Dominican Baseball Experts: Your Opinion.

frank alvarez · Jul 25, 2005

For the upcoming Baseball World Competition, Dominican baseball fans are fantasizing on the possible line-ups. I have one that follows below but I do not know of any catchers. There are none in the majors right now but there must be some in AAA or AA. Does anyone know? How about this line-up?

1. Alfonso Soriano (2B) - Texas Rangers
2. Miguel Tejada (SS) - Baltimore Orioles
3. Manny Ramirez (OF) - Boston Red Sox
4. David Ortiz (DH) - Boston Red Sox
5. Albert Pujols (1B) - St. Louis Cardinals
6. Vladimir Guerrero (OF) - Anaheim Angels
7. Aramis Ramirez (3B) - Chicago Cubs
8. Jose Guillen (OF) - Washington Nationals
9. ??? (C) - ???

Let A-Rod play for the U.S.; we can do fine without him.

Pitchers: Pedro Martinez and Bartolo Colon the 1 and 2...any ideas for 3 and 4 and Relievers?

Plenty of good reserves such as Jose Reyes, Rafael Furcal, Luis Castillo, Sammy Sosa, etc., etc. Can anyone complete a 25-man roster?

BigCity27 · Jul 25, 2005

try going here: http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/players?country=19

rellosk · Jul 25, 2005

Here are some Dominican major league catchers. None are very good. There may be others.

Juan Brito - unsigned
Alberto Castillo - KC
Sandy Martinez - unsigned
Pascual Matos - unsigned
Ronny Paulino - Pittsburgh

toneloc24 · Jul 25, 2005

Thanks for giving us A-Rod!!! Now.....

Since you wanted to go down this path, you're acting like the USA won't shut the DR down. After Pedro, you have suspect pitching and fielding. As we know great pitching ALWAYS trumps great hitting. You really might want to re-think this.

The DR has a great group of individual talent, without question. Now put them on the field together and see what happens. My US team has specific positions, and plenty of quality depth at each position. Still wanna battle?

SP - Roger Clemens/Mark Prior
SP - Randy Johnson/Kerry Wood
SP - Curt Schilling/Jake Peavy
SP - Roy Oswalt/Jon Garland
SP - Chris Carpenter/Mark Buehrle
SP/RP - John Smoltz
SP/RP - Roy Halladay
RP - Brad Lidge/Jason Isringhauser/Derrick Turnbow
RP - Joe Nathan/Trevor Hoffman/Braden Looper
RP - Billy Wagner/B.J. Ryan

1B - Derrek Lee/Mark Teixiera
2B - Brian Roberts/Jeff Kent
SS - Derek Jeter/Michael Young/Chone Figgins
3B - Alex Rodriguez/Morgan Ensberg
LF - Barry Bonds/Cliff Floyd
CF - Ken Griffey Jr/Jim Edmonds/Johnny Damon/Tori Hunter
RF - Gary Sheffield/Adam Dunn
C - Jason Varitek/Joe Mauer/Mike Piazza

Any questions?

frank alvarez · Jul 25, 2005

Thank You!

BigCity27 said:
try going here: http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/players?country=19

Great info. Thanks. Found some catchers too.

trina · Jul 25, 2005

rellosk said:
Here are some Dominican major league catchers. None are very good. There may be others.

Juan Brito - unsigned
Alberto Castillo - KC
Sandy Martinez - unsigned
Pascual Matos - unsigned
Ronny Paulino - Pittsburgh

Too bad Puerto Rico couldn't lend us a good catcher, like Ivan Rodriguez or one of the Molina bros. For a Dominican catcher, I'd go with Alberto Castillo or Miguel Olivo. Rellosk is right, though, that is one position they're lacking.

frank alvarez · Jul 25, 2005

Can't really compete with the U.S.

toneloc24 said:
Since you wanted to go down this path, you're acting like the USA won't shut the DR down. After Pedro, you have suspect pitching and fielding. As we know great pitching ALWAYS trumps great hitting. You really might want to re-think this.

The DR has a great group of individual talent, without question. Now put them on the field together and see what happens. My US team has specific positions, and plenty of quality depth at each position. Still wanna battle?

