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FuzzyRussianHat · 07-30-2025, 06:10 PM

The Central American Baseball Association had a strong four man Hall of Fame class for 2033 with each earning first ballot honors. Co-headlining were SP Jamarca Akim and OF Matias Esquilin at 99.2% and 98.9%, respectively. OF Nerfy Ayala (87.4%) and 1B Payton Nandin (84.7%) was both firm additions in their own right. No one else cracked 50% with the best returner being 1B Hasan Alvizo at 46.4% on his ninth try.

Dropped after ten failed ballots was CF/LF Soloman Hendricks, who peaked in his debut at 25.2% and ended at 5.7%. He barely stayed on the ballot to the end as his final four ballots were above 5%, but below 6%. The Belizean had 15 CABA seasons with three Silver Sluggers, 2094 games, 2235 hits, 1187 runs, 345 doubles, 119 triples, 459 home runs, 1320 RBI, .278/.310/.521 slash, 130 wRC+, and 57.0 WAR. Hendricks was notably part of Juarez’s 2016 CABA championship team and he had a 51 homer, 152 RBI season in 2011. He helped kick off the Jesters’ dynasty run as a reliable starter, but his tallies suggest a Hall of Pretty Good type resume.

Jamarca Akim – Starting Pitcher – Hermosillo Hyenas – 99.2% First Ballot

Jamarca Akim was a 6’2’’, 200 pound right-handed pitcher from Montego Bay, Jamaica; the country’s fourth most populous urban area with about 110,000 inhabitants. In his prime, Akim had excellent stuff along with good-to-great movement and control. He had a three-pitch arsenal of a 97-99 mph fastball, slider, and changeup. Akim’s ability to change speeds made him one of the most dangerous aces in the Mexican League.

Akim’s stamina was outstanding, leading the league four times in both innings pitched and complete games. His durability was also strong for the vast majority of his run, tossing 200+ innings each year from 2010-26. Akim was a good defensive pitcher and won a Gold Glove in 2015, although his ability to hold runners was average at best. Akim was also a high character man and a team captain, respected across CABA for his work ethic, loyalty, and leadership.

In March 2005, a teenaged Akim left Jamaica for Mexico on a developmental deal with Hermosillo. His entire CABA run came with Mexican teams, but he never forgot about his home island. Once Jamaica started qualifying regularly in the World Baseball Championship, Akim was a regular, although this was in the second half of his career. From 2021-30, he had a 3.43 ERA, 144.1 innings, 5-12 record, 166 strikeouts, 103 ERA+, and 2.1 WAR.

Akim spent the better part of five years in Hermosillo’s academy, debuting with nine poor relief appearances in 2009 at age 20. He became a full-time starter in 2010 and had mixed results in his first two years, even leading in losses in 2011 at 9-19. In 2010, the Hyenas were Mexican League Championship Series runners up to Ecatepec. That marked the end of a five-year playoff streak for Hermosillo, who mostly stayed in the middle of the standings through 2017.

With a 4.81 ERA in 2011, you could be forgiven for not predicting what came next for Akim. From 2012-15, he led the ML each year in WAR. Akim won three consecutive Pitcher of the Year awards from 2012-14 and was second in 2015. He threw his lone no-hitter on September 1, 2012 with 12 strikeouts and two walks against Mexico City. That winter, Hermosillo locked him up to a six-year, $66 million extension.

2014 was Akim’s finest with a career and league bests in strikeouts (317), ERA (2.18), ERA+ (175), FIP- (44), and WAR (11.5). As of 2037, this is the 25^th-best pitching season by WAR in CABA history and his .494 opponent’s OPS ranks 49^th among qualifying seasons. After having four straight seasons of above 8+ WAR, Akim’s production dipped to back-to-back 4.1 WAR seasons.

However in 2018, Akim won his fourth Pitcher of the Year with his lone ERA title at 2.43. This was a contract year and Akim tested free agency for about a month before ultimately re-signing with the Hyenas for $82,800,000 over six seasons. He repeated as POTY in 2019 and is one of only eight in CABA history to win the award five times.

Hermosillo made it back to the playoffs from 2018-20 as a wild card, unable to win the North Division crown against Juarez’s dynasty. The Hyenas got to the MLCS in 2018 and 2020, but fell to Leon and the Jesters, respectively. They had a first round exit in 2019. Hermosillo fell back to the middle tier for the next five years, peaking at 85 wins and bottoming out at 79.

Akim’s playoff stats were a very mixed bag. He was excellent in 2020 with a 1.59 ERA over 17 innings, but he struggled in his other outings overall for the Hyenas. With Hermosillo, he had a 4.86 playoff ERA with a 5-4 record, 66.2 innings, 62 strikeouts, 13 walks, 79 ERA+, 118 FIP-, and 0.3 WAR. This does knock him a down a peg often below the other 5+ time POTY winners in on many of the all-time lists.

He wasn’t an awards finalist again, but he remained a steady starter for the remainder of the Hermosillo run. While there, Akim breached the 200 win and 3500 strikeout thresholds. With the Hyenas, Akim had a 228-155 record, 3.02 ERA, 3656 innings, 3876 strikeouts, 657 walks, 126 ERA+, 76 FIP-, and 91.9 WAR. He still remains a popular figure with Hermosillo fans after retirement and his #21 uniform was later retired. Akim’s contract expired with the 2024 season, sending him to free agency at age 36.

