2016 MLB Spring Training Umpire Roster

MLB released its Spring Training Umpires roster for 2016, which includes all 75 umpires on the full-time Major League staff, plus 20 minor league umpires invited and assigned to baseball's Spring Training in Arizona's Cactus and Florida's Grapefruit Leagues.

The Spring Training roster below also includes sleeve numbers for all applicable umpires, including Minor League call-up umpires authorized to fill in at the Major League level during the regular season. "--" indicates umpire is a Minor League (AAA) official invited to participate in Major League Spring Training, but has not been given a sleeve number for the MLB regular season fill-in list. Newcomers to the MiLB Call-Up list are indicated by bold text.

MLB Spring Training Umpires' Roster - 2016 Pre-Season

MLB Staff	MLB Staff	MiLB Call-Ups
Baker, Jordan 71 Barksdale, Lance 23 Barrett, Lance 94 Barrett, Ted 65 Barry, Scott 87 Bellino, Dan 2 Blaser, Cory 89 Bucknor, CB 54 Carapazza, Vic 19 Carlson, Mark 6 Cederstrom, Gary 38 Conroy, Chris 98 Cooper, Eric 56 Culbreth, Fieldin 25 Cuzzi, Phil 10 Danley, Kerwin 44 Davidson, Bob 61 Davis, Gerry 12 DeMuth, Dana 32 Diaz, Laz 63 DiMuro, Mike 16 Drake, Rob 30 Dreckman, Bruce 1 Eddings, Doug 88 Emmel, Paul 50 Estabrook, Mike 83 Everitt, Mike 57 Fairchild, Chad 4 Fletcher, Andy 49 Foster, Marty 60 Gibson, Greg 53 Gibson, Tripp 73 Gonzalez, Manny 79 Gorman, Brian 9 Guccione, Chris 68 Hallion, Tom 20 Hernandez, Angel 55 Hickox, Ed 15	Hirschbeck, John 17 Holbrook, Sam 34 Hoye, James 92 Hudson, Marvin 51 Iassogna, Dan 58 Johnson, Adrian 80 Joyce, Jim 66 Kellogg, Jeff 8 Knight, Brian 91 Kulpa, Ron 46 Layne, Jerry 24 Little, Will 93 Marquez, Alfonso 72 Meals, Jerry 41 Miller, Bill 26 Muchlinski, Mike 76 Nauert, Paul 39 Nelson, Jeff 45 O'Nora, Brian 7 Porter, Alan 64 Rackley, David 86 Randazzo, Tony 11 Reyburn, D.J. 70 Reynolds Jim 77 Ripperger, Mark 90 Scott, Dale 5 Tichenor, Todd 13 Timmons, Tim 95 Vanover, Larry 27 Wegner, Mark 14 Welke, Bill 52 Welke, Tim 3 Wendelstedt, Hunter 21 West, Joe 22 Winters, Mike 33 Wolcott, Quinn 81 Wolf, Jim 28	Barber, Sean 29 Basner, Toby 99 Blakney, Ryan 36 Buckminster, Seth 67 De Jesus, Ramon -- Fagan, Clint 82 Goodman, Ryan -- Hamari, Adam 78 Hoberg, Pat 31 Johnson, Anthony 48 Lentz, Nic -- May, Ben 97 Morales, Gabe 47 Ortiz, Roberto -- Scheurwater, Stu 85 Segal, Chris 96 Torres, Carlos 37 Tumpane, John 74 Whitson, Chad 62 Woodring, Tom 75 (20 MiLB Umpires) (75 MLB Umpires) (95 Total Umpires) Information obtained by UEFL on 2/24/2016. www.closecallsports.com

Some observations:

• > MiLB invites dropped by two (from 2015), while full-time MLB umpires decreased by one.
• > 2015 Full-Time MLBU Paul Schrieber is not returning to the Major Leagues. A league source indicated on condition of anonymity that the departure was not voluntary or previously planned.
• > Umpires who appeared on the 2015 Spring Training MiLB invitee list, but who have been cut from the 2016 preseason are: Jon Byrne, Jeff Gosney, Marcus Pattillo, and Doug Vines.

