LMB DIVISION SEMIS SET, TWO SERIES GO SEVEN GAMES

    The Mexican League division semifinals are now set after a pair of seventh and deciding first round playoff games were required to determine the eighth-team lineup. Mexico City, Tabasco and Yucatan all advanced in the LMB South and will be joined by Veracruz as the “lucky” loser because the Aguilas won two games in their series while Quintana Roo and Puebla only won once. Things came down to the wire in the LMB North, where it took a pair of Game Sevens to ensure that Guadalajara, Tijuana and Lucky Loser Aguascalientes to join Monclova in the division semis.

    Here are capsules with details of the past week's games in the six first-round series:

MEXICO CITY def. QUINTANA ROO, 4 games to 1

    Three first-round series ended Thursday night, including Mexico City's Game Five win over Quintana Roo, 8-4. Japhet Amador led the Diablos attack with two homers and six RBIs to close the set with a 4-games-to-1 Mexico City triumph. The Tigres were forced to play their “home” games at Merida's Parque Kukulkan due to ballpark renovations Estadio Beto Avila in Cancun requiring them to play the final weeks of the season on the road.

    Angel Erro's two-run homer in the bottom of the second snapped a Quintana Roo scoreless streak that had reached 19 innings, including shutouts on Tuesday (a 9-0 loss as Amador belted two longballs and drove in four) and Wednesday (a 3-0 defeat in which Arturo Lopez tossed six scoreless innings for the Red Devils and Juan Carlos Gamboa socked a two-run homer in the third).

TABASCO def. PUEBLA, 4 games to 1

    Tabasco also closed out their series in five games with Puebla on Thursday. After splitting two games in Villahermosa, the Olmecas copped three straight road games, starting with a 14-12 slugfest win last Tuesday as former Phillies farmhand Herlis Rodriguez slammed a three-run homer and Roel Santos posted a two-run blast. Jesus Arredondo hit a two-run single and later scored in a five-run fifth inning as the Olmecas went on to top the Pericos, 8-3, one night later.

    The Olmecas clinched the series Thursday, 7-4, as Rodriguez went 3-for-5 with three runs and Ronnier Mustelier's two-run single gave the Olmecas a 7-0 lead in the fourth that the Parakeets couldn't overcome. Manager Pedro Mere's club lacked offense in the regular season but it was their 29 runs in three games that sealed their victory.

MONCLOVA def. SALTILLO, 4 games to 1

    Also on Thursday, defending champion Monclova finished their LMB North series with a 3-1 Game Five thriller over Saltillo as Addison Russell cranked out a two-run homer off Saraperos closer Anthony Carter in the bottom of the tenth to end the contest after Bartolo Colon turned in 5.1 decent entradas for Monclova, allowing one run on five hits.

    The Steelers earlier collected a 6-3 win over Saltillo Tuesday during which Chris Carter slugged a pair of homers of Saraperos starter David Holmberg. Monclova registered another victory Wednesday on a 3-2 score as Dwight Smith's sacrifice fly brought home Erick Aybar with the go-ahead run in the bottom of the eighth. Carlos Bustamante earned the save with a 1-2-3 ninth for the Acereros to set up Thursday's clincher.

YUCATAN def. VERACRUZ, 4 games to 2

    After Friday's travel day, one more series concluded on Saturday. Yucatan returned home after winning two of three in Veracruz to record a 5-1 win over the Aguilas to take their first round set, 4 games to 2, as Jose Aguilar's two-run double gave the Leones a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the second that they never relinquished.

    Yucatan had split a pair in Merida prior to winning, 7-6, in Veracruz last Tuesday when Aguilas third baseman Hector Gomez' throwing error in the top of the ninth allowed Walter Ibarra and Yadier Drake to plate the tying and winning runs, respectively. Alex Liddi clubbed two homers and drove in five Wednesday in an 11-3 Yucatan win (Aguila pitchers allowed 11 hits and nine walks); then Liddi, Norberto Obeso and Luis Juarez all homered in the fifth Thursday but Veracuz staved off elimination with a 9-8 triumph as Gomez earned some redemption with a walkoff single that scored Alexei Amarista with the game-winner in the bottom of the ninth. Juarez hit five homers and Liddi went deep four times for the Leones in the series.

GUADALAJARA def. UNION LAGUNA, 4 games to 3

    Both Union Laguna and Tijuana stayed alive with wins Saturday to force Game Sevens in their respective series Sunday. Nick Torres had three hits (including a ninth-inning homer) and scored three runs for the Algodoneros in a wild 13-11 win at Guadalajara. The Cottoneers beat the top-seeded Mariachis twice in three games during the week in Torreon.

    Guadalajara clobbered the hosts, 12-2, last Tuesday as Johnny Davis went 4-for-5 to key a 17-hit Mariachis outburst. Laguna came back with wins on Wednesday and Thursday, starting with a 10-2 clobbering that saw the Algodoneros break open a 4-2 game with six eighth-frame runs as Ciro Norzagaray sliced a two-run, bases-loaded single to cap a two-hit, three-ribbie night. Thursday's game ended with a 5-4 Cottoneers victory with Carlos Rivero's solo homer breaking a 4-all tie and Jenrry Mejia tossing a scoreless ninth for the save (despite needing 20 pitches to do it). Mejia went 1.2 innings Saturday in Guadalajara for his third save of the series. Sunday's game was a 2-2 classic until the bottom of the eighth, when the Mariachis scored five runs, including a three-run homer by Niko Vasquez off Mejia to break it open. Fernando Cruz pitched a scoreless ninth to seal the 7-2 win and end the series.

