The Italian Baseball League opens the 2012 season on Thursday with the clash between Cariparma Parma and Unipol Bologna at 8pm. Other matchups in week one will be Grosseto Baseball against the Godo Knights, Novara United versus defending champion T&A San Marino and Telemarket Rimini against Danesi Nettuno. As usual in the last couple of years San Marino, Nettuno, Bologna, Rimini and Parma should be considered favorites. Grosseto, Godo and Novara hope for surprises. Let’s take a look at each team’s winter.
T&A San Marino
After 2008 T&A San Marino won the IBL championship for the second time in team history, the first year with Mauro Mazzotti as general manager. Additionally they won the European Champions Cup and topped out Mister-Baseball European Top 50. They had to replace Wuilliuans Vasquez, Henry Bonilla and Anthony Granato among others. But on the plus side they got a promising shortstop with Daniel Bittar, pitchers Yulman Ribeiro, Chris Cooper and Rodney Rodriguez and infielders Joe Mazzuca and Marco Yepez. They solely recruited within in the league, hoping to avoid any surprises with new import players. With that they should be in a position to defend their title in Italy and in Europe.
Danesi Nettuno
The vice champion Danesi Nettuno filled plenty of headlines. Just recently the back and forth between front office and drop-out Dirk Hayhurst put them on the map all over the globe. They revamped their roster, losing Kris Wilson (retired), Jose Escalona (suspended), Kelly Ramos, Olmo Rosario (suspended), Juan Camilo, Jose Estebin Cruz and Carlos Pezzullo as the biggest names. Except the Hayhurst disaster they however had a good winter with arrivals. They got the Spain’s best pitcher in 2011 with Ricardo Hernandez, former Major Leaguers William Bergolla and Ray Sadler and pitchers Santos Hernandez, Juan Figueroa and Riccardo De Santis. They will be back in the mix for the top four.
Unipol Bologna
Unipol Bologna dominated during the regular season, but disappointed in the postseason to miss the Italian Series in 2011. They weren’t as busy as others during the offseason, but were able to add interesting pieces. Edgar Clemente, Julio Ramirez, Yulman Ribeiro, Joe Mazzuca, Juan Pablo Angrisano and Victor Moreno won’t be with them. Claudio Liverziani will be back after his suspension. Leonardo De Donno and Alessandro Vaglio came from Grosseto. Luca Panerati joins after his Reds release. The biggest and only foreign acquisition has been Takahito Sato, a slugger from Japan. It is quite possible that Fortitudo adds import power after the end of Spring Training in Florida and Arizona. With Sato and the returning Jesus Matos only two foreign spots are filled right now. It is not going to be easy for Bologna in this year’s campaign, but they should at least make the playoffs.
Cariparma Parma
They barely made the playoffs in 2011, where Cariparma Parma missed out on a trip to the finals with just three wins in nine games. They missed the consistency and depth in comparison to San Marino or Nettuno. Davide Dallospedale and Orlando Munoz retired. Marco Yepez, Roberto Corradini and Rodney Medina left. They won the race for Andrea Pizziconi after his release in the US. Anderson Machado, Osman Marval and Angel Salazar are supposed to fill the import player slots. Adam Clerici is a late addition due to Marco Grifantini’s elbow injury. Also Justin Cicatello seems to be out of shape.
Telemarket Rimini
Telemarket Rimini missed out on the playoffs in 2011, but wants to return to the upper positions in the standings. They strategy with Josh Phelps, Dushan Ruzic and Bryan Nelson didn’t pan out last year. Also no longer on board are Panagiotis Sikaras and Chris Di Roma. They had a successful winter with the signings of Juan Pablo Angrisano, Carlos Pezzullo, Roberto Corradini, Luis Maza, Francisco Cruceta and Marcos Tabata. They missed out on former Major Leaguer Ramon Ramirez, who took a better offer from Mexico. Brandon Chaves will be back at short. Sandy Patrone and Enorbel Marquez-Ramirez should be healthy to headline the starting rotation. It is going to be interesting if the Pirates can crack the top four from 2011.
Godo Knights
The Godo Knights hadn’t any chances to play for the playoffs in 2011, but were able to secure seventh place in front of Novara United. Their biggest change this winter happened in the organization, as Verona will play a lesser role in the franchise with Piacenza taking over the IBL2 team. They are another team in the IBL overhauling the roster in the offseason. Emmanuel Ulloa, Terrence McClain and Rodney Rodriguez are the biggest names among the departures. Juan Gonzalez and Manuel Ruderly are coming from the Dutch Hoofdklasse to help. Sammy De Los Santos, Manuel Pinango and Jose Mejias arrive from oversees.
Novara United
Novara United celebrated its debut season in 2011. They were able to set a few highlights, but had to settle for eighth place in the end. New manager Mike Romano, who is coming from Rimini, is relying mostly on the roster from last season. Unfortunately Rodney Medina and Jean Toledo had to opt out of agreements. Mitchell Walters is supposed to add depth on the pitching staff for Toledo. Jim Fassano will try to replace Medina’s bat. Pedro Orta and Fernando Gutierrez came to stabilize the bullpen. Besides Toledo, Robert Perez and Renny Duarte won’t return. They had more time to prepare for the IBL this winter, which will help. They will give Godo a race for seventh place.
Grosseto Baseball
A lot of drama involved Grosseto Baseball this winter. After missing the playoffs in 2011 finances put the future of baseball in Tuscany in doubt. An investment group from the United States with Pete Caliendo was brought in to help. They nearly have to start from scratch and build an IBL team in a few months. Several players left due to the uncertainty including Riccardo De Santis, Chris Cooper, Alessandro Vaglio, Jhonny Carvajal, Daniel Bittar and Luis Maza among others. However they were able to form a strong team on paper. New manager Mike Hartley has Rolexis Guerrero, Chris Grossman and Michael Smith filling the foreign slots. Greek national teamers Panagiotis Sikaras and Theon Bourdaniotis are also on the team. Everything can happen in Grosseto from a playoffs contender to a team, which is battling in the second half of the standings. But Grosseto’s baseball for now has been saved.