PROBEIS IS NOT BEING GIVEN PROMISED MONEY

Writer Beatriz Pereyra of Mexico City's Proceso magazine recently produced a special report detailing the travails undergone with a federal program designed to develop Mexican baseball at the grassroots level, particularly in prospect development. The largest problem appears to be funding. A translated version of Pereyra's report follows:

Everything indicates that for the second time, the program for the Promotion and Development of Baseball in Mexico (Probeis), whose funds are managed by the Secretary of Public Education (SEP), will not be fully implemented. Édgar González, director of that office, assures that the pandemic paralyzed everything and although he strives to forge alliances, prepare plans and enable sports centers to apply the 290 million pesos (US$12.8 million) assigned for this fiscal year, the authorities tell him that "when it is the right time, they will speak to me. There is nothing left but to wait."

The Covid-19 pandemic has paralyzed Probeis, which to date has not spent even one of the 290 million pesos assigned for 2020, so for the second consecutive year it will have a shortage of resources.

President Andrés Manuel López Obrador also did not authorize the creation of a trust so that public money can be exercised by this means and not through the SEP Senior Office.

“This year we have not exercised anything,” González says. “The SEP has made it difficult to get the money out and now, with the coronavirus, it is more complicated. No bids have been made. I wanted to get ahead in the administrative area so that once we return to work we will use the money. They have not wanted to do them (the bidding rules) and that causes me a lot of problems because when the confinement ends, I will have three months to operate.

“There is no way I will spend 290 million pesos in that time. Then they will tell me that the only way is through direct adjudication. I do not want to make direct awards, but it is the only thing that will be possible,” regrets González.

The difficulties to operate the program began since the director of the National Commission for Physical Culture and Sport (CONADE), Ana Gabriela Guevara, refused to distribute Probeis resources in 2019.

For this year, when he was willing, the president did not want the money to reach this dependency that the SEP pointed out because he detected acts of corruption that in just the first half of 2019 left a loss of 50.8 million pesos (US$2.2 million).

For months, González tried to persuade López Obrador of the need to create a public trust to streamline the Probeis operation. Even the Legal Department of the Presidency designed the document –of which Proceso has a copy– which also considered the marching and boxing commissions, sports that operate with programs outside of CONADE.

However, López Obrador did not authorize it. During his campaign, he promoted the eradication of public trusts, considering them opaque and nests of corruption. With the presidential decree to extinguish those that do not have an organic structure and, later, with the reform initiative that Morena promoted in the Chamber of Deputies to eliminate 44 others, it became clear to González that Probeis will not operate with this scheme.

“He (López Obrador) does not know that with a trust, it is the easiest way to operate, but he put the trusts in the balance and if he was going to remove them all, he would not even create one for Probeis. I am waiting for him to tell me what I have to do. 'The pandemic has been the priority' is what they told me when I asked for a meeting.

“He told me that when the time is right, he will speak to me to tell me how I am going to operate. There is nothing left but to wait. I understand the president because there have been much mismanagement of trusts, but we are left with no concrete way to operate. We have to ask Hector Garza (SEP head) for favors,” says González resignedly.

Probeis' troubles

Probeis leader Edgar Gonzalez

To build four baseball schools during 2019, Probeis signed agreements with Campeche, Jalisco, Quintana Roo and Guanajuato. They also did it with Hermosillo, where the federal government bought Estadio Héctor Espino for 511.7 million pesos (US$22.5 million) with resources from the Banobras National Infrastructure Fund public trust. The renovations in this property began this year, but were interrupted by the quarantine.

González has not only found that the bidding processes take up to four months before the bidding rules are available on the CompraNet portal, but once the SEP sends the money to the states, Probeis does not have the personnel to review and follow up on the work.

“When the money reaches the state,” González explains, “it is theirs and they do with it what they want. You have to be aware and it is difficult to follow up. The only way to do it is with the SEP, with agreements and tenders. Thus everything is limited. What you want to do is one thing, what you can is another. I get it: They want people to not take advantage of the budget but at the same time, the goals cannot be achieved.”

Other states such as Yucatan and Tabasco received federal resources of 11 million pesos each (US$485,000), but they returned the money to the Treasury of the Federation because it arrived almost at the end of last year, when it was already impossible to carry out the work.

Around 100 people work at Probeis, of which only six are hired by the SEP. One of them is González, who as a public servant since January 2020 had earned a net salary of 88,550 pesos (US$3,900) over five-plus months. The rest of the employees charge by the job and fees. In March, when confinement began due to the pandemic, they had not even received the payment corresponding to the first quarter of the year.

Immediate plans

Eighteen months after Probeis started, González boasted the four aforementioned schools, whose first phase of construction has already concluded. They lack details such as paint, finishes and sports equipment.

The official hopes to get them started this year. The works that had been stopped by the pandemic resumed just last month. He hopes that soon the children and young people will be able to train in the afternoons after doing their homework on the premises, an essential requirement to practice baseball in the Probeis program.

Thus, it also expects that the projects of the T1-level schools (equipped with dormitories), whose works are scheduled for Mexico City and Monterrey, will start this year. In the second case, he is already in talks with the Governor of Nuevo León to contribute 60 million pesos (US$2.6 million). Probeis will put another 35 million pesos (US$1.5 million). This will be the largest academy in the country, with a capacity for 200 players.

“Let's see what can be rescued from that.” says González. “The plan is also to start the construction of another small school in Mexicali, finish the one in Hermosillo and start the other four that I told you about, with 11-15 million pesos (US$485,000-660,000) invested in each one.

“I met with the mayor of Azcapotzalco, Vidal Llerenas, and there is a place in a sports hall that has a giant space for a school. He is ready and willing to help us with the terrain. There is another option in Gustavo A. Madero. We are waiting for Claudia Sheinbaum to tell us in which of the two,” he says.

In addition, Probeis plans to build other schools in Playa del Carmen, Puerto Vallarta and in La Paz or Los Cabos; that is, in tourist complexes where tournaments and events such as showcases can be held so more scouts can come to see the prospects.

In order not to spend building schools in Oaxaca and Mazatlán, where the owners of the Mexico City Diablos Rojos and Oaxaca Guerreros (Alfredo Harp Helu) and the Yucatan Leones (the Arellano brothers) have their academies, González asked them to allow him put Probeis players to train there in exchange for a monthly payment.

“I already had talks with them and we are working on it,” González explains. “We pay for the boys we have, they carry out the project, we lower costs for them and we do not spend on buildings. That is also planned for this year. The best thing would be for them to say that they want it and that they support me.”