Akim signed a three-year, $38,100,000 deal with Toluca. The Tortugas were an expansion team set to debut in 2025. He spent a year-and-a-half there with a 22-17 record, 2.41 ERA, 343 innings, 336 strikeouts, 49 walks, 147 ERA+, and 8.4 WAR. Toluca traded him in June 2026 to Monterrey for four prospects, although Akim did notably earn his 250^th career win the week before the trade.

In a year and change for Monterrey, Akim had a 22-19 record, 2.87 ERA, 360.1 innings, 312 strikeouts, 123 ERA+, and 6.1 WAR; remaining a solid arm. The Matadors did get a wild card in 2026 but went one-and-done. Akim got credited with a loss in the playoff s despite a quality start with two runs allowed in eight innings. With Monterrey, he also became only the 4^th in CABA history to reach 4500 strikeouts.

Akim still had currency at age 39 and entertained offers that winter. After nearly two decades of great durability, disaster struck with a torn labrum pitching in the 2028 World Baseball Championship for Jamaica. Most of the offers quickly dried up, as such an injury for a guy his age usually was a career killer. While he rehabbed, Akim did eventually get a one-year, $10,400,000 deal in late June with MLB’s Chicago Cubs. He never pitched a regular season inning in MLB, but did make it back for one solid playoff start for the Cubs, allowing one run over seven innings. They went one-and-done, but Akim showed he could still contribute.

The velocity had dropped for the now 40-year old and mostly hovered in the upper 80s to low 90s for his final seasons. Akim ended up in Ivory Coast on a three-year, $25,800,000 deal with Abidjan of West African Baseball. The Athletes used him as a closer in 2029-30 with respectable results. Akim fell off hard in 2031 and was reduced mostly to long relief in that final year.

For Abidjan, Akim had 65 saves and 84 shutdowns, a 27-19 record, 3.75 ERA, 247 innings, 237 strikeouts, 72 walks, 121 ERA+, and 3.3 WAR. This left him one win short of the 300 mark for his combined career. Akim wanted to get that, but no teams were interested in him for 2032. He finally retired that winter shortly after his 44^th birthday.

Akim’s combined pro career had a 299-210 record, 128 saves, 3.00 ERA, 4606.1 innings, 4761 strikeouts, 826 walks, 127 ERA+, 78 FIP-, 212 complete games, 45 shutouts, and 109.7 WAR. As of 2037, Akim ranks 47^th in wins among all pitchers and also just misses the top 50 for innings, strikeouts and complete games.

In CABA, Akim had a 272-191 record, 63 saves, 2.96 ERA, 4359.1 innings, 4524 strikeouts, 754 walks, 338/510 quality starts, 212 complete games, 45 shutouts, 127 ERA+, 77 FIP-, and 106.4 WAR. As of 2037, Akim is 6^th in wins, 8^th in losses, 9^th in starts, 4^th in complete games, 3^rd in innings, 7^th in strikeouts, 40^th in walks, and 8^th in WAR for pitchers. As a function of longevity, he is also 2^nd in hits allowed (3902) and 21^st in homers allowed (366).

Akim is easily an inner-circle Hall of Famer, but his weaker playoff stats and lower raw dominance often keeps him out of the top five CABA pitcher rankings behind the likes of Ulices Montero, Richard Wright, Israel Montague, and Junior Vergara. You’ll rarely find Akim rated outside of the top ten though and he’s generally considered Jamaica’s best-ever pitcher. A few batters probably beat him for the #1 spot overall from the island, but Akim is certainly in that conversation. At 99.2%, he co-headlined a strong four-player Hall of Fame class in 2033 for the Central American Baseball Association.

Matias Esquilin – Left/Right Field – Juarez Jesters – 98.9% First Ballot

Matias Esquilin was a 5’9’’, 185 pound switch-hitting corner outfielder from Carolina, Puerto Rico; part of the San Juan metropolitan area with about 155,000 people. Despite having a smaller and stockier build than many of the all-time greats, Esquilin ended up as one of the longest-tenured players in the history of the game. His legendary durability gave him 140+ games played in 22 seasons, plus 125 in his final year at age 43.

Esquilin was a solid contact hitter especially facing right-handed pitching, finishing with a career .914 OPS and 156 wRC+ against RHP. He was merely decent against lefties with a .778 OPS and 117 wRC+. Overall, Esquilin was average at drawing walks and subpar at avoiding strikeouts. He had a reliable pop in his bat though, especially in terms of gap power with 31 doubles and 15 triples per his 162 game average. While he wasn’t a prolific slugger, Esquilin was also good for a rock solid 30 homers per 162.

On the basepaths, Esquilin was among CABA’s most dangerous and maintained very good speed even into his 40s. Although he only led in steals once, Esquilin was almost always in the top ten and ended up as CABA’s stolen bases king at career end. Defensively, Esquilin made just over half of his career starts in left field with most of the rest in right. He graded as stronger in right, but he was a good-to-great defender in both corners.

His consistency was remarkable, which combined with ironman durability propelled Esquilin to the #1 spot on the CABA leaderboard for hits, runs, and total bases by the time he was done. He was also a true fan favorite noted for a tireless work ethic, strong loyalty, and team-first attitude. It is no surprise that Esquilin became a beloved favorite for fans across the region.

Esquilin’s entire pro career came in the Mexican League, but he adored as an icon of Puerto Rico as well. He was a regular from 2005-26 in the World Baseball Championship for PR, although his stats in the event were surprisingly underwhelming. In 109 games, Esquilin had 84 hits, 49 runs, 16 doubles, 20 homers, 47 RBI, 41 steals, .228/.292/.439 slash, and 2.3 WAR.

