One of the two Mexican League franchises sitting out the 2011 season is now up for sale, although there may be a question of who a buyer should make the check out to. The Nuevo Laredo Tecolotes, who the LMP suspended for the coming season due to their failure to provide the Liga with names of people handling their finances, are being offered to the highest bidder.“We’re sailing against the current,” then-Tecos chairman Victor Ordonez was quoted as saying before the 2010 season on the Puro Beisbol website. Nuevo Laredo finished last in the 16-team Liga in attendance with just 65,597 fans clicking the turnstiles in 47 games, an average of 1,395 per opening during a 32-72 season (also worst in the circuit). The franchise has been valued at US$2-2.5 million, and approval for current directors to sell the team was granted by the LMB to the team’s current directors last week. A number of cities are said to be interested in hosting a Class AAA baseball team next year, including Guadalajara and Aguascalientes. The LMB’s other inactive team, the Chihuahua Dorados, are moving to Leon next season after ballpark renovations are completed.
The Tecos have won five Liga pennants and were the first bi-national pro sports team in history when they were shared by Laredo, Texas in the 1980s and 1990s, but times have been harder in the border city since then and fortunes for the team have worsened.
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