2016 World Baseball Classic Qualifier Roster - Australia

Umpires for the 2016 World Baseball Classic Qualifier (Australia Stage) convened in Sydney, AUS and officiated the first round of qualifying games for the upcoming 2017 WBC, featuring teams from Australia, New Zealand, Philippines, and South Africa. Six games were scheduled from February 11 through February 14 (Feb 10-13 ET).

The following is a list of the six umpires who have been assigned to and appeared during the WBC Q1 stage, along with their respective countries and leagues of representation. (Pictured to the right is South Korean Umpire Kun Young Park.)

Umpire Roster for Qualifier 1 in Sydney's Blacktown International Sportspark
Travis Eggert (USA; Pacific Coast League [PCL]).
Alex Ortiz (USA; PCL).
Roberto Ortiz (USA; PCL).
Kun Young Park (KOR).
Brett Robson (AUS; Australian Baseball League [ABL]).
Takanori Yamamoto (JPN; Nippon Professional Baseball [NPB]).*

*Takanori Yamamoto also officiated the 2014 MLB Japan All-Star Series.

WBC Qualifier 2 will take place March 17-20 at Estadio B-Air, Mexicali, Mexico.

2016 UEFL Registration and Appeals Board Nomination

Registration is now open for the 2016 Umpire Ejection Fantasy League season.

Links: Register for the 2016 UEFL / Subscribe to UEFL Digest E-mails / Run for the Appeals Board.

Preliminary registrants will appear on the 2016 UEFL Membership Roster. If you submit registration and do not see your username on the roster within four days of submission, please register again.

Pursuant to UEFL Rule 1, as first adopted prior to the 2013 season:

b. Five umpires shall be drafted by each UEFL member in the form of one (1) crew chief per Rule 1-2, two (2) primary umpires per Rule 1-3 and two (2) secondary umpires per Rule 1-4.

c. The draft will be conducted in two phases: Phase one encompasses the crew/primary round while phase two encompasses the secondary draft. Members have the option of drafting all umpires during the first phase.

For more information about the UEFL draft and selection process, see the 2016 UEFL Rules Book. Note that the draft will occur in March 2016; no umpire will be selected until the draft begins in March.

Any visitor, guest or user may become a league member. There is no cost to register for this league. If you would like to register for the 2016 UEFL season, please complete the 2016 UEFL Registration Form. If you experience technical difficulties, please respond to this post with your requested username. If you participated during the 2015 season, you may use the same username or otherwise mention what your username was last season. Do not select umpires during the registration process.

Important Note: To register for the 2016 Umpire Ejection Fantasy League, please indicate your desired username and e-mail address, the combination of which shall serve as user verification. Pursuant to Rules 4-7 and 6-1, users must be logged in to initiate challenges. The UEFL uses DISQUS for this purpose. To register, view any post on the website and scroll to the comments section. Click the "Join the discussion" text box and a variety of sign in options will appear. You can sign in with Facebook, Twitter or Google, or create an account with DISQUS. Your DISQUS sign in (whether Facebook, Twitter, Google or DISQUS itself) must match your UEFL username.

It is recommended that UEFL members be placed on an e-mail list so that we may expeditiously communicate important site-related news, such as UEFL Live Draft order and Prop Boards. If you wish to be included, please click here to subscribe the UEFL Digest.

Registration, draft and roster deadlines (Note: All deadlines extend to 11:59 PM Pacific on date indicated):
March 11, 2016 (Friday): Preliminary and standard registration processes closed, draft opens.
March 25, 2016 (Friday): Last day to submit unrestricted Primary umpires.
March 26, 2016 (Saturday): Last day to submit unrestricted Secondary umpires.
April 1, 2016 (Friday): Last day to submit unrestricted Crew Chief selections.
April 2, 2016 (Saturday): Last day for roster changes (retirements, pre-season injuries, etc.).
April 3, 2016 (Sunday): Baseball's Opening Night (3 MLB Games)
Any late submissions will be "restricted," meaning umpire selection will be limited to a list as determined by the Commissioner and based on timely league drafting activity.