To carry out the Prospect League in Guadalajara in 2019, Probeis asked the 16 clubs of the Mexican League to lend to their best players. From there, he considers that he has already built a bridge with them to work together.

So far, in its talent screening program, Probeis has evaluated 6,600 children. With the information gathered, González is creating a database in which the strengths and weaknesses of Mexican children and youth can be consulted.

The results show that although, for example, arm strength is at a high level, in other skills, such as running speed, they are below average. Also, physical preparation is poor. That, he says, could explain why Mexico exports so many pitchers and not position players to the Major Leagues.

The idea is to store the data of the leads in an application in which the progress in their performance will be updated. That information will be available for scouts to follow up on. González adds that he will create a collegiate league in the country so that players can obtain scholarships at universities in Mexico and the United States.

Conversation

Intended beneficiaries of Probeis' mission

González is told that the detection of talents to be sold as prospects to the major league clubs is in direct competition with the LMB teams, which could generate conflicts.

The director of Probeis clarifies that in the Mexican League, they do not see it that way, that both parties are aware that it costs a lot to develop players and that the money obtained from the sale does not justify the investment.

“The theme is to develop together. I am in talks with MLB and the LMB so that every child who plays baseball in Mexico from now on also attends high school and that the teams pay them,” he adds.

Because he is the son of David González, owner of the González Academy in Tijuana, where they develop players to sell them to the MLB, and brother of major league player Adrián González, Édgar is said to have a conflict of interest. In the academy, his father does the same as the director of Probeis.

Q: You say that there are no more frictions with the LMB, but I suppose that you are no stranger to the comments that Probeis will take prospects from the LMB teams. That has generated annoyances.

A: “I don't want to fight with them. I want them to do their best because that way, there will be more children playing baseball. I already presented a project on how to help them generate money. It is not that Probeis will give them money, but that the government supports them to generate it.

“I told them (the team owners) that if there are 300 prospects, they keep the best 150 and the others are mine, so they train some and I train others. I want the players to have opportunities. What matters to me is that those who sign are trained well and given school.”

Q. What would you say about the comments indicating that you'll take advantage of Probeis to sign prospects that you will actually send to the González Academy so that your father can sell them to MLB?

A. “I've heard it. I'm not worried because that's not happening. I don't even get into the academy. As I have said, the academy is losing money. Let them show me how many and whom I scouted with Probeis and took them to the González Academy.”

Q. It is also pointed out that you intend to do business with the signing of baseball players for Major Leagues by charging a commission for providing the service of representation of players. Are you going to make money from that?

A. “Not at all. You try, yes, but I don't. This money is public to continue operating, even if the government changes. I don't think it's wrong for Probeis to get 30% of the signing bonus, as the LMB teams do. The player needs that because they don't even know how much they are worth and so they don't get fooled.”

Other projects that were pending prior to the Covid-19 pandemic are the physical preparation and food consultancies that Probeis will offer to players who are already signed with MLB teams to develop faster in the Minor Leagues.

They also could not send the 36 Mexican coaches who were selected in the 12 clinics that were held to train with MLB teams.

“The level of the coaching is very low,” Gonzáles says. “They have no technical knowledge of how the body works, how it should be trained. There are no schools where coaches are taught; they do what they can with what they know.

This report was published in issue 2277 of Proceso.

YAQUIS SWEEP BOTH HALVES, TOP LMP PLAYOFF SEED

When Obregon's Nathanael Santiago tossed eight pitches (seven for strikes) in a 1-2-3 ninth inning to close out a 4-0 Yaquis road shutout over Hermosillo on December 30 in front of 16,604 fans at a packed Estadio Sonora, it culminated a standout regular season for manager Sergio Gastelum's team in which they won both halves en route to a 44-22 record and a maximum 20 playoff points heading into

Obregon players celebrate new LMP wins record

January's postseason.  Centerfielder Aneury Tavarez went 4-for-5 with an RBI double and shortstop Isaac Paredes singled twice, doubled and scored two runs to give starter Alex Delgado and four relievers who combined on a three-hitter all the offensive support they'd need.  Obregon's 44 wins set a new record for single-season victories.

Despite being blanked by the Yaquis, Hermosillo (38-27) finished in a three-way tie with Jalisco and Culiacan for second in cumulative points with 15 apiece.  The Charros ended their schedule with an overall record of 39-28 after losing to the 37-29 Tomateros, 7-2, in Estadio Culiacan (attendance 19.357).  Joey Meneses clubbed a two-run homer off Jalisco starter Octavio Acosta in the bottom of the second to help stake the Tomateros to an early 5-0 lead that was never threatened.

Elsewhere on closing night in the Mex Pac, Mexicali (34-33) held off Navojoa (25-41) by a 3-2 score as Alex Valdez singled and homered for the Aguilas to finish all alone with 13 points and the fifth playoff seed while the Mayos came in tied with expansion Guasave for last in points with 8.5 each as both will miss the postseason.  The Algodoneros (27-39) ended their first season on a high note with a 3-2 win over fellow expansionists Monterrey (26-41) when Moises Gutierrez' walkoff single off Sultanes reliever Salvador Valdez with two out in the bottom of the ninth drove in Bryant Aragon.

Finally, Los Mochis' Josuan Hernandez came in from third base on a wild pitch by Mazatlan's Ryan Newell in the top of the 16th inning followed by a 1-2-3 bottom of the frame from reliever Irving Machuca as the Caneros (32-36) snuck past the 31-37 Venados, 3-2, in a game that lasted 5 hours, 18 minutes.  Los Mochis was their own worst enemy as the Caneros only batted 1-for-12 with runners in scoring position while leaving 19 men stranded on base.

The first round of playoffs will feature an eight-team field instead of six and no "lucky loser" format this year, a result of the LMP expansion to ten teams this season. As usual, each series will be a best-of-7 set with the higher seed hosting Games 1 and 2 with the lower seed hosting Games 3, 4 and 5 before returning to the higher seed's home park for games 6 and 7, if needed. Here are the matchups for the quarterfinals:

#1 Obregon Yaquis vs. #8 Monterrey Sultanes
#2 Hermosillo Naranjeros vs. #7 Mazatlan Venados
#3 Jalisco Charros vs. #6 Los Mochis Caneros
#4 Culiacan Tomateros vs. #5 Mexicali Aguilas


