Baseball United announces historic player draft for new Dubai-based professional league

Twenty-nine MLB players have been picked in Baseball United’s first ever draft. (Baseball United)
Short Url
Updated 24 October 2023
Follow

Baseball United announces historic player draft for new Dubai-based professional league

  • Some 80 players selected, including Bartolo Colon, Robinson Cano, Pablo Sandoval
  • Kash Shaikh: Putting players on teams makes everything much more real for everyone involved

DUBAI: Dubai-based Baseball United has announced its first player draft.

Some 80 players were selected, with 20 picks for each of the league’s founding franchises — the Mumbai Cobras, the Karachi Monarchs, and the league’s two UAE-based franchises, the Wolves and Falcons.

The inaugural draft is dominated by former Major League Baseball players.

Selections included former New York Yankees stars Robinson Cano and Didi Gregorius, both drafted by the Wolves, and three-time World Series champion Pablo Sandoval, drafted by the Falcons.

Four-time MLB All-Star Bartolo Colon, and four-time Gold Glove winner Andrelton Simmons, were also among the top picks.

Of the 80 players drafted, 56 were originally drafted by MLB teams, with others playing in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball League, the Mexican League, the Dominican Republic Professional Baseball League, and other high-level international leagues.

Kash Shaikh, chairman, CEO, and majority owner of Baseball United, said: “Each milestone is important when you’re building something from nothing.

“But yesterday’s draft is our biggest thus far. Putting players on teams makes everything much more real for everyone involved. We now have 80 high-caliber, professional baseball players to help build the foundation of this league.

“There’s a lot of diversity in this group, from age and experience to skill set and nationality. We have all-stars, former top draft picks, and a mix of veterans and younger guys to help carry the game across the world.

“I’m very happy for all our players, and very grateful to John Miedreich, Eddy Diaz, and our entire baseball operations team for bringing this group together.”

Baseball United’s drafted players come from 25 countries, including 36 from the US, eight from the Dominican Republic, four from Curacao, and three each from Canada, Italy, and Venezuela.

Some 44 of the drafted players, with six prospects from the Indian subcontinent and the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) region, will compete in Baseball United’s All-Star Showcase next month in Dubai.

The event will feature two teams playing a two-game series on Nov. 24-25 at Dubai International Stadium.


Kane scores as Bayern deliver comeback romp over Leipzig

Updated 17 January 2026
Follow

Kane scores as Bayern deliver comeback romp over Leipzig

  • The victory restores Bayern’s 11-point lead atop the ladder over second-placed Borussia Dortmund
  • Leipzig took a first-half lead through Romulo, but Bayern kicked into gear after the break

LEIPZIG, Germany: Harry Kane scored his 21st goal of the Bundesliga season as Bayern Munich came from behind to win 5-1 at RB Leipzig on Saturday.
The victory restores Bayern’s 11-point lead atop the ladder over second-placed Borussia Dortmund, while continuing their record-breaking campaign.
Unbeaten Bayern have dropped just four points on their way to a record-equalling tally of 50 after 18 games. Bayern’s total of 71 goals scored is also a record at this stage of a German league season.
Leipzig took a first-half lead through Romulo, but Bayern kicked into gear after the break, Serge Gnabry, Kane, Jonathan Tah, Aleksandar Pavlovic and Michael Olize all scoring.
Bayern coach Vincent Kompany said Leipzig were “twice as good as we were” in the opening half, adding “but in the second-half — my god, the boys delivered.
“We weren’t afraid and we really went for it.”
Leipzig goalscorer Romulo said “we played 75 minutes really on top, then I don’t know what happened, we turned off our minds. We have to learn something out of that.”
Leipzig were strong early and broke through after 20 minutes when Romulo snuck past Bayern’s Tah to poke in an Antonio Nusa pass from close range.
The hosts were undone in the simplest fashion just after half-time. Dayot Upamecano picked Christoph Baumgartner’s pocket and fed Gnabry, who guided the ball into the bottom corner.
Bayern took the lead after 67 minutes, once again thanks to a Leipzig mistake.
Olize’s floated cross looked harmless until Ridle Baku lost his footing, allowing an unmarked Kane time and space to blast home.
With Leipzig’s resistance broken, Tah, Pavlovic and Olize all scored in the final 10 minutes, while Jamal Musiala returned late off the bench after a six-month injury absence.

- Can rescues Dortmund -
Earlier, an Emre Can penalty in the fifth minute of stoppage time saved Borussia Dortmund’s blushes in a 3-2 home win against lowly St. Pauli.
In the dying moments, VAR found a foul on Germany forward Maximilian Beier, bringing Dortmund captain Can to the spot.
“What a rollercoaster ride,” Can told Sky Germany.
“We need to do much better to settle things down and to convert our chances,” he added.
The hosts overcame a poor first half when Julian Brandt tapped in from close range just before the break. Having created the opener, Karim Adeyemi gave Dortmund a two-goal buffer in the 54th minute, converting a Fabio Silva assist.
Rock-bottom St. Pauli had won just once since September but fought back into the game when James Sands and Ricky-Jade Jones scored inside 10 minutes midway through the second half to stun the hosts.
Deep into stoppage time, Jones caught Beier on the edge of the penalty area, allowing Can to convert nervelessly from the spot.
Elsewhere, Hoffenheim’s Wouter Burger scored the only goal in a 1-0 home win over flailing Bayer Leverkusen to climb past Leipzig into third in the table.
Burger swung in an excellent free-kick after nine minutes to give the hosts the three points.
“That was an important one,” Burger said of his free-kick. “I was practicing them a bit this morning.”
Relegation candidates last season, Hoffenheim are on track to qualify for Europe’s top competition for just the second time in their history, having last done so under now-Germany coach Julian Nagelsmann in 2017/18.
Leverkusen have now lost four of their past six, falling three points behind the Champions League placings.
Cologne beat Mainz 2-1 at home, Wolfsburg played out a 1-1 home draw with Heidenheim and hosts Hamburg were held to a scoreless draw by Borussia Moenchengladbach.