The Spanish Division de Honor club CB Sant Boi has completed an impressive offseason this week. They officially announced the acquisition of shortstop Juan Salazar from the FC Barcelona and further signed pitchers Junior Guerra and Ruben Fente. Both hurlers are supposed to replace Oscar Alvarez (11-5, ERA 1.80, 150.1 IP, 122 SO, 37 BB) on the pitching staff, who apparently is not coming back. The club also published its roster for the upcoming season.
Junior Guerra is a 25-year-old right-hander, who is coming from the Venezuelan club Tiburones de la Guaira. Between 2003 and 2008 he pitched for the Atlanta Braves and New York Mets organizations, starting out as a catcher before moving to the mound full-time. He had an ERA of 4.16 in 36 relief appearances in his minor league career, striking out 59 in 62 2/3 innings, while walking 23. Guerra also pitched for Venezuela in the Baseball World Cup last September, going 1-2 with an ERA of 5.40 in three starts (11.2 IP, 13 SO, 10 BB).
Ruben Fente is a 20-year-old right-hander, who is leaving El Llano to join the Catalonian club. Last year he went 6-5 with an ERA of 2.96 in 15 games (eleven starts) for the club from Gijon in the Division de Honor. He struck out 54 batters in 94 1/3 innings, walking 29. He also was part of the Spanish Under-21 National Team, which won the 2007 European Championship in Pamplona, Spain.
Sant Boi, which also will represent Spain at the European Cup in Brno, Czech Republic, started its preparation for the new season last weekend with intra-squad games and opened the preseason tournament “Championship of Catalonia” with a 9-2 win over the FC Barcelona on Friday. A second match was scheduled for Saturday evening against CB Viladecans.
2010 Roster CB Sant Boi:
Pitchers
Junior Guerra
Jesus Yepes
Jose Cruz
Yaeko Vazquez
Ruben Fente
Catchers
Jose Luis Salazar
Edgar Hernandez
Infielders
Jose Luis Riera
Daniel Sanchez
Marc Carrillo
Eduardo Rivas
Juan Salazar
Outfielders
Daniel Martinez
Gaspard Fessy
Pedro Peraza
William Domero
Manager
Francisco Despaigne
Coach
Edgar Hernandez
Photo: © Diego Lazaro