Yomiuri Giants looking at Saltillo LHP Rodriguez

It doesn't matter where baseball is played for one axiom of the game to hold true: There is no such thing as too much good pitching.  In this case, the Yomiuri Giants are expanding their search to improve their pitching staff to Mexico, specifically Saltillo, where veteran left-hander Hector Daniel "Danny" Rodriguez is working for the Saraperos.

After going 7-3 with a 3.12 ERA in 14 regular season start for Culiacan, Rodriguez was named as BBM's Winter Playoff MVP following a strong performance in the Mexican Pacific League playoffs and two wins for the champion Mazatlan Venados at the Caribbean Series in Santo Domingo.  He also pitched Mexico to victory over Nicaragua in last month's World Baseball Classic qualifier final at Mexicali.

The 31-year-old Culiacan native had a couple of rough outings for the Saraperos to start the Mexican League season before settling down to throw seven shutout innings against Oaxaca with seven strikeouts on April 16, followed by another strong outing at Veracruz on April 22.  In that one, Rodriguez allowed just one Aguila Rojos hit with nine strikeouts in six frames, recording nine strikeout and just one walk.

Edgar Gonzalez, who managed Rodriguez in the WBC qualifier, doubles as Yomiuri's Mexican scout in addition to his role as skipper for the Mexicali Aguilas in the LMP (for whom Rodriguez pitched in the playoffs before the Aguilas lost to the Venados in the championship series).  Gonzalez was in Veracruz with other Giants reps for Danny's last start, during which he wore a splint on his right arm because of a fracture but obviously showed no worse for wear.

Although Rodriguez is pitching for Saltillo (where he's 1-0 with a 2.70 ERA after four starts), his rights still belong to the Baltimore Orioles after spending all or part of three seasons pitching for AAA Gwinnett in the Braves system (he pitched briefly for the O's AAA affiliate in Norfolk last spring before returning to Saltillo), so the Giants will have to negotiate with Baltimore if they decide to bring him to Japan.

Acereros drop two of three to Yucatan, still lead LMB Norte

Despite losing twice in a three-game home series against Yucatan over the weekend, the Monclova Acereros nonetheless still held on to a narrow lead in the Mexican League's North Division going into Monday's travel day on the schedule.

The Leones took it to Monclova, 10-1, Sunday night as Yucatan posted six runs in the top of the first inning and were never threatened afterward.  The loss, in front of 8,640 fans at Estadio Monclova, dropped the Acereros' record to 14-6, one game ahead of second-place Monterrey.  Yucatan kept pace with Quintana Roo in the LMB South, with both teams ending the weekend with 13-7 marks.  The Tigres swept a three-game set against Laguna in Torreon, including another Sunday route, 10-2, over the Vaqueros.  Jorge "Chato" Vazquez (pictured above) had two hits and drove in three runs for the defending champs while Max Ramirez clubbed his first homer of the season.  The Vaqueros have lost six in a row to fall to seventh in the North at 10-10, one game ahead of last-place Saltillo.

Perennial contenders in the North, the Saraperos have been in unfamiliar territory as cellar-dwellers, although a 9-11 record isn't a call for pressing the panic button.  Saltillo has found the going tougher at home, with just a 4-7 record at Estadio Francisco I. Madero while going 5-4 on the road.  Still, they haven't had the kind of problems the Oaxaca Guerreros experienced to start their season.  Oaxaca lost their first eleven games before pulling out a 6-5 win at Saltillo (see above) in ten innings on April 15.  The Guerreros have won four of their last ten games but at 4-16, are still a game behind seventh-place Carmen.

Puebla catcher Cesar Tapia has taken over the lead in the LMB batting race with a .415 average, including 4 homers, in 16 games.  Five players are hitting .400 or better.  Aguascalientes shortstop Diory Hernandez still leads the circuit with 7 homers and 28 RBI while seeing his average cool to an even .400, and Puebla outfielder Nyjer Morgan has 9 stolen bases to top the table in that category.  The ex-MLBer is hitting .327.
Among pitchers, Monterrey starter Edgar Gonzalez is off to a great start with a 3-1 record and 0.77 ERA in four starts.  The former Diamondbacks hurler has gone three starts and 18 innings without giving up an earned run and has walked just two batsmen in 23.1 frames.  Gonzalez leads the Liga in ERA and is tied for the lead in wins with eight other pitchers.  One of those, Monterrey's Josh Lowey (3-1), has 32 strikeouts to share the lead with Tabasco's Antonio Guzman.  Well-traveled minor league vet Wirfin Obispo has 8 saves for Monterrey. The 31-year-old Obispo is in his first LMB season after splitting 2015 between AAA Colorado Springs and AA Biloxi.

