Press conference of team Kingdom of the Netherlands regarding Premier 12

Today the board members of the KNBSB and the staff of team Kingdom of the Netherlands held a press conference about the creation of the team that will represent the Netherlands and the islands of Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao, Saba, St. Eustasius and St. Martin in the upcoming Premier 12 tournament.

Host of the event was Ronald van Dam, who is the main PR person within the the KNBSB.
He fired some questions at the the staff (Hensley Meulens and Steve Janssen), Andruw  Jones and Diegomar Markwell.

Before the press conference there was a training on one of the practice fields in Hoofddorp.

According to manager Hensley Meulens the preparation on Curacao was tremendous.  He and Steve Janssen were able to have a good look at the players who normally play in the Minor Leagues.  Hensley Meulens cannot think of a reason that team Kingdom of the Netherlands cannot win the tournament.
Coming Friday (October 30) the team will leave for Taiwan where they still have a week to prepare themselves with training sessions and a couple of practice games.

The players of the various islands are proud that they can represent their country. Now every island is in the picture with their flags on the jersey that the Dutch will wear.
During the training sessions on Curacao, some good bonds have been made. In the future the KNBSB will help the baseball federation of Curacao to develop talents and the cooperation between the two will be much closer.

Steve Janssen stated that the best option for this team was to get Hensley Meulens to manage the team.  Meulens already did a very good job to make a team out of several different players during the 2013 World Baseball Classic.This team is a very good mix of youth and experience.  The team will contain experienced players like Andruw Jones, Diegomar Markwell (Curacao Neptunus) and Wladimir Balentien (Yakult Swallows) and some very talented young players like Carlton Daal (Daytona Tortugas/ Cincinnati Reds organization)and Jim Ploeger (UVV). It has been stated before by the Dutch government that this team is an example for the Dutch society because of its ethnic variety and the way they cooperate.

Fincancial director of the KNBSB, Paddy Roomer, told that the performances of the Dutch baseball team is opening doors internationally for Dutch companies, both in Japan and in Cuba. On business trips led by our king, representatives of the Dutch baseball team join in.

Andruw Jones felt honored to represent his country. For him it is also a good opportunity to get in shape as he aims for a roster spot with an MLB team in 2016.

The news that Wladimir Balentien is only allowed to participate with the Premier 12 as a DH doesn’t influence the tactics of Hensley Meulens and Steve Janssen.  Balentien has been troubled by leg injuries in the past few seasons and it is better to use younger players in the outfield instead, also to prevent Balentien from getting injured again.

To the outside world it may appear strange that the Dutch are having several different teams during the various international tournaments.  For example with the WBC, they can use the best MLB players to represent the kingdom.  During European Cups they have to work with  a mix of minor leaguers and hoofdklasse players.  And then during tournaments like the Haarlem Baseball Week and the World Port Tournament only Hoofdklasse players will participate. But that gives manager Steve Janssen the opportunity to try out younger players to see how they react to an international environment.

I was curious how the staff decided to have Carlton Daal on the squad. When you look at his stats his hitting is great but his defense is questionable at times. First they asked Ozhaino Albies, but eventually he wasn’t allowed to go. Then they looked to a player with a good reach. And there they found Carlton Daal. According to Hensley Meulens the stats do not tell the whole story as the fields at single A aren’t that good, so not all errors  can be blamed on the players.

All representatives today agreed that team Kingdom of the Netherlands doesn’t go to the Premier 12 just to participate, but to win prizes. On a question about how they think about the chances of this team they stated that the chances are high, possibly a spot with the final four.