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With Pitchers and Catchers reporting in less than 2 weeks, the Winter Leagues will come to a close this week. Let’s take a look at where each league stands and who will represent each league in the upcoming Caribbean Series.
Mexican Pacific League
Culican and Mazatlán continue to battle it out in the Mexican Pacific League. The only remaining Padre-ish prospect still in play is OF Rodrigo Orozco. I say -ish, as the 24-year old Orozco is still without a team, having elected Free Agency after the 2019 season. Orozco split time last year between AA-Amarillo and AAA-El Paso along with stints on the Injured List after being acquired from the Toronto Blue Jays in April.
Dominican League
Tigres del Licey and Toros del Este will play a deciding 7th game tonight in the Dominican League Finals. OF Abraham Almonte is the only Padre still active for the Toros, as Eguy Rosario, Manny Margot, and Emmanuel Ramirez were all placed on the reserve/inactive list for their respective teams.
Roberto Clemente League
Santurce eliminated Mayaguez last week, and will represent Puerto Rico in the upcoming Caribbean Series.
Australian Baseball League
The Aussie Baseball League heads down the final stretch before the playoffs. Several lower level Padres prospects remain in action, with OF Taylor Kohlwey leading the way. Kohlwey, who spent most of last season with AA-Amarillo with a brief stint in AAA-El Paso, sports a .317/.434/.651 slash line over 20 games in the ABL (63 ABs). He’s also shown an improved eye, drawing 12 BB to 8 Ks so far.
With the Latin American Winter Leagues wrapping up, the Caribbean Series, made up of the winter league champions from the Mexican Pacific league, the Dominican League, the Puerto Rican League, the Panamanian League, the Venezuelan League (despite on-going U.S. diplomatic sanctions), and the Colombian League (replacing Cuba due to visa issues), begins 01 FEB, and will run through 07 FEB. Up to 3 games will be played a day, with most occurring in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Games typically are broadcasted on ESPN Deportes and stream on WatchESPN, as well as on several Spanish language channels, for those who want to watch live.