All 16 Liga teams will open eight series Tuesday night.  The biggest at this point of the season is in Cancun, where the Tigres will host Puebla in a three-game set.  The 12-8 Pericos are one game behind Quintana Roo and Yucatan in the LMB South.  Monclova is in Mexico City to play three against the 11-9 Diablos Rojos in the most important series in the North.

Yucatan veteran Morejon collects 2,000th Liga hit

Yucatan Leones veteran Oswaldo Morejon has recorded the 2,000th hit of his Mexican League career.  Morejon reached the milestone during a 6-0 series-opening loss to Reynosa on April 15 before a Friday night crowd of 10,924 at Merida's Parque Kukulcan.

Morejon entered the game with one out in the bottom of the ninth, pinch-hitting for Leones shortstop Kevin Flores.  After fouling off a pair of Sergio Zamudio pitches, the 37-year-old Merida native lined Zamudio's 0-2 pitch between Broncos third baseman Miguel Torrero and shortstop Hector Hernandez into left field for a single. At that point, Yucatan manager Willie Romero sent Kristian Delgado to first base to replace Morejon, who left the field with fans chanting his name all the way to the dugout.

A 5'9" 1695-pounder, Morejon broke into the Liga with the Leones as as 18-year-old in 1997, batting .244 with no homers in 74 games.  He has spent all but two seasons of his 20-year career with Yucatan, playing 1,717 games almost exclusively at second base.  Morejon has batted over .300 nine times, including an uncharacteristic .383 (fourth in the LMB) over 111 games for Laguna in 2013, and has a career average of .296.  Never a longball hitter with only 72 career homers, Morejon has displayed occasional gap power and speed with 332 doubles and 36 triples along with 108 stolen bases.

Morejon has also played ten winters in the Mexican Pacific League, covering the keystone for Guasave, Mexicali and Mazatlan between 2005 and 2014, batting .272 in the more pitching-friendly circuit.

Former teammate Romero has played Oswaldo sparingly thus far this season.  Going into this weekend's series in Monclova, Morejon has gone 6-for-23 in eight games for a .261 average with one double and one RBI for the 11-6 Leones, who are tied with Puebla for first place in the LMB South.  The host Acereros are 13-4 with a two-game lead over Monterrey in the LMB North.

Hernandez off to hot start for Aguascalientes

April is a little early to start talking about Triple Crown contenders, but shortstop Diory Hernandez of the Aguascalientes is apparently willing to at least stake out an early position in the discussion.

The 32-year-old Dominican is in his third year in the Mexican League after spending nine seasons in the Braves system, including 75 games over three campaigns in Atlanta during which he hit .157 with three homers.  After batting .256 for Campeche in 2013 and taking the next year off, Hernandez hit a combined .315 with one homer in 36 games.  Having hit just 49 homers over 13 seasons as a pro and never reaching double-digits in a single season, nobody expected him to have the kind of start to the season he's produced for the Rieleros.

After just 14 games, Hernandez is leading the LMB in all three Triple Crown categories with a .453 batting average, six homers and 23 runs batted in.  He went 4-for-5 with a homer and 6 RBI's against Monterrey on April 7.  Five days later on the 12th, he collected three hits with a homer and six more ribbies at home against Oaxaca before knocking out two solo homers against the Guerreros on the 14th.  Hernandez drove in two more runs Sunday night against Puebla, singling and doubling to stretch his modest hitting streak to six games. However, he's not a likely threat to keep his current output up for an entire season.

Hernandez' early power display has been a key factor in Aguascalientes' battle for first place in the LMB North.  The Rieleros, a perennial also-ran with just one 1978 Liga pennant in the forty-plus years since the team's inception (minus a four-year stay in Nuevo Laredo between 2008 and 2011), ended last weekend with an 8-6 record, two games behind co-leaders Monclova and Laguna and one in back of Monterrey despite being swept by the Pericos over the weekend.  The Rieleros will open a series in Veracruz Tuesday.