ALVAREZ, QUIALA HIGHLIGHT MEX PAC STATS LEADER LISTS

Caneros' Yoanys Quiala led LMP in wins, ERA

Los Mochis second baseman Isaac Rodriguez won the batting title with a .340 average, four points ahead of Hermosillo's Yadiel Hernandez at .336.  Hernandez drew 50 walks in 60 games to lead the loop with a .462 on-base percentage.  Jalisco outfielder Dariel Alvarez homered twice over his final ten games to finish with an LMP-best 16 homers, ahead of the 12 each by Los Mochis' Leandro Castro and Michael Choice of Monterrey.  Alvarez' 55 RBIs were also most in the circuit, outdistancing the 47 of Monterrey's Felix Perez.  Alvarez also had an LMP-leading .527 slugging percentage as the Cuban (who spent five seasons playing for Camaguey before defecting to Mexico in 2012 and subsequently signing with Baltimore, is a potential Most Valuable Player choice for 2019-20.  Rico Noel led in stolen bases for weeks and the Culiacan outfielder finished with 30 to easily beat the 21 from teammate Sebastian Elizalde while also edging Obregon's Taiki Sekine in runs scored, 47 to 46.  Sekine, a popular 24-year-old outfielder who has returned to Japan's Yokohama BayStars and will miss the Mex Pac postseason, hit .293 and led the league with five triples while stealing 20 bases in 55 games.  Jalisco veteran second baseman Manny Rodriguez was tops with 19 doubles.

If the MVP award goes to a pitcher, the odds-on favorite among that group has to be Los Mochis' Yoanys Quiala.  The 6'3" Cuban righthander led the LMP in wins with a 9-2 record, his 2.57 ERA was second only to Mexicali veteran Javier Solano's 2.23 mark (somehow Solano won only two of his 13 starts, one of them the LMP's only shutout of the season) and Quiala registered 71 strikeouts to tie with Andre Rienzo of Obregon for second behind the 76 of Hermosillo starter Juan Pablo Oramas.  Quiala was also the top workhorse in the Mex Pac with 87.2 innings pitched over 14 starts (tying Monterrey's Edgar Gonzalez and Luis Payan of Navojoa for first)   There was a three-way tie for the saves title between Brandon Cunniff (Navojoa), Jose Rosario (Guasave) and Mario Meza (Mexicali) with 12 apiece.  Among the trio, Meza's 1.99 ERA was the best.  Veteran lefty middleman Arturo Barradas, who struggled in the summer with Monclova (12.10) and Tijuana (16.20) before hitting stride in Puebla (2.95), led the Mex Pac with 16 holds in 42 appearances for Mazatlan.  Barradas was second in apprearances to Samuel Zazueta's 46 trips from the bullpen for Obregon.


HARRIS, VALDEZ TOP 2019 MEXICAN LEAGUE AWARDS LIST

To the surprise of few, if any, observers, Oaxaca outfielder Alonzo Harris and Yucatan pitcher Cesar Valdez headed the list of award winners for the 2019 Mexican League season announced last month.

Mexican League MVP Alonzo Harris

Harris, who was signed as a free agent by the Guerreros at the beginning of the season after spending 2018 with Quintana Roo prior to a two-week training camp stint with Mexico City, was named the Liga's Most Valuable Player after the 2007 Mets draft pick hit .343 and led the circuit in runs (131) and total bases (324), was second in steals (45), RBIs (117) and slugging percentage (.691), finished third in homers (39) and came in fourth with 161 hits, a 1.122 OPS and 34 doubles (tying with three other players).  A 30-year-old native of McComb, Mississippi, Harris just missed becoming the LMB's first 40-40 Club member but still joined James Steels and Luis Terrero as the only Mexican Leaguers to reach 30 homers and 30 swipes in the same season.  Harris spent all or part of seven seasons in the Mets system before going into independent ball in 2014.  He was the Atlantic League Player of the Year in 2017 after 315 with 23 homers and 73 RBIs for York that season.

LMB Pitcher of the Year Cesar Valdez

Valdez was the easy choice for Pitcher of the Year after the Dominican topped the loop in wins with a 15-2 record and ERA at 2.26.  The Leones righty allowed nearly a full run per nine innings less than teammate Yoanner Negrin, who turned in a 3.22 mark (the 2016 POY, Negrin's 13 wins were also second in the LMB).   Valdez also led the Liga with a 1.06 WHIP and finished fifth in strikeouts with 122 while allowing just 17 walks over 147.2 innings pitched.  The 34-year-old Santo Domingo product began his professional career with Yakima of the Northwest League in 2006 (where he was a teammate of current LMB outfielder Cyle Hankerd) after signing a free agent contract with Arizona and went on to play parts of three MLB seasons with the Diamondbacks, Oakland and Toronto before making his Maxican League debut with Tabasco in the Spring 2018 season.  The Olmecas actually released Valdez in May of that year and he spent three months out of work before Yucatan signed him in early August, after which he was 5-0 with a 2.48 ERA (proving there's a reason the Leones are the Leones and the Olmecas are...well...you know).

Other Mexican League award winners for 2019 included Manager of the Year Roberto Vizcarra, who led Saltillo to a 66-53 record and their first playoff appearance in four years. Reliever of the Year went to Carlos Bustamante, who was third in the LMB with 27 saves and a 2.57 ERA for champions Monclova.  Quintana Roo outfielder Erick Migueles was Rookie of the Year after the 23-year-old Tucson native hit .252 with eight homers for the Tigres.  Veteran Durango outfielder Santiago Gonzalez was named Comeback Player of the Year by batting .306 for the Generales, the seventh time he's topped .300 in his 14-year career, after missing both 2018 LMB seasons.  Executive of the Year went to Monclova owner Gerardo Benavides, who brought (some say "bought") the first Mexican League pennant to his hometown team, which was founded by his grandfather in 1974.


OMAR VIZQUEL NAMED TIJUANA MANAGER FOR 2020

New Tijuana Toros manager Omar Vizquel

Former MLB shortstop great Omar Vizquel has been picked to manage the Tijuana Toros during the 2020 Mexican League season, replacing Oscar Robles.  The Venezuelan was introduced at a press conference during the Baseball Winter Meetings last month across the border in San Diego.

Vizquel earned his playing reputation with his glove over a 24-year career in the majors, earning 11 Gold Gloves (including nine in a row between 1993 and 2001) while making three All-Star Game appearances.  His career .985 fielding percentage ranks highest among shortstops with more than 1,000 MLB games played (leading his league six times in that category) while Vizquel also ranks first all-time among shortstops with 1,734 double plays over 2,709 games (also first), is third in assists with 7,676 and 11th in putouts with 4,102.