In October 2001, a young Esquilin left Puerto Rico for Mexico on a developmental deal with Chihuahua. After three years in their academy, he debuted for the Warriors as a full-time starter in 2005 at age 21. Esquilin had a strong rookie season with .852 OPS and 4.9 WAR, taking second in Rookie of the Year voting. He would be a regular for seven seasons with Chihuahua.

In 2008, Esquilin was a league leader for the first time in runs (131) and doubles (40). It was also his first of six seasons with 8+ WAR. Esquilin also from 2006-2020 was good for 100+ runs every single season. He took third in 2008’s MVP voting and won his first Silver Slugger in LF. Esquilin won additional Sluggers in 2010 and 2011 with the Warriors and was third in 2011’s MVP voting. He had a career and league-best 91 steals and 28 triples in 2010. 2011 would be Esquilin’s career highs for triple slash (.356/.405/.640), OPS (1.046), wRC+ (192), and WAR (10.1).

Esquilin helped Chihuahua become competitive again, ending a playoff drought dating back to 1962. They had been largely terrible for the rest of the 20^th Century, but had started hovering around .500 to start the 21^st. The Warriors broke the drought in 2008 with a first round exit as a wild card. After missing the next two years, Chihuahua broke through at 102-60 in 2011. It was the first time since 1948 that the Warriors had the Mexican League’s best record.

They carried that to their first pennant since 1961, although Chihuahua lost the CABA Championship to Honduras. In 18 playoff starts, Esquilin had 20 hits, 9 runs, 4 doubles, 2 homers, 12 RBI, 8 steals, and 0.5 WAR. In the second-ever Baseball Grand Championship, he had 16 hits, 10 runs, 2 triples, 4 homers, 14 RBI, and 0.4 WAR as the Warriors tied for sixth at 11-8.

Chihuahua had been notoriously cheap and had seen numerous big homegrown stars leave for free agency. Despite finally being back in the mix with Esquilin and his non-greedy personality, the Warriors let him leave after the 2011 pennant at age 28. For Chihuahua, Esquilin had 1081 games, 1370 hits, 807 runs, 242 doubles, 131 triples, 193 home runs, 651 RBI, 497 steals, .318/.361/.569 slash, 166 wRC, and 50.9 WAR. He remains broadly popular with Warriors fans, who held his departure far more against management than against him.

Esquilin would become most famous with Juarez, signing at first to an eight-year, $101 million deal. The Jesters ended their own four year playoff drought with a wild card in 2011. With Esquilin, they soon would begin one of the most impressive dynasty runs in CABA history. In a hyper-competitive 2012, Juarez’s 92-70 record earned them the top seed. They won the Mexican League title, but lost to Santo Domingo in the CABA Championship.

In his Jesters debut, Esquilin won his first Silver Slugger in RF and was second in MVP voting. He had 15 hits, 7 runs, 3 doubles, and 3 homers in the playoff run. Esquilin then had 15 hits, 10 runs, 4 doubles, 5 homers, and 13 RBI in the BGC as Juarez finished 9-10. In 2013, Esquilin was third in MVP voting and led for the only time in his career in both hits (209), and WAR (8.7); while also leading in runs for the second time (125). Despite that, the Jesters surprisingly regressed to 80-82.

They quickly bounced back to begin their dynasty with a 13-year playoff streak from 2014-26. Esquilin led in runs again in 2014 and 2016, although he wasn’t a league leader after that. He was third in 2014’s MVP voting and won his final Silver Slugger that year. Esquilin is one of the better players to never win an MVP in his career.

As he entered his 30s though, he ceded the top star spot on the roster to Loyd Wayne. But Esquilin was ol’ reliable and was generally good for around 4-6 WAR and 100+ runs each year through the 2010s. He notably hit for the cycle for the first time in 2015 against Hermosillo, then did it again in 2025 against San Luis Potosi.

During this playoff streak, Juarez won four CABA Championships (2016, 17, 20, 25) and six ML pennants (15, 16, 17, 20, 22, 25). They made the MLCS each year from 2014-17 and from 2019-25. The Jesters also won ten division titles and had ten seasons with 100+ wins. Esquilin was a constant through it all. He won CABA Championship MVP in 2020’s victory over Trinidad and was MLCS MVP in both 2022 and 2025. Juarez gave him a four-year, $32,200,000 extension after the 2018 season, then a three-year, $35,300,000 extension after the 2024 campaign.

Esquilin’s playoff stats weren’t incredible for dominance, but of course were naturally steady. With Juarez, he had 154 games with 167 hits, 97 runs, 35 doubles, 12 triples, 35 homers, 86 RBI, 38 steals, .265/.300/.525 slash, 129 wRC+, and 4.2 WAR. For his combined career, Esquilin had 174 games, 189 hits, 107 runs, 39 doubles, 13 triples, 38 home runs, 99 RBI, 46 steals, .267/.301/.519 slash, 128 wRC+, and 4.7 WAR.

Because of the steady production, as of 2037 Esquilin is the all-time CABA playoff leader in games, at-bats (709), runs, hits, total bases (368), singles (99), doubles, and strikeouts (178). He also was the home runs leader at retirement, although he’d get passed by Ortiz Rosales in the 2030s. Esquilin also ranks 2^nd in RBI behind Solomon Aragon’s 105 and 2^nd in steals to Velasquez Saavedra’s 57.