Like Aguascalientes, neither Laguna nor Monclova have ever been powers in Mexican baseball, with the old Laguna Algodoneros taking titles in 1942 and 1950 and no Acereros team ever copping the flag.  The Vaqueros helped themselves by winning two of three in their weekend road set in Campeche while Monclova did likewise in Carmen to enter Monday's travel day tied for first with Laguna at 10-4.  Monclova opens a three-game home series with Quintana Roo Tuesday while Laguna will welcome the Yucatan Leones to Torreon the same might.

In the LMB South, Puebla and defending champion Quintana Roo are tied atop the table with 10-4 records. The Pericos' broomification of Aguascalientes stretched Puebla's winning streak to seven in a row.  The Parrots have gotten good production from ex-MLB outfielder Nyjer Morgan, who's batting .368 with three homers and 13 RBI's along with seven stolen bases in 14 games.  Puebla will host Mexico City for a three-game series at Estadio Hermanos Serdan beginning Tuesday.

The Tigres have kept pace with the Pericos by winning eight of their last ten games, including a 4-3 win over Monterrey Sunday in Cancun as Esteban Quiroz singled and doubled to bring in two runs for Quintana Roo in support of rookie pitcher Fernando Miranda, who retired the first ten Sultanes hitters of the game and went five innings in his first start for his second win of the young season against no losses.  Miranda's ERA is at 7.71, so it's not time to call him a sensation just yet.  The Tigres are in Monclova Tuesday.

Liga vets Quintero, Silva dealt to new teams

Two longtime veterans of the Mexican baseball wars have been sent to new teams this week.  On Monday, the Monterrey Sultanes loaned Edgar Quintero (pictured) to LMB North rivals Saltillo.  One day later, Tijuana dealt venerable pitcher Walter Silva to the Laguna Vaqueros for catcher Gilberto Galaviz.

Now 38, the lefty-batting Quintero hit .315 for Monterrey in 68 games.  He broke in with the Sultanes in 1997 and, except for one year in Puebla, has spent his entire career with Monterrey.  Quintero has yet to play this season, in which he entered 11 hits shy of 1,500 for his LMB career and needs 20 homers to reach 250 lifetime in the Liga.

The 39-year-old Silva is another former fixture in Monterrey, spending all or part of twelve seasons in Sultanes togs before being dealt to Tijuana in 2014.  The right-hander has gone 12-18 over the past two summers for the Toros and owns a lifetime 74-66 LMB record, reaching double-figure win totals in three seasons. Silva pitched six games for the San Diego Padres in 2009, losing twice.

Two other LMB vets landed with new teams earlier in the week.  Outfielder Willy Taveras signed as a free agent with the Puebla Pericos while catcher Adan Munoz was loaned to Reynosa by the Tjuana Toros.  Taveras led the National League in stolen bases with 67 swipes for the Rockies in 2008.  He hit .316 with 11 homers for Puebla in 2014 and spent most of last year with Sugar Land in the independent Atlantic League.

Munoz, who turned 38 last month, made his Liga debut in 1998 with Monclova, batting .348 in 22 games.  While he's only topped the .300 threshhold three times since then, the 6'2" 215-pound Sonora native has built a reputation as a timely hitter with some power and a tough catcher who is not one to be messed with.  It may be interesting to see how well he works with Kyle Farnsworth in Reynosa.

Kyle Farnsworth signs with Reynosa, tosses two scoreless frames against Aguascalientes

Kyle Farnsworth's long strange trip through the world of sports has taken him to Reynosa, where the 16-year MLB veteran reliever signed a contract with the Mexican League Broncos last weekend.

This is not the Wichita native's first go-round in the Liga.  Farnsworth spent part of last season in Puebla, where he was 2-1 with a 2.04 ERA in 17 appearances for the Pericos.  Prior to signing with Reynosa, the 6'4" 230-pound righty was playing minor league amateur football with the Orlando Phantoms of the Florida Football Alliance.

