By Alex Ayala
[Ed. Note] Our first projected World Baseball Classic Qualifiers roster is for Nicaragua, a team that recently announced its long-list (linked below), which is the master roster submitted to the World Baseball Classic to show the potential pool of players. Nicaragua will compete in Pool 1 against Brazil, France, Germany, Pakistan, and South Africa. It also received a first-round bye after finishing second in Qualifier 2 in 2017, meaning it needs only two wins to advance to the 2021 World Baseball Classic.
Although Ayala first published his projected roster in January 2019, he predicted both young minor leaguers and Liga de Béisbol Professional Nacional (LBPN, the Nicaraguan National League) players with incredible foresight. Since then, Wilton Lopez has absented himself to “rest and focus on his water park” [link] (!) and Everth Cabrera also declined a position. Otherwise, only the bench and bullpen have significant changes. In fact, In fact, his list was mirrored closely by La Prensa [link], the Nicaragua paper with the most active baseball coverage. We turn things over now to Ayala, complete with his original comments.
Here is the potential WBC team for Nicaragua. Assuming the team receives all their players, you’ll see plenty of current MLB players. This is a team mixed with plenty of former and current minor leaguers with some playing in higher leagues. Definitely competitive enough to hold their own against tougher competition thanks to their pitching depth, Hitting might be a problem though. Can definitely beat some of the weaker teams in the main tournament. Could see them like upstart Colombia if managed right. In the qualifiers, if put in a tough pool, they can still win it, it just won’t be as easy.
- The team is a favorite to qualify for the main tournament [if] everything clicks.
- Strong enough to potentially win first round of main tournament and advance to the second round.
Rotation
Position |
Player |
Team |
Current/Peak |
SP |
Erasmo Ramírez |
Mets |
Majors |
SP |
JC Ramírez |
Free Agent |
Majors |
SP |
Jonathan Loaisiga |
Yankees |
Majors |
SP |
Wilton López |
Free Agent |
Former ML |
SP |
Roniel Raudes |
Red Sox |
High-A |
SP |
Leo Crawford |
Dodgers |
Double-A |
Bullpen
Position |
Player |
Team |
Current/Peak |
SP/RP |
Carlos Teller |
Durango |
Mexican Baseball League |
SP/RP |
Dilmer Mejía |
Braves |
High-A |
RP |
Diomar Lopez |
Reds |
High-A |
RP |
Kevin Gadea |
LBPN |
Full-Season A |
RP |
Jairo Beras |
Rangers |
Double-A |
RP |
Fidencio Flores |
Free Agent |
GCL |
RP |
Jorge Bucardo |
LBPN |
Triple-A |
RP |
Randy Pondler |
Blue Jays |
Double-A |
RP |
Nelson Leon |
Mets |
Full-Season A |
SP/RP |
Osmán Gutierrez |
Free Agent |
Full Season |
SP |
Nixson Munoz |
Red Sox |
DSL |
RP |
Carlos Gonzalez |
Free Agent |
Double-A |
RP |
Jhonny Polanco |
Free Agent |
Double-A |
RP |
Berman Espinoza |
Free Agent |
VSL |
Cheslor Cuthbert, Copyright @BeisbolNic.
Line-Up
Position |
Player |
Team |
Current/Peak |
CF |
Ismael Munguía |
Giants |
Full-Season A |
DH |
Everth Cabrera |
Los Mochis |
MLB |
SS |
Álex Blandino |
Reds |
MLB |
3B |
Cheslor Cuthbert |
White Sox |
MLB |
DH |
Wuillians Vasquez |
LBPN |
Full-Season A |
1B |
Ofilio Castro |
LBPN |
Double-A |
2B |
Elmer Reyes |
LBPN |
Triple-A |
C |
Melvin Novoa |
Rangers |
High-A |
LF |
Jilton Calderon |
Never Signed |
Caribbean Series |
LF |
Renato Morales |
Free Agent |
High-A |
RF |
Dwight Britton |
Never Signed |
Bench
| Position | Player | Team | Current/Peak |
C |
Janior Montes |
Never Signed |
|
C |
Rodolfo Bone |
Giants |
AZL |
C/INF |
Edgard Montiel |
Citta (IBL) |
DSL |
INF |
Omar Obregon |
Free Agent |
High-A |
INF |
Brandon Leyton |
Diamondbacks |
Full-Season A |
OF |
Isaac Benard |
Florence |
Low-A |
OF |
Gean Rigby |
Free Agent |
DSL |
INF |
Ronald Garth |
Free Agent |
High-A |
Team training at the National Stadium, Copyright @selebeisbolnic.
Strength: Pitching, particularly the starting rotation.
Man, that’s a great starting three to have. If they have those starters in the qualifiers I put them as favorites to win a spot in the main tournament. If this team makes it to the main tournament, the SP alone would help them keep games close with first-tier teams like DR and PR. With a rotation like that, there is probably a good chance this team might not get regulated back to the qualifier if they face one of the weaker teams like Italy, Australia, or Cuba and win.
Bullpen is hit or miss. They definitely have pieces to hold the lead or keep a game close, especially since two starting pitchers will probably be in the bullpen. With those SP there, they could do tandem starting, especially with the pitching limits in the first round of the WBC. Only four pitchers are currently in the [high] minors [and] everybody else either never pitched past full season before being released.
In other words, the former minor leaguers in the bullpen would really need to have strong performances if they are used in the main tournament. In the qualifiers, the bullpen can probably hold their own and be solid if things go well.
Weakness: Hitting
Besides Cheslor Cuthbert and Álex Blandino, they really don’t have much to offer. Their hitters can probably be good enough in the qualifiers but if this team makes it to the main tournament, I believe their hitters will have a hard time against more advanced pitching.
There are two players in the Mexican League who can probably hold their own, but besides Everth Cabera who played in the Majors, Elmer Reyes never hit MLB pitching before (though he does have minor league experience going as high as Triple-A and is [a career .317 hitter] in Mexico). Nearly everyone else either was never signed or was released, never making it past Double-A, aside from two current minor league players.
Our series continues tomorrow with Panamá.
Articles in this series:
Introduction [Link]
Pakistan [Link]
Panama [Link]
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