Fall/Winter League Roundup: Caguas wins title over Shugart's Mayaguez

Baseball ended in the Roberto Clemente League this past week, as Caguas won the championship. The Nicaragua League and Panama Leagues are still in action. This week's roundup covers the week of January 17 through January 23. 

Roberto Clemente Professional Baseball League 

Caguas took home the Roberto Clemente Winter League championship last week. Chase Shugart (pictured) saw an appearance in the final game of the series loss for Mayaguez, tossing 1 1/3 frames, allowing no runs with two strikeouts and a walk. He also pitched an inning in Game Three of the series, surrendering a run on three hits. Overall, Shugart had a solid series, with a 2.70 ERA and three strikeouts in 3 1/3 innings. 

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Fall/Winter League Roundup: Shugart rolls on, Raudes returns in Nicaragua

The playoffs continued in Puerto Rico, while an old fan favorite had an under-the-radar return in Nicaragua. This week's roundup covers the week of January 10 through January 16. 

Roberto Clemente Professional Baseball League

The semifinals concluded, with Caguas and Mayaguez making it to the best-of-seven final series. Christian Vazquez and Santurce were eliminated last week. Vazquez went 5 for 24 over six games with an OPS of just .458. Chase Shugart was dominant in the semifinals for Mayaguez, striking out six and allowing just one baserunner over three innings. Mayaguez went back to Shugart in Game One of the championship series, and he turned in another clean inning in a Mayaguez victory. The series is tied up at 1-1 moving into the final week. 

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Fall/Winter League Roundup: Vazquez & Shugart make playoffs

It is a bit of a quiet week in the Winter Leagues for Red Sox prospects with all the leagues moving from the regular season to their playoffs with the lone exception of the Panamá Professional Baseball League whose regular season ends on Tuesday. The Dominican Professional Baseball League, Mexican Pacific League, and Venezuelan Professional Baseball League continued their playoffs this week, though no Red Sox prospects appeared. This week's roundup covers the week of January 3 through January 9. 

Roberto Clemente Professional Baseball League

On Monday, the league wrapped up its regular season. Four teams with the playoffs with two Red Sox making it to the postseason - righty Chase Shugart (pictured, right) for Indios de Mayaguez and first baseman & catcher Christian Vazquez for Sanurce Crabbers. Shortstop Matthew Lugo and catcher Juan Montero were both a part of the playoff-bound Crollos De Caguas at points this season but neither has played in quite a while.

Shugart saw action in Mayaguez's second game of the playoffs on Sunday, pitching a scoreless seventh inning walking one, and striking out two. It continued an impressive winter for the 25-year-old who now has a 2.84 ERA, 1.11 WHIP, and nine strikeouts over 6 and 1/3 innings. Vazquez played in both games for Sancurce, going 3 for 11 with a run, a walk, and a strikeout. All three hits were singles and he saw time at both catcher and first base. The playoffs continue Tuesday with the second game of Mayaguez vs Carolina. 

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Podcast Ep. 237: New Year's Resolutions

Happy New Year! Chris and Ian rang in 2022 with prospect resolutions - what should some of the system's top prospects resolve to change in the new season? And after some brief news, it was time to open a MASSIVE mailbag, as you all came through big-time to help us through the lockout doldrums with a big episode. Who has the top tools in the system? What is going to happen on the left side of the infield? Who were the guys' favorite prospects coming up? that and more on this episode!

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Minor Notes: Roster begins to take shape before lockout

We welcome you to our new and (hopefully improved) regular notes column. Running monthly in the offseason and weekly once spring training begins, this space will serve mostly as a catch-up for anything you may have missed. In the past, this space has served as sort of a compendium of links about news and articles. The readership showed that perhaps folks were finding this news organically, through social media and other outlets. So, going forward, we're going to try to provide you with a bit more direct analysis--of transactions, who is playing well, what is happening around the organization, and so forth. Of course, we value your feedback. If you have ideas, look us up on our forums, hit us up on social media, or shoot us an email. We want to write about what you want to read about. 

The pending lockout on December 2 led to a flurry of moves right at the end of November and beginning of December. The Red Sox made three major moves, trading their starting right fielder and signing two starters just before the break. There was also movement on the coaching staff and some standout performances in the winter leagues to report.

Transactions

Acquired Jackie Bradley (pictured), Alex Binelas, and David Hamilton from Milwaukee in exchange for Hunter Renfroe

The biggest move of the offseason  was notable both on the surface as well as a clear representation of how differently the front-office is run from the Dombrowski years. Renfroe, signed a year ago after being non-tendered by Tampa, gave the team a year of solid right-field play and unleashed some highlight-reel throws. He finished third on the team with a .501 slugging percentage, but supplemented that with just a .315 OBP and struggled badly in the ALCS, going 1 for 16 with eight strikeouts. Value re-established the Red Sox flipped him to Milwaukee for two prospects who slotted straight into the system's top 30, and veteran defensive specialist with some familiarity to Red Sox fans. 

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SoxProspects.com top stories of 2021

The 2021 season was not quite a return to normalcy, especially at the minor league level. However, a full slate of games something more closely resembling a traditional operation here at SoxProspects.com, a resurgent major league squad, and the organization's highest draft pick in over 50 years led to a surge in interest in the system. With that background, we present our most-read articles and most-downloaded podcasts of 2021.

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Fall/Winter League Roundup: Regular season closes in Puerto Rico

Now that the calendar has flipped to 2022, the Caribbean winter leagues are headed down the home stretch, with the Caribbean Series scheduled to begin at the end of the month. The Dominican Professional Baseball League, Mexican Pacific League and Venezuelan Professional Baseball League started their playoffs this week, though no Red Sox prospects appeared. Meanwhile, the Roberto Clemente Professional Baseball League wraps up its regular season January 3 and the Panama Professional Baseball League will also move to the postseason next week. This week's roundup covers the week of December 26 through January 2. 

Roberto Clemente Professional Baseball League (Puerto Rico)

 

It was the final week of the regular season in Puerto Rico before the playoffs begin January 4.  Chase Shugart (pictured) threw three clean innings with three strikeouts across two appearances, pitching for Mayaguez, while Juan Montero appeared exclusively as a defensive replacement behind the plate for Caguas. Big leaguer Christian Vazquez has been playing first base and designated hitter for Santurce to get some at-bats in and was 4 for 22 on the week, with two runs, two RBI, a pair of strikeouts and a walk.

 

There is one more day of regular season play before the postseason.

 

Panama Professional Baseball League

The league has entered the final week of its regular season before the playoffs begin January 11. Jonathan Arauz has slashed .200/.286/.240 across 25 at-bats so far this season, while Eduardo Vaughan has hit .242/.359/.364 in 33 at-bats.

Photo Credit: Chase Shugart by Kelly O'Connor

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