Appeals Board: Rule 6-4-a mandates the establishment and maintenance of an Appeals Board to rule on disputed issues, such as Quality of Correctness. Any visitor, guest or user may become an Appeals Board member and may or may not also be a concurrent league member. The Appeals Board operates on a voluntary basis only and is a one-year term (no term limits). To apply, please access this form. If you are interested in nominating yourself for the one at-large Appeals Board vacancy, please consider the following requirements:
➤ Ability to separate subjectivity from objective analysis;
➤ Extensive rules knowledge or ability to attain exceptional proficiency;
➤ Acceptance of prior and willingness to form UEFL precedent and rule interpretations;
➤ Ability to objectively and thoroughly analyze plays to determine, among others, Quality of Correctness;
➤ Availability to respond to the "Office of the UEFL Commissioner" in a timely fashion;
➤ Board members must abstain from ruling on plays involving drafted umpires (if applicable).

Link: 2016 Appeals Board page on the UEFL Portal
Permanent Appeals Board members are: Gil Imber (Commissioner, Chair), Jeremy Dircks (Deputy).
Appeals Board members re-elected via the 2015 Rules Summit are: Arik G, cyclone14, RichMSN, tmac, Turducken.
Vacancy: Seat 8, Seat 9 [2 vacancies].

Appeals Board nomination and election procedures, deadlines:
February 4, 2016 (Thursday): Appeals Board nominations opened.
March 18, 2016 (Friday): Appeals Board nominations closed and voting begins.
March 25, 2016 (Friday): Appeals Board voting ends, 2016 Board finalized.

If you have any questions, please post here. As you can see, registration will remain open for over four weeks while Appeals Board nominations will remain open for over six weeks. We hope you enjoy this registration process for the 2016 season.

UEFL Umpire Profiles Updated for the 2016 Season

The UEFL Major League Umpire Profiles have been updated with all data through 2015 in preparation for 2016 UEFL registration, which begins in February. For those new to the Umpire Ejection Fantasy League or unfamiliar to UEFL Umpire Profiles, here is an overview of these pages.

The image to the right is the UEFL Profile of MLB Umpire Alfonso Marquez, who received the UEFL's 2015 Umpire of the Year Award.

The top section of each profile contains simple biographical information: name, nickname (if applicable), date and place of birth.

The next section follows the umpire's road to the show through their Minor Leagues worked, MLB debut date (with league of debut in parentheses: AL or NL for 1999 or earlier and MLB if after 2000), and MLB uniform sleeve number.

The following section lists the umpire's individual ejections with links to the UEFL Ejection Reports of the specific listed ejections, generally dating back to the 2012 season. The Ejections History entry directly below that dates back even further, but without historical links.

Click the umpire's name next to "UEFL History" to view a raw feed of all posts on the website that relate to that umpire.

Below this is the umpire's Postseason and Special Events History, which includes World Baseball Classic, All-Star and Playoff appearances; those from 2011 to the present link to the UEFL announcements from those specific years.

If the umpire has won any UEFL Awards since 2011, those will be listed in the next section.

Finally, Notes include various tidbits and other interesting information about the umpire.

Visit the UEFL's Umpire Roster and Profiles page to view more Umpire Profiles, and the UEFL Portal's Historical Data page to view raw data—numbers and ejection statistics—dating back to the 2008 season, including a sortable list of all umpires, ranked by total ejections since 2005.

ABL Ejection - Jordan Taylor (Nathan Wright)

Australian Baseball 3B Umpire Jordan Taylor ejected Sydney Blue Sox Coach Nathan Wright for arguing an out (catch/transfer, reversed from safe/no catch) call in the bottom of the 7th inning of the Aces-Blue Sox game. With one out and one on, Blue Sox batter Joshua Dean hit a 2-1 fastball from Aces pitcher Sam Street on a fly ball to left fielder Josh Davies, who attempted to catch the ball. Replays indicate Davies appeared to catch the baseball and subsequently drop the ball while attempting to transfer it to his throwing hand from his glove, the call was correct. At the time of the ejection, the Aces were leading, 6-3. The Aces ultimately won the contest, 6-3.

