The Licey, representing the city of Santo Domingo in the nine-game semifinals of the Dominican Winter Professional League that start on Sunday, 2 January at the Santo Domingo Quisqueya Ball Park, has assembled a dream team that would be the envy of any Major League team, as reported in Hoy newspaper. Team members include:
Vladimir Guerrero (Anaheim Angels), the MLB 2005 American League MVP, Jose Guillen (Washington Nationals) and Eric Byrnes (Oakland Athletics). Also playing are Ronnie Belliard (Cleveland Indians), Deivi Cruz (San Francisco Giants) and Cristian Guzman (Minnesota Twins). Other players are D’Angelo Jimenez (Cincinnati Reds), Carlos Pena (Detroit Tigers), Timoniel Perez (Chicago White Sox), Jose Offerman (Minnesota Twins) and Henry Rodriguez (Pittsburgh Pirates). Pitchers are Felix Rodriguez (New York Yankees) and Jose Jimenez (Cleveland Indians). Others on the pitching staff are Manny Aybar (New York Mets), Juan Cedeno (Boston Red Sox), Wilton Chavez (Washington Nationals), Juan Cruz (Oakland Athletics), Felix Diaz (Chicago White Sox), Pedro Liriano (Philadelphia Phillies), Vladimir Nunez (Colorado Rockies), Roberto Novoa (Detroit Tigers), Jorge Sosa (Tampa Bay Devilrays) and Yhency Brazoban (Los Angeles Dodgers), as reported in Hoy newspaper.
The Tigres del Licey qualified along with the Aguilas Cibaenas (Santiago), Gigantes (San Francisco de Macoris), Estrellas (San Pedro de Macoris) for the round robin that starts 2 January.