[ayaghmour2]

We've now reached Opening Day for the Cuban Winter League, and for the first time since it's founding, we are not sending players to the Santa Clara Stallions. Instead, us and the crosstown Chiefs will be sending a robust group of top 100 prospects to the Cienfuegos Crocodiles. When announced, there were ten between the two teams, but now that Ernie Tisdale dropped to 101, that number dropped ever-so-slightly. I'm a bit behind on my top prospect reports, so those will continue to come up, with potentially two posts later today. I'll keep working on those until I finish our 40th ranked prospect, but each sim day we'll get a CWL update as well.

The big league team finally filled the vacancy at first base coach, as a few export issues prevented us from landing the guy we wanted. We are now stuck with 57-year-old Danny Clark, who while "Excellent" at teaching catching defense, is pretty mediocre at all things running. The issue is, that's how everyone else left is, and none of them are as useful off the field as Clark. Most recently the Cannons bench coach in 1947 and 1948, he's coached in parts of fourteen seasons, and was the San Diego Conquistadores manager for the first 80 games of the inaugural GWL season. I don't remember Clark from his time as a player, but he spent parts of eleven seasons with the Foresters, including the first two years of the human era. In total, he made 1,182 appearances and accumulated 30.7 WAR, hitting a strong .308/.362/.446 (121 OPS+) with 236 doubles, 170 triples, 19 homers, 254 steals, and 568 RBIs. His best season was his first full year as a starter in 1920, where he hit .350/.399/.422 (155 OPS+) with 108 runs, 31 doubles, 34 triples, a homer, 88 RBIs, and 34 steals. Clark led the CA in slugging, WRC+ (153), wOBA (.419), and WAR (7.9), and was rightfully named the Whitney winner as Cleveland's everyday right fielder. He had some pretty solid seasons after that, but the only other leads he had were PAs (1922, 719), at bats (1922, 644; 1923, 666), and steals (1924, 45).

Shifting focus back to the CWL, we are sending ten players who currently hold nine starting spots. The obvious headliner is top pitching prospect Bob Allen, who is set to make his CWL debut on the 23rd against the Camaguey Coyotes, who are lucky enough to have most of the Minutemen's elite prospects. Another storyline to watch is the Croc's outfield, as despite boasting 3rd ranked prospect and personal favorite of mine Rod Shearer, manager George Stone is going with an all Cougar top 100 outfield. From left to right it's Frank Reece, Jerry Smith, and Henry Norman, which may be Little Rock's eventual outfield. I can't wait to see how that goes, and while a lot of CWL teams have deep rosters, I really like how we are represented, and I think the Crocs have a chance for their second division title in three years. Here's who we'll be providing to help them get there:

RHP Bob Allen (#11 Prospect)
RHP Tommy Seymour (#310 Prospect)
RHP Ernie Tisdale (#101 Prospect)
RHP Jim Williams (#397 Prospect)
C Garland Phelps (#29 Prospect)
2B Rupert Heinbaugh (1-2, R in 4 FABL appearances)
SS Elmer Grace (#78 Prospect)
CF Henry Norman (#69 Prospect)
CF Frank Reece (#57 Prospect)
CF Jerry Smith (#8 Prospect)