Wrap: Melbourne Aces vs. Sydney Blue Sox (Australian Baseball League), 1/23/16
[Video posted below, via 'read more']

2016 MLB Umpire Crews (Pre-Season Edition)

Announcing MLB's 2016 Umpire Crew roster: 19 Crews & 75 Umpires, which is a change of -1 umpire from the 2015 iteration. Visit the UEFL's Umpire Roster and Profiles page for a sortable list of all MLB and MiLB call-up umpires (MLB umpires may be sorted by 2016 Crew). This is an unofficial early release of the 2016 MLB Umpire Crews and is subject to change prior to or during the regular season due to vacation, injury, or other events. Procedures for registering for the 2016 UEFL season will be released in early February: Stay tuned!

2016 MLB Umpire Crews (By Umpiring Crew Chief Seniority)

UEFL	Crew Chief	Umpire 2	Umpire 3	Umpire 4
Crew 1	12 Davis, Gerry	34 Holbrook, Sam	30 Drake, Rob	[Call-Up Umpire]
Crew 2	32 DeMuth, Dana	53 Gibson, Greg	15 Hickox, Ed	83 Estabrook, Mike
Crew 3	17 Hirschbeck, John	52 Welke, Bill	19 Carapazza, Vic	70 Reyburn, D.J.
Crew 4	5 Scott, Dale	58 Iassogna, Dan	61 Davidson, Bob	94 Barrett, Lance
Crew 5	22 West, Joe	44 Danley, Kerwin	49 Fletcher, Andy	90 Ripperger, Mark
Crew 6	38 Cederstrom, Gary	56 Cooper, Eric	28 Wolf, Jim	80 Johnson, Adrian
Crew 7	24 Layne, Jerry	21 Wendelstedt, Hunter	87 Barry, Scott	73 Gibson, Tripp
Crew 8	9 Gorman, Brian	6 Carlson, Mark	16 DiMuro, Mike	81 Wolcott, Quinn
Crew 9	8 Kellogg, Jeff	7 O'Nora, Brian	64 Porter, Alan	[Call-Up Umpire]
Crew 10	20 Hallion, Tom	10 Cuzzi, Phil	1 Dreckman, Bruce	2 Bellino, Dan
Crew 11	33 Winters, Mike	14 Wegner, Mark	60 Foster, Marty	76 Muchlinski, Mike
Crew 12	66 Joyce, Jim	51 Hudson, Marvin	92 Hoye, James	4 Fairchild, Chad
Crew 13	25 Culbreth, Fieldin	77 Reynolds, Jim	54 Bucknor, CB	79 Gonzalez, Manny
Crew 14	65 Barrett, Ted	55 Hernandez, Angel	23 Barksdale, Lance	93 Litle, Will
Crew 15	45 Nelson, Jeff	63 Diaz, Laz	88 Eddings, Doug	89 Blaser, Cory
Crew 16	26 Miller, Bill	11 Randazzo, Tony	91 Knight, Brian	13 Tichenor, Todd
Crew 17	41 Meals, Jerry	46 Kulpa, Ron	39 Nauert, Paul	98 Conroy, Chris
Crew 18	27 Vanover, Larry	72 Marquez, Alfonso	68 Guccione, Chris	86 Rackley, David
Crew 19	57 Everitt, Mike*	50 Emmel, Paul	95 Timmons, Tim	71 Baker, Jordan
Unassigned	3 Welke, Tim	Obtained by	Close Call Sports	/ UEFL

Some Notes and Observations:
≫ Paul Schrieber is not listed on the MLB Umpire Crew list/staff. He did not work the 2015 postseason, but did officiate the 2015 All-Star Game as the second base umpire.
≫ Tim Welke has not been assigned to a crew, but remains a Crew Chief.
≫ Mike Everitt leads Crew 19 as an interim/acting crew chief (Everitt was on Welke's crew in 2015).
≫ Because of this movement, there are 75 Umpires listed on the Crew list and two Umpire 4 slots available for Call-Up Umpires from AAA baseball. There were 76 umpires and no permanent fill-ins in 2015.

Statistical Promotions or Leftward Lateral Movement:
≫ From Umpire 2 To Interim or Acting Crew Chief: Mike Everitt.
≫ From Umpire 3 to Umpire 2 (Backup Crew Chief): Sam Holbrook, Marvin Hudson, Tony Randazzo.
≫ From Umpire 4 to Umpire 3: Vic Carapazza, James Hoye.

