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Asian Baseball Federation players scored a major labor win for 2027 with the minimum service time requirement for free agency dropping from seven to six years. ABF had formed with a seven-year standard, dropped it to six for 1993, then raised it back to seven in 2014. This put ABF among the least restrictive of the world leagues with the only ones lower being East Asia Baseball and the Oceania Baseball Association at five years.



Reigning ABF champ Hyderabad narrowly earned the East League’s top seed at 102-60 atop the South Division. North Division champ Almaty was one game back at 101-61. The Horned Frogs grew their playoff streak to four seasons and the Assassins run grew to eight years. Almaty was the EL’s top scoring team with 715 runs while Hyderabad allowed the fewest at 508.

Peshawar (98-64) was three back on the Assassins in the North Division and Bishkek (95-67) was six away. They took the two wild card spots with only South Division runner up Lahore (93-69) also in the hunt. The Predators ended a 33-year playoff drought, which had been the longest in ABF history. The Black Sox snapped a three-year skid. Karachi, who had seen back-to-back ELCS trips, fell to 81-81. Dushanbe set an EL team record with 366 doubles, although they were only 78-84 regardless.

East League MVP went to Almaty LF Youssouf Raza in his fifth season as a full-time starter. The 26-year old Pakistani led in runs (115), and home runs (54). Raza added 182 hits, 35 doubles, 125 RBI, .317/.386/.673 slash, 1.059 OPS, 216 wRC+, and 10.6 WAR. Prior to the season, the Assassins locked Raza up on an eight-year, $105,500,000 extension.

Fourth-year righty Sharafat Butti was Pitcher of the Year for Hyderabad. The 24-year old Pakistani led in wins (18-5), K/BB (11.7), and shutouts (6). Butti had a 2.14 ERA over 205.2 innings, 281 strikeouts, 162 ERA+, and 6.6 WAR. He also earned his second Gold Glove. Butti would pitch a good 2028, but a series of major injuries meant he only pitched 46.2 total innings after turning 27.

Hyderabad outlasted Bishkek 3-2 in the first round and Peshawar upset Almaty with a surprising road sweep. The Horned Frogs had a chance to repeat, while the Predators hadn’t been in the East League Championship Series since their lone ABF title back in 1992. In an intense seven-game battle, Hyderabad survived Peshawar’s fierce challenge. The repeat made the Horned Frogs eight-time pennant winners, leading all ABF teams.



Mashhad took the top seed in the West League for the third straight year and grew their playoff streak to seven seasons. The two-time defending WL champs were 106-56 atop the Central Division and led in scoring with 867 runs. Baku won the West Division at 99-63 for their fifth playoff trip in six years, although it was their first division title since 2022. The Blackbirds allowed the fewest runs at 607.

Adana was second in the West at 94-68, earning repeat wild cards. The Central Division’s runner-up Tehran narrowly secured the second wild card at 91-71, edging Istanbul by one game. The Tarpons snapped a seven-year playoff drought. After repeat WLCS trips, Gaziantep struggled to 73-89. Shiraz notably went from a 96-win wild card in 2026 to .500 in 2027. Also significant was Bursa’s plummet to 66-96, their first losing record since 2019.

West League MVP was Adana’s Vugar Sodikov, who also won his sixth consecutive Gold Glove at shortstop. The 27-year old Azeri was the WARlord at 10.7 and posted 177 hits, 106 runs, 34 doubles, 14 triples, 36 home runs, 113 RBI, 47 stolen bases, .295/.353/.577 slash, and 151 wRC+. He had the rare MVP/Silver Slugger/Gold Glove sweep and hit for the cycle in May against Isfahan. The Axeman gave Sodikov an eight-year, $108,200,000 extension before the 2026 season.

Baku lefty Agshin Jumayev won his second Pitcher of the Year in three years. The 26-year old Tajik led in strikeouts (404), FIP- (55), and WAR (9.6). Jumayev posted a 2.54 ERA over 251.2 innings, 15-9 record, and 156 ERA+. He joined Hasan Afshin and Yazeed Anwari as the only ABF pitchers with multiple 400+ K seasons. In August, the Blackbirds secured their ace with a seven-year, $95,600,000 extension.

Both wild cards pulled off surprising first round upsets with Adana sweeping Baku and Tehran ousting defending champ Mashhad 3-1. The Tarpons hadn’t been in the West League Championship Series since their back-to-back titles in 2016-17. The Axemen’s last WLCS was a 2016 defeat against Tehran. The Tarpons took the series handily 4-1 to earn their fifth pennant.




The 43^rd ABF Championship was the first finals battle between Hyderabad and Tehran despite both being generally successful. The matchup was a dud with the Horned Frogs sweeping the Tarpons, becoming ABF’s first repeat champ since Tehran did it in 2016-17. Hyderabad earned their second repeat and lead all ABF teams with six titles (1986, 1987, 1999, 2013, 2026, 2027).

2B Ammar Sanjrani was finals MVP, recording 18 hits, 9 runs, 4 doubles, 4 homers, and 10 RBI over 16 playoff starts. Closer Talib Abdul Qadir was also notable for posting nine saves, tying the ABF playoff record set by Muhayr Jibal in 2024. Abdul Qadir had a 1.96 ERA over 10 appearances and 18.1 innings with 20 strikeouts.



Other notes: 2027 was the final ABF season for the legendary Nizami Aghazade. The 39-year old Kazakh SS/2B wasn’t done completely, as he’d still have another five years in MLB and one in EPB. Aghazade was the undisputed GOAT in ABF after an absurd 16-year run with Dushanbe that saw nine MVPs, 13 Silver Sluggers, and three Gold Gloves.

In total, Aghazade had 183.1 WAR, 2747 hits, 1464 runs, 467 doubles, 596 home runs, 1563 RBI, 827 walks, .358/.432/.665 slash, 1.097 OPS, and 237 wRC+. He left as ABF’s leader in WAR, triple slash, and OPS; plus was in the top ten of most of the big counting stats.

Aghazade has 60+ more WAR than the next best ABF legend, leading the league and recording 10+ WAR in 12 different seasons. The four seasons he didn’t reach that mark were all injury shortened, including 7.1 WAR over 98 games in his final Dynamo season at age 39. As of 2037, Aghazade has seven of ABF’s top ten WAR seasons. Following the 2027 campaign, Aghazade was 8^th in the all-time WAR chart for all players in baseball history.

In batting milestones, Aghazade became the 6^th to 1500 RBI. ABF hits king Mehmet Fatih Canaydin became the first to 3500 hits. Hakan Mocuk became the 16^th member of the 500 home run club. Mocuk also won his ninth Silver Slugger and his first at 1B, having previously won eight at 3B. Sijad Khaleel became the fifth pitcher to 4500 strikeouts and Mustafa Jumah was the 11^th to 4000 Ks. Arshia Hushyar was the 15^th pitcher to 200 wins and Ibragim Nazarow was the 4^th to 300 saves.

RF Hana Zuhair won his 15^th consecutive and final Gold Glove. Zuhair became only the 9^th player in all of baseball history to win 15+ Gold Gloves and the only one to do it as a right fielder. C Ali Mahdian and CF Campolat Necdet both won their 8^th Gold Gloves.