TIJUANA def. AGUASCALIENTES, 4 games to 3

    Meanwhile, Tijuana held off an upset loss to Aguascalientes Saturday with a 5-4 win in eleven innings at home. Daniel Castro's walkoff single scored pinch-runner Junior Lake with the winning run for the Toros, who got three hits (including a two-run homer) from Leandro Castro during the contest. The Rieleros earlier took two of three midweek games at home and opened a 3-games-to-1 series lead before TJ won the next two. Tuesday's tilt featured a big game from Ags centerfielder Jay Austin (3-for-5 with a double and three RBIs) in a 6-5 win over the Toros. On Wednesday, the Algodoneros built a 5-1 lead and then held on to take a 5-4 triumph behind Marc Flores' two-run homer in the second and Michael Wing's two-run single in the fifth.

    Tijuana avoided elimination with a 5-0 shutout Thursday, with Joe Van Meter starting things off with 6 scoreless innings and Fernando Rodney ending them by striking out the side in the bottom of the ninth. Peter O'Brien doubled, tripled and drove in three for the Bulls in the win to send the series back to the border city. After Saturday's win, the Toros closed out the Rieleros Sunday with a 6-4 victory in which Gabriel Gutierrez' two-out double off Daniel Guerrero broke a 4-4 tie by doubling in Isaac Rodriguez while Gutierrez plated an insurance run moments later on Leandro Castro's single. Rodney made things interesting in the top of the ninth by loading the bases before retiring the last two Aguascalientes batters to end the game and series.

    The division semis will open with four games Tuesday night. In the LMB South, Mexico City will open their best-of-7 set with Lucky Loser Veracruz at home and Yucatan will take on Tabasco in Merida. In the LMB North, Tijuana will open their series with Monclova in the border city while Guadalajara is at Estadio Panamericano to host an opener against Aguascalientes, who is the division's Lucky Loser by virtue of finishing a half-game ahead of Union Laguna during the regular season.

EX-TOROS SKIPPER VIZQUEL NAMED IN SEXUAL HARASSMENT SUIT

Omar Vizquel with Birmingham in 2019

    Things just keep getting tougher for Hall of Fame candidate Omar Vizquel. The former shortstop, who won eleven Gold Gloves and collected 2,877 hits over a 24-year MLB career, was hit with a sexual harassment lawsuit in the United States within days of parting company with the Mexican League Tijuana Toros and months after his wife Blanca filed domestic violence charges against him.

    According to Jeff Passan of ESPN, an autistic former batboy for the Class AA Birmingham Barons (who Vizquel managed in 2019) alleged that Vizquel exposed his penis “at least five occasions” in the team's clubhouse. According to the lawsuit, Vizquel came out of a shower naked on August 22, 2019 and handed the man a bar of soap, demanding that he “wash my damn back!” The accuser says he was “humiliated, intimidated and scared of what would happen if he disobeyed” and “complied with Vizquel's request.”

    The man, now 25, did not return to work after the alleged incident and the lawsuit states, “at this point, he was constructively discharged, as no reasonable person would have returned to that work environment after what had happened.” The suit was filed in United States District Court in Alabama. The suit also accuses the Barons and their parent Chicago White Sox organization of violating the Americans with Disabilities Act and seeks back payments and damages. No criminal charges have been filed against Vizquel in connection to the batboy’s claims. Neither Vizquel nor his attorney have commented.

    According to Joshua Rhett Miller of the New York Post, the former batboy (who has not been named) also alleges that Vizquel had “targeted” him for sexual harassment because of his disability. The man also claims Vizquel told him in June 2019 that he was homosexual and telling him in the dugout, “I just want you to know that I’m gay” and “I like guys.”

    In contrast, a writer for the TodayIn24 website who simply goes by the name Bonnie is not a Vizquel supporter but talked to two Birmingham players that season: “More jokes are made in clubhouses than anywhere else. And that’s why, since Vizquel doesn’t answer, I called two players who were from the Barons of 2019, the year of the indictment.

    “One of them told me, 'Omar used to make up jokes of many kinds against all of us and we laughed a lot.' And the other: 'I remember that batboy, great boy. We all loved him very much, even Vizquel. And having his back washed has nothing to do with sex.“

    In a statement, the White Sox said: "After first learning of an alleged incident in late August 2019, Chicago conducted an internal investigation that resulted in the termination of the organization's relationship with Vizquel. Because this is active litigation, at this time the White Sox will not comment further regarding the allegations included in this lawsuit.”

Vizquel as an 11-time Gold Glove shortstop

    The 54-year-old Venezuelan had piloted the Barons to a 64-72 record his first year in Birmingham after leading Class A Winston-Salem to a 84-54 mark and the Carolina League playoff semifinals in 2018, earning Manager of the Year honors. Vizquel was hired to manage Tijuana for 2020 but the season was canceled due to the Wuhan virus. This year, he had the Toros in second place in the LMB North with a 32-22 when he was relieved of his duties on July 26.

    Vizquel was accused last year by his wife, Blanca, of multiple cases of physical abuse. He was arrested once but was not charged. Vizquel has denied abusing his wife, who filed for divorce last year. Major League Baseball has acknowledged investigating his personal and professional conduct, although he has not been employed by an MLB organization since the White Sox fired him. The investigation remains open, according to a source.

    Vizquel became eligible for election to the Hall of Fame in 2018 and was named on 37 percent of the BBWA ballots his first year. He rose to 42.8 percent and then 52.6 percent the following two years before dropping to 49.1 percent last winter a month after the domestic abuse allegations surfaced. He has six years' worth of balloting left before his election is handed over to the Veterans Committee.

BUFFALOES SIGN MEXICAN PITCHER VARGAS TO NPB CONTRACT

Vargas with Ibaraki Astro Planets

    Cesar Vargas' excellent adventure in Japan continues. The pitcher from Puebla, who made seven MLB starts for San Diego in 2017, has reached an agreement with the Pacific League's first-place Orix Buffaloes, according to Nikkei Sports.

    It's been an eventful year for the 29-year-old righty, who missed the 2020 Mexican League season after going 8-6 with a 4.34 ERA over 32 games (including 18 starts) for Monterrey in 2019. Vargas spent an eighth Mexican Pacific League season with Hermosillo last winter and was 3-0 with a 2.86 ERA in seven starts.