What is often overlooked is that the 52-year-old from Caracas also developed from a bottom-of-the-order hitter into a batsman who was pesky enough to do some damage at the plate.  His 2,877 career hits ranks 47th on the all-time list and is first among Venezuelan players, including 2,264 singles (17th).  Vizquel accrued a total of 456 doubles, 404 stolen bases and scored 1,445 runs en route to a career batting average of .272 with an on-base percentage of .336.  The man nicknamed "Little O" during his playing days is on the Hall of Fame ballot for a third time this winter after appearing on 37% of ballots his first year and 42.8% last year.  While he's got ground to cover in reaching the 75% required for election, Vizquel has at least a puncher's chance of entry into Cooperstown.

Omar Vizquel during his glory days in Cleveland

After retiring following the 2012 season, Vizquel was an infield coach with the Los Angeles Angels in 2013, before serving as first-base coach with Detroit between 2014 and 2017 under manager Brad Ausmus.  He interviewed for the Tigers managerial post after Ausmus was fired but passed over for another ex-MLB infielder, Ron Gardenhire.  Vizquel has spent the past two summers managing in the White Sox system, in Class A Winston-Salem in 2018 and Class AA Birmingham in 2019, before the front office in Chicago decided to cut ties with him in November.

Tijuana marks Vizquel's first experience of any kind in Mexican baseball and it comes under the microscope of the Uribe family, one of the LMB's most unforgiving ownerships who cut Robles loose after the former Padres infielder merely led the Toros to the best regular season record in the LMB last season (75-45, tied with Monclova) before falling to the Acereros in seven games for the LMB North title.


MANAGERIAL CHANGES IN MEXICO CITY, OAXACA

Sergio Gastelum is now Diablos Rojos helmsman

After showing he could manage with success in Oaxaca, former Mexican League infield star Sergio Gastelum has been elevated to dugout boss with the Guerreros' "big brother," the Mexico City Diablos Rojos.  In turn, longtime catcher Erick Rodriguez will he handed the reins in Oaxaca with his first managerial post.  Both teams are owned by billionaire Alfredo Harp Helu.

Gastelum had a solid 22-year Mexican League playing career, during which he batted .314 between 1995 and 2016 before retiring and going into coaching.  He took over as Guerreros manager midway through the shortened Fall 2018 LMB schedule and took them to a playoff berth despite a 12-14 regular season record before two playoff series wins catapulted Oaxaca into the Serie del Rey, where they lost to Monterrey.

Gastelum followed that up in winterball by leading his hometown Obregon Yaquis to the best record in the Mexican Pacific League and a playoff berth while earning Manager of the Year honors.  Oaxaca fared much better in 2019 by going 68-51 over both halves (fifth-best in the 16-team circuit), but fell to Yucatan in the first round of the postseason.  This winter, he has led Obregon to first place in both halves of the MexPac season as the Yaquis will enter the playoffs as the LMP's top seed.  That apparently was enough to please Harp, Diablos team president Dr. Othon Diaz, deputy president Miguel Ojeda and general manager Francisco Minjarez, who is apparently immune from his league suspension following his role at both ends of the Rookiegate scandal.

Gastelum will replace Victor Bojorquez at the helm after the former Diablos star outfielder led Mexico City to an LMB South-best 67-49 record last summer but failed to bring a pennant to the capital city.  Bojorquez went 134-92 over two years with the Red Devils after being brought up from their Ensenada affiliate in the Liga Norte and it's impossible to imagine him without a new job in Mexican baseball for long.

Erick Rodriguez takes over in Oaxaca

In turn, Oaxaca team president Guillermo Spindola Morales introduced Rodriguez as manager to fill the dugout void created by Gastelum's departure.  Long regarded more highly for his work behind the plate than while swinging a bat astride it, the Monterrey native (who just turned 40 on November 27) nonetheless has hit a creditable .293 over his 19-year Liga playing career, all with the Guerreros.  In fact, Rodriguez led Oaxaca batters with a .356 average in 2019, adding a career-high 12 homers and 47 RBIs over 87 regular season contests.  For some reason, he attempted to steal a base but was caught, making him 15-for-33 in lifetime stolen base attempts.  Rodriguez faltered during the playoffs, batting just .176 (3-for-17) in the Guerreros' five-game loss to Yucatan in the first round.

Rodriguez will continue catching for the Guerreros in 2020 in an attempt to emulate the late Nelson Barrera, who led Oaxaca to their lone LMB title as a player-manager in The seven-time All-Star (and MVP of the 2015 Juego de Estrellas) is expected to convert his calm demeanor and vast experience as a player into success as a manager, and he'll have the good fortune of making that conversion in an environment where expectations are historically no higher than they used to be in Kansas City six decades ago when the Athletics served as a de facto intramural farm team of the New York Yankees.


AMLO CALLS FOR LMB, LMP TO COMBINE INTO ONE LEAGUE

Mexico president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador

Mexican president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has never hidden the fact that he is passionate about baseball, often interjecting himself into both Mexican League and Mexican Pacific League affairs since ascending to the nation's highest office in December 2018.  While it's generally going to be a plus when your country's highest-ranking politician gives your sport preferential treatment, AMLO's involvement has often carried with it a two-edged sword.

Although AMLO personally kept four Mexican League franchises from going dark last year while making sure the Mex Pac expanded two more teams this winter, only Puebla appears to be a popular retention among the four saved LMB teams, the jury is still out in Monterrey on hosting year-round pro baseball and there's no assurance that Guasave will be any more successful this time than the Algodoneros were prior to that team's 2014 sale and move to Guadalajara (where the Jalisco Charros have been an unqualified success).

AMLO doesn't limit his of baseball to the stands

Lopez Obrador has now apparently called for the LMB and LMP to merge into one league.  According to Mexico City's Reforma, AMLO requested that the two loops form a single 26-team entity to begin play in 2021.  A December 17 meeting was convened in Mexico City by AMLO and attended by representatives from all existing franchises, who were urged to take part in a letter from Probeis director Edgar Gonzalez, as well as billionaires Carlos Slim and Carlos Bremer along with National Commission for Physical Culture and Sport head Ana Gabriela Guevara. According to the Reforma story, a source said the 16 Mexican League teams approved a merger but only three of the LMP's ten clubs (Jalisco, Guasave and Monterrey) were in favor of the proposal.

Ultimately, the merger was at least put on hold at the meeting while Lopez Obrador has repainted the picture somewhat.  Proceso's Beatriz Pereyra quotes the president as saying, “Now they are in a good moment because there is unity in the leagues, but if there is only one League, that will depend on the owners. That is not resolved by presidential decree. It has to be an agreement and, if it is convenient, if it works, let it be done, but they have to do that." Mexico City Diablos Rojos and Oaxaca Guerreros owner Alfredo Harp Helu claimed that a merger was not discussed at all, but rather an agreement was worked out in which the Mexican League would unconditionally make players available to play for the National Team at the upcoming Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo.


