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Old 02-14-2025, 06:41 PM   #2069
FuzzyRussianHat
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Join Date: Dec 2020
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2025 in BSA

Beisbol Sudamerica had used a 26-player active roster size since 1995, the largest of any of the world leagues. However, they announced the lowering of the roster to 25 beginning with the 2025 season. Several leagues were at 25 with a few even lower. Most leagues still had very large reserve rosters at their disposal to quickly swap players around.



Barranquilla took the Bolivar League’s top seed at 107-55 with a franchise record season. The Blues’ playoff streak grew to four with their third Colombia-Ecuador Division title in that run. Santa Cruz repeated as Peru-Bolivia Division champ at 103-59 and led the league in scoring with 829 runs. After seeing their Venezuela Division title streak end at seven seasons in 2024, Caracas returned to the top spot at 91-71. All three division champs took first by double-digit wins.

Four teams fought over the two wild card spots. Guayaquil got the first one at 92-70 to end a three-year playoff drought. Defending Copa Sudamerica winner Quito and La Paz tied for the second spot at 91-71 while Arequipa just missed at 88-74. The Thunderbolts defeated the Pump Jacks in the tiebreaker game to keep their repeat hopes intact. Despite missing the cut, the Arrows allowed the fewest runs at 597. La Paz notably set a new BSA team record with 521 stolen bases. Cali’s three-year playoff steak also ended with the Cyclones falling to 71-91.

Arequipa 1B Paco Amorim earned Bolivar League MVP, leading the league in runs (116), walks (96), on-base percentage (.452), OPS (1.115), wRC+ (190), and WAR (9.3). The 25-year old Brazilian added 203 hits, 45 home runs, 97 RBI, and 30 doubles. Amorim was already in his seventh season with the Arrows and had finished second in MVP voting in both 2023 and 2024.

Santa Cruz’s Bartolo Flores repeated as Pitcher of the Year, becoming a three-time winner. He posted the 13th Triple Crown pitching season in BSA history and only the third of the 21st Century with a 22-6 record, 2.31 ERA, and 359 strikeouts. It was the fifth straight year that Flores led in strikeouts. The 27-year old Ecuadoran also led in WHIP (0.92) and quality starts (26) for 8.1 WAR and 175 ERA+ over 256.2 innings.

Quito edged Caracas 2-1 in the first round, then had their repeat bid snuffed out in the divisional series 3-1 by top seed Barranquilla. The Thunderbolts had ousted the Blues the prior year in what was Barranquilla’s first-ever trip to the Bolivar League Championship Series. Guayaquil upset Santa Cruz 3-1 on the other side of the bracket, giving the Golds their first BLCS trip since 2017.

The series was a seven game classic with the top-seeded Blues surviving a feisty challenge by Guayaquil. Barranquilla was the first Colombian team to win the Bolivar League since Medellin in 2014, which was the longest drought the country had ever seen. With the Blues’ first title, all three BL expansion teams from 2009 have now won a pennant.



The Southern Cone League had a tight field as the top four playoff teams were separated by only four wins. The top two records both came out of the South Central Division with Santiago at 99-63 and Concepcion at 97-65. The Saints division title streak grew to six seasons with their tenth playoff berth in 11 years. The Chiefs’ playoff streak grew to four with their ninth berth in a decade. Concepcion allowed the fewest runs in all of BSA at 531. Santiago has now posted 17 consecutive winning seasons and the Chiefs have posted 15.

Fortaleza won the North Division at 96-66 to extend their playoff streak to five with their third division title of the run. In the Southeast Division, defending league champ Sao Paulo was the only winning team at 95-67. The Padres picked up their third division title in four seasons.

For the second wild card, Asuncion (89-73) edged out Belo Horizonte (86-76) and Manaus (86-76). The Archers were the only team in the Southern Cone League playoff field who wasn’t in it the prior year, ending a five-year drought. Asuncion was the league’s top scoring team with 783 runs.