    He began the current Liga season with Monterrey in May and went 1-0 and 2.70 in two starts before heading to Japan to pitch for the Ibaraki Astro Planets of the independent Baseball Challenge League. In eleven outings as a teammate of former LMB and LMP outfielder Dariel Alvarez and new Veracruz Aguilas pitcher Kodai Hamaya, Vargas went 5-2 with a 1.60 ERA. Alvarez was also recently picked up by the SoftBank Hawks and batted 0-for-4 in his first game for the defending Japan Series champions.

    The 6'2” 237-pound Vargas also pitched for Mexico in the Tokyo Olympics earlier this month, making scoreless appearances in losses to host Japan and Israel and retiring all four batters he faced (two on strikeouts).

Pitching for Monterrey in 2019

   Vargas was signed by the New York Yankees as a 17-year-old in 2009 and spent seven summers in the American League club's system, mostly as a reliever. He then spent 2016 and 2017 with the Padres organization, going 0-3 with a 5.03 ERA in seven starts for the parent club. After playing as a Nationals minor leaguer in 2018, Vargas moved back south of the border to play for Monterrey in 2019. During that time, he played eight winters for Hermosillo (including the last six in a row), going 14-9 with a 3.81 ERA for the Naranjeros in 114 appearances, 92 out them out of the bullpen.

    With his initial outing for his new team, Vargas will become the first Mexican-born player to appear in NPB this season after Christian Villanueva played for the Nippon Ham Fighters in 2020. Heading into the weekend, the Buffaloes (who split their home games between Kobe and Osaka) led the Pacific League with a 43-34 record plus 11 ties, a game-and-a-half ahead of the 42-36-11 Rakuten Golden Eagles.

AGS, LAGUNA WIN LAST NORTH SLOTS; PLAYOFFS OPEN

   After Aguascalientes and Union Laguna emerged from a four-way dogfight for the final two playoff berths in the Mexican League's North Division while Puebla and Quintana Roo pulled away from Leon for the last two slots in the LMB South last week, the 2021 postseason got underway over the weekend.

    With six teams in each division qualifying for the playoffs this year and Guadalajara (46-17) and Mexico City (41-23) winning their divisions in commanding fashion, most of the drama was reserved for the lower seedings in the LMB North. Aguascalientes won seven of their last ten games to finish in fifth place at 30-31, a half-game game ahead of 31-33 Union Laguna. Monterrey had been in eighth most of the season prior to a late charge that made it close before closing in seventh with a 30-33 mark, a half-game behind the Algodoneros to miss the playoffs for the first time since 2015. Dos Laredos had been in the hunt before losing six of their last ten to drop below the Sultans into eighth at 30-36.

    Things weren't as tight in the LMB South, where Leon had a puncher's chance to reach the playoffs entering the final three games of the regular season. The Bravos had to win all three of their games while Puebla had to lose all three of theirs to force a one-game play-in. Leon's 8-1 home loss to Aguascalientes and a Puebla doubleheader sweep of Oaxaca last Wednesday served to knock the Bravos (29-37) out of contention. In fact, the Pericos won all three of their games over the Guerreros to finish at 33-33, leapfrogging in to fifth place ahead of 32-33 Quintana Roo (who lost all three to Veracruz to end the regular season).

    With the regular season in the rearview mirror, the playoffs got underway Saturday with six games. In the LMB North, Guadalajara thumped Laguna, 13-4, as Adrian Gonzalez socked a two-run homer and scored three times for the Mariachis. Aguascalientes surprised Tijuana, 6-1, at El Nido behind Henry Rodriguez' two homers and seven innings of one-run pitching by Rieleros' starter Erick Leal. Monclova held on to take a 5-4 victory in Saltillo as Addison Russell's two-run homer and RBI double helped overcome a shaky Bartolo Colon start (5IP/3R/9H/2E).

Yucatan Leones vet slugger Luis Juarez

    In Saturday's LMB South first round games, visiting Quintana Roo walloped Mexico City, 12-2, as all nine Tigres batters had at least one hit, including Alex Robles' two-run double during QRoo's 10-run second inning. Yucatan's uncharacteristic power display (five homers, two by Luis Juarez) keyed a 15-2 swamping of Veracruz in Merida. Puebla's Miguel Guzman scored from third on an eighth-inning Derrick Loop wild pitch to give the Pericos an eventual 2-1 win over Tabasco.

    Sunday's action saw five of the six series tied up at one game each as the previous night's losers came back with wins. Guadalajara topped Laguna again, 7-3, as Christian Ibarra and Johnny Davis belted sixth-inning homers off Cottoneers starter Rafael Pineda. Venerable slugger Luis Alfonso Cruz had three hits (including a homer and double) and scored three runs as Tijuana bounced back with an 8-4 win over Aguascalientes. Saltillo knotted things with Monclova with a 4-2 win with Henry Urrutia's two-run bomb in the eighth breaking a 2-all tie. Yasiel Puig's two-run homer capped a four-run first as Veracruz went on to cop an 8-3 win in Puebla. Mexico City rebounded with a 7-5 triumph over Quintana Roo, thanks in part to Julian Leon's two-run roundtripper. Juan Pablo Oramas tossed six innings of one-run ball as Tabasco beat Puebla, 3-1, to level their set.

    Monday will be a travel day for all series with six Game Threes scheduled for Tuesday night at ballparks for the lower seeds.

HERAS (.401) TAKES BAT TITLE; 8-0 NAKAMURA COPS WINS CROWN

2021 LMB batting champion Leo Heras

   Baja California product Leo Heras finished 2021with a .401 average to become the 16th native son to be awarded a Mexican League batting championship. The Guadalajara outfielder went 63-for-157 to become the first Mexican to cop a batting title since Tijuana's Isaac Rodriguez in the Spring 2018 season. Heras played 46 of the Mariachis' 65 games, or 70.8 percent. Mariachis teammate Niko Vasquez, a Californian played 59 games and finished second at .387 while Cuban Henry Urrutia of Saltillo came in third at .385 over 56 contests.

