2008 Arizona Winter League Announced

August 3, 2007 - Golden Baseball League (GBL) News Release


(Yuma, AZ. August 3, 2007) The Arizona Winter League (AWL), a professional instructional baseball league that launched last year is set to play again in Yuma, Arizona from January 28th to March 2nd of 2008. The four team developmental league will be administered by the independent Golden Baseball League (GBL) and will be staffed with instructors and managers from the GBL summer season that has resulted in over 50 GBL players signing with major league organizations over the last three seasons.

Serving as a developmental league for pro players seeking professional contracts for 2008, the AWL had 51 players from the 2007 AWL rosters signed by professional teams last year. Three players went to major league farm systems of the San Francisco Giants, Baltimore Orioles, and Kansas City Royals while the rest received 2007 contracts from the independent professional Golden Baseball League, Northern League, New York State League, CanAm League, United League, Continental League,, the American Association, and the Liga Norte Sonora in Mexico.

"The first year of the AWL was a tremendous success for the players and was very well supported by the fans of Yuma and the business community," said David Kaval, CEO of the Golden Baseball League. "Although we had overtures from a number of other cities in the southwest, we are committed to the AWL being in Yuma for the longterm and are pleased to announce the second season as the league becomes a permanent part of Yuma's winter calendar."

Arizona Winter League games will be held at the Ray Kroc Complex and Desert Sun Stadium in Yuma where a 21-game season with a Championship Game at the conclusion. Last year's dramatic come from behind win by the Yuma Scorpions over the Canada Miners was witnessed by over 3500 fans. The four teams of 22-man rosters will be made up of professional free-agents, independent professional players under contract using this as a development/instructional opportunity to get ready for the 2008 summer season, and collegiate players that were overlooked in the 2007 MLB amateur draft. Instructors will be ex-major leaguers who currently coach or manage professional teams such as Mike Marshall, Darrell Evans, Les Lancaster, Cory Snyder and others. At the conclusion of the league, the top 20 players that are free agents will be signed to GBL 2007 contracts. Leading the week of spring training will be Nick Belmonte, who is considered to top independent player procurement consultant in independent baseball and placed over 120 players in 2007 with professional teams. In addition, scouts from major league organizations and most of the independent leagues will be evaluating players or be part of the instructional staff and will sign players for those leagues as well. Also participating will be the GBL's international scouting partner, Global Scouting Bureau, that will be sourcing players from the AWL for opportunities in the Liga Norte Sonora in Northern Mexico along with Taiwan and Korea.

"This is a great opportunity for players to improve and demonstrate their skills and receive contracts for the 2008 GBL season and a number of other U.S. and international professional leagues," said AWL Commissioner Kevin Outcalt. "In addition to playing for these managers with a chance to be signed, we have already been contacted by major league organizations that plan to scout the league as well. Like the GBL, the AWL will actively market our top players to MLB teams and we plan to duplicate the success of player placement we have had in the summer."

Players will report on January 28th with four days of training before the teams are drafted and the opening night game kicks off the season on Friday, February 1st. Games will be run with full minor league activities including game day promotions, fan giveaways, entertainment acts, mascots, full concessions, etc. All statistics will be reported to the league's official statistician, Howe SportsData.

More information for interested players, sponsors, and fans can be found at www.arizonawinterleague.com.



Golden Baseball League Stories from August 3, 2007


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.


Sports Statistics from the Stats Crew
OurSports Central