AFL vs. The Winter Leagues

When off season baseball started this year I somewhat assumed that the Arizona Fall League’s rosters of prospects would far outshine the prospects in the various winter leagues in the Caribbean.  However, upon a closer look the leagues from Venezuela, Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic are more prospect competitive with the AFL than I previously thought.  While the AFL hosts a better cadre of pitching prospect talent, the winter leagues posses better high end position prospects with Miguel Sano, Jurickson Profar, and Oscar Taveras all playing in the Dominican.  Why isn’t the MLB network covering the Caribbean winter leagues as it does with the AFL by televising a few games?  Below is a list of the top prospects from the AFL and the various Caribbean winter leagues in 2012.

Arizona Fall League Top Prospects

Mandatory Credit: Scott Rovak-US PRESSWIRE

Starting Lineup

• Billy Hamilton OF
• Kolten Wong 2B
• Nick Castellanos 3B
• Jonthan Singleton 1B
• Mike Zunino C
• Javier Baez SS
• George Springer OF
• Rymer Liriano OF
• Brian Goodwin DH
• James Paxton SP

Bench:

• Christian Yellich OF
• Nick Franklin SS/2B
• Anthony Rendon 3B
• Gary Brown OF
• Kaleb Cowart 3B
• Jonthan Schoop SS

Bullpen:

• Robbie Erlin SP
• Jared Cosart SP
• Mark Montgomery RP

Winter League Top Prospects

Lineup:

• Jurickson Profar SS
• Junior Lake DH
• Oscar Taveras OF
• Miguel Sano 3B
• Marcel Ozuna OF
• Mike Olt 1B
• Evan Gattis C
• Wilmer Flores 2B
• Eddie Rosario OF
• Julio Teheran SP

Bench:

Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-US PRESSWIRE

• Darin Ruf OF/1B
• Carlos Correa SS
• Gary Sanchez C
• Christian Bethancourt C
• Yasiel Puig OF
• Christian Colon 2B

Bullpen:

• Bruce Rondon RP
• Enny Romero RP