    Saltillo slugger Rainel Rosario won his second home run title by crashing 20 to edge out Leon's Xavier Batista's 19. Rosario, a Dominican who led the LMB in 2017 with 26 HRs, becomes the second Sarapero batsman to win more than one homer crown (Andres Mora did it three times). Rosario also led the league with 41 extra-base hits and 174 total bases.

    Another Dominican, Leandro Castro, finished with 72 runs batted in over 64 contests for Tijuana to lead in that category. Batista and Mexico City's massive Japhet Amador tied for second with 57 RBIs, well behind Castro (who had a great season in batting .378 for the Toros while leading the loop with 93 hits, including 20 doubles and 14 homers.

    Quintana Roo's Reynaldo Rodriguez stole 21 bases to finish first in that category, just beating out the 20 of Tabasco outfielder Herlis Rodriguez. A first baseman from Colombia, Rodriguez beat his previous personal best of 14 swipes to become the first Tigres player to lead the Liga in steals since Luis Polonia's 48 in 1997.

    Other LMB batting leaders included Guadalajara's Beau Amaral with 65 runs, Veracruz' Jesus Valdez stroked 30 doubles, Durango outfielder Tito Polo legged out 7 triples, Mexico City's Jon Singleton had a .503 on-base percentage and 1.196 OPS over 46 games and Puebla rookie David Olmedo-Barrera's .694 slugging percentage ranked first.

Tijuana's Fernando Rodney won saves title

    Japanese import Masaru Nakamura capped a great Mexican League debut by finishing with an 8-0 record over nine starts, good enough to lead the LMB in both wins and won-lost percentage. Nakamura also finished fourth with a 3.25 ERA, striking out 46 batters on 52.2 innings of work after compiling a 15-17 ledger over all or part of nine NPB seasons.

    Tabasco starter Luis Escobar joins fellow Cartagena product Reynaldo Rodriguez of the Tigres in leading the LMB in an individual category. Escobar's 2.54 mark makes him the fifth Olmecas hurler to win an ERA title, joining former Red Sox pitcher Mike Nagy (1978) and becoming the first Tabasco player to do so since Jean Jesus Alvarez in 1999.

    Two pitchers tied for the strikeouts championship with 69 apiece, with Dos Laredos' Jackson Stephens and Puebla's Jose Valdez sharing the award. Stephens (a former Cincinnati Reds starter) got his K's in 65 innings while walking just 16 while Valdez needed 72 innings, walking 32 opponents in the process.

    Former MLB All-Star Fernando Rodney capped a successful first year in Mexico by winning the saves title, securing 16 salvados in 19 chances. Rodney won all three of his decisions and had a 1.80 ERA in 28 appearances. Tabasco' Fernando Salas finally allowed his first earned run in 21 outings to finish with an 0.42 ERA, going 12-for-12 in saves.

    Other LMB pitching leaders included Yucatan's Jake Thompson with a 1.07 WHIP, fellow Leones hurler Radhames Liz had two complete games, Veracruz' Dylan Unsworth and and Aguilas moundmate David Reyes tossed the year's only two shutouts (Unsworth's was a no-hitter), Rafael Pineda of Laguna was tops with 77 innings pitched, Monterrey middleman Norman Elenes led with 38 games pitched and Derrick Loop of Tabasco had 12 holds.

BRAVERMAN: MANY RESPONSIBLE FOR OLYMPIC COLLAPSE

Out 27 columnist David Braverman

    While many Mexican baseball fans have been vocal with their outrage and disgust over their country's 0-for-3 performance at the Tokyo Summer Olympics, it appears that few journalists and broadcasters have joined the chorus. Not so with syndicated columnist David Braverman, whose “Out 27” is one of the most widely read commentaries in Mexico.
 
   Braverman's column last Friday outlined what he believes were the causes of Mexico's collapse during their first foray into Olympic baseball. In this edited Google Translate version of that column, titled “Ostrich of Baseball,” he shares his observations:

    With the great Olympic failure of the Mexican baseball team still fresh in the minds of the fans and the protagonists back with their different teams in the LMB and other leagues, a very small sector of the Mexican baseball press continues to question what the hell happened but even more so, what the main responsible parties will face.

    Give opinions, point out, criticize, always with arguments: that is the true work of the journalist who boasts of being one. The rest is the least and Mexican baseball is full of characters who call themselves journalists or reporters, but whose criteria do not go beyond "looking good" with whom they agree. The same thing happens with narrators and commentators. I deeply respect their admirable work and there are very good ones, but their work will never be journalistic and much less critical when they put on the shirt of the team for which they work. They are part of the promotion and, I repeat, very respectable.

    The poor results in Tokyo were simply the chronicle of a death foretold. Removing those who achieved the Olympic qualification, paying attention to tantrums and stubbornness of those who feel like owners of the bats and balls because they were major leaguers or simply allowing that ridiculous occurrence of publishing a photo of several selectees with the uniform of their winter team are clear samples that it was never understood that they were going to an Olympic Games and the importance of what that represented.

    Of course, everyone involved is to blame. The players disappointed Mexico and only a couple responded on the diamond. The majority created a fiasco ending as the worst offense of the tournament and one of the two worst pitching staffs. In baseball, the statistics don't lie. Managers and coaches never studied their rivals and thought they were going to face poor teams like the Oaxaca Guerreros or the Durango Generales. They were very wrong.

    But for that failure to occur on the field of play there were those who orchestrated it and not just now, but long ago. It was during the management of Javier Salinas, the worst president that the Mexican League has had in its history, when the FEMEBE that Enrique Mayorga inherited after the death of Lieutenant Alonso Pérez handed him the management of the Mexican team.

