Owner: William "Bill" Gates III
Budget: $1.14B
Fortune Acquired: Microsoft

Team Manager: Isei Satake
Best 3 Hitters: CF Han-Lee Moon, RF Zhong-qi Cheng, LF Iestyn Coogan
Best 3 Pitchers: RP Han Liu, SP Yoshida Ichi, RP Bobby Carter

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Omaha Ambassadors

Owner: Warren Buffett
Budget: $960M
Fortune Acquired: Berkshire Hathaway

Team Manager: Edgar Villaneuva
Best 3 Hitters: LF Antonio Saenz, CF Javier Martinez, SS Steve Whited
Best 3 Pitchers: SP Hayden Aitcheson, RP Scott Lumsden, RP Hector Burgos

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Los Angeles Legends

Owner: Larry Eliison
Budget: $960M
Fortune Acquired: Oracle

Team Manager: Wade Burks
Best 3 Hitters: C Antonio Romero, RF Desiderio Lussu, 3B Jim Beaty
Best 3 Pitchers: RP Alex Garcia, RP Oniji Yokota, SP Flanagan Alexander

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Mexico City Aztecs

Owner: Carlos Slim Helu
Budget: $1.05B
Fortune Acquired: Grupo Carso, Telmex, American Movil

Team Manager: Lao-sheng Xiong
Best 3 Hitters: RF Michael Blondeau, CF Isaias Castillo, 3B Ricciardo Valle
Best 3 Pitchers: SP Gah-fat Ling, RP Les Robson, RP Johnny Raynor

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Montreal Expos

Owner: Bernard Arnault
Budget: $875M
Fortune Acquired: CEO of LVMH (Louis Vuitton, Moet Hennessy, etc)

Team Manager: Robert Jones
Best 3 Hitters: 1B Darnell Daniels, 2B Kai-xi Fa, 3B Chris Swinney
Best 3 Pitchers: SP Dave Garcia, SP Joseph Seed, RP Davis Delaney

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Toronto Maple Leafs

Owner: David "3rd Baron Thomson of Fleet" Thomson
Budget: $785M
Fortune Acquired: Chairman, Thomson Corporation (Thomson/Reuters)

Team Manager: Josh Black
Best 3 Hitters: RF Carlos Pacheco, 2B Mario Alicia, C Nick Mitchison
Best 3 Pitchers: RP Jack Achber, RP Caley Hopkins, SP Isaias Alfonso

[jaysdailydose]

The Latin Division

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Bogota Sabres

Owner: Luis Carlos Sarmiento
Budget: $615M
Fortune Acquired: Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores, SA - President (Massive Banking Conglomerate)

Team Manager: Luis Ballesteros
Best 3 Hitters: 2B Nathan Marsh, C Danilo Galli, RF Charlie Swinson
Best 3 Pitchers: RP Danny Braak, SP Doug Vaughn, RP Pedro Flores

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Caracas Conquistadors

Owner: Lorenzo Mendoza
Budget: $270M
Fortune Acquired: Empresas Polar (Brewery, Food Processing/Packaging)

Team Manager: Josh Edwards
Best 3 Hitters: SS Heui-seong Choi, RF Julio Frias, 3B Chance Klein
Best 3 Pitchers: RP Liang-hsi Wang, SP Trevor Abrams, SP Justin Taylor

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Havana Hitmen

Owner: Raul Castro and the Castro Family
Budget: $700M (After Treaty Income)
Fortune Acquired: Being Evil Dictators

Team Manager: Aaron Prather
Best 3 Hitters: LF Jorge Rodriguez, RF Ryan Hennessy, 1B Ricky Montoya
Best 3 Pitchers: SP Adrian Feliz, SP Hubertus Heil, RP Jeremy Newnum

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Panama City Phantoms

Owner: Alejandro Santo Domingo Davila
Budget: $525M
Fortune Acquired: Grupo Empresarial Bavaria S.A. - Chairman (SABMiller)

Team Manager: Eduardo Carmona
Best 3 Hitters: CF Alfons van den Bosch, SS Jack van de Wetering, 2B Didier Rault
Best 3 Pitchers: SP Randy Cunningham, RP Wibren Louwerse, SP Mark Briggs

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San Juan Scorpions

Owner: Amancio Ortega Gaona of Spain
Budget: $960M
Fortune Acquired: Inditex (Zara - Clothing and Accessories Retail Shops)

