FERNANDEZ LET GO BY DIABLOS, INTERESTED IN VERACRUZ JOB

Winning a pennant in 2008 and turning in the Mexican League’s best record this year apparently wasn’t enough to save Daniel Fernandez’ job as manager of the Mexico City Diablos Rojos. Fernandez has been let go after what ordinarily would be considered two extraordinarily good seasons as skipper of the team he starred on as a player for over 20 seasons.

As a rookie manager last year, Fernandez led the Red Devils to a 66-39 record and their first pennant in five years (the team’s 15th flag since 1956). In 2009, Mexico City came in with a Liga-best 70-35 regular season record, but stumbled in the first round of the playoffs by losing a seven-game shocker to the Laguna Vaqueros, who were in their first postseason since 2003.

The Veracruz native is said to be interested in managing the LMB Veracruz Aguilas, who finished the 2009 season with a 51-56 record and missed the playoffs. While Fernandez says he hasn’t spoken with Veracruz chairman Jose Antonio Mansur, he’d like to have a conversation about landing a job with the Red Eagles.

As a player, Fernandez spent 25 seasons in the Mexican League, 24 of them with the Diablos. He retired fourth on the all-time hits list with 2,648 safeties (batting .313 lifetime), and is third in career stolen bases with 478 swipes.