February 2, 2006

The first official off-season of the VBL begins today with many choices available to the discerning buyer. The pool of free agents is extremely large this season due to a number of factors. First, because of the success and popularity of the league, many new stars decided to make themselves available to play in the VBL. Second, many players signed one-year contracts in 2005 and are now free agents. And third, with over 160 players retiring at the end of the 2005 season, a large pool of players was needed to restock rosters.

"It is indicative of how well things went last year," said Commissioner Tom Hanks in reference to being asked about the large number of free agents (419 players) and draftees (177 players) available to teams. "People want to be a part of the fun and excitement. We hope that we are able to keep the momentum going and build on our success."

Hanks did say that it was true that the possibility of league expansion was being explored for the 2007. A decision was hoped to be made by the All-Star Break.

The free agents most in demand will include the following, top-rated players:

With nearly 600 new players applying to participate in the Venus Baseball League for the 2006 season, how is it determined who goes into the draft and who is eligible to be signed as a free agent? Actually, very simple - by birth date. Those born in the year 1980 or later were put in the draft pool, those born before 1980 were eligible to be signed as free agents. (A couple of exceptions were made based on player circumstances.)