SP - Roger Clemens/Mark Prior
SP - Randy Johnson/Kerry Wood
SP - Curt Schilling/Jake Peavy
SP - Roy Oswalt/Jon Garland
SP - Chris Carpenter/Mark Buehrle
SP/RP - John Smoltz
SP/RP - Roy Halladay
RP - Brad Lidge/Jason Isringhauser/Derrick Turnbow
RP - Joe Nathan/Trevor Hoffman/Braden Looper
RP - Billy Wagner/B.J. Ryan

1B - Derrek Lee/Mark Teixiera
2B - Brian Roberts/Jeff Kent
SS - Derek Jeter/Michael Young/Chone Figgins
3B - Alex Rodriguez/Morgan Ensberg
LF - Barry Bonds/Cliff Floyd
CF - Ken Griffey Jr/Jim Edmonds/Johnny Damon/Tori Hunter
RF - Gary Sheffield/Adam Dunn
C - Jason Varitek/Joe Mauer/Mike Piazza

Any questions?

Awesome Line-up! The DR is a great line-up for a tiny country of 9 million people though you are right about pitching and fielding. Why did you bring me down to reality so quickly? Thanks for your input.

trina · Jul 25, 2005

frank alvarez said:
Awesome Line-up! The DR is a great line-up for a tiny country of 9 million people though you are right about pitching and fielding. Why did you bring me down to reality so quickly? Thanks for your input.

I have supreme faith the DR is going to kick some Yankee butt.

BigCity27 · Jul 25, 2005

trina said:
I have supreme faith the DR is going to kick some Yankee butt.

They have a tough draw in the first round going against Venezuela. Will be pretty tough to best Johan Santana or Carlos Zambrano (if they play), plus the hitting of Abreu, Cabrera, and others.

toneloc24 · Jul 25, 2005

BigCity27 said:
They have a tough draw in the first round going against Venezuela. Will be pretty tough to best Johan Santana or Carlos Zambrano (if they play), plus the hitting of Abreu, Cabrera, and others.

Yeah, Trina. Do NOT look past Venezuela. The Zambrano boys and Santana will play. They can shut the DR lineup down.

Remember, DR has very little quality pitching. This isn't fantasy baseball. All hitting, no pitching, no catching. Prospects don't look good.

toneloc24 · Jul 25, 2005

frank alvarez said:
Awesome Line-up! The DR is a great line-up for a tiny country of 9 million people though you are right about pitching and fielding. Why did you bring me down to reality so quickly? Thanks for your input.

People seem to lose their mind in all their pride of the DR, and sometimes they lose focus on reality.

Yes, the DR has plenty of talent for an island of 9+ million. However, the USA team is the team to beat, bottom-line.

SKY · Jul 25, 2005

One important thing to consider is who will actually play. You can list many players but not all of them will play.

However, I will venture to say that with the possible exception of Sosa, every Domincan will be there. You cannot guarantee the same for the U.S.

toneloc24 · Jul 25, 2005

SKY said:
One important thing to consider is who will actually play. You can list many players but not all of them will play.

However, I will venture to say that with the possible exception of Sosa, every Domincan will be there. You cannot guarantee the same for the U.S.

And if you noticed, I listed pretty much a 1st and 2nd team, in some cases 3rd team. Therefore, if ARod, Randy Johnson and Gary Sheffield opt out of playing, there are more than capable back-ups available.

Now if Pedro opts out or is forced to sit it out ($$$), esp. since the season is upcoming and Pedro's arm is already frail, who's your back-up? Bartolo Colon? Then who's your 2nd starter, 3rd, or 4th starters? Same with Manny or Pujols ($$$). Can you replace them?

Then you got the whole who's your catcher issue?

Then you got the whole who's playing CF thing?

This is all done with a quick glance at the OP's lineup. Pitching and defense is as important and probably more important than hitting. Offense is a given, but if you can't stop anybody, and they can limit you, what's left? No one's on this team who can manufacture runs in a tight ballgame. No one's there to steal a base in a pinch. Power alone won't win it.

As you see, I've already found holes in the OP's thinking. It won't be any kind of smooth-sailing. It just looks and sounds good on paper, but it's a DR dream. Get by Venezuela first, then we can talk.

easygoin · Jul 25, 2005

Lite snack, easy pickings,beat like a big base drum.

toneloc24 said:
Since you wanted to go down this path, you're acting like the USA won't shut the DR down. After Pedro, you have suspect pitching and fielding. As we know great pitching ALWAYS trumps great hitting. You really might want to re-think this.

The DR has a great group of individual talent, without question. Now put them on the field together and see what happens. My US team has specific positions, and plenty of quality depth at each position. Still wanna battle?

