Golden Baseball League Winter League has just completed its third season. In the first three years, over 130 Arizona Winter League players have been signed to professional contracts. Two of those players, Scott Richmond and Sergio Romo, are now pitching in the major leagues. The 2009 Arizona Winter League began play on January 31, 2009 and has expanded to 8 teams and almost 200 players. On April 3, 2009, the Golden Baseball League announced its second instructional league known as the Arizona Summer League, which is patterned after the AWL. This league consists of three teams, the Canada Miners, El Centro Imperials and
Baseball Challenge League compete for the league championship. Each team carries 27 players. Typically, players earn 150,000 yen (c. U.S. $2,000) per month, with another 50,000 yen in potential bonuses. The league imposes a 7.2 million yen (c. U.S. $60,600) salary limit for team managers. The BC League began play in 2007 as the Hokushinestu Baseball Challenge League. It originally consisted of four teams based in the Hokuriku region: the Ishikawa Million Stars, the Niigata Albirex Baseball Club, the Shinano Grandserows, and the Toyama Thunderbirds. In 2008 the league added two teams, Gunma Diamond Pegasus and the Fukui Miracle Elephants, and split into