GENERALES SOLD, WILL REMAIN IN DURANGO

Players modeling new Durango jerseys 

After months of speculation, the Mexican League's Durango Generales have been sold.  Ever since Durango re-entered the LMB when then-owner Virgilio Ruiz moved the Carmen Delfines to the central Mexico city in November 2016, the Generales have been plagued by problems both on and off the field, including renovations to Estadio Francisco Villa that ran so late that the team had to play a month of road games during their inaugural 2017 schedule before they could play their home opener.  From that point, the situation devolved into a proverbial dog's breakfast marked by missed payrolls, players walking off the team until they were traded (usually for cash), low attendance and other maladies that beset problem teams.

Former MLB catcher Miguel Ojeda and local businessman Fernando Espinosa de Campo bought controlling interest in the Generales in January 2018, a move approved by LMB owners, but the sale disintegrated after Ojeda (who was going to run the team) decided to drop out so he could take a front office position with the Mexico City Diablos Rojos, for whom he'd once played and managed.  Ultimately, entrepreneur Alfredo Aramburo bought controlling interest in the Generales but felt slighted by the rest of the Liga's executives and owners from the start (El Sol of Durango says the Assembly of Presidents refused to approve him as team president) and the writing was on the wall for Aramburo's exit from the LMB when he emerged to buy the Mexican Pacific League Guasave Algodoneros last July to end a weeks-long search for an owner after Guasave had been awarded an LMP expansion franchise. For what it's worth, Mex Pac owners readily approved Aramburo as the Algodoneros team president.

Estadio Francisco Villa on Opening Day

Puro Beisbol's Fernando Ballesteros reports that Aramburo agreed to sell the Generales to a group of local investors, who agreed to keep the team in Durango for at least the 2020 season.  Although Ballesteros said the picture in Durango had started to improve in 2017 during their first year in the city, that sense of stability more likely didn't begin to take place until last season after Aramburo bought the Generales.  Even so, the Cottoneers play in the league's smallest ballpark, although Estadio Francisco Villa's 4,983 seats were usually more than enough to accomodate the average 3,219 backsides that attended 56 home games last summer, placing Durango 12th in the 16-team attendance derby.  The Generales ranked seventh in their first season by drawing 4,094 per game in 2017.

Durango was one of the four LMB franchises earmarked for shutdown last year before Mexican president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador intervened and ordered league president Javier Salinas to reverse the contraction and while they survived 2019, the new owners have a daunting task ahead of them.  While new manager Juan Jose Pacho has had success leading Mex Pac teams in Mazatlan, he'll work with a roster that includes 2019 LMB batting champion Daniel Mayora, Comeback Player of the Year Santiago Gonzalez and third baseman Moises Gutierrez, who responded to his first starting job with 25 homers and 91 RBIs but little else to put on the field along with a pitching staff on which Amilcar Gaxiola (6-5) was the only hurler with more than four wins and no starter had an ERA of lower than 5.00.


FORMER CATCHER, MANAGER PAQUIN ESTRADA DIES AT 71

Francisco Estrada as a Mets player

Former catcher and manager Francisco "Paquin" Estrada, whose Mexican baseball career spanned five decades, passed away December 9 in Obregon after a long illness.  Estrada was 71.

Born on February 12, 1948 in Navojoa, Estrada's playing career began in 1964 when the then 16-year-old receiver debuted with San Luis Potosi of the Class A Mexican Center League.  After two seasons with the Rojos, the stocky (5'8" and 182 pounds) backstop was brought up to the Mexico City Diablos Rojos in 1966.  He spent five years with the Diablos before being sold to the New York Mets prior to the 1971 campaign.  Estrada split that year between AA Memphis and AAA Tidewater before playing his first (and last) major league contest for New York on September 14 against Montreal at Shea Stadium, when he went 1-for-2 after replacing Jerry Grote in the seventh inning.  Suitably impressed with Estrada's .500 batting average, the California Angels traded six-time All-Star shortstop Jim Fregosi for him in the offseason, with the Mets throwing in Leroy Stanton, Don Rose and Nolan Ryan to make Gene Autry feel better about the deal.

From that point, Estrada bounced between the Angels, Orioles and Cubs systems for two years before returning to Mexico for good in 1974 when he joined the Puebla Pericos.  He would continue catching in the LMB for 21 more years (he also played 30 seasons in the Mexican Pacific League) before retiring in 1994 at age 46.  In his 31-year playing career, Estrada set minor league records for most games caught (2,847) while gaining a reputation as a decent, if not great, batter with some pop who was a master at working with pitchers.  However, it was as a manager that he achieved his greatest successes in baseball.

Paquin's last time behind home plate in Culiacan

Starting in 1982 as a player-manager with the Campeche Piratas, Estrada would lead teams to Mexican League pennants in 1983 with Campeche, 1990 with Leon and 2004 with Campeche (again).  In 31 seasons as a manager in the Liga, Estrada was 1,604-1,435 to rank second to Jose "Zacatillo" Guerrero's 1,971 wins on the all-time list.  He also won seven winterball pennants in the Mexican Pacific League (six in Culiacan), copped Caribbean Series championships in 1996 and 2002 with the Tomateros and managed Mexico's first World Baseball Classic team in 2006.  He has been enshrined in the Salon de la Fama since 2000 in a career that can hardly be defined on one plaque.

FERNANDO'S NUMBER 34 RETIRED BY MEXICAN LEAGUE

Fernando with family, Salinas and Chacho

Former Los Angeles Dodgers pitching sensation Fernando Valenzuela's jersey number was retired by all 16 Mexican League franchises on Sunday.  Valenzuela's 34 becomes the second number retired on a leaguewide basis by the LMB, joining legendary slugger Hector Espino's 21 as digits that will never again be worn on a Liga diamond.  Currently owner of the Quintana Roo Tigres along with wife Linda Burgos, Valenzuela was feted in a pregame ceremony Sunday in Cancun's Estadio Beto Avila, with league president Javier Salinas on hand while similar festivities took place in seven other LMB ballparks, all showing highlights of the laft-handed hurler's storied career on their respective scoreboards.

Prior to bursting on the big league scene with the Dodgers, Valenzuela signed a contract at age 16 with his hometown Navojoa Mayos of the Mexican Pacific League in 1977.  He eventually reached the Mexican League with Yucatan in 1979, going 10-12 with a 2.79 ERA in 26 starts for the Leones, good numbers for a 19-year-old in a AAA circuit notorious as a hitter's league.  LA scout Mike Brito attended a Leones game that summer to scout an opposing shortstop but after Fernando whiffed the shortstop on three straight pitches after falling behind 3-0 in the count, Brito's focus shifted and the Dodgers bought Valenzuela's contract from Yucatan for $125,000.  He finished the year with Class A Lodi of the California League, going 1-2 with a 1.12 ERA.  During training camp the following spring, Dodgers pitcher Bobby Castillo taught Valenzuela how to throw a screwball.

