LNM prepping for 2016, season to open April 1

The Northern Mexico League (aka LNM) will put eight teams on the field for the upcoming 2016 season, which is set to open with four games on Friday, April 1.  The Liga Norte lansdcape has been rearranged from last season by the deletion of both the Magdalena Membrilleros and Hermosillo Diablos teams, the shifting of the Tijuana Toritos to Tecate and the return of the Cananea Mineros.

The Liga Norte was fored in 2012 and is considered a "Class A" circuit in Mexican baseball, with teams from Baja California and Sonora sprinkled in proximity to the U.S. border from Tecate in the west to Cananea in the east.  With the exception of 17,000-seat Estadio B-Air in Mexicali, home of the Centinelas, all LNM ballparks range in capacity between 2,200 and 5,000.  All but two LNM teams have at least two Mexican League parent clubs.

The following is a list of LNM franchises and their LMB affiliates for 2016:

CABORCA Rojos (Aguascalientes Rieleros, Carmen Delfines)
CANANEA Mineros (Laguna Vaqueros, Yucatan Leones)
ENSENADA Marineros (Mexico City Diablos Rojos, Oaxaca Guerreros)
MEXICALI Centinelas (Monterrey Sultanes)
PUERTO PENASCO Tiburones (Monclova Acereros, Tabasco Olmecas)
SAN LUIS Algodoneros (Puebla Pericos)
SAN QUINTIN Freseros (Campeche Piratas, Quintana Roo Tigres)
TECATE Toritos (Saltillo Saraperos, Saltillo Saraperos)

The LNM's 84-game regular season will run through July 14 with a month's worth of three-tiered playoffs to follow into mid-August.  The All-Star Game is slated for May 27 in Ensenada.  Mexicali is the defending Liga Norte champion.