Team Manager: Vincent Lee
Best 3 Hitters: LF Hector Averlino, C Yong-hun Cho, SS Alfonso Medina
Best 3 Pitchers: SP Aleksi Atyasov, RP Shane Colantonio, RP Rusty Lane

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Santo Domingo Diablos

Owner: Gustavo Cisneros Rendiles
Budget: $270M
Fortune Acquired: The Cisneros Group (media, telecom, entertainment)

Team Manager: Alejandro Santana
Best 3 Hitters: LF Alex Cruz, RF Rico Pinon, 1B Miguel Rios
Best 3 Pitchers: SP Rafael Contreras, SP Kusuo Hayakawa, SP Ezequiel Aragon

[jaysdailydose]

The Euro Division

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Amsterdam Admirals

Owner: Michel de Carvalho (Charlene de Carvalho-Heineken)
Budget: $440M
Fortune Acquired: Heineken International

Team Manager: Jason Scott
Best 3 Hitters: SS Motka Meierhold, C Pavlusha Emyashev, LF Paul Allen
Best 3 Pitchers: RP Vanechka Kandybin, RP Jose Padilla, SP Rich Ruiz

Jason Scott is the Team President, General Manager, and Field Manager of the Admirals!

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Berlin Bears

Owner: Karl Albrecht and the Albrecht Family
Budget: $785M
Fortune Acquired: Aldi

Team Manager: Luis Sanchez
Best 3 Hitters: SS Russell Hackworth, 1B Marcelo Broccoli, LF Adrian Torres
Best 3 Pitchers: RP Wil Cruz, SP Shunyo Tanaka, RP Ossie Linares

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Dublin Devils

Owner: Denis O'Brien
Budget: $615M
Fortune Acquired: Digicel (Communications and Radio/Media)

Team Manager: David Garry
Best 3 Hitters: LF Nelson Ortiz, 1B Rich Carranza, SS Angel Lopez
Best 3 Pitchers: RP Charles Gillard, SP Tai fat Tan, RP Vincent Carboni

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London Kings

Owner: Gerald Cavendish Grovesnor - 6th Duke of Westminster
Budget: $525M
Fortune Acquired: Digicel (Communications and Radio/Media)

Team Manager: Stefan Kalimulin
Best 3 Hitters: C Takehito Hatanaka, CF Eddie Anderson, 2B Morris MacMahon
Best 3 Pitchers: SP Mohan Stewart, SP Manuel Diaz, SP Eric Dickerman

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Paris Emperors

Owner: Francois Pinault
Budget: $700M
Fortune Acquired: Kering (Yves St. Laurent, Gucci, Stella McCartney, Alexander McQueen)

Team Manager: Scottie Lyons
Best 3 Hitters: C Jose Hernandez, LF Archie Findlay, Jesus Penado
Best 3 Pitchers: SP Scott Lee, SP Dan Lemus, SP Ben Carey

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Rome Wolves

Owner: Michele Ferrero
Budget: $785M
Fortune Acquired: Ferrero SpA (Chocolates)

Team Manager: Rafael Anaya
Best 3 Hitters: 3B Ivar Derksen, C Choei Kinjo, RF Luis Reyes
Best 3 Pitchers: RP Eric Bottari, RP Elliot Province, SP Bryan Wells

[jaysdailydose]

The Asia Division

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Beijing Black Knights

Owner: Wang Jianlin
Budget: $700M
Fortune Acquired: Chair - Dalian Wanda Group (Real Estate), Owner - AMC Entertainment

Team Manager: Owen Noonan
Best 3 Hitters: RF Chris Fulks, 2B Albert Dabryshin, C Ed Daye
Best 3 Pitchers: SP Ivan Ananichev, SP Marcos Campo, SP Bobby Lopez

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Moscow Cossacks

Owner: Mikhail Prokhorov
Budget: $350M
Fortune Acquired: Former Chair - Polyus Gold, Owner - Brooklyn Nets

Team Manager: Musashi Morioka
Best 3 Hitters: 1B Fokke Meijers, CF Justin Self, C Fokke Wessel
Best 3 Pitchers: SP Antonio Riojas, SP Hidetsugu Watanabe, SP Michael Rosa