    Salinas, an illiterate baseball player but a good seller of mirrors, stuck his nose in until he reached the president of the World Baseball and Softball Confederation, Riccardo Fraccari, with that unsuccessful attempt by the hesitant called Baseball 5 and other “business”. From then on, there were characters in the LMB who played the tambourine of the relationship with Fraccari at their convenience as well as the management of the team. You can not forget that "Chabelo Tour" of 2019 for two games in Japan and Salinas taking his entire entourage for a walk, of course, in exchange for loyalty.

    The subject had been inherited since his arrival by the current president of the summer circuit, Horacio de la Vega, a chess expert with total ignorance of baseball and a former Olympian who knows the strict doping controls in the event that brings together more than 200 countries every four years. It was precisely the doping that presented problems in assembling the team, especially if we take into account that currently in the LMB the controls are hesitant and the positive tests are paid with financial fines, not with punishments to the player. So imagine the result of the mixture that gives us a total ignorance of baseball with the risk that the players will test positive for Olympic doping.

    With the endorsement of the inoperative baseball federation and the hidden but direct supervision of Edgar González's PROBEIS, the LMB (through its president and sports director Gabriel Medina) removed the manager who had obtained the Olympic berth, Juan Gabriel Castro, to bring in Benjamín Gil and from there form the team fulfilling the whims such as Adrián González, who clearly agreed to play in Mariachis with the condition of going to the Olympic Games. The result? Tremendous disappointment.

    Those responsible for the worst failure of Mexican baseball internationally have names and from my point of view, they have been clearly named in this column, which ends with the following questions:

    Why do some of the members of the Mexican team find it so hard to call failure to failure?

    Finishing in last place being a country with professional baseball all year...isn't that failure?

    Who orders and who executes decisions for the Mexican baseball team?

    Will LMB, FEMEBE and PROBEIS sleep soundly?

    Will those responsible stand up and resign?

    Knowing Mexican baseball for decades and its current reality, the answer to the last question is a resounding NO. It will be the fable of The Ostrich of Baseball.

TEAMS ADD PITCHING AS LIGA HITS HOME STRETCH

Kodai Hayama as Mazatlan Venados P

    With fewer than three weeks remaining in the Mexican League's regular season, many teams looking ahead to the playoffs have started bringing in pitching help. One is coming from Japan, another from Taiwan and one more is returning to Mexico after being buried in the minors despite exemplary numbers at the AAA level.

    The expansion Veracruz Aguilas have purchased 28-year-old Kodai Hamaya from the Ibaraki Astro Planets of Japan's independent Challenge League. Hamaya was a Planets teammate of former LMB and LMP outfielder Dariel Alvarez. The left-handed Hamaya pitched between 2014 and 2018 in NPB for the Rakuten Golden Eagles as well as a brief stint with Yokohama in 2019, going 3-1 with a 7.25 ERA over 40 appearances (all but one in relief). He also spent one winter in the MexPac, going 3-0 with a 1.44 ERA as a starter for Mazatlan in 2019-20. Hamaya will become the second Japanese pitcher to appear in the LMB this season, joining Guadalajara's Masaru Nakamura.

    Mexico City bolstered their mound staff by picking up former Los Angeles Angels starter J.C. Ramirez, who was released earlier this month by Taiwan's Fubon Guardians. A six-year veteran of MLB, the 30-year-old Nicaraguan had a 3.43 ERA and 1.18 WHIP for the CPBL club over 57.2 innings at the time he was let go. Ramirez will be making his Mexican League debut with the Diablos Rojos, but he has winterball experience in Venezuela in with Culiacan in the LMP, for whom he went 4-2 with a 1.74 ERA in 2020-21.

    Former Red Sox pitcher Hector Velazquez has returned to Mexico by signing with Monclova after being released by Houston despite pitching well in relief for AAA Sugar Land, the Astros' top affiliate. An Obregon native, Velazquez was 1-1 with a 1.46 ERA for the Skeeters in 14 appearances after posted an 11-7 record in 89 games for Boston between 2017-19.

    The 32-year-old righty made his first start for the Acereros last Friday night in Mexico City, tossing four shutout innings before allowing a run in his fifth and final entrada during an 8-7 loss to the Diablos. Velazquez allowed six hits and two walks, striking out three in his first outing for the defending champions since 2016, when he pitched for Monclova after spending six summers in Campeche. With former AL Cy Young Award winner Bartolo Colon out of the Steelers lineup for a week after taking a line drive off a knee in his latest start, Velazquez' acquisition from the Astros' organization gained in importance even before his first pitch.

    Monclova will need both Velazquez and Colon as they try to catch up to Guadalajara in the LMB North standings. The Mariachis lead with a Liga-best 34-12 record, four games ahead of 32-18 Tijuana. The Acereros and Saltillo are tied for third at 29-22 apiece while Aguascalientes (20-23), Dos Laredos (22-27), Union Laguna and Monterrey (both 20-27) battle for the final two playoff slots. Durango, at 15-37, are the only North Division team out of contention for the postseason.

Hector Velazquez back with Monclova

    In the LMB South, Mexico City has won six straight and nine of their last ten to take a commanding seven-game lead with a 22-16 mark. Yucatan has dropped seven of their past ten but still possess second place at 26-23. Veracruz (25-25) is third, ahead of Puebla (23-24) while Tabasco and Quintana Roo (24-26 each) are tied for fifth. Campeche (21-26) dropped games Saturday and Sunday after winning seven of their previous eight but still hold a one-game lead for seventh over 22-29 Leon. Oaxaca is showing their first sign of life all season by winning seven of their last ten games, but still bring up the rear at 18-31 overall.