Esquilin also got no shortage of appearances in the Baseball Grand Championship with Juarez’s regular participation during the dynasty. They famously were the first CABA team to win the BGC, earning the 2017 title by tiebreaker at 12-7 over Concepcion and Bamako. The Jesters were 9-10 in 2015 for 12^th, 11-8 in 2016 for 9^th, 9-10 for 14^th in 2020, 11-8 for 5^th in 2022, and 10-9 for 9^th in 2025.

By rate stats, Esquilin actually was fairly weak in the BGC. In 146 games, he had 100 hits, 64 runs, 18 doubles, 4 triples, 26 homers, 65 RBI, 36 steals, .182/.271/.372 slash, and 0.8 WAR. He is the event leader all-time in games, at-bats (548), and strikeouts (181). Even if he wasn’t dominant, Esquilin still endeared himself to players and fans from across the globe.

Esquilin was still a good starter even into his late 30s and early 40s. He started climbing up the CABA leaderboards as well, becoming the second to 2000 runs scored in 2022. Early in 2023, he passed Wesley Dubar’s 2028 to become the CABA all-time leader. Esquilin also quickly soared by Mario Bueno’s 1070 steals to become the CABA leader, eventually ending up at 1606.

The big one people were watching was total hits. The legendary Prometheo Garcia had held CABA’s top spot for hits at 3871 since 1962. He was also still the world leader at this point with 4917 hits, having played another six years post-CABA in MLB. That world record was likely untouchable for Esquilin, but the CABA mark was in reach. In late 2023, Esquilin became the fifth to get to 3500 hits. In 2024, he was the third to 600 doubles with a shot at Adrian Tovar’s record 675.

On the downside, he became CABA’s new leader for strikeouts in 2025. But in 2025, Esquilin also passed Garcia’s 6791 total bases for the top CABA mark. In early 2026, Esquilin became the 24^th member of the 600 home run club. That season, he got 160 hits to pass Garcia as CABA’s hit king. Esquilin passed Tovar’s games played record (3338) and was also now the leader in at-bats. Additionally in 2026, Esquilin was the sixth in CABA to reach 2000 RBI.

Maybe even more impressive is that Esquilin passed Garcia’s combined CABA/MLB runs scored of 2374, which had stood as the world record for more than five decades. That placed Esquilin #2 on the world chart, as concurrently in South Asia Baseball, world home run king Majed Darwish had set the new high mark of 2664. Esquilin was passed for second by WAB’s Fares Belaid, who became the world hit king in the early 2030s. Esquilin still holds the #3 spot though as of 2037.

Through 2026, Esquilin still was providing a positive value bat. Age finally caught up to him in 2027, which was also notably a .500 season for Juarez and the end of their playoff streak. Esquilin played 125 games but only started 75 with .688 OPS, 96 wRC+, and 1.2 WAR. The key figure was 76 hits, allowing him to become one of only six in all of pro baseball history with 4000 career hits. He also became the eighth to play 3500+ games in a career. On the downside, Esquilin became the only CABA player with 3000+ strikeouts and is only 29 in world history with that many whiffs. He did also fall nine doubles short of Tovar for that CABA record.

Esquilin retired that winter shortly after his 44^th birthday and immediately had his #21 uniform retired by Juarez. For the Jesters, he had 2438 games, 2639 hits, 1606 runs, 424 doubles, 202 triples, 452 home runs, 1410 RBI, 644 walks, 2077 strikeouts, 1109 stolen bases, .285/.331/.521 slash, 136 wRC+, and 85.3 WAR.

The grand totals for Esquilin: 3519 games, 13,558 at-bats, 2413 runs, 4009 hits, 666 doubles, 333 triples, 645 home runs, 2061 RBI, 943 walks, 3002 strikeouts, 1606 stolen bases, 706 caught stealing, 7276 total bases, .296/.340/.537 slash, 146 wRC+, and 136.2 WAR. As of 2037, Esquilin is CABA’s all-time leader in games, at-bats, runs, hits, total bases, stolen bases, and strikeouts.

Esquilin also ranks 2^nd in singles (2365), 2^nd in doubles, 5^th in triples, 8^th in caught stealing, 20^th in walks, 5^th in WAR among position players, and 8^th in WAR among everyone in CABA. On the world leaderboards as of 2037, Esquilin is 8^th in games played, 5^th in at-bats, 3^rd in runs, 6^th in hits, 32^nd in doubles, 13^th in stolen bases, and 60^th in WAR among position players. He also just misses the top 50 for RBI and triples. On the all-time WAR board for all players ever, Esquilin sits 98^th.

No doubt, Esquilin is a true immortal of the game and one of the legendary ironmen. Even with his massive tallies, he usually isn’t cited as the greatest of all time for the Central American Baseball Association. Garcia, Dubar, and Kiko Velazquez are usually the top three position players in varying orders since they won nine, nine, and ten MVPs between them respectively.

Esquilin also has tough competition for Puerto Rico’s best ever, competing with CABA home run/RBI king Noah Breton five-time MVP Donald Gonzalez who has him beat for combined WAR between CABA/MLB. CABA has had some stellar stars over 120+ seasons, although Esquilin makes most top ten lists for position players.

Regardless of where a scholar would place him on the grand scheme, Esquilin is arguably a top ten player in world history specifically in durability, consistency, and baserunning. When you combine regular season, playoffs, and tournaments; Esquilin competed in an incredible 3948 games. Only Prometheo Garcia (4074) and SAB’s Manju Abbas (4007) have Esquillin beat there. He received 98.9% to co-headline an impressive four-player 2033 Hall of Fame class for CABA.