The sometimes-controversial Farnsworth has been one of the more well-traveled players in the Majors since his debut with the Chicago Cubs in 1999, going 5-9 with a 5.09 ERA as a starter that year before being converted into a middle reliever the following spring.  After six seasons calling Wrigley Field home, Farnsworth's journey through the bigs took him to Detroit, Atlanta, New York, Detroit (again), Kansas City, Atlanta (again), Pittsburgh, Tampa Bay and New York (again, this time with the Mets) between 2005 and 2014.  In 893 appearances during his MLB career, Farnsworth had a 43-66 record with 57 saves, including 25 for the Rays in 2013, with a 4.26 ERA.

Farnsworth made his first appearance Sunday against Aguascalientes in Reynosa, pitching scoreless ball in the eighth and ninth innings and striking out three as the Broncos fell, 1-0.  Seventeen of his 24 pitches were strikes.

Five Liga teams go 6-2 for first week of season, Oaxaca out the gate at 0-8

The Mexican League's 2016 season got into full swing last week after home-and-away series marked Opening Weekend, and no less than five teams are off to 6-and-2 starts.  In the LMB North, Monclova and Monterrey are tied for the division lead while Yucatan, Campeche and defending champion Quintana Roo are atop the LMB South standings.

Both Campeche and Quintana Roo are riding five-game win streaks going into Monday's travel day.  The Piratas took a 3-2 win at Veracruz Sunday as a double by shortstop Paul Leon (pictured) in the top of the ninth inning drove in C.J. Retherford with what proved to be the game-winning run.  Leon also homered and finished the game with three hits to raise his team-leading average to .448.  The Tigres completed a three-game sweep of the Guerreros in Oaxaca with a convincing 8-2 win Sunday as first baseman  Jorge Vazquez homered twice and singled to drive in four runs.  Oaxaca starter Ruddy Acosta only last 1.2 innings, giving up five runs on nine hits to drop to 0-2 for the young season.

Monclova extended their own win skein to four in a row Sunday by scoring eight runs in the bottom of the sixth frame to wipe out a three-run deficit in their 11-5 comeback win over Mexico City.  Jose Amador and Denis Phipps combined to drive in five runs for the Acereros as Amador cracked his second homer of the campaign during Monclova's outburst in the sixth.  The win came despite an outpouring of 17 hits by the visiting Diablos Rojos, including three for 21-year-old second sacker Samar Leyva, but the Red Devils left 13 runners on base after batting 4-for-18 with runners in scoring position.

Monterrey outfielder Felix Perez is the early leader in the Mexican League batting race on an 18-for-33 performance for a .545 average, Tigres teammates Alex Liddi and Esteban Quiroz are tied for the lead in homers with four apiece while Liddi tops the loop with 16 RBIs (Liddi has also struck out 14 times in 35 at-bats thus far).  Puebla's Nyjer Morgan is tied with Irving Falu of Oaxaca for the stolen bases lead with 4 apiece.

Seven pitchers already have two wins against no losses, with Carmen's Mario Gonzalez the most effective of the bunch after throwing 12 shutout innings and allowing just 7 hits over his two starts.  Veracruz' Maneul Al Flores has been almost as good, giving up just four hits and no runs over 11 frames, but has only two no-decisions to show for it.  Antonio Guzman has 18 strikeouts in 12 entradas for Tabasco to top the K category while Campeche's Jose de la Torre has earned four saves in five outings to lead the circuit.

Attendance leaguewide has unsurprisingly dropped off after Opening Weekend but Monterrey is still looking strong after 25,845 fanaticos attended Sunday's 7-5 win over Saltillo home.  In three openings, the Sultanes are averaging 23,430. Yesterday's loss to the Tigres ended a miserable week at the gate in Oaxaca, where just 2,708 spectators per game attended seven Guerreros home games at Estadio Eduardo Vasconcelos.

LMB NORTH STANDINGS: Monclova 6-2, Monterrey 6-2, Aguascalientes 5-3, Laguna 5-3, Reynosa 3-5, Saltillo 3-5, Mexico City 2-6, Tijuana 2-6.
LMB SOUTH STANDINGS: Campeche 6-2, Quintana Roo 6-2, Yucatan 6-2, Veracruz 5-3, Puebla 4-4, Carmen 3-5, Tabasco 2-6, Oaxaca 0-8.