SP - Roger Clemens/Mark Prior
SP - Randy Johnson/Kerry Wood
SP - Curt Schilling/Jake Peavy
SP - Roy Oswalt/Jon Garland
SP - Chris Carpenter/Mark Buehrle
SP/RP - John Smoltz
SP/RP - Roy Halladay
RP - Brad Lidge/Jason Isringhauser/Derrick Turnbow
RP - Joe Nathan/Trevor Hoffman/Braden Looper
RP - Billy Wagner/B.J. Ryan

1B - Derrek Lee/Mark Teixiera
2B - Brian Roberts/Jeff Kent
SS - Derek Jeter/Michael Young/Chone Figgins
3B - Alex Rodriguez/Morgan Ensberg
LF - Barry Bonds/Cliff Floyd
CF - Ken Griffey Jr/Jim Edmonds/Johnny Damon/Tori Hunter
RF - Gary Sheffield/Adam Dunn
C - Jason Varitek/Joe Mauer/Mike Piazza

Any questions?

But they really believe they have a chance... hello. They have players in the lineup... that they talk about all the time and produced three or four years, and think their hall of Famers . And I truly believe they honestly think that after such a short time in the game they're going to take over Major league baseball.

No arms, catcher, or anybody else to ride the pine and pick splinters nonetheless starters.

Just pack a BIG lunch,.... because you'll be a light snack to us.

Don't get me wrong you have quality ballplayers. And at least you have hope.

SKY · Jul 26, 2005

If it is so easy, anybody out there interested in a friendly wager. I will take 5/1 odds on the D.R. against the U.S. The winner must win the whole tournament.

$50,000 to my $10,000. I am serious. PM me if you are interested. We can put up the cash and draw up a contract with Fabio.

This is U.S. dollars, and if you want to play higher let me know.

frank alvarez · Jul 26, 2005

Let me keep dreaming.

OK; without taking into consideration many factors that make baseball interesting and a game requiring intelligent moves, let me put forth the DR team (25-man roster) just for fantasy's sake.

Manager - Felipe Alou - Giants
Starters and Batting Order / Bench
1. A. Soriano - 2B - Rangers / L. Castillo - 2B - Marlins
2. M. Tejada - SS - Orioles / J. Reyes - SS - Mets
3. M. Ramirez - LF - RedSox / J. Franco - 1B - Braves
4. D. Ortiz - DH - RedSox / A. Beltre - 3B - Mariners
5. A. Pujols - 1B - Cards / M. Alou - OF - Giants
6. V. Guerrero - CF - Angels / S. Sosa - OF - Orioles
7. A. Ramirez - 3B - Cubs / A. Castillo - C - Royals
8. J. Guillen - RF - Nationals
9. M. Olivo - C - Mariners
Starting Pitchers / Relief Pitchers
1. P. Martinez - Mets / A. Benitez - Giants
2. B. Colon - Angels / J. Mesa - Pirates
3. O. Perez - Dodgers / J. Tavarez - Cards
4. P. Astacio - Padres / F. Cordero - Rangers
O. Dotel - A's
Granted, we don't have a true center fielder, questionable catching and perhaps not as much quality pitching depth as Venezuela, say, but still, in a short series anything can happen and our murderer's row of hitters cannot be matched by Venezuela or the U.S. I think the U.S. is the team to beat but the DR is very well represented and still has around 70 major leaguers left out.
We shall see.

SKY · Jul 26, 2005

I keep checking my PM?s and see nothing. Where is all the big money in the U.S????

As they say in Brooklyn. PUT UP OR SHUT UP!!!

trina · Jul 26, 2005

toneloc24 said:
Yeah, Trina. Do NOT look past Venezuela. The Zambrano boys and Santana will play. They can shut the DR lineup down.

Remember, DR has very little quality pitching. This isn't fantasy baseball. All hitting, no pitching, no catching. Prospects don't look good.

Sure, the Zambrano boys, Santana, and hmmmmmmmmmmmmm...not much else, compared to the DR, is there? Of course, you could argue they also have Abreu, the All-Star batting wonder, but what else has he done lately? The pitchers can't do everything...who's gonna bat??? Thought about that aspect at all? US and DR are the teams to beat, hands down. I'm looking forward to the DR kicking some Yankee butt all over the field.

rellosk · Jul 26, 2005

SKY said:
I keep checking my PM?s and see nothing. Where is all the big money in the U.S????

As they say in Brooklyn. PUT UP OR SHUT UP!!!

Nobody in their right mind is going to place a bet when they don't know the players on each team or even the format of the competition. Additionally, the way you phrased the bet, it's possible their will be no winner.

BTW, I'm also not sure the legitimacy of a gambling contract.

toneloc24 · Jul 26, 2005

SKY said:
I keep checking my PM?s and see nothing. Where is all the big money in the U.S????

As they say in Brooklyn. PUT UP OR SHUT UP!!!

5-to-1 odds with stipulations? You're FOS (full of sh-t). Some pride in your team. LOL!!!

And I'm from Brownsville, NEVER RAN,NEVER WILL.

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