Fernando Valenzuela at 19

After looking good in a late-season call-up that year, Valenzuela's meteoric rise to stardom in 1981 begat an All-Star game start, an MLB strikeout title, Rookie of the Year honors, a Silver Slugger award, the NL Cy Young Award and a World Series title.  Attending all this was Fernandomania, during which he captivated baseball fans much as Mark Fidrych of Detroit had five years earlier.  Unlike the tragic Fidrych (whose arm went bad his second year and lost his pitching mojo), Valenzuela went on to pitch in five more All-Star Games and toss a no-hitter in 1990 during a 17-year big league career in which he went 173-153 with a 3.54 ERA and 2,074 strikeouts.  While those numbers won't get him into Cooperstown (he was inducted in Mexico's Salon de la Fama), they also don't reflect what a cultural phenomenon he became, especially among millions of Mexicans on both sides of the border.

Valenzuela had two more one-year stints in the Mexican League in the 1990's, both with the Jalisco Charros.  He went 10-9 with a 3.86 ERA over 22 starts in 1992; after spending time in Baltimore the following year, El Toro was back in Guadalajara in 1994, going 10-3 and 2.67 in 17 starts for the Charros.  He retired from baseball three years later, although Valenzuela would continue to work sporadically in the Mexican Pacific League before tossing his final pitch for Mexicali on December 20, 2006 at the age of 46.

After his playing days ended, Valenzuela coached at several levels, serving the Mexican National Team in four World Baseball Classics, before buying the Tigres with wife Linda in early 2017 and installing son Fernando Jr. as general manager.  El Toro's time in the front office has not been accompanied by the same glory that surrounded him on the mound.  The Tigres have found the sledding tough since the Valenzuelas bought them, both on the field (141-149 overall record through Sunday, no division titles) and at the gate (an average attendance of 3,266) while being at the center of the Rookiegate scandal, in which five Tigres prospects were transferred to Mexico City while the couple was buying the franchise from former owner Carlos Peralta.  Fernando was said to be mad enough about Rookiegate at one time to think about selling the team.

Although everyone made nice over the weekend, it's not known whether the Diablos ever gave the Tigres the more than two million dollars the former received for subsequently selling two of the prospects to the Texas Rangers, money the Valenzuelas could use to cover the Tigres' operating expenses.  Having your number retired on a leaguewide basis is a wonderful gesture but it doesn't help you meet payroll.


MEXICO CITY BALLPARK CONTRACTOR SUES HELU GROUP

Estadio Alfredo Harp Helu in Mexico City

Proceso.com's Raul Ochoa reports that a contractor involved with building the Mexico City Diabos Rojos' new ballpark has filed a lawsuit against the franchise.   Dünn Arquitectura Ligera is suing the Alfredo Harp Helu Sports Center organization for breach of contract in connection with costs of construction and installation of the futuristic roof above the main grandstand at 20-564-seat Estadio Alfredo Harp Helu, which sits within Mexico City's Magdalena Mixuca Sports City complex.

The facility was financed by team owner Harp, who had originally expected to spend 800 million pesos (or about US$42 million) for the stadium.  Instead, project delays and cost overruns more than quadrupled the cost of Mexico's newest ballpark to 3.5 billion pesos (US$184 million).  Harp and the Diablos have since balked at paying for many of the cost overruns, causing the architectural firm to seek payment in court.

Dünn lawyer Luis Villasenor told Proceso that the cost went up because Harp's company was making modifications that affected where and how the ballpark's columns and roof were installed, and that the resultant price increase was caused by Harp and associates, whose property administrator countered that the prices were raised by Dünn.  In January, Alfredo Harp Helu Sports Center prevented Dünn from continuing their ongoing work readying the ballpark for its late March opening, arguing the costs had risen well above the agreed amount.  In response, Dünn filed a complaint before a Mexico City civil court demanding to be allowed to complete the work and payment of related wages.

Harp's company claimed that Dünn had abandoned the project three years after signing the contract.  A document provided by Dünn to Proceso countered that the entire project was ill-defined by the team from the outset, the numerous design changes submitted by Harp's group kept altering design calculations and that there is now concern about the roof's stability.  The civil court judge awarded Harp and the team a so-called counter guarantee, which was then earmarked to a new contractor for taking over the project from Dünn and completing the work (which Dünn says was 95 to 97 percent complete) in less than three weeks prior to the venue's March 23 opener.

The Dünn suit is, among other things, calling for expert appraisals to be carried out to determine whether the structural design calculations "are correct and, where appropriate, establish the measures that must be adopted to guarantee the security operation of the same before the well-founded fear that this structure collapses."

Diablos Rojos owner Alfredo Harp Helu

Writer Ochoa describes a tour of the ballpark involving a number of Diablos officials, including executive president Othon Diaz, found cracks to the finish of the main hall of the stadium, an auxiliary power system that had been operating the facility for over a month because official approval for standard electricity had not yet been approved by the Secretary of Energy, a lack of direct drinking water for patrons and an inadequate water pump system in the basement of the Sports City.  In addition, workers were spotted a week after the ballpark's inauguration doing some welding on lower and upper parts of columns.

Another issue brought up has been the quality of soil the structure was built on.  When asked about whether there were concerns about building atop a clay-laden surface in which a true "bottom" was never found on which to set a foundation, stadium operations director Alicia Andonegui replied, "Never. If you hire experts who know about the subject, you can build whatever you want in the area you consider it."

Stadium administrator Jose Ortiz defended the quality of the work.  "There is no problem, we assure you," Ortiz said.  "The property is operating perfectly and in excellent condition."  However, Mexico City Head of Government (similar to a mayor) Claudia Scheinbaum, who took office in December and accompanied president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador to Estadio Alfredo Harp Helu's March 23 opener, now says it was a "mistake" to build it in the Sports City.


CABORCA SEEKS TO CLINCH LIGA NORTE SECOND HALF TITLE

Caborca Rojos celebrating a win at home

With less than a week remaining in the regular season, the Caborca Rojos are hoping to hang to their two-game lead over the San Luis Algodoneros in their battle for the Mexican Northern League second half crown and the eight playoff points that accompany first place in each half.  Caborca finished the first half with a 13-17 record and fourth place in the five-team circuit, but they went in to last weekend's series in San Quintin with a 17-8 mark.  The Freseros entered the set with a 12-13 record, five games behind the Reds and three games behind 16-11 San Luis.