Statistical Rightward Lateral Movement:
≫ From Umpire 2 to Umpire 3: Doug Eddings, Paul Nauert.

ABL Ejections - Takahito Matsuda (Dave Nilsson, E Green)

Australian Baseball 1B Umpire Takahito Matsuda ejected Brisbane Bandits Manager Dave Nilsson and pitcher Eric Green for arguing a foul ball call (reversed fair call) by HP Umpire James Shields in the bottom of the 9th inning of the Blue Sox-Bandits game. With one out and none on, Bandits batter Mitch Nilsson hit a 2-2 fastball from Blue Sox pitcher Keiji Uezono in the air between home plate and third base. Replays indicate Blue Sox third baseman Joshua Dean attempted to catch the fly ball, but are inconclusive as to whether Dean made contact with the baseball prior to it bouncing into foul territory, the call was irrecusable. At the time of the ejection, the game was tied, 7-7. The Bandits ultimately won the contest 8-7, in 11 innings.

This is Dave Nilsson's first ejection since December 20, 2015 (Gavin Carson; QOC = U [Fighting]).
This is Takahito Matsuda's first ejection since November 28, 2015 (2 x Vavra; QOC = Y [HBP/Ball]).

Wrap: Sydney Blue Sox vs. Brisbane Bandits (Australian Baseball League), 1/9/16
[Video posted below, via 'read more']

ABL Ejections - Blake Halligan, Andrew Bell (2 Vavras)

Australian Baseball 3B Umpire Blake Halligan ejected Aces 1B Trey Vavra and HP Umpire Andrew Bell ejected Aces Manager Joe Vavra for arguing Bell's foul ball call (reversed HR call) in the top of the 8th inning of the Aces-Bite game. With two out and one on, Vavra hit a 3-2 fastball from Bite pitcher Nick Talbot in the air to left field and out of the playing field. Replays indicate the ball appeared to leave the field in foul territory, the call was correct. At the time of the ejections, the Bite were leading, 11-2. The Bite ultimately won the contest, 11-2.

This is Joe Vavra's first ejection since November 28, 2015 (Takahito Matsuda; QOC = Y [HBP/Ball]).
This is Blake Halligan's first ejection since December 26, 2015 (Steve Mintz; QOC = U [Balls/Strikes]).

Wrap: Melbourne Aces vs. Adelaide Bite (Australian Baseball League), 1/8/16
[Video posted below, via 'read more']

Australian Ejection - Gavin Carson (Kevin Boles)

Australian Baseball HP Umpire Gavin Carson ejected Perth Heat Manager Kevin Boles for arguing a hit by pitch call in the bottom of the 7th inning of the Heat-Cavalry game. With two out and one on, Cavalry batter River Stevens took a 0-1 fastball from Heat pitcher Edgar Valle for a hit by pitch. Replays indicate the pitch did not appear to make contact with Stevens' person or uniform, the call was incorrect. At the time of the ejection, the Heat were leading, 8-2. The Heat ultimately won the contest, 9-4.

This is Gavin Carson's first ejection since a bench clearing brawl on December 20, 2015 (Josh Warner [Throwing At], Dave Nilsson & David Harris [Fighting]; QOC = U).

Wrap: Perth Heat vs. Canberra Cavalry (Australian Baseball League), 1/3/16
[Video posted below, via 'read more']

Australian Ejection - Trent Thomas (Trent D'Antonio)

Australian Baseball HP Umpire Trent Thomas ejected Sydney Blue Sox DH Trent D'Antonio for arguing a ball two call in the top of the 2nd inning of the Bite-Blue Sox game. With two out and one on, Bite batter Connar O'Gorman took a 1-2 breaking ball from Blue Sox pitcher Craig Anderson for a called second ball. Replays indicate the pitch was located around the lower bound in the vicinity of the inner edge of home plate, the call was irrecusable. At the time of the ejection, the game was tied, 0-0. The Bite ultimately won the contest, 7-1.

This is Trent Thomas' first ejection since January 30, 2015 (Matt Kennelly; QOC = U [Strike 3 Call]).

Wrap: Adelaide Bite vs. Sydney Blue Sox (Australian Baseball League), 1/1/16
[Video posted below, via 'read more']