Murillo weighs Mexicali bid for 2017 WBC first round games

On the heels of hosting a four-team qualifier tournament for next year's World Baseball Classic, the Mexican Pacific League's Mexicali Aguilas are considering a potential bid for first round pool play for the full event in 2017. However, Aguilas team president Dio Alberto Murillo (pictured) isn't sounding like a man who will pursue the possibility with WBC overseers Major League Baseball too strongly.

We have to make a business plan," Murillo was quoted as saying on the Solo Beisbol website. "They (MLB) have a series of requirements that are inspected and if they're not met, they sanction you."

The Mexicali organizing committee has emphasized the need to reduce the cost for tickets to games.  The recently-concluded qualifier featured ducats ranging in price from 160 pesos (about US$9) for general admission up to 1,490 pesos (US$84) for premium Zona Oro seats.  According to Murillo, "We won't bid on it if we can't get tickets that are more accessible than they are now...I think we should give some thought that it be an economically-grounded event."

While a total of 56,111 fanaticos attended the six games at Mexicali's 17,000-seat Estadio B-Air for an average of 9,352 per contest, that's a deceiving number.  The three games involving the host Mexican team drew 43,947 but the other three matches pulled in just 12,164, with the March 18 Germany-Czech Republic game attendance indicating that just 2,187 souls occupied the stands.

Thus far, the Jalisco Charros have announced a bid to bring the WBC to Guadalajara while both Hermosillo and Monterrey have also being mentioned as potential pool play sites although no bids have been submitted for either city.

Twelve Mexicanos make MLB Opening Day rosters

When Major League Baseball opened its 2016 season this week, 12 Mexican-born players dotted team rosters.  Another 16 Mexican-Americans were listed for a total of 28 players of Mexican descent on 18 MLB teams.  Five were in uniform for the Blue Jays and another three wore Nationals togs on Opening Day.

The vast majority of Mexican big leaguers are pitchers, including such notable hurlers as Michoacan native Yovani Gallardo, a former Brewers star who signed with the Orioles in the offseason; Monclova's Joakim Soria, a two-time All-Star closer who has returned to the Royals after stints with Pittsburgh and Detroit; Culiacan-born Oliver Perez, a longtime MLBer now pitching for the Nationals; and Blue Jays closer Roberto Osuna (pictured above), a 21-year-old Sinaloan whose uncle Antonio spent 11 seasons in the bigs.

A number of prominent Mexican-Americans have also made their presence felt on MLB diamonds. San Diego-born Adrian "El Titan" Gonzalez of the Dodgers is a five-time All-Star first baseman; fellow Californian Matt Garza of the Brewers was the 2008 ALCS Most Valuable Player for the Rays; and another Californian, Giants reliever Sergio Romo, has pitched for three World Series winners and pitched in the 2013 All-Star Game.

Here is a list of Mexican and Mexican-American players on MLB's 2016 Opening Day rosters (players in italics were born in the USA):

BALTIMORE (1): P Yovani Gallardo
BOSTON (1): P Noe Ramirez
COLORADO (1): P Jorge de la Rosa
HOUSTON (1): C Jason Castro
KANSAS CITY (1): P Joakim Soria
LA ANGELS (2): OF Daniel Nava, P Fernando Salas
LA DODGERS (1): 1B Adrian Gonzalez
MILWAUKEE (2): P Matt Garza, P Carlos Torres
MINNESOTA (1): P Ricky Nolasco
NY YANKEES (1): P Luis Enrique Cessa
OAKLAND (1): P Fernando Rodriguez
PHILADELPHIA (2): P David Hernandez, P Vince Velazquez
ST. LOUIS (2): IF Greg Garcia, P Jaime Garcia
SAN DIEGO (1): IF Adam Rosales
SAN FRANCISCO (1): P Sergio Romo
SEATTLE (1): P Vidal Nuno
TORONTO (5): P Jesse Chavez, P Marco Estrada, P Arnold Leon, P Roberto Osuna, P Aaron Sanchez
WASHINGTON (3): 2B Danny Espinosa, P Oliver Perez, 3B Anthony Rendon

In his Calientes Comentarios column on the Solo Beisbol website, Felipe Silva Durazo decried the lack of Mexican-born players in the majors, stating that over 20 such players were on MLB rosters in the late 1980's and early 1990's.  Silva adds that while there are more Mexicanos in AAA and likely to be called up, he also says "perhaps the much-vaunted LMB Baseball Academy is not doing its job, or perhaps the goal of the Academy is only to develop players for the LMB...In the end, it does not increase the number of Mexicans in the big leagues."

