Draft:Behnam Ghasemi

Behnam Ghasemi (born May 27, 2001) is an Iranian professional baseball Infielder (shortstop) for the Tehran Teyfs in Senior Mans Baseball League (SMBL) (Iran's Major League) and Iran National Baseball Team.. A two-time SMBL Defense Golden Glove and MVP, he is also the youngest player to play in Iran's SMBL. He become Rookie of the year in 2020.

Behnam Ghasemi played Minor league baseball for the HMD Falcons, and the Isfahan Baseball selected him for 2020 first pick. He played shortstop in the first game of the league for Isfahan which made him the youngest player to join SMBL. Behnam hit his first SMBL home run in that game. Ghasemi continued his great performance and become Rookie of the Year in 2020. After playing for Isfahan in 2020, Tehran Teyf offered him a contract that made Behnam Ghasemi the highest paid player in Iran's baseball history, the leakage of this contract started a debate between other players and their teams which forced other teams to raise their players salary but Ghasemi remained The Highest Paid Player In SMBL.

He is the first Iranian baseball player to sign advertising contract with brands in Iran.

Early life
Behnam Ghasemi was born in Hamedan, Iran,his father was a teacher and a former futsal player. He started sports in early ages by swimming and gymnastics, after a while he started playing futsal with his father but according to his father he showed no interest. According to his father he was very athletic and fast and had a great talent in sports. In his teen ages he started playing Taekwondo.he competed in two tournaments and accomplished one gold and one silver medal, Behnam was also a member of his high school taekwondo team, he attended Haji-Babaee high school in Iran. Behnam Ghasemi got his 2nd Dan Taekwondo black belt in 2016 when he was only 15,one year after that he got familiar with baseball.

Minor league career
Behnam Ghasemi met Behzad Varshavian in a volunteer jungle clean-up. Behzad introduced baseball to Behnam. Ghasemi went throw a 6 month training by Behzad Varshavian(HMD Falcons coach) before joining HMD Falcons (Iranian minor league team). According to Behzad Varshavian,"Behnam had a lot of talent in baseball but it was his hard work that got him to my team in 6 month. I even made him honorary team captain after he hit his first home run in a game with Ardabil Baseball. "After almost two years of training and playing in HMD Falcons he was recruited by Isfahan Baseball, a SMBL Baseball team(top league of country)with a 1-year contract.

Isfahan Baseball
after almost two years of training and playing in HMD Falcons he was recruited by Isfahan Baseball, a SMBL Baseball team(top league of country)with an one-year contract. Behnam become the youngest player to debut in SMBL when he joined Isfahan in 2020(19 years old).he hit .324 in his first appearance in the SMBL league (2020) with the Isfahan. He didn't perform well in his first few games which caused a lot of pressure on him, even one of his teammates did an interview and said "He is very young and doesn't have what it takes to play in this level". He become Rookie of the year in 2020 when he was 19 and left Isfahan for good. Youngest Rookie of the year before him was 24 years old. According to him unhealthy environment and unprofessional management were the reasons that he didn't extend his contract with Isfahan. Isfahan went throw changes in management after he left.

Iran National Baseball Team
due to his great defensive performance as shortstop and his '''.324 batting average. He''' got invited to Iran National Baseball Team after his performance in Isfahan. He was trained by Iran's national team coach,Andrea D'auria(Italian Baseball Coach).Iran National Baseball Team trainings effected his performance in the league too, Behnam Ghasemi believed Andrea D'auria's methods match him better and directly impact his performance in the league. Andrea said: "I love his progress. Passionate, hard-working young man, he will change baseball in Iran in continue his path"

Tehran Teyfs
In 2021 Behnam got a 3-year contract from Tehran Teyfs. that contract made him most privileged and the highest paid player in SMBL history .his contract contained monthly salary ,transportation fees and accommodation which is common in other sports but it was the first time in Iran's baseball'''. Behnam's''' contract leaked in 2022 and started a dispute between other players and their teams. Which forced teams to raise players salary and benefits but Behnam Ghasemi remained the highest paid baseball player in Iran.Behnam is training and playing in Teyfs under supervision of Mehrdad Hajian one of the Iran's best coaches and former player in Bridgewater State University.(abc news source).Behnam scored .410 in his first session with the Teyfs  which according to Hajian took some damage control in the pre session trainings duo to bad influence Isfahan staff had on Behnam's game and Hajian belived that average was nothing against his potential bating average. Hajian's magic worked and Behnam Ghasemi become MVP in 2021.in his second session in 2022 he scored .428,Ghasemi become Defense Golden Glove Winner in 2022 and in his third session in 2023 he scored .465 and won his Second Defense Golden Glove playing for Tehran Teyf.

Advertising contracts
Behnam Ghasemi signed a contract with GYMSHOP inc. which made him GYMSHOP's brand face alongside with Majid JamehBozorg Iranian bodybuilding champion.

GYMSHOP is an Iranian sport clothe importer and manufacturer which sponsors national and local bodybuilding competitions.

Behnam is the first Iranian baseball player who got paid for advertisement purposes.

Behnam Ghasemi also works with ParsiPowder inc. one of Iran's biggest sport supplement producer which is commonly used in Iran.

''Hard work and training with the best Iranian and International coaches available in Iran is what makes him great. Andrea D'auria was right, Behnam is taking baseball to another level'' said by Pedram Malmir, CEO at ParsiPowder

Records

 * Most homeruns in a tournament
 * Most RPIs in a tournament
 * Youngest player to get in SMBL
 * Youngest Rookie of the year ever in SMBL
 * Youngest MVP ever in SMBL
 * Youngest Golden Glove in SMBL
 * Highest paid player in SMBL history

Awards and honors

 * Rookie of the year 2020
 * MVP 2021
 * Golden Glove 2022
 * Golden Glove 2023