    Guadalajara's Niko Vasquez holds a slim lead over Tito Polo of Durango in the batting race, .413 to .409, as the only two regulars in the LMB still above the .400 mark. Saltillo's Rainel Rosario has caught up with Leon's Xavier Batista in the home run derby at 15 apiece, two ahead of five others at 13 (including Rosario's Saraperos teammate Kennys Vargas). MVP candidate Henry Urrutia, another Saltillo slugger, is now just one RBI behind Tijuana's Leander Castro, 53 to 52. The stolen base lead has been taken by a first baseman, with Quintana Roo's Reynaldo Rodriguez showing 18 swipes in 24 attempts, one more than Tijuana's Isaac Rodriguez, who will likely be in Tokyo for the Olympics for the rest of the regular season.

    Both Guadalajara starter Masaru Nakamura (7-0) and Aguascalientes reliever Anthony Vizcaya (7-1) have seven wins to lead the Liga, one ahead of Bartolo Colon (6-1) of Monclova and Tabasco's Ignacio Marrujo (6-3). Veracruz' Dylan Unsworth continues to top LMB starters with a 2.57 ERA but was placed on the Aguilas' reserve list last Thursday, two days after signing to pitch this winter with Cibao of the Dominican League. Puebla's Jose Valdez is 5-0 and leads the circuit with 58 strikeouts in as many innings pitched, two more than Mexico City's Hector Hernandez. Tijuana closer Fernando Rodney has converted 14 saves in 17 opportunities to lead Carlos Bustamante of Monclova by one in that category. Worth noting is that Tabasco closer Fernando Salas (1-0 with 11 saves) has yet to allow a single run in 20 outings for manager Pedro Mere's surprising Olmecas.

ADRIAN GONZALEZ TO RETIRE AT END OF SEASON

Adrian Gonzalez to retire as a Mariachi

    After having achieved his final baseball goal by representing Mexico in the upcoming Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Adrian Gonzalez will retire from the game after finishing the current Mexican League season with the Guadalajara Mariachis. The 39-year-old first baseman made the announcement last week.

    “For me, this is my last season,” Gonzalez said. “They (the Mariachis) want to convince me to keep playing, but I also have to dedicate my life to my family so hopefully I can close with a medal and a championship.”

    The first player selected in the 2000 MLB draft by the Florida Marlins (receiving a $3 million signing bonus), Gonzales made his big league debut in 2004 with the Texas Rangers and went on to play 15 seasons in the majors, appearing in five All-Star Games, winning four Gold Gloves and appearing in the postseason five times. He began experiencing back problems in 2017 while playing for the Los Angeles Dodgers and ended up with the New York Mets in 2018 before being released in June of that year. Gonzalez concluded his major league career with a .287 batting average, 317 homers and 1,202 RBIs over 1,929 games.

    The man nicknamed El Titan, whose father David was a ballplayer in Obregon and spent much of his youth growing up in Tijuana, has also played for Mexico in all four World Baseball Classics between 2006 and 2017. After not playing in 2019 or 2020, Gonzalez signed a one-year contract with the expansion Mariachis, eyeing a chance to play in Tokyo this summer after Mexico qualified during the Premier12 tournament in 2019.

El Titan to play for Mexico final time

    "Since Mexico qualified for the Olympics, I told myself it was a great opportunity to say goodbye,” Gonzalez explained at a press conference held with Mexican Olympic manager Benji Gil (who also manages Guadalajara's LMB entry) and Mariachis team president Rafael Tejeda. “I wondered what I had to do to be there, and it was not to stop working. That motivated me. I didn't want to be selected for my career but for work. For me it was total dedication to the Mariachis and to show that I deserve to be part of the National Team. For everything I've had, I thank my family and the fans.”

    The 6'2” 215-pounder has batted .340 for Guadalajara with six homers and 41 RBIs over 43 games. Like the rest of his Verdes Grande teammates, who open Olympic play July 30 against the Dominican Republic, Gonzalez may not return from Japan before the LMB playoffs get underway. The Mariachis lead the LMB North standings and while they haven't mathematically clinched a postseason slot, they're currently 14 games ahead of sixth-place Union Laguna and Monterrey with 15 games remaining in the regular season.

TIGRES TO BE ROAD WARRIORS REMAINDER OF 2021

Cancun ballpark facelift to start this week

    Even though they find themselves in the thick of a battle for a playoff berth in the Mexican League's South Division, the Quintana Roo Tigres will have to play the rest of the 2021 regular season (and the entire postseason, if they qualify) away from Cancun.

    After playing the Tabasco Olmecas at Estadio Beto Avila on Sunday, the Tigres are having to vacate the ballpark for the duration of the schedule so the State of Quintana Roo can begin work on renovating the 40-year-old facility. Being planned are reconfiguring corridors, replacing seating and otherwise making movement within the stadium easier for fans attending games.

    Estadio Beto Avila, one of two ballparks in the LMB named after the former Cleveland Indians star and two-time American League batting champion (who attended opening ceremonies in Cancun), was unveiled on November 23, 1980. The 4,500-seater was used by teams in a local league as well as the Cancun Marlins of the semipro Peninsula League.

    However, the ballpark had been all but abandoned by the time an earlier incarnation of the Puebla Pericos moved to the region in 1996 and played as the Quintana Roo Langosteros, splitting home games between Cancun and Estadio Nachan Ka'an in Chetumal for two seasons. Estadio Beto Avila underwent some remodeling at that time, although light towers had not yet been installed for their first home game against Yucatan on March 14. 

    After Chetumal gained its own Mexican League franchise when the Poza Rica Petroleros shifted there in 1998, the Langosteros were renamed the Cancun Langosteros and played all home games at Estadio Beto Avila through the 2005 season before moving to Poza Rica after Hurricane Wilma wrecked the ballpark in October of that year. Estadio Beto Avila underwent extensive renovations in 2006, with capacity more than doubled to its current 9,500-seat configuration.

Tigres to don road jerseys rest of season

    The Angelopolis Tigres rewarded the effort by moving to Cancun prior to the 2007 season after six tepid campaigns in Puebla. The team has remained since, appearing regularly in the playoffs and winning LMB pennants in 2011, 2013 and 2015. Success on the field has not translated to success in the ticket office, with the heritage franchise annually finishing in the bottom half of the attendance derby. Former Dodgers Hall of Famer Fernando Valenzuela bought the team from Carlos Peralta in early 2017 (after Peralta had threatened to pull the team out of the LMB altogether), but has struggled since the ink on sales documents had even dried.