Sultanes complete opener sweep of Diablos in front of 28,722 in Monterrey

The Mexican League began its 2016 season over the weekend with eight home-and-away series between Friday and Sunday, with an average of 10,222 fans attending 16 home openers from Cancun to Tijuana.

Quintana Roo led things off with a 4-3 home win over Yucatan in extra innings Friday in Cancun as Carlos Gastelum stroked a two-out walkoff single to right field to score Alfredo Lopez from second base in the bottom of the eleventh frame.  Starting later Friday, Tijuana clubbed Reynosa, 9-2, as Dustin Martin clubbed a three-run homer in the fifth inning to key the Toros offense.

Perhaps the biggest feat of the weekend was Monterrey's sweep over Mexico City, including a 9-7 Sultanes win Sunday in front of 28,722 onlookers at Estadio Monterrey (pictured above).  The Diablos were leading by a 7-4 count before the Sultanes sent all nine batters to the plate in the bottom of the eighth and scored five runs to take the lead.  Luis Juarez' two-out double plated Alex Valdez and Welington Dotel with the go-ahead runs, but Juarez was thrown advancing to second on a throw from Diablos left fielder Ivan Terrazas.

Puebla and Veracruz also went 2-and-0 in their respective sets.  The Pericos snuck past Oaxaca, 9-8, in overtime Sunday in Puebla as Nyjer Morgan's bases-loaded walk off Guerreros veteran Sergio Lizarraga pushed Cesar Tapia across with the winning run, capping a rough frame for Lizarraga, who hit Tapia with a pitch before walking the bases loaded before Morgan stepped up.  The Aguilas Rojos wrapped up their two-dance card with Tabasco Sunday in Veracruz by topping the Olmecas, 2-1, behind Roger Kieschnick's two solo homers.  Nate Tenbrink socked a one-run tater of his own for Tabasco.

In all, a total of 163,551 fans clicked the turnstiles over the weekend.  Monterrey's crowd was by far the largest, but there was also double-digit attendance Friday in Tijuana (17,222) and Sunday in both Saltillo (13.002) and Yucatan (12,000).  The smallest gathering on Opening Weekend was Saturday in Mexico City, when 5,332 filled Estadio Fray Nano to capacity.  The good beginning at the gate made for a nice start with the Liga, where declining attendance in 2015 saw six teams average less than 3,000 per game while another four franchises brought in between 3,000 and 4,000 per opening during the regular season.  Monterrey had the highest average crowd last year with 9,404 per game while Yucatan brought in the largest total over 59 Leones home games at 528,321.

After the traditional Monday travel day, all 16 LMB teams will embark upon three-game series Tuesday, including Yucatan at Oaxaca, Quintana Roo at Puebla, Varacruz at Carmen and Campeche at Tabasco in Villahermosa in the Southern Zone while Tijuana will be at Monclova, Reynosa at Saltillo, Monterrey at Aguascalientes and Mexico City at Laguna in Torreon for Northern Zone matchups.

Mexican League 2016 Team Capsules

AGUASCALIENTES RIELEROS

City (population): Aguascalientes, Aguascalientes (932,298)

Ballpark (capacity): Parque Alberto Romo Chavez (9,000)

2015 Attendance (Avg): 152,491 (2,877)

2015 Record (finish): 55-58 (6th North)

2015 Playoffs: Did not qualify

Manager: Marco Romero

Notable players: 3B Jesse Castillo, SS Domingo Castro, C Saul Soto

Notable pitchers: SP Lorenzo Barcelo, SP Demetrio Gutierrez, RP Jesus Sanchez

CAMPECHE PIRATAS

City (population): Campeche, Campeche (259,005)
Ballpark (capacity): Estadio Nelson Barrera (6,000)
2015 Attendance (Avg): 158,004 (3,225)
2015 Record (finish): 53-56 (4th South)
2015 Playoffs: Lost to Yucatan, 4 to 3
Manager: Lino Rivera
Notable players: OF Eliseo Aldazaba, 3B C.J. Retherford, 2B Danny Richar
Notable pitchers: SP Francisco Campos, SP Jorge Castillo, SP Evan MacLane