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Seoul Silver Sox

Owner: Lee Kun-hee
Budget: $440M
Fortune Acquired: Chairman - Samsung

Team Manager: Ferdinand Rietberg
Best 3 Hitters: 1B Luke Oliver, LF Luis Negron, RF Luis Tamarez
Best 3 Pitchers: SP Danny Garcia, RP Lorenzo Fragoso, SP Andrey Ofengenden

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Sydney Kangaroos

Owner: John Langley Hancock
Budget: $700M
Fortune Acquired: Son of Gina Rinehart, Fairfax Media/Ten Network Holdings

Team Manager: Carlos Benitez
Best 3 Hitters: LF Hifumi Ina, 1B Matyash Augustoff, 3B Liu-chun Tsai
Best 3 Pitchers: SP Taylor Ireland, SP Franklin Sepulveda, SP Mirko Abraham

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Taipei Ninjas

Owner: Eng-meng Tsai
Budget: $350M
Fortune Acquired: Want Want China

Team Manager: Mike Zavala
Best 3 Hitters: RF Hua Yep, 1B Dan Duncan, LF Elmar Gardner
Best 3 Pitchers: SP John Scheer, RP Fortunato Canfora, SP Israel Martinez

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Tokyo Samurai

Owner: Masayoshi Son
Budget: $700M
Fortune Acquired: CEO - Softbank, Chairman - Sprint

Team Manager: Gary Albert
Best 3 Hitters: LF Nick Peterson, 1B Marty Taylor, 2B Carlton Hunter
Best 3 Pitchers: SP Antonio Avila, SP Mathias Capeci, RP Rabah Laurent

[jaysdailydose]

One last reserve. Sorry. ALL CLEAR.

[jaysdailydose]

The inaugural draft for this league is completed, and I'm in the process of editing in the divisional previews. All of them will be up within the hour, thanks for following!

[jaysdailydose]

OK, all of the divisional previews are completed and I'm about to start advancing days.

For those that didn't notice in the previews above, we have taken over the Amsterdam Admirals. The commissioner mode is now OFF.

The only thing I changed when taking over the team was to take the manager and edit it down to a 20-year-old version of myself, just like I did with my GM. I changed this manager's strategy preferences to suit what I would have for myself, and then had the manager set the team strategy. So, while I only take care of pitching changes and other substitutions, and baserunning (stretching hits, tagging up) -- the manager on the field will represent how I would likely approach those situations.

I'll play till a career has run its course, then my son will take over. I can be fired, and the only time I will enable commissioner mode is to alter something game-breaking, or to make sure I am able to take at least one major league job.

So, we'll start with a look at the Admirals, and I'll post our active roster along with our projected rotation and bullpen!

I now have the amount of leagues back I had before my little disaster, so I'm happy and can get back to just playing again! Hope you'll follow along!

[jaysdailydose]

Admirals Inaugural Active Roster:

Admirals Projected Lineups:

Admirals Projected Starting Rotation:

Admirals Projected Bullpen


Please note, I am playing out games (I make substitutions and baserunning calls) so the roles and depth chart doesn't really matter, I decide when the days off happen.

We spent $30M on scouting (baseline $20M, $60M maximum) and $35M on player development. Baseline for development is $30M. We are projected to make $10M without dipping into our cash reserves of $110.5M.

[MrWideFrame]

I love the mix of nationalities on your team.

[jaysdailydose]

Originally Posted by MrWideFrame

I love the mix of nationalities on your team.

Yup, they'll be lots of fun (and interpreters) to follow everywhere!

[jaysdailydose]

Our owners, the Carvalho-Heineken family, have given us the following expectation for the inaugural season:



Here are the Top 10 Prospects for the 2014 season. Our 17 year old pitcher Lasran Allen checks in as the 4th overall prospect in the WBL!

[jaysdailydose]

April 7, 2014

Week 1 Notes: 3 vs. Berlin (1-2), 3 at London (2-1)