    Last winter, Valenzuela explored moving the Tigres to San Luis Rio Colorado near the Arizona border last winter until the State came up with subsidies (and apparently renovation of the ballpark they play in), so the franchise will remain in Cancun for at least the near future. With pandemic-inspired seating limitations in place, the Tigres have drawn 38,186 fans (13^th in the 18-team loop) over 29 home games for an average of 1,317 per opening.

    Renovations at Estadio Beto Avila are expected to be complete in time for the beginning of the 2022 season. For now, the Tigres have to reschedule their remaining home series against Yucatan and Veracruz to those teams' home venues while trying to hold off hard-charging Campeche for the sixth and final LMB South playoff berth, starting with three games against the Piratas this week in the Walled City.

OSUNA DOMINANT WITH DIABLOS, EYES RETURN TO MLB

Mexico City closer Roberto Osuna

    Former MLB All-Star relief pitcher Roberto Osuna has made the most of what he hopes will be a short stay in the Mexican League this year. Heading into the weekend, the 26-year-old righthander had yet to allow an earned run on seven hits over twelve appearances for the Mexico City Diablos Rojos, winning one game and saving six more while striking out twelve batters and walking none in 12.1 innings of work.

    While much of that was undone by one awful outing on Saturday night against Guadalajara, in which Osuna gave up three runs in one-third of one inning (including homers by Jesse Castillo and Anthony Garcia) and took the loss in a 6-3 defeat at the hands of the visiting Mariachis, the Sinaloa native appears to be back from an elbow injury that derailed his 2020 season with the Houston Astros and may be back in Major League Baseball sooner rather than later.

    Osuna has been a big part of the Diablos' strong start to the 2021 season as Mexico City leads the LMB South with a 22-15 record, although they've dropped five games in a row after being swept at home by the Mariachis over the weekend. Red Devils manager Miguel Ojeda, himself a former major league catcher, thinks it's just a matter of time before an MLB organization brings Osuna back across the border. “He's shown that he's healthy and ready to return,” says Ojeda. “It's just a matter of days and I think he's going to be back in the major leagues. We talk a lot and he tells me he has two real offers.”

    The 6'2” 217-pounder spent six seasons in the big leagues with Toronto and Houston, posting a 14-18 record with 155 saves to go along with a 2.74 ERA in 314 appearances. Osuna was chosen for the 2017 All-Star Game while with the Blue Jays and led the American League with 39 saves as the Astros closer, appearing with Houston in that season's World Series. While an alleged domestic violence incident that never went to trial resulted in a 75-game suspension to close the door on his time in Toronto before being traded in 2018, Osuna headed into the 2020 campaign as a 25-year-old star with one year left on his contract for $10 million and a strong future seemingly ahead of him.

    Instead, Osuna came down with pitching elbow miseries, appearing in only four games before being shut down for the campaign in August. The Astros recommended Tommy John surgery, but Osuna refused and the team placed him on waivers after the season, making him a free agent. When a showcase in the Dominican Republic drew no offers, he signed a one-year contract with the Diablos, the team he made his pro debut with in 2011 at age 16.

    Now that he's showing signs that his arm is recovered, Osuna says he's going to concentrate on getting the job done in Mexico City until an acceptable offer from an MLB organization is made. “I do have a couple of offers out there which I'm still analyzing to see which is the best one,” he said at a press conference last week. “My priority is to stay healthy because I know what I'm capable of when I'm healthy. I've been enjoying every day being with the Diablos and my goal is to help as much as I can.” He added that he'd enjoy pitching for Mexico and Benji Gil at the Summer Olympics in Tokyo if that opportunity arrives.

    The Diablos' recent tailspin has allowed Yucatan to pull to within a half-game at 21-15. The Leones have gone 7-4 since Geronimo Gil was fired last month and have yet to announce the ex-MLBer's replacement. It's assumed that bench coach Chico Rodriguez, a Salon de la Fama member hired the day Gil was canned, is calling the shots, but who knows? Puebla is one game behind the Diablos in third place with a 21-16 mark while Veracruz is right behind in fourth at 21-17. With six teams per division reaching the playoffs this year, there's a spirited three-way battle for the final two LMB South berths between Tabasco (18-20) and both Leon and Quintana Roo (18-21 each).

Bartolo Colon now tied for LMB wins lead

   The LMB North is a two-team race right now, with 26-9 Guadalajara one game ahead of 27-12 Tijuana. Saltillo has won eight of their last ten games to pull into a tie with defending champion Monclova, four games behind the Mariachis with identical 24-15 records. Dos Laredos (17-21) is in fifth place while Laguna (16-20) is sixth. Monterrey (15-21), where expectations are high, continues to struggle. The Sultanes have already brought back third baseman Augie Murillo from de facto farm team Leon (the two clubs are co-owned by Grupo Multimedios) and it would no be out of the question that Monterrey could engineer another player swap with the Bravos to bolster their roster.

    Bartolo Colon's comeback continued as the former Cy Young winner by picking up his fifth win for Monclova last week, tying him with Guadalajara's Masaru Nakamura for the LMB lead. The 48-year-old Colon has tossed a league-leading 50.1 innings over eight starts, striking out 34 while walking just nine batters. Former Mariners minor league reliever Rafael Pineda has been converted to a starter with Union Laguna and the former Texas A&M hurler has a 2.31 ERA after seven starts to lead all qualifying pitchers. Aguascalientes' Erick Leal (3-1, 4.22) ranks first with 43 strikeouts in 32 innings, or 12.1 per nine innings for the former Cubs farmhand. Tijuana closer Fernando Rodney, who saved 318 games in 17 MLB seasons (ranking 18^th all-time), now leads the Mexican League in salvados with 11. The 44-year-old Rodney has struck out 20 over 18 innings while lowering his ERA to 1.00 for the Toros.