07-30-2025, 06:10 PM	#2355
FuzzyRussianHat Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2020 Posts: 2,735	2033 CABA Hall of Fame (Part 1) The Central American Baseball Association had a strong four man Hall of Fame class for 2033 with each earning first ballot honors. Co-headlining were SP Jamarca Akim and OF Matias Esquilin at 99.2% and 98.9%, respectively. OF Nerfy Ayala (87.4%) and 1B Payton Nandin (84.7%) was both firm additions in their own right. No one else cracked 50% with the best returner being 1B Hasan Alvizo at 46.4% on his ninth try. Dropped after ten failed ballots was CF/LF Soloman Hendricks, who peaked in his debut at 25.2% and ended at 5.7%. He barely stayed on the ballot to the end as his final four ballots were above 5%, but below 6%. The Belizean had 15 CABA seasons with three Silver Sluggers, 2094 games, 2235 hits, 1187 runs, 345 doubles, 119 triples, 459 home runs, 1320 RBI, .278/.310/.521 slash, 130 wRC+, and 57.0 WAR. Hendricks was notably part of Juarez’s 2016 CABA championship team and he had a 51 homer, 152 RBI season in 2011. He helped kick off the Jesters’ dynasty run as a reliable starter, but his tallies suggest a Hall of Pretty Good type resume. Jamarca Akim – Starting Pitcher – Hermosillo Hyenas – 99.2% First Ballot Jamarca Akim was a 6’2’’, 200 pound right-handed pitcher from Montego Bay, Jamaica; the country’s fourth most populous urban area with about 110,000 inhabitants. In his prime, Akim had excellent stuff along with good-to-great movement and control. He had a three-pitch arsenal of a 97-99 mph fastball, slider, and changeup. Akim’s ability to change speeds made him one of the most dangerous aces in the Mexican League. Akim’s stamina was outstanding, leading the league four times in both innings pitched and complete games. His durability was also strong for the vast majority of his run, tossing 200+ innings each year from 2010-26. Akim was a good defensive pitcher and won a Gold Glove in 2015, although his ability to hold runners was average at best. Akim was also a high character man and a team captain, respected across CABA for his work ethic, loyalty, and leadership. In March 2005, a teenaged Akim left Jamaica for Mexico on a developmental deal with Hermosillo. His entire CABA run came with Mexican teams, but he never forgot about his home island. Once Jamaica started qualifying regularly in the World Baseball Championship, Akim was a regular, although this was in the second half of his career. From 2021-30, he had a 3.43 ERA, 144.1 innings, 5-12 record, 166 strikeouts, 103 ERA+, and 2.1 WAR. Akim spent the better part of five years in Hermosillo’s academy, debuting with nine poor relief appearances in 2009 at age 20. He became a full-time starter in 2010 and had mixed results in his first two years, even leading in losses in 2011 at 9-19. In 2010, the Hyenas were Mexican League Championship Series runners up to Ecatepec. That marked the end of a five-year playoff streak for Hermosillo, who mostly stayed in the middle of the standings through 2017. With a 4.81 ERA in 2011, you could be forgiven for not predicting what came next for Akim. From 2012-15, he led the ML each year in WAR. Akim won three consecutive Pitcher of the Year awards from 2012-14 and was second in 2015. He threw his lone no-hitter on September 1, 2012 with 12 strikeouts and two walks against Mexico City. That winter, Hermosillo locked him up to a six-year, $66 million extension. 2014 was Akim’s finest with a career and league bests in strikeouts (317), ERA (2.18), ERA+ (175), FIP- (44), and WAR (11.5). As of 2037, this is the 25^th-best pitching season by WAR in CABA history and his .494 opponent’s OPS ranks 49^th among qualifying seasons. After having four straight seasons of above 8+ WAR, Akim’s production dipped to back-to-back 4.1 WAR seasons. However in 2018, Akim won his fourth Pitcher of the Year with his lone ERA title at 2.43. This was a contract year and Akim tested free agency for about a month before ultimately re-signing with the Hyenas for $82,800,000 over six seasons. He repeated as POTY in 2019 and is one of only eight in CABA history to win the award five times. Hermosillo made it back to the playoffs from 2018-20 as a wild card, unable to win the North Division crown against Juarez’s dynasty. The Hyenas got to the MLCS in 2018 and 2020, but fell to Leon and the Jesters, respectively. They had a first round exit in 2019. Hermosillo fell back to the middle tier for the next five years, peaking at 85 wins and bottoming out at 79. Akim’s playoff stats were a very mixed bag. He was excellent in 2020 with a 1.59 ERA over 17 innings, but he struggled in his other outings overall for the Hyenas. With Hermosillo, he had a 4.86 playoff ERA with a 5-4 record, 66.2 innings, 62 strikeouts, 13 walks, 79 ERA+, 118 FIP-, and 0.3 WAR. This does knock him a down a peg often below the other 5+ time POTY winners in on many of the all-time lists. He wasn’t an awards finalist again, but he remained a steady starter for the remainder of the Hermosillo run. While there, Akim breached the 200 win and 3500 strikeout thresholds. With the Hyenas, Akim had a 228-155 record, 3.02 ERA, 3656 innings, 3876 strikeouts, 657 walks, 126 ERA+, 76 FIP-, and 91.9 WAR. He still remains a popular figure with Hermosillo fans after retirement and his #21 uniform was later retired. Akim’s contract expired with the 2024 season, sending him to free agency at age 36. Akim signed a three-year, $38,100,000 deal with Toluca. The Tortugas were an expansion team