CARMEN DELFINES

City (population): Ciudad del Carmen, Campeche (221,094)
Ballpark (capacity): Estadio Resurgimiento (8,200)
2015 Attendance (Avg): 197,573 (3,592)
2015 Record (finish): 51-59 (7th South)
2015 Playoffs: Did not qualify
Manager: Jose Offerman
Notable players: 2B Gilberto Mejia, OF Mark Minicozzi, IF Henry Rodriguez
Notable pitchers: RP Tiago Da Silva, SP Mario Gonzalez, SP Oscar Rivera

LAGUNA VAQUEROS

City (population): Gomez Palacio, Durango/Torreon, Coahuila (1,275,993)

Ballpark (capacity): Estadio Revolucion (12,000)
2015 Attendance (Avg): 257,160 (4,852)
2015 Record (finish): 55-57 (5th North)
2015 Playoffs: Did not qualify
Manager: Mario Mendoza
Notable players: OF Santiago Gonzalez, OF Freddy Guzman, 1B Francisco Mendez
Notable pitchers: SP Felipe Arredondo, RP Tony Pena, SP Salvador Valdez

MEXICO CITY DIABLOS ROJOS

City (population): Mexico, Distrito Federal (20,137,152)
Ballpark (capacity): Estadio Fray Nano (5,200)
2015 Attendance (Avg): 144,908 (2,787)
2015 Record (finish): 73-39 1st North)
2015 Playoffs: Lost to Tijuana, 4 to 3
Manager: Jose Luis Sandoval
Notable players: 2B Sergio Gastelum, 1B Cyle Hankerd, OF Ivan Terrazas
Notable pitchers: SP Marco Duarte, SP David Reyes, RP Juan Sandoval

MONCLOVA ACEREROS

City (population): Monclova, Coahuila (317,314)
Ballpark (capacity): Estadio de Beisbol Monclova (9,000)
2015 Attendance (Avg): 308,646 (5,512)
2015 Record (finish): 59-51 (2nd North)
2015 Playoffs: Beat Saltillo, 4 to 3; beat Tijuana, 4 to 3; lost to Quintana Roo, 4 to 1
Manager: Homar Rojas
Notable players: 3B Jose Amador, SS Antonio Lamas, 1B Jose Ruiz
Notable pitchers: SP Josh Lowey, RP Juan Ramon Noriega, SP Juan Antonio Pena

MONTERREY SULTANES

City (population): Monterrey, Nuevo Leon (4,106,054)

Ballpark (capacity): Estadio de Beisbol Monterrey (27,000)
2015 Attendance (Avg): 517,235 (9,404)
2015 Record (finish): 51-62 (7th South)
2015 Playoffs: Did not qualify
Manager: Felix Fermin
Notable players: OF Welington Dotel, 2B Ramon Rios, OF Chris Roberson
Notable pitchers: SP Freddy Garcia, SP Marco Tovar, RP Oscar Villareal

OAXACA GUERREROS

City (population): Oaxaca, Oaxaca (593,522)
Ballpark (capacity): Estadio Eduardo Vasconcelos (7,200)
2015 Attendance (Avg): 138,550 (2,717)
2015 Record (finish): 55-57 (3rd South)
2015 Playoffs: Lost to Quintana Roo, 4 to 3
Manager: Enrique "Che" Reyes
Notable players: OF Yancarlo Angulo, 1b Juan Miranda, OF Mario Valenzuela
Notable pitchers: SP Ruddy Acosta, RP Jose Ascanio, SP Alejandro Soto

PUEBLA PERICOS
City (population): Puebla, Tlaxcala (2,728,790)
Ballpark (capacity): Estadio Hermanos Serdan (12,100)
2015 Attendance (Avg): 113,485 (2,316)
2015 Record (finish): 51-57 (5th South)
2015 Playoffs: Did not qualify
Manager: Matias Carrillo
Notable players: 1B Frank Diaz, OF Nyjer Morgan, 3B Miguel Tejada
Notable pitchers: SP Hector Galvan, SP Mauricio Lara, SP Andres Meza