· Our Opening Day Roster does differ from the preseason projection. OF Angel Reyes was sent to AAA for more seasoning, and Jacob Booth made the team.
· Also, starting center fielder Nelson Gomez has a strained oblique and will miss the first 6 days of the season on the DL.
· Onofrio Tramacchi was added to the roster for Gomez.
· 04/07: AMS 5, BER 4 – Rich Ruiz 7.0 IP, 2 ER, 4 H, 0 BB, 11 K, W (1-0, 2.57) – Pavlusha Emyashev 2-4, HR (1), 2 RBI
· Vanechka Kandybin came into a sticky situation with one out in the eighth and one pitch later he was out of it with a double play to preserve our victory.
· 04/08: BER 8, AMS 4 – Jerry Phillips (BER) 6.0 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 2 BB, 6 K, W (1-0, 0.00) – Marcelo Broccoli 2-5, 2 RBI
· It was actually a close game going into the eighth, but the bullpen allowed the wheels to fall off.
· Too bad, considering we hit two 2-run blasts in the ninth that would have given us the victory.
· 04/09: BER 5, AMS 4 – Marcelo Broccoli (BER) 3-5, HR, 2 RBI – Pavlusha Emyashev 2-3, 3B, RBI, 2 R
· Jasper Lofthus came out of the game with an injury after going 4.1 innings, and diagnosis is pending.
· We have Thursday off to travel to London.
· Jasper Lofthus had his tests come back and he checked out OK. He was just dealing with some minor back tightness and won't throw for 2 days.
· 04/11: AMS 5, LON 3 – Pavlusha Emyashev 1-4, HR, 3 RBI – Blake Pratt 6.0 IP, 3 ER, 7 H, 0 BB, 4 K, W (1-0, 4.50)
· 04/12: LON 9, AMS 3 – Thomas Taylor (LON) 6.0 IP, 1 R, 0 ER, 3 H, 1 BB, 6 K, W (1-0, 0.00) – Takehito Hatanaka 2-4, 2B, RBI, 2 R
· Taylor is a knucklerballer and he really had it working over six innings against our Admirals.
· I'd really like for us to get six innings out of starter Hugo Cacho on Sunday, it would give all but the back end of our bullpen some rest. They've been worked well out of the gate.
· 04/13: AMS 6, LON 2 -- Hugo Cacho 7.2 IP, 2 ER, 5 H, 5 BB, 1 K, W (1-1, 3.14) – Nelson Gomez 2-4, 2 HR, 3 RBI
· Gomez's two homers make him the first Admiral to ever have a multi-HR game! Welcome back!
· Hector Averlino of the San Juan Scorpions and Luis Tamarez of the Seoul Silver Sox won the Western and Eastern Hemisphere Player of the Week Awards, respectively.
· Next Week: 3 at Rome, 4 vs. Moscow

We finish the first week in good shape at .500, and only one game back in our division after six games. We have a very young team, and it will definitely take time to gel. Seeing Motka Meierhold coming around was a good sight to see. At 34, I figured it might take him a few games to get the old bones going, but he's got the jump in his step now. He even stole two bases a few games back.

We'll stay away from home for three against the Rome Wolves, but then we'll return home for four games with Mikhail Prokhorov's Moscow Cossacks! Stay tuned for more updates from the Billionaire's Baseball Club in World League Baseball!

[jaysdailydose]

Even though we've started playing games already, I want to take the time to introduce the men who make up the Amsterdam Admirals organization.

To that end, with the next few updates, I'm going to break down a positional group on our team, and also give you information on the Top 3 prospects we have in the organization at these positions.

With no history in the league, I think it is important that we learn about some of the players, so the next post will be detailing our starting pitching, and then we'll play a week and with the next update we'll analyze the bullpen, and then the catchers and infield, and then finally the outfield. So, stay tuned over the next 2-3 days to learn all about your Amsterdam Admirals!

[jaysdailydose]

Amsterdam Admirals Roster Analysis (2014)

Starting Pitching

Rich Ruiz (26/R/Mexican) - Our scouting director, Pat Benoit, looks at Ruiz as a Hall of Fame caliber starting pitcher, and he is obviously our staff ace. Plus-plus stuff, movement, and control. Has an elite slider to go with a plus curve and change, and an above-average fastball topping out around 95 mph. Above-average stamina, with great intelligence and work ethic, the only real knock on Ruiz is that he isn't really a natural born leader. Ruiz is under team control for two more seasons after this one.

Hugo Cacho (24/L/Colombian) - Benoit looks as Cacho as a borderline ace at 24 years of age. He seems to think he needs another pitch to truly be a dominant starter, but he has above-average stuff and control to go with plus-plus movement on his pitches. He has a plus-plus changeup and a plus curve to go with an above-average fastball topping out at 92. Sure, you'd like more velocity, but I'm more than happy with Cacho's arsenal as a lefty starter. Like Ruiz, he's not a natural leader, but he is intelligent with an amazing work ethic. Cacho is under Admirals control through the 2017 season.

