Robinson Cano, Pablo Sandoval, and more former MLB stars join budding new baseball league

Move over MLB playoffs! Two Game 7's in the AL and NL Championship Series? Who needs them. Baseball is alive in Dubai as Baseball United held its first draft on Monday, Oct. 23, and it's got some baseball fans feeling very, very old.

While this new baseball league may not bring anything fresh or riveting to the table, it is bringing some decent talent with several former MLB stars being among the first players drafted to the new league.

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Who are the former MLB stars that were drafted?

The first overall pick was someone only hardcore MLB fans would recognize: Karan Patel. Patel was drafted by the Chicago White Sox in the seventh round of the 2019 MLB draft. He was notably the first player of Indian descent to be drafted to MLB. He never reached the Majors, bouncing around different levels of the Minors in the White Sox system for a few years before leaving MLB altogether in 2023 for the Pioneer League. Now he takes his talents to the United Arab Emirates.

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The third person drafted in the league was former Yankees and Phillies shortstop Didi Gregorius. Gregorius last played in the Majors in 2022. He's also just 33 years old, which yes, is old for MLB standards, but compared to some of the other players on this list, he's a spring chicken. He was drafted to the Dubai Wolves.

2012 World Series MVP Pablo Sandoval went fourth overall to the Falcons. Potential Hall of Fame second baseman Robinson Cano went sixth to the Wolves as well, meaning the middle of that Dubai infield could be nuts if they can still swing it like they used to.

Former Cincinnati Red and Seattle Mariner Phil Ervin went seventh and four-time Gold Glove recipient Andrelton Simmons went eighth overall, finishing off the first round.

A few other notable players included 2011 All-Star Jair Jurrjens, former Colorado Rockies catcher Wilin Rosario who hit 28 home runs in 2012, two-time All-Star Carlos Martinez, 2012 World Series champion Hector Sanchez, and 2005 Cy Young Award winner Bartolo Colon. Colon is 50 years old now by the way.

What other big former MLBers are involved?

More than a few notable names as it turns out. MLB Hall of Famers Barry Larkin and Mariano Rivera were in on the action, as well as future Hall of Famer (yes, I said it) Adrian Beltre. Other notable investors include Robinson Cano, Bartolo Colon, Felix Hernandez, Shane Victorino, Elvis Andrus, Robinson Chirinos, Hanley Ramirez, Matt Barnes, and Ryan Howard.

So, yes, even some active MLB players like Barnes and Andrus decided to invest in this new league, in direct competition with MLB.

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Is there a way to watch this new league?

As of right now, there is no official word on where the games will be shown. We will update this as more information becomes available.

When does the league start playing?

The league is set to start its season with an All-Star Showcase on Nov. 24-25 at the Dubai International Stadium, Dubai, UAE.

How did the draft work?

There are only four teams in the league for now: the Dubai Wolves, Mumbai Cobras, Karachi Monarchs, and Abu Dhabi Falcons. The drafted worked in a sort of snake pattern with round robin elements thrown in.

In the first round, the Cobras had the first and eighth picks, the Monarchs had the second and seventh, the Wolves had 3 and 6, and the Falcons had 4 and 5. In Round 2, the structure stayed the same, but the Monarchs were given picks 1 and 8, Wolves: 2 and 7, Falcons: 3 and 6, and Cobras: 4 and 5. Basically, every round each team moved up one pick and rotated. In total, there were ten rounds, putting 20 ballplayers on each squad.

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