Looking at the Caribbean Series

Here's information from an Email I sent today to the Fantasy Baseball Scout mailing list. If you'd like to be included on the mailing list, you should be able to sign up on the web site, or you could Email me at lary@fantasybaseballscout.com.
It appears that fantasybaseballscout.com will not operate as a pay site this year because we're changing servers and rebuilding the site. But we do expect to have our usual complement of information and insights once the rebuilt site goes online sometime during spring training.

To begin the month when pitchers and catchers report, here is some baseball information for you – and especially warm news for those of you who have been shoveling snow during the past week.
The Caribbean Series begins Tuesday on Margarita Island in Venezuela, with two games on each of the six days through Sunday, Feb. 7.
Tuesday’s schedule: Indios de Mayaguez (Puerto Rico) vs. Leones by Escogido (Dominican Republic) in the afternoon, Leones de Caracas (Venezuela) vs. Naranjeros de Hermosillo (Mexico) in the night game.
The format remains a double round-robin, with the best won-lost record winning the title. Venezuela’s representative won in 2009.
Three of the four league playoffs went the distance, and even Mayaguez’s four games to one victory over Caguas in Puerto Rico needed 11 innings in the fifth and final game. Mayaguez won its first Puerto Rican championship since 2005, defeating Caguas 8-6. Angel Sanchez of the Red Sox organization went 4-for-6 in that game.
Escogido won the best-of-nine Dominican title five games to four over Cibao. Twins LHP Francisco Liriano struck out 10 in five innings in the deciding 5-3 victory.
Caracas’ four-games-to-three victory over Magallanes in the Venezuelan finals was much easier in the deciding game, a 7-2 win.
The Mexican Pacific League’s final game of a tense four-games-to-three series win by Hermosillo over Mazatlan was even tenser. The Naranjeros’ (Orange Growers’) Chris Roberson led off the game with a triple and scored on Vinny Castilla’s sacrifice fly. Hermosillo’s pitching held off defending-champion Mazatlan for a 1-0 victory. The championship was a record 15th for the Naranjeros.
Many of the players who excel in winter ball are veterans, such as Castilla, who will have little or no impact on the major leagues this season. However, there are some intriguing players you might want to watch out for this spring.
Starting pitcher – RHP Luis Mendoza dominated in his native Mexico with a 7-4 record, 2.89 ERA and 82:27 strikeout/walk ratio in 90 1/3 innings. There doesn’t appear to be room for him in the Rangers’ rotation, so he might be available as a fourth or fifth starter for a below-average team.
Closer – The Pirates’ closing situation could be unsettled this year, so watch out for RHP Jean Machi. He is a non-roster invitee to Pittsburgh’s spring training, coming off a league-leading 16 saves in Puerto Rico with a 2-0 record, 1.25 ERA and 27:6 K/W ratio. He did that in 36 innings, so he might not have enough power to be an above-average closer.
Hitters – You may already have heard a lot about Alcides Escobar, expected to be the Brewers’ shortstop this season. He led the Venezuelan League with a .393 average and was third with 16 stolen bases. Also in Venezuela, C Josh Thole’s .381 average earned him a trip to spring training with the Mets this year. Veteran C Robinzon Diaz batted .333 in the Dominican Republic. He’s a free agent of the type almost any team might sign as a backup. Given a chance, Diaz could be more than a $1 catcher.
Need for speed – They don’t come much faster than Padres OF prospect Luis Durango. He stole 12 bases in the Dominican Republic. He can be a leadoff batter and left or possibly center fielder; this winter he batted .293 with a .395 on-base percentage.