set to debut in 2025. He spent a year-and-a-half there with a 22-17 record, 2.41 ERA, 343 innings, 336 strikeouts, 49 walks, 147 ERA+, and 8.4 WAR. Toluca traded him in June 2026 to Monterrey for four prospects, although Akim did notably earn his 250^th career win the week before the trade. In a year and change for Monterrey, Akim had a 22-19 record, 2.87 ERA, 360.1 innings, 312 strikeouts, 123 ERA+, and 6.1 WAR; remaining a solid arm. The Matadors did get a wild card in 2026 but went one-and-done. Akim got credited with a loss in the playoff s despite a quality start with two runs allowed in eight innings. With Monterrey, he also became only the 4^th in CABA history to reach 4500 strikeouts. Akim still had currency at age 39 and entertained offers that winter. After nearly two decades of great durability, disaster struck with a torn labrum pitching in the 2028 World Baseball Championship for Jamaica. Most of the offers quickly dried up, as such an injury for a guy his age usually was a career killer. While he rehabbed, Akim did eventually get a one-year, $10,400,000 deal in late June with MLB’s Chicago Cubs. He never pitched a regular season inning in MLB, but did make it back for one solid playoff start for the Cubs, allowing one run over seven innings. They went one-and-done, but Akim showed he could still contribute. The velocity had dropped for the now 40-year old and mostly hovered in the upper 80s to low 90s for his final seasons. Akim ended up in Ivory Coast on a three-year, $25,800,000 deal with Abidjan of West African Baseball. The Athletes used him as a closer in 2029-30 with respectable results. Akim fell off hard in 2031 and was reduced mostly to long relief in that final year. For Abidjan, Akim had 65 saves and 84 shutdowns, a 27-19 record, 3.75 ERA, 247 innings, 237 strikeouts, 72 walks, 121 ERA+, and 3.3 WAR. This left him one win short of the 300 mark for his combined career. Akim wanted to get that, but no teams were interested in him for 2032. He finally retired that winter shortly after his 44^th birthday. Akim’s combined pro career had a 299-210 record, 128 saves, 3.00 ERA, 4606.1 innings, 4761 strikeouts, 826 walks, 127 ERA+, 78 FIP-, 212 complete games, 45 shutouts, and 109.7 WAR. As of 2037, Akim ranks 47^th in wins among all pitchers and also just misses the top 50 for innings, strikeouts and complete games. In CABA, Akim had a 272-191 record, 63 saves, 2.96 ERA, 4359.1 innings, 4524 strikeouts, 754 walks, 338/510 quality starts, 212 complete games, 45 shutouts, 127 ERA+, 77 FIP-, and 106.4 WAR. As of 2037, Akim is 6^th in wins, 8^th in losses, 9^th in starts, 4^th in complete games, 3^rd in innings, 7^th in strikeouts, 40^th in walks, and 8^th in WAR for pitchers. As a function of longevity, he is also 2^nd in hits allowed (3902) and 21^st in homers allowed (366). Akim is easily an inner-circle Hall of Famer, but his weaker playoff stats and lower raw dominance often keeps him out of the top five CABA pitcher rankings behind the likes of Ulices Montero, Richard Wright, Israel Montague, and Junior Vergara. You’ll rarely find Akim rated outside of the top ten though and he’s generally considered Jamaica’s best-ever pitcher. A few batters probably beat him for the #1 spot overall from the island, but Akim is certainly in that conversation. At 99.2%, he co-headlined a strong four-player Hall of Fame class in 2033 for the Central American Baseball Association. Matias Esquilin – Left/Right Field – Juarez Jesters – 98.9% First Ballot Matias Esquilin was a 5’9’’, 185 pound switch-hitting corner outfielder from Carolina, Puerto Rico; part of the San Juan metropolitan area with about 155,000 people. Despite having a smaller and stockier build than many of the all-time greats, Esquilin ended up as one of the longest-tenured players in the history of the game. His legendary durability gave him 140+ games played in 22 seasons, plus 125 in his final year at age 43. Esquilin was a solid contact hitter especially facing right-handed pitching, finishing with a career .914 OPS and 156 wRC+ against RHP. He was merely decent against lefties with a .778 OPS and 117 wRC+. Overall, Esquilin was average at drawing walks and subpar at avoiding strikeouts. He had a reliable pop in his bat though, especially in terms of gap power with 31 doubles and 15 triples per his 162 game average. While he wasn’t a prolific slugger, Esquilin was also good for a rock solid 30 homers per 162. On the basepaths, Esquilin was among CABA’s most dangerous and maintained very good speed even into his 40s. Although he only led in steals once, Esquilin was almost always in the top ten and ended up as CABA’s stolen bases king at career end. Defensively, Esquilin made just over half of his career starts in left field with most of the rest in right. He graded as stronger in right, but he was a good-to-great defender in both corners. His consistency was remarkable, which combined with ironman durability propelled Esquilin to the #1 spot on the CABA leaderboard for hits, runs, and total bases by the time he was done. He was also a true fan favorite noted for a tireless work ethic, strong loyalty, and team-first attitude. It is no surprise that Esquilin became a beloved favorite for fans across the region. Esquilin’s entire pro career came in the Mexican League, but he adored as an icon of Puerto Rico as well. He was a regular from 2005-26 in the World Baseball Championship for PR, although his stats in the event were surprisingly underwhelming. In 109 games, Esquilin had 84 hits, 