The Gulf Coast League begins play today.  Here's a little basic information.

There are eighteen teams in the Gulf Coast League, divided into four divisions:  East, Northeast, Northwest, and South.  Teams take the names of their parent clubs:  GCL Twins, GCL Nationals, etc.  There are three major league clubs that have two teams in the GCL:  the Phillies, the Tigers, and the Yankees.  In each of these cases, the teams are differentiated geographically:  GCL Tigers East and GCL Tigers West, for example.  The GCL Twins are in the South Division.

The teams play a fifty-six game schedule.  The four division winners make the playoffs.  The first round is a one-game playoff, and the championship series is best-of-three.

Rosters have thirty-five players, at least ten of whom must be pitchers.  I assume that's not a problem for anyone--I would think they'd probably have quite a few more than ten.  The Twins, for example, have fifteen pitchers listed, although I don't think that's their final roster.  No player may have three or more years of minor league service.

The Twins are managed by Dan Ramsey.  Batting coaches are Luis Antonio Rodriguez and Matt Borgschulte, so if length of name makes you a good batting coach the Twins should have a tremendous offense.  The pitching coach is Virgil Vasquez.

It's a low rung, but it's the first step up the ladder.  We'll have fun following them during the 2018 season!