The Rojos have represented Caborca in Mexican Class AA baseball since 1948, winning Northern Sonora League pennants in 1966, 1975 and 2004 and a Liga Norte flag in 2011, playing their home games in 5,000-seat Estadio Heroes de Caborca.  While there have been other strong Red nines over the years, Caborca has not been one of the traditional powers in the regional loops of northwest Mexican states (and baseball hotbeds) of Sonora, Sinaloa and now Baja California Sur.

Caborca's current season was chugging along as usual in the middle of the short-circuit pack until two things conspired to happen simultaneously: The Rojos got hot in the second half while first half winners (and defending champion) Ensenada stumbled out the game and have yet to recover.  The Marineros took the crown with an 18-12 record to edge San Luis by a game in the first half but stand fourth at 11-16 under first-year manager Ramon Esquer while expansion team La Paz, who surprised many with a third-place finish in the opening half at 15-15, are in fifth and last with an 8-16 mark.

 The Rojos, who receive players from working agreements with Yucatan and Union Laguna of the Mexican League, have led the Liga Norte in batting under manager Gilberto Sotomayor with a .295 average while their pitching staff's ERA of 4.14 also tops the LNM.  Caborca has four batsmen among the league's top seven hitters: Juan Manuel Kirk is third with a .366 average, Brayan Quintero is fourth at .351, Yadil Mujica ranks fifth with a .340 mark and Adan Velazquez (.333) is seventh.  Osniel Madera of San Quintin leads with a .381 average.  The versatile Velazquez, who can play either second or third base as well as the outfield, topss the LNM with 50 RBIs and is tied with La Paz' Maikel Serrano for fourth in homers with seven, four behind Serrano's Delfines teammate Rene Reyes' 11.  Caborca pitcher Misael Silverio Meza leads the Liga Norte with eight wins and is third in ERA at 2.83, trailing San Quintin moundmates Porfirio Lopez (2.20) and Alejandro Arteaga (2.75).  Lopez leads Meza in the strikeouts race, 90 to 87.

Sunset at La Paz' Estadio Arturo C. Nahl

The LNM was formed in 2008 and has served as the Mexican League's top feeder loop, but it's been a turbulent year for the Liga Norte.  First, the Tecate Indios requested (and received) a year off after a poor financial showing in 2018.  They were replaced by the new La Paz Delfines, marking the debut of professional baseball in Baja California Sur after interests in the peninsular city had first explored entry in the winter Mexican Pacific League.  La Paz' entry kept the LNM at six teams until the Puerto Penasco Tiburones followed Tecate's suit and dropped out shortly before the April 2019 opener over money issues.  The league has since muddled its way with a five-team lineup, ensuring at least one idle team every night of the campaign.

Another blow was dealt in the offseason when the Mexican League withdrew its formal support and the pesos that came with it after LMB president Javier Salinas cited financial irregularities, although he delined to elaborate.  The move meant a cutoff of needed cash from the AAA Liga, with LNM president Francisco Ochoa talking with Mexico's national baseball coordinator, Edgar Gonzalez, to seek restoration of funding via pro-baseball president Andres Manuel Lopez (who took a very hands-on approach to his favorite sport shortly after assuming office in December, but has quieted down somewhat since).

Salinas did say that while the LMB was withdrawing structural and financial support, individual Liga teams were free to cobble together their own affiliation agreements with Liga Norte clubs and now all five teams in the latter have at least two Liga affiliates (San Quintin has set ties with Tijuana and Campeche but the Freseros roster also contains many Saltillo AA players).

The LNM regular season will conclude when Caborca visits Ensenada in a series of top teams from each half and La Paz hosts San Quentin in a three-game midweek set.  San Luis will be the bye team.  The four-team playoffs will open next weekend.

OLMECAS' ORAMAS ENJOYS LIGHTS-OUT OUTING

Tabasco pitcher Juan Pablo Oramas

Juan Pablo Oramas has been one of the many pitchers in Mexican baseball who've crossed back and forth over the border during their careers.  After signing with San Diego as a 16-year-old international free agent from Tabasco, Oramas toiled two summers for the Padres' Dominican Summer League team in 2007 and 2008 prior to a spectacular Mexican League debut in 2009. Pitching for the Mexico City Diablos Rojos, the 5'10" lefty went 9-1 with a 2.31 ERA in 25 games (14 starts) and was named Rookie of the Year.

Oramas went back to the Padres and pitched another five years in their system and reached the AAA Pacific Coast League with Tucson and El Paso before his release following the 2014 campaign.  He signed with Toronto and attended spring training with the Jays before being let go in early April and returning south of the border for good with the Diablos in 2015.  Oramas went 15-8 over his first two summers back in Mexico City before a 1-6 record and 6.68 ERA over 15 starts in 2017 resulted in his offseason trade to Tabasco for veteran reliever Sergio Valenzuela.

He had a good Spring 2018 season for the Olmecas, going 6-2 with a 3.13 ERA in 11 outings, but fell to 2-3 and 5.09 last Fall.  Oramas was off to a rocky start in 2019 under new Tabasco manager Ramon Orantes at 2-6 and 4.97 this spring and there was nothing to indicate what would happen when he took the mound for the Olmecas to open the second half of the schedule against Durango in Villahermosa last Friday.

Oramas shut out Durango on 4 hits with 15 K's

Oramas turned in one of the most dominant performances of his 13-year career, blanking the Generales by a 1-0 count and scattering four singles.  He struck out 15 batters and walked two as 85 of his 118 pitches went for strikes. In an almost-prescient moment, the lights at Parque Centenario 27 de Febrero went out just after Oramas whiffed Durango leadoff batter Aneury Tavarez to start the game.

After the 20-minute delay, the 210-pounder went on to paint a nine-inning masterpiece in front of an intimate announced gathering of 1,234 spectators in the gallery. His Olmecas teammates would only score once, in the bottom of the first when Cuban newcomer Roel Santos led off with a triple and scored on a Gerson Manzanillo sacrifice fly to left, but that was all the support Oramas would need. His complete-game shutout was the Liga's third this season, following two Campeche hurlers, Francisco Rodriguez (April 27 vs. Oaxaca) and Manuel Flores (June 4 at Tabasco).