49 runs, 16 doubles, 20 homers, 47 RBI, 41 steals, .228/.292/.439 slash, and 2.3 WAR. In October 2001, a young Esquilin left Puerto Rico for Mexico on a developmental deal with Chihuahua. After three years in their academy, he debuted for the Warriors as a full-time starter in 2005 at age 21. Esquilin had a strong rookie season with .852 OPS and 4.9 WAR, taking second in Rookie of the Year voting. He would be a regular for seven seasons with Chihuahua. In 2008, Esquilin was a league leader for the first time in runs (131) and doubles (40). It was also his first of six seasons with 8+ WAR. Esquilin also from 2006-2020 was good for 100+ runs every single season. He took third in 2008’s MVP voting and won his first Silver Slugger in LF. Esquilin won additional Sluggers in 2010 and 2011 with the Warriors and was third in 2011’s MVP voting. He had a career and league-best 91 steals and 28 triples in 2010. 2011 would be Esquilin’s career highs for triple slash (.356/.405/.640), OPS (1.046), wRC+ (192), and WAR (10.1). Esquilin helped Chihuahua become competitive again, ending a playoff drought dating back to 1962. They had been largely terrible for the rest of the 20^th Century, but had started hovering around .500 to start the 21^st. The Warriors broke the drought in 2008 with a first round exit as a wild card. After missing the next two years, Chihuahua broke through at 102-60 in 2011. It was the first time since 1948 that the Warriors had the Mexican League’s best record. They carried that to their first pennant since 1961, although Chihuahua lost the CABA Championship to Honduras. In 18 playoff starts, Esquilin had 20 hits, 9 runs, 4 doubles, 2 homers, 12 RBI, 8 steals, and 0.5 WAR. In the second-ever Baseball Grand Championship, he had 16 hits, 10 runs, 2 triples, 4 homers, 14 RBI, and 0.4 WAR as the Warriors tied for sixth at 11-8. Chihuahua had been notoriously cheap and had seen numerous big homegrown stars leave for free agency. Despite finally being back in the mix with Esquilin and his non-greedy personality, the Warriors let him leave after the 2011 pennant at age 28. For Chihuahua, Esquilin had 1081 games, 1370 hits, 807 runs, 242 doubles, 131 triples, 193 home runs, 651 RBI, 497 steals, .318/.361/.569 slash, 166 wRC, and 50.9 WAR. He remains broadly popular with Warriors fans, who held his departure far more against management than against him. Esquilin would become most famous with Juarez, signing at first to an eight-year, $101 million deal. The Jesters ended their own four year playoff drought with a wild card in 2011. With Esquilin, they soon would begin one of the most impressive dynasty runs in CABA history. In a hyper-competitive 2012, Juarez’s 92-70 record earned them the top seed. They won the Mexican League title, but lost to Santo Domingo in the CABA Championship. In his Jesters debut, Esquilin won his first Silver Slugger in RF and was second in MVP voting. He had 15 hits, 7 runs, 3 doubles, and 3 homers in the playoff run. Esquilin then had 15 hits, 10 runs, 4 doubles, 5 homers, and 13 RBI in the BGC as Juarez finished 9-10. In 2013, Esquilin was third in MVP voting and led for the only time in his career in both hits (209), and WAR (8.7); while also leading in runs for the second time (125). Despite that, the Jesters surprisingly regressed to 80-82. They quickly bounced back to begin their dynasty with a 13-year playoff streak from 2014-26. Esquilin led in runs again in 2014 and 2016, although he wasn’t a league leader after that. He was third in 2014’s MVP voting and won his final Silver Slugger that year. Esquilin is one of the better players to never win an MVP in his career. As he entered his 30s though, he ceded the top star spot on the roster to Loyd Wayne. But Esquilin was ol’ reliable and was generally good for around 4-6 WAR and 100+ runs each year through the 2010s. He notably hit for the cycle for the first time in 2015 against Hermosillo, then did it again in 2025 against San Luis Potosi. During this playoff streak, Juarez won four CABA Championships (2016, 17, 20, 25) and six ML pennants (15, 16, 17, 20, 22, 25). They made the MLCS each year from 2014-17 and from 2019-25. The Jesters also won ten division titles and had ten seasons with 100+ wins. Esquilin was a constant through it all. He won CABA Championship MVP in 2020’s victory over Trinidad and was MLCS MVP in both 2022 and 2025. Juarez gave him a four-year, $32,200,000 extension after the 2018 season, then a three-year, $35,300,000 extension after the 2024 campaign. Esquilin’s playoff stats weren’t incredible for dominance, but of course were naturally steady. With Juarez, he had 154 games with 167 hits, 97 runs, 35 doubles, 12 triples, 35 homers, 86 RBI, 38 steals, .265/.300/.525 slash, 129 wRC+, and 4.2 WAR. For his combined career, Esquilin had 174 games, 189 hits, 107 runs, 39 doubles, 13 triples, 38 home runs, 99 RBI, 46 steals, .267/.301/.519 slash, 128 wRC+, and 4.7 WAR. Because of the steady production, as of 2037 Esquilin is the all-time CABA playoff leader in games, at-bats (709), runs, hits, total bases (368), singles (99), doubles, and strikeouts (178). He also was the home runs leader at retirement, although he’d get passed by Ortiz Rosales in the 2030s. Esquilin also ranks 2^nd in RBI behind Solomon Aragon’s 105 and 2^nd in steals to Velasquez Saavedra’s 57. Esquilin also got no shortage of appearances in the Baseball Grand Championship with Juarez’s regular participation during the dynasty. They famously were the first CABA team to win the