1993 Season :
Two championships in three years for the
Freros. With 5 trophies, they now aim to surpass their neighbours, the Nang Nius, which have 8 titles.
Alfredo Sifuentes had taken part in 4 of these championships. The closer that started his career in Lingalie City in 1979 has his best years behind him but he can still delivers efficient pitching. Last season, he had
41 saves, only one shy of his personal record, a
2.85 ERA, 91 K, 1.27 WHIP.
Surprising runner-ups, the
Sea Stars may was the most dominant team of past season, and no doubt that the defeat in the LBS is still bitter. Young LF
Ian Bostock may only be 24, but he already been in the league for 5 years. Bostock showed great potential and won his first Ruby Award last season with a
.262/.365/.388 batting line, 16 HR, 85 RBI & 28 SB.
Like all the 1988 expansion team, the
Golden Dragons have yet to achieve a winning season. The Golden District at least had a player elected in last year ASG,
RF Fernando Nieto. The Spanish player led the league with 35 doubles. Overall, he batted for .303/.364/.390 with 2.9 WAR.
No other team in the Outlands division is likely to outclass
Green District. The team is still the only winner of the division. Starting pitcher
Moussier de Jong won his second Golden Ball last year. He led the league with 2.27 ERA and 0.3 HR/9. The Dutch also had 1.13 WHIP, 204 K, 5.7 WAR in his fourth season in the league.
Since last expansion,
City were able to regularly compete for playoff berths. Their roster is a mix of young but already performant prospects like Yun-qi Chu, or Rhys Lawless and experienced players like Kei Shibuya or
Shuichi Mizusawa. The latter joined as a FA from Japan in 1989, winning the Silver Glove. After a missed 1991 season, due to injury, the 2B came back to his standards, as he batted for
.297/.372/.379 with
4.2 WAR last year.
The last two seasons, the
Silver Eagles were overshadowed by the Jade Tigers and the Green Goblins. The Silver Eagles offseason were noticed with the signing of
Denny Larson, who won the batting title with the Sea Stars with .343. Larson is a proficient hitter, as he was also the leaders in hits.
Transactions/ FA :
- Ka-fei Li, 30 yo 2B, signed as a FA (BEA --> SST) a contract of 16 960 000 € in 7 y
- Daniel Flores, 33 yo 2B, opted out of his contract and signed as a FA (MAP --> BEA) a contract of 12 600 000 € in 5 y
- Kahsay Nguvumali, 28 yo LF, opted out of his contract and signed as a FA (DIA --> LNN) a contract of 15 200 000 € in 4 y
- Harris Nash, 31 yo C, opted out of his contract and signed as a FA (B&Y --> LGG) a contract of 19 400 000 € in 5 y
- Anwa Zhao, 31 yo SS, signed as a FA (B&Y --> SST) a contract of 15 600 000 € in 4 y
- Denny Larson, 29 yo 2B, signed as a FA (SST --> SEAG) a contract of 19 880 000 € in 7 y
Managerial changes :
FRE Harvey Kuenn launched what may be the best era of the Freros with three championships since 1984. Kuenn retired on a league title. Cuevas, an unknown manager in the league, will seek to pursue Kuenn's hard work.
BEA Austin Bibens-Dirkx only lasted one season as the manager of Kuronga. Unproven Miguel Vega was appointed to take Bibens-Dirkx's job.
LGG Despite a successful season, Min-soo Lee parted ways with Lingalia. 40 years old Imara will have his first chance in the LBL.
GDD Nolan Clark was fired after another dissappointing year. He will try to bounce back by managing a team in the A-league of the US. His bench coach Nick Mould has been promoted to replace him.
CITY Manny Mota (1992-)
LNN Jose Mayorga (1992-)
THU Hunter Bailey (1992-)
FRE Felix Cuevas (1993-)
WHE Ahmed Wiese (1988-)
GRE Matt Curry (1989-)
TSH Rubel Cespedes (1992-)
MAP Gregory Paulino (1992-)
B&Y Andrew Lefave (1981-)
SST Oberdan Diaz (1991-)
DIA Miguel Brito (1992-)
BEA Miguel Vega (1993-)
JDT Daniel Albritton (1987-)
SEAG Ernie Banks (1988-)
GDD Nick Mould (1993-)
LGG Wolde-Selassie Imara (1993-)
Moon League
2nd division crown for City. The franchise got more than 100 wins and will now seek success in postseason. The young Rhys Lawless was vital this season, as he was named the 1993 SL MVP. The Freros finished only three games ahead of the Nang Nius and will have a chance to defend their title. The Thunders finished last another season.
The Expendables are still unchallenged as they captured another division title. De Jong was as dominant as last year and won his third Golden Ball. The Wheelies started the season really well, but unfortunately for them, they could not keep the pace and ended up behind the Maple Leaves. Narballo took the last place with nearly 100 losses.
Sun League
A tight race between the Green Goblins, the Silver Eagles and the Jade Tigers, but in the end, Lingalia won their third consecutive Colourful Valley title. 2B Teshome Shakes shined by having his best season ever. The Silver Eagles clinched the second playoff berth. The Golden Dragons had improved and were closer to a winning season.
The Black & Yellow and the Sea Stars swapt positions as the franchise from Lingalie North won their 19th division title. For his second year in the league, the 22 year old Heller Glass really blowed this year. The Sea Stars qualified for the playoffs with only one more win than the Diamonds. The Bears are still last.
The Golden Dragons chose Special Auger, a starting pitcher from Canada to be their first pick in the 1993 draft.
Moon League
First honors for these players :
Rhys Lawless(CITY),
Miguel Estrada(WHE),
Quintin Treveylan Jr.(MAP),
Charles Lacoste(CITY).
Return of
Mas Odhiambo(GRE),
P.T. Maedgen(MAP) in the ASG.
Players like
Wayt Fourcade(CITY),
Shuichi Mizusawa(CITY),
Moussier de Jong(GRE),
Run-ming Sun(LNN),
Chee-hwa Er(FRE),
Ji-e Jung(GRE),
Yun-qi Chu(CITY),
Robin Britton(LNN),
Luis Loeza(FRE),
Carl Leeson(GRE),
Alfredo Sifuentes(FRE),
Alex Nunez(FRE) are used to participate in the mid-July event.
Sun League
Comeback of
Glenn Heile(JDT) &
Teshome Shakes(LGG) in this season All-star Game.
First selection for the SL for
Edward Hanscombe(LGG),
Myung-gu Kim(BEA)
Wayne Davies(JDT),
Harris Nash(LGG),
Tony Aviles(B&Y),
Fernando Nieto(GDD),
Cesar Gomez(LGG),
Rafael de Luna(DIA),
Ian Bostock(SST),
Victor Sira (LGG),
Rudolf Palenik(DIA),
Kyle Petrillo(SEAG),
Herman Strazzer(SEAG),
Michel Dubost(SST),
Anwa Zhao(SST),
Victor Morales(SEAG) constitute the core of the SL team again.
As I stated before, unfortunately I haven't wrote down the result of this year's ASG.