Tabasco dropped their next two games to the Generales to fall to open the second half at 1-2 (with a 22-39 season record).  The Olmecas are not without talent and definitely have a Cuban flavor: Besides recent-arivee Santos, outfielder Ronnier Mustelier is batting .407 with nine homers in 55 games while fellow gardener Daniel Carbonell has a .338 average with 11 homers and 12 steals.  Another import, Puerto Rican third baseman Jovan Rosa, is hitting .346 with seven homers and 33 RBIs in 36 contests as the entire Tabasco team has a .303 average to tie for ninth with Saltillo and Yucatan, which tells you how things have gone for pitchers with the new Franklin ball this year.  Orantes' mound staff has had it worse than most with a team ERA of 6.39 (and that's with FOUR shutouts, including Oramas' gem last Friday).

We say "worse than most" because Laguna (7.30), Aguascalientes (7.55) and Leon (7.88) pitchers may be forgiven for taking on nervous tics a la Herbert Lom's Inspector Dreyfus character in the Pink Panther movie series.   Rieleros pitchers in particular might be in a state of collective shellshock after serving up the most homers (138) and walks (297) while their 713 hits allowed and 490 runs allowed rank second.  Somehow amid the carnage surrounding him, Aguascalientes reliever Anthony Carter is 7-2 with seven saves and a 3.06 ERA over 25 appearances. Carter HAS given up eight homers in 32.1 innings so he's not exactly been unscathed.

MAYOS NAME ADAN MUNOZ MANAGER FOR 2019-20

New Navojoa Mayos manager Adan Munoz

A familiar figure among longtime Mexican baseball observers has been signed as the Navojoa Mayos' new manager.  Former catcher Adan Munoz will take the reins of the Mexican Pacific League team from Willie Romero. A combustible personality who won two Manager of the Year awards with Yucatan in the Mexican League and led the Mayos to the Mex Pac championship series in 2017-18, the 44-year-old Romero's contract was not renewed after Navojoa finished with a 26-31 overall record and missed the LMP playoffs last winter.  Prior to managing, the Venezuelan spent six years as an outfielder in the Dodgers organization and played another 14 summers in the Mexican League for Saltillo and Yucatan, batting .334 with 147 homers before his 2012 retirement. Romero hit .331 for the 2006 Liga champion Leones, collecting 24 of his 300 career stolen bases (eighth all-time in the LMB).

While Romero earned his playing reputation as a flamboyant centerfielder and baserunner, Munoz has been known as a tough, no-nonsense catcher over two decades in the Mexican League.  A career .279 hitter with 303 doubles and 162 homers among his 1,522 Liga hits, Munoz was named manager of the Quintana Roo Tigres on May 9, replacing Salon de la Fama member Jesus Sommers (the only man in LMB history with over 3,000 hits) at the helm with the Cancun club showing an 11-18 record.  Since then, the Tigres have gone 11-17 under Munoz. While not as visibly demonstrative as Romero, the 6'2", 215-pound Munoz is not without a boiling point and (like Walter Alston with the Dodgers years ago) the Empalme, Sonora native is tough enough to back up orders issued to his charges.

Adan Munoz batting earlier during his career

Munoz will take over a Navojoa team that had some talent in the dugout last season.  First baseman Victor Mendoza hit a team-high .323 with six homers and 30 RBIs and has since performed in the Caribbean Series and for the Mexican National Team in Japan, Alonzo Harris played second base and batted .302 with seven homers, scoring 51 runs, while third baseman Jovan Rosa clubbed 15 longballs with 45 RBIs to augment a .275 average.  Other Mayos vets last winter included shortstop Paul Leon, outfielder Alan Sanchez and catcher Fernando Flores, all former LMB All-Stars. Top Navojoa pitchers included Jaime Lugo (5-3 with a 2.75 ERA), Marco Carrillo (5-4, 3.08) and closer Jesus Pirela (3.22, 16 saves).

SEARCH CONTINUES FOR INVESTORS IN GUASAVE

Juan Navarrete to manage Guasave in 2019-20

          The search continues for investors in the Guasave's new Mexican Pacific League ballclub.  The Algodoneros were hastily established over the winter as fulfillment of an earlier campaign promise to voters in the Sinaloa city by then-candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, now president of Mexico.  Guasave re-enters the LMP next season along with Monterrey and while the Sultanes will bring one of the country's top baseball organizations and its largest ballpark into winterball with them, Guasave holds no such advantage in either history, facilities or resources.

The Algodoneros will play in the LMP's smallest market and in one of its oldest ballparks, although 49-year-old Estadio Francisco Carranza Limon is getting a major facelift thanks to billionaire Alfredo Harp Helu, who owns both the Mexico City Diablos Rojos and Oaxaca Guerreros.  Harp was induced by AMLO to put some pesos into the reborn Cottoneers and is largely footing the bill for stadium renovations (the 8,000-seat venue is expected to be ready when the Mex Pac opens play October 12), but has indicated he has no desire to own a third baseball team at this time.  

As a result, efforts are being made to find new investment money to maintain the fledgling franchise. Among the names being bandied about is Francisco Ochoa, a Guasave resident and founder of the El Pollo Loco chain of restaurants. Another is Guadalupe Miranda, called the "King of Beans" for his role as director of agribusiness giant Grupo Cintar in Los Mochis.

Veteran GM Gabriel Low, who has run teams in Leon and Guadalajara and been an MLB scout, announced the hiring of Salon de la Fama member Juan Navarrete as Guasave manager.  One of the greatest second basemen in Mexican League history (a .327 average on 1,979 hits with 236 steals over 16 seasons), the 65-year-old Durango native led the final iteration of the old Algodoneros in 2013-14. New owner Armando Navarro moved the team to Guadalajara, where Navarrete led the Jalisco Charros to the LMP Championship Series against eventual champion Culiacan in 2014-15. He's also in his third decade coaching in the Oakland minor league system. Son Juan, Jr. was an infielder at Grays Harbor College near the Washington coast last year.

Guasave shortstop Marco Jaime

A special mini-draft between the two LMP newcomers was held last week during which each team selected four players with dual citizenship (thus not counting against the six-foreigner limit).  The Algodoneros took shortstop Marco Jaime and pitchers Mark Serrano, Geno Encina and Adam Quintana. Jaime represented Leon at last week's All-Star Game in Mexico City while the three pitchers are all Monclova moundsmen in the LMB. For their part, the Sultanes selected pitcher Mario Morales (Monclova), first baseman Eric Aguilera (Union Laguna), utilityman Alex Mejia (Monclova) and third baseman Michael Wing (Aguascalientes).  Like Jaime, Wing performed in the recent LMB All-Star game and also took part in the Home Run Derby.

Between the expansion draft and last week's special draft, both Guasave and Monterrey each own the rights to 36 players with the July 3 LMP draft of unprotected players next in the roster-building process.