In only his second season, Santiago two-way player Will Arocha earned Southern Cone League MVP. On the mound, the 24-year old Chilean righty led in wins (19-6), innings (256.1), and complete games (15). He posted a 2.95 ERA, 251 strikeouts, 126 ERA+, and 6.6 WAR.

Arocha also played 88 games at second base and posted 4.5 WAR offensively over 126 total games, leading the league with 23 triples. He’s likely the only player in world history to lead in pitching wins and triples in the same season. Arocha had .928 OPS, 161 wRC+, 80 runs, 18 homers, and 48 stolen bases. The Saints had gotten a steal by picking him 40th overall in the 2023 BSA Draft.

Concepcion righty Agostino Cortez won his second Pitcher of the Year, having previously done it in 2018. It was an impressive bounce-back for the 31-year old Chilean, as he missed all of 2024 to elbow ligament reconstruction surgery. For 2025, Cortez led in ERA (2.25), wins (19-9), complete games (15), shutouts (4), and FIP- (65). He struck out 227 over 231.2 innings for 164 ERA+ and 7.1 WAR.

Sao Paulo beat Asuncion 2-0 in the first round, then upset top seed Santiago 3-2 in the divisional series to keep their repeat hopes intact. The Saints’ general poor playoff luck continued as they’ve made the playoffs 12 times since 2011, but only thrice gotten beyond the divisional series with only one title in 2020. Fortaleza defeated Conception 3-1 to set up a Southern Cone League Championship rematch.

The Foxes got revenge for their 2024 defeat, stopping Sao Paulo 4-2 to win their third pennant in five years. It was Fortaleza’s 13th pennant overall and their sixth of the 21st Century, leading all teams. Despite the defeat, the Padres still have the most Southern Cone crowns at 15.



Fortaleza still couldn’t get over the final hump, losing in Copa Sudamerica for the fourth straight appearance. The 95th finale went to first-time champ Barranquilla 4-1, becoming the 27th different franchise to win the cup and the first of the 2009 expansion teams. The Foxes are now 4-9 all-time in their finals trips, tying them with Caracas and Sao Paulo for the most runner-up finishes.

LF Emerson Acosta was the star of the playoffs, winning BLCS and finals MVP for Barranquilla. The 30-year old Colombian in 16 playoff starts had 26 hits, 12 runs, 5 doubles, 3 triples, 3 homers, 10 RBI, 1.069 OPS, and 1.0 WAR. With the result, the last five cup wins have gone to Bolivar League teams, although the Blues were the first winner from Colombia since Medellin in 2014.



Other notes: Niccolo Coelho became the all-time leader in runs scored in BSA and the first to crack 2000, passing Milton Becker’s record 1980 runs. As of 2037, Coelho is one of 33 in all of world history with 2000+ runs. He also in 2025 became the 3rd in Beisbol Sudamerica to reach 3500 hits. At age 42, he was still worth 5.3 WAR in his 20th season for Recife, finishing the season at 3564 hits, 2030 runs, 878 home runs, 2140 RBI, and 163 WAR.

Coelho was already the WAR leader among BSA position players and was only 376 hits, 86 RBI, and 63 homers away from the top spots. Coelho passed Valor Melo’s 870 homers to move into the #2 slot behind Becker’s 941. Only Becker had more RBI (2226) while Owen Arcia (3940) and Javier Herrera (3597) remained ahead in hits. Coelho became the ninth with 3000+ games played in BSA in 2025 and planned on returning for 2026.

Ciudad Guayana’s Juan Rizo went 7-7 against Maturin on June 1, joining Mateo Salinas as the only players with a seven-hit game in BSA history. Through 2025, there have been only 14 seven-hit games in pro baseball history. Michael Escalante was the 22nd to score 1500 career runs. He and three others got to 2500 hits, a mark now achieved by 76 BSA batters. Cicero Lugo became the 15th BSA player to 3000 hits and the first catcher in all of baseball history to reach the mark. Ivan Sandoval was the 15th pitcher to 250 wins and the 52nd to 3500 strikeouts. Lope Martinez was the 67th pitcher to 200 wins.
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