Jasper Lofthus (26/R/American) - Our scouting department sees him as a reliable starter, though not quite number one material, which means Lofthus fits very well in our rotation as the #3 man. He has plus-plus control to go with above-average stuff and movement. Lofthus only has an average fastball, topping out around 90 mph, but has a plus curve and slider, and is in the early stages of developing a change. Unlike the two men before him, Jasper shows a lot of leadership, and is extremely intelligent with a good work ethic. Like Hugo Cacho, Amsterdam has control of Lofthus's rights through the 2017 campaign.

Blake Pratt - (24/R/Canadian) - Benoit is a real fan of Blake Pratt. He thinks the kid can just pitch, and thinks that while he'd be an ace on some teams, he's best suited to be a #2 starter. Which means that when we plug him in to our four slot, we're giddy about it. He has a five pitch repertoire, and while some of the pitches are still developing, none of them rates as much worse than league average for the pitch, and he has a plus-plus change as his best pitch. Blake has solid movement and above average stuff, but he has plus control and still looks to have room to grow with his command. His fastball tops out around 93-94 with late life. The knock on Pratt is that he's not a leader whatsoever, Pat goes so far as to say he has a "me-first" attitude, but he is another amazing worker and a smart guy to boot. Our hope is that Jasper Lofthus's leadership in the middle of our staff will work as he's close to the level of our #1 and #2 guys, but has no doubt been in the same spots as our #4 and #5 guys. We think it is a situation (and pitchers) that have potential! Another bonus is that Pratt is not even arbitration-eligible until 2017, so he has a lot of time to grow with our ballclub.

Alejandro Valdovinos (21/R/Puerto Rican) - The #29 prospect in the WBL, Valdovinos oozes front-line starter potential according to our team, and they think he'll be among our league's leaders someday. He's just a totally normal guy, but his right arm is a thunderbolt, with his velocity topping out at 101 mph. His size would compare to an Aroldis Chapman in Major League Baseball. He already has a plus-plus fastball, and it could be elite with just some minor mechanical work. He has a league-average curve and slider to compliment his crazy heater, and is also bringing along a change-up that will be a solid pitch in just a season or two. He might have the most stamina of any pitcher currently in our rotation, even at 21 years of age, and he is already very solid at holding runners for a young right hander. Valdovinos is already in our rotation, but our hope is that one day he'll be leading it for Amsterdam.

Sixth Starter/Long Reliever

Matthew Crivello (22/R/American) -- Matthew Crivello checks in as the #52 prospect in the World Baseball League this season, and our team thinks he'll be no worse than a #2 or #3 starter in the future. A highly intelligent kid, he is a true leader in our pitchers group, and works hard. You can really tell that winning drives him. As far as tools, he already has league-average stuff, movement, and command, but he has a lot of room to grow and you can see he wants to work to improve, especially on his command. Matthew has a plus changeup and a good fastball, but he still needs to work on his curveball, I would classify it as below-average at this point in his young career. Crivello has solid stamina and will be a very useful member of our team this year, both in spot starts, and also out of the bullpen as a long reliever, especially in the case of an in-game injury to one of our rotation. Crivello is arbitration eligible in 2018.

Best Future Starter Prospects

Lasran Allen (17/L/Irish) -- Lasran Allen is still nearly a full year from his 18th birthday, but he is looked at as the #4 prospect in the entire World Baseball League, and will pitch for the Amsterdam (R) Express this season. Our scouting team, including director Pat Benoit, look at Allen as probably mid-rotation material already at his tender age. The World Scouting Association projects him even more strongly than we do, with their projections having him as the leader of a rotation someday. He's not the smartest kid, but he works very hard and can only be classified as a natural leader. Even at his young age, Lasran already looks to have three major-league ready pitches, and they all have very good movement on them. His stuff and command definitely aren't quite ready for major league hitters, but you can definitely see the potential, and for a lefty especially, topping out at 94 mph at 17 years of age is very, very good.

There isn't anyone else in the organization I would term as a starting pitcher prospect. Obviously, we just had the inaugural draft, so it will take some time to build up systems, but I'm very happy with what we have!

I just noticed I didn't post the Preseason Predictions for this season, I'll post that in the next post, and then we'll be moving on to the next week of games. Next update, I'll review our relief corps! Thanks as always for following along!