QUINTANA ROO TIGRES

City (population): Cancun, Quintana Roo (676,238)

Ballpark (capacity): Estadio de Beisbol Beto Avila (9,000)

2015 Attendance (Avg): 184,736 (3,770)

2015 Record (finish): 64-47 (2nd South)

2015 Playoffs: Beat Oaxaca, 4 to 3; beat Yucatan, 4 to 3; beat Monclova, 4 to 1

Manager: Roberto Vizcarra

Notable players: 1B Jorge Cantu, OF Sergio Contreras, 1B Jorge Vazquez

Notable pitchers: RP Josh Judy, SP Pablo Ortega, SP Rafael Perez

REYNOSA BRONCOS
City (population): Reynosa, Tamaulipas (725,793)
Ballpark (capacity): Estadio Adolfo Lopez Mateos (7,000)
2015 Attendance (Avg): 131,862 (2,536)
2015 Record (finish): 44-69 (6th North)
2015 Playoffs: Did not qualify
Manager: Rafael Castaneda
Notable players: 3B Travis Denker, OF Christhian Presichi, C Max Ramirez
Notable pitchers: SP Cesar Carrillo, SP Omar Espinoza, RP Ivan Maldonado

SALTILLO SARAPEROS

City (population): Saltillo, Coahuila (823,098)
Ballpark (capacity): Estadio de Beisbol de Francisco I. Madero (16,000)
2015 Attendance (Avg): 305,062 (5,756)
2015 Record (finish): 57-52 (3rd North)
2015 Playoffs: Lost to Monclova, 4 to 3
Manager: Noe Munoz
Notable players: OF Jon Del Campo, DH Karim Garcia, OF Justin Greene
Notable pitchers: SP Edgmer Escalona, SP Santiago Gutierrez, SP Michael Nix

TABASCO OLMECAS

City (population): Villahermosa, Tabasco (755,416)
Ballpark (capacity): Estadio Centenario 27 de Febrero (10,500)
2015 Attendance (Avg): 168,295 (3,005)
2015 Record (finish): 52-60 (6th South)
2015 Playoffs: Did not qualify
Manager: Francisco "Paquin" Estrada
Notable players: 1B Refugio Cervantes, OF Brent Clevlen, OF Ruben Rivera
Notable pitchers: RP Luis Ayala, SP Logan Duran, SP Amilcar Gaxiola 

TIJUANA TOROS

City (population): Tijuana, Baja California Norte (1,751,302)
Ballpark (capacity): Eastadio Gasmart (18,500)
2015 Attendance (Avg): 418,673 (7,753)
2015 Record (finish): 54-53 (4th North)
2015 Playoffs: Beat Mexico City, 4 to 3; lost to Monclova, 4 to 3
Manager: Luis Sojo
Notable players: OF Dustin Martin, 3B Oscar Robles, 2B Carlos Valencia
Notable pitchers: RP Rafael Diaz, SP Barry Enright, SP Walter Silva

VERACRUZ AGUILAS ROJOS

City (population): Veracruz, Veracruz (801,122)
Ballpark (capacity): Estadio Universitario Beto Avila (7,782)
2015 Attendance (Avg): 147,026 (2,827)
2015 Record (finish): 48-65 (8th South)
2015 Playoffs: Did not qualify
Manager: Mark Weidemaier
Notable players: OF Roger Kieschnick, OF Enrique Osorio, 2B Issmael Salas
Notable pitchers: SP Manuel Al Flores, RP Jose Pina, SP Tomas Solis

YUCATAN LEONES

City (population): Merida, Yucatan (973,046)
Ballpark (capacity): Estadio de Beisbol Kukulkan (13,600)
2015 Attendance (MLB rank): 528,351 (8,955)
2015 Record (finish): 66-46 (1st South)
2015 Playoffs: Beat Campeche, 4 to 3; Lost to Quintana Roo, 4 to 3
Manager: Willie Romero
Notable players: OF Jose Aguilas, SS Kevin Flores, OF Jesus Valdez
Notable pitchers: SP Jonathan Castellanos, SP Juan Delgadillo, SP Marco Quevedo