Reviewing the IBL Europe Divisionby Hasan Khan, Sports Editor (Karachi Dawn)December 16, 2106Updated December 20, 2106 – updates in blue italics below (Black Forest & Scottish) Updated December 27, 2106 – updates in red italics below (Rome) Updated January 3, 2107 – updates in green italics below (Rome & Scottish)Technically the Afro-European Division, the defection of a team from Lagos to Rome in 2105 leaves the division without an African representative. Paris is the class of the division, having won it six years running and won the IBL and WBA championship in 2105. What will happen in 2107?
Paris Fleur-de-LisOff its division crown, Paris lost five players to free agency and has signed nobody, but the only loss that really matters is
Veniamin Ekstein who had 115 career victories for the Fleur-de-Lis over seven seasons. Losing a lifetime 2.57 ERA starter is tough to take. Ekstein won’t burn Paris during the regular season as he has signed a long-term deal in the ABL with Los Angeles.
Antar Kisaya,
Zuleide Rainha, and
Juan-Pascal Lemon will top a rotation that will be poorer for Ekstein’s absence. Maybe
Jagannathan Surendranach will come out of the bullpen to join the rotation.
Sissay Dato is a top-notch closer and
Balya Virenda is a quality arm, but the bullpen would miss Surendranach is he goes to the rotation. The offense is solid led by a brilliant outfield of
Harsendu Dhurvasu,
Gaeton Lecroix, and
Rajminder Omarjeet. Shortstop
Cisco Argente anchors a solid but unspectacular infield, and Paris has two more than capable catchers. It all adds up to a run on an eighth straight divisional crown.
Black Forest FoxesThe Foxes beat out Scottish for second place by one game. Off that finish, second baseman
Kaleb Kabaija, center fielder
Jorund Ringstad, closer
Jae-hong Park, and three other players chose free agency. The team has signed outfielder
Sammy Roberts, reliever
Seung-kab Park. and young third baseman
Wilbur Allen as replacements. Park looks like he will become the closer in a bullpen that otherwise lacks quality. The rotation is headed by superb right-hander
Serhat Karpat. If
Dhrtatman Nageshwar can come close to repeating his 17-4 record as a rookie, the rotation will be fine. The big names in the field are outfielder
Dhritiman Sangha, outfielder
Indradu Minaksi and young first baseman
Bang Luo. A lot rides on over-achieving catcher
Eustachio Clementi and free agent Allen at third base. There are enough question marks to make one think a second place finish is the best that could be expected.
On December 20 Black Forest announced a trade with Santo Domingo that resulted in the acquisition of third baseman Chi-seong Kim for a minor league pitching prospect. Kim, who earns more than $5.0 million a year, is more experienced at third base than Wilbur Allen, and he could also play right field. In our mind, however, the Foxes may have been better off sticking with Allen and saving the $$. Kim doesn’t appreciably upgrade the outlook for Black Forest.Scottish ClaymoresFor those wondering “what the hell is a claymore?”, it is a two-edged broadsword used by Scottish Highlanders although the term also used for a type of antipersonnel mine.One game behind Black Forest came the Scottish Claymores. They have yet to sign any free agents after losing closer
Kiyomitsu Nakamura and starting pitcher
Kolenka Zamoraev. While there are three or four rookies in AAA that might step up, the Scottish roster looks like it needs help.
Han-wu Han,
Khamurti Preetish and
Jose Hernandez are solid enough starters but it thins out from there. The bullpen lacks depth. Young
Shi-fu Cen may be the best reliever while
Dae-je Chon is going on 36 years old. The catching crew is marginal as is the middle infield, not good omens if you prize strength up the middle. First base is ably manned by
Alan Waddington (although he has yet to prove he can hit big league pitching) as is third base by
Arjun Bhoola.
Aziz Ahmadzai is an all-star caliber center fielder who led the league in hitting last year and
Shao-zu Huang is aging but more than adequate in left. Like Black Forest, Scottish has question marks. Could both teams be out-battled for second place by someone from below?
On December 20 the Claymores signed five free agents. Second baseman Manny Martinez and relief pitcher Sergio Costello were signed to minor league contracts with signing bonuses. Both could end up on the Scottish roster. More importantly, closer Kiyomitsu Nakamura signed a three year deal that returns him to the Claymores after declaring himself a free agent. He gives Scottish a solid closer. First baseman/catcher Jose Aguila signed a five-year deal worth $41 million and will likely start behind the plate. And finally second baseman Jose Estrada signed for three years at more than $5 million per year. His .324 batting average and Aguila’s 28 home runs from last year seriously upgrade the Scottish offense. These additions make Scottish a better team than Black Forest but probably still not good enough to challenge Paris.On December 31st Scottish added another major free agent signee to the roster in the person of third baseman Arjun Bhoola who brings experience, power, and speed to the lineup. He had a WAR over 4.0 last season with Scottish and returns to the Claymores (like Nakamura) after testing the free agent marketplace. Scottish will have a much better infield that anticipated before free agency. Rome GeneralsThe Generals lost an amazing eleven players to free agency. The one that matters the most is slugging first baseman
Juan Hernandez, but they will also miss relief pitcher
Manny Perez and starting pitchers
Andrey Danilenko and
Adam Maloney. Rome has signed seven new players including left fielder
Pavlusha Zakratov and starting pitchers
Devin Mata,
Ignacio Cuevas, and
Albert Padilla. The new starters will be bottom of the rotation behind
Amud Macaira and
Guoncale Guala.
Shi-ping Lao and young
Jian-Cheng Mai are strong relievers in what looks like a very thin bullpen.
Melchor Sarmietnto and
Shaun Clapp backbone a good outfield.
Sebaldus Seppelt is a decent catcher with some power, and shortstop
Mikita Agaev anchors an infield that is woefully short of talent other than aging
Beni Mokate who could play first or second. There are probably too many holes to permit a run at the division, and the Generals may not have enough to move up ahead of Scottish or Black Forest.
On December 27th Rome signed free agent third baseman Eligio Sciama who props up the undermanned infield. Sciama, an Italian who will be wildly popular with the fans in Rome, hit .329 last season and adds some serious offense punch to the lineup. Enough to move them up? – most likely not, but it tightens up the race behind Paris. On December 30th Rome continued to improve their team by signing closer German Mejia to a five-year deal with two player options worth more than $20 million in total. Mejia, who was a starter for three years in the ABL, cemented his reputation as a closer by leading the IBL in saves last year with 43. Thus, the Generals significantly improved their bullpen, and, combined with the Sciama signing, have now significantly improved their chances of being in the hunt for a wild card spot. London MonarchsOnly once in their history has London finished above .500, and the team finished last in 2106. Oddly London lost no one to free agency and have not signed a free agent. The team did trade
Cheng-en Jiang after an abortive attempt to convert the first baseman to the outfield. The prospects acquired in return won’t help London this season. London’s pitching staff actually looks decent. Veteran starters
Pei Chan and
Moriz Ishemgujin were disappointing last year, but young
Da-yung Jung,
Yu-shu Lung, and
Workneh Mitundi should all improve. If he stays injury free,
Byung-sik Lim is a fine closer and
Rodrigo Rojas is a solid reliever.
Caseareo Carena may finally live up to potential. On offense London’s oldest player is 26, so lots of people have to live up to potential, but the potential is there. First baseman
Ghanaram Tuhin and second baseman
Min-zhong Au are already there. On top of their current major league roster London has a slew of pitchers and position players getting close to major league at AAA Southampton, and some of them may help this year. Look for London to definitely move out of the cellar, possibly to second place and with the right development luck to even battle for the Euro crown.
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