BGC, earning the 2017 title by tiebreaker at 12-7 over Concepcion and Bamako. The Jesters were 9-10 in 2015 for 12^th, 11-8 in 2016 for 9^th, 9-10 for 14^th in 2020, 11-8 for 5^th in 2022, and 10-9 for 9^th in 2025. By rate stats, Esquilin actually was fairly weak in the BGC. In 146 games, he had 100 hits, 64 runs, 18 doubles, 4 triples, 26 homers, 65 RBI, 36 steals, .182/.271/.372 slash, and 0.8 WAR. He is the event leader all-time in games, at-bats (548), and strikeouts (181). Even if he wasn’t dominant, Esquilin still endeared himself to players and fans from across the globe. Esquilin was still a good starter even into his late 30s and early 40s. He started climbing up the CABA leaderboards as well, becoming the second to 2000 runs scored in 2022. Early in 2023, he passed Wesley Dubar’s 2028 to become the CABA all-time leader. Esquilin also quickly soared by Mario Bueno’s 1070 steals to become the CABA leader, eventually ending up at 1606. The big one people were watching was total hits. The legendary Prometheo Garcia had held CABA’s top spot for hits at 3871 since 1962. He was also still the world leader at this point with 4917 hits, having played another six years post-CABA in MLB. That world record was likely untouchable for Esquilin, but the CABA mark was in reach. In late 2023, Esquilin became the fifth to get to 3500 hits. In 2024, he was the third to 600 doubles with a shot at Adrian Tovar’s record 675. On the downside, he became CABA’s new leader for strikeouts in 2025. But in 2025, Esquilin also passed Garcia’s 6791 total bases for the top CABA mark. In early 2026, Esquilin became the 24^th member of the 600 home run club. That season, he got 160 hits to pass Garcia as CABA’s hit king. Esquilin passed Tovar’s games played record (3338) and was also now the leader in at-bats. Additionally in 2026, Esquilin was the sixth in CABA to reach 2000 RBI. Maybe even more impressive is that Esquilin passed Garcia’s combined CABA/MLB runs scored of 2374, which had stood as the world record for more than five decades. That placed Esquilin #2 on the world chart, as concurrently in South Asia Baseball, world home run king Majed Darwish had set the new high mark of 2664. Esquilin was passed for second by WAB’s Fares Belaid, who became the world hit king in the early 2030s. Esquilin still holds the #3 spot though as of 2037. Through 2026, Esquilin still was providing a positive value bat. Age finally caught up to him in 2027, which was also notably a .500 season for Juarez and the end of their playoff streak. Esquilin played 125 games but only started 75 with .688 OPS, 96 wRC+, and 1.2 WAR. The key figure was 76 hits, allowing him to become one of only six in all of pro baseball history with 4000 career hits. He also became the eighth to play 3500+ games in a career. On the downside, Esquilin became the only CABA player with 3000+ strikeouts and is only 29 in world history with that many whiffs. He did also fall nine doubles short of Tovar for that CABA record. Esquilin retired that winter shortly after his 44^th birthday and immediately had his #21 uniform retired by Juarez. For the Jesters, he had 2438 games, 2639 hits, 1606 runs, 424 doubles, 202 triples, 452 home runs, 1410 RBI, 644 walks, 2077 strikeouts, 1109 stolen bases, .285/.331/.521 slash, 136 wRC+, and 85.3 WAR. The grand totals for Esquilin: 3519 games, 13,558 at-bats, 2413 runs, 4009 hits, 666 doubles, 333 triples, 645 home runs, 2061 RBI, 943 walks, 3002 strikeouts, 1606 stolen bases, 706 caught stealing, 7276 total bases, .296/.340/.537 slash, 146 wRC+, and 136.2 WAR. As of 2037, Esquilin is CABA’s all-time leader in games, at-bats, runs, hits, total bases, stolen bases, and strikeouts. Esquilin also ranks 2^nd in singles (2365), 2^nd in doubles, 5^th in triples, 8^th in caught stealing, 20^th in walks, 5^th in WAR among position players, and 8^th in WAR among everyone in CABA. On the world leaderboards as of 2037, Esquilin is 8^th in games played, 5^th in at-bats, 3^rd in runs, 6^th in hits, 32^nd in doubles, 13^th in stolen bases, and 60^th in WAR among position players. He also just misses the top 50 for RBI and triples. On the all-time WAR board for all players ever, Esquilin sits 98^th. No doubt, Esquilin is a true immortal of the game and one of the legendary ironmen. Even with his massive tallies, he usually isn’t cited as the greatest of all time for the Central American Baseball Association. Garcia, Dubar, and Kiko Velazquez are usually the top three position players in varying orders since they won nine, nine, and ten MVPs between them respectively. Esquilin also has tough competition for Puerto Rico’s best ever, competing with CABA home run/RBI king Noah Breton five-time MVP Donald Gonzalez who has him beat for combined WAR between CABA/MLB. CABA has had some stellar stars over 120+ seasons, although Esquilin makes most top ten lists for position players. Regardless of where a scholar would place him on the grand scheme, Esquilin is arguably a top ten player in world history specifically in durability, consistency, and baserunning. When you combine regular season, playoffs, and tournaments; Esquilin competed in an incredible 3948 games. Only Prometheo Garcia (4074) and SAB’s Manju Abbas (4007) have Esquillin beat there. He received 98.9% to co-headline an impressive four-player 2033 Hall of Fame class for CABA. __________________ Baseball: The World's Game fictional world reports Continental Baseball Federation world reports (8-tier promotion/relegation sim and college feeder)