    Four players are still batting above .400, led by Saltillo's Henry Urrutia at .439. Xavier Batista, who came to Leon in the Murillo trade is tops with 13 homers (all hit during his 25 games for the Bravos after hitting none over 13 games with the Sultanes). Batista belted 62 homers over 261 games for Hiroshima in NPB between 2017 and 2019. Tijuana's Leandro Castro is ten RBIs ahead of his nearest competitor with 48 RBIs and Toros teammate Isaac Rodriguez (a .407 batter) leads with 15 stolen bases.

WRITER ACCUSES DE LA VEGA, CONADE OF CONFLICT OF INTEREST

Lopez Obrador, Pasquel and de la Vega

   Mexican League president Horacio de la Vega is finding himself embroiled in another controversy. According to Alejandra Crail of the EME/EQUIS digital news site, a fledgling company in which the former two-time Olympic pentathlete is majority owner was awarded a no-bid contract worth almost 11 million pesos by the federal Commission of Physical Culture and Sports. CONADE is headed by another ex-Olympian, Ana Guevara, who represented Mexico in the 2000 Sydney Summer Games as a track athlete along with de la Vega.

    De la Vega's company, Hype Fund, was formed in May 2019, six months after being replaced as director of Mexico City's Sports Institute (INDEPORTE), a job he'd held for six years, to succeed Javier Salinas as president of the LMB. Hype Fund received a contract of 10.994 million pesos to refurbish a pavilion at the National Center for Development of Talent and High Performance (CNAR) in which basketball, volleyball and team handball are played, including replacing vinyl flooring on a multisport playing surface and installing a portable wooden basketball court.

    The contract, which was the highest awarded by CONADE in 2020, was signed at approximately the same time it was announced that the Mexican League had awarded Veracruz an expansion team for this year at a ceremony in the National Palace overseen by Mexican president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and attended by de la Vega along with representatives of both new franchises in Veracruz and Guadalajara, including Aguilas owner Bernardo Pasquel (pictured above). A related story in Proceso says the Veracruz team fulfilled a campaign promise by AMLO to facilitate the return of the Mexican League to the port city.

    In her EME/EQUIS story, Crail says the contract “represents a conflict of interest given the closeness that exists between Horacio de la Vega and Ana Guevara, director of CONADE, as well as with President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, with whom de la Vega has close relationships.” Guevara was appointed by AMLO shortly after he took office in late 2018 to serve as CONADE's executive director, a position de la Vega had been considered for prior to his selection and LMB president.

    The CONADE contract represents the only such deal between Hype Fund and a federal or local governmental entity, although the company has also inked a pact to represent the MONDO sports flooring of Italy. MONDO presumably will play a role in replacing the playing surfaces at the CNAR facility in Mexico City, which was opened in 2006 by former Mexican president and houses over 500 young athletes in several sports.

Pavilion due for Hype Sports renovation

    In an interview with EME/EQUIS, de la Vega denied that his role as a supporter has opened doors for him to obtain contracts with the AMLO administration. “It has nothing to do with it, I openly tell you. The government people have no idea that I am the legal representative. There is a work team that does it...I do not influence it at all and there is no relationship. We are all trying to work on various things, to make our way.

    “I was fortunate that they hired me in some other places: the Pan American Games in Lima as general advisor, in Chile, and then I brought the representation of MONDO in Mexico, which is a most important sports equipment company, characterized by making the running tracks from Montreal 76. You scrub and work your best. There is no relationship between these situations.”

    De la Vega is also one of three people facing criminal complaint charges from the mayor in Mexico City borough Iztalcalco of “fraudulant administration” stemming from his leadership at the National Sports Institute between 2013 and 2018, including allegations that he awarded contracts far exceeding the value of work done on projects within the Sports City complex.

    Among those were construction of an artificial lake for 15 million pesos to be used for swimming, diving and water skiing. The lake, which displaced five soccer fields and four basketball courts, is currently inoperative. In all, de La Vega and former Mexico City mayor Miguel Angel Mancera are rumored to have privatized 70 percent of the Sports City complex with no appreciable benefit to the government that owns it.

RAMOS SUFFERS SPINAL INJURY, RELEASED BY KBO TEAM

Roberto Ramos is out in South Korea

    After last year's standout Korea Baseball Organization debut with the LG Twins, Roberto Ramos has seen his 2021 KBO season cut short after suffering an injury to fifth spinal nerve in his lower back. The Hermosillo native had been struggling in his second season with the Twins, but was still reportedly under consideration as a first baseman for the Mexican Olympic Team in Tokyo later this summer.

    Ramos was hurt on Tuesday, June 8 in Seoul during the eighth inning of a game against the NC Dinos. While fielding a grounder hit in the hole between first and second by the Dinos' Lee Myung-ki, according to South Korea's News1, Ramos wrenched his back when he attempted to throw the ball to first base to beat Lee to the bag.

    Ramos was pulled from the game and did not appear again in the Twins lineup up to his June 29 release by the Twins, who two days earlier signed former Marlins first sacker Justin Bour, who hit .213 with six homers in 33 games for AAA Sacramento this year before the parent San Francisco Giants released him from his contract so he could play in Korea.

    It was a frustrating end to a frustrating season for Ramos, who was batting .243 with eight roundtrippers and 25 RBIs in 51 games for the Twins this year. The former Rockies minor leaguer had gone 2-for-4 in the game against the Dinos before getting hurt and went 2-for-3 with a homer and three RBIs two nights before against the KIA Tigers to raise his average 13 points over his last two games.

    In 2020, Ramos burst on the KBO scene by swatting 38 longballs to shatter the Twins' previous single-season record of 30 homers by Lee Byung-kyu in 1999 while topping Karim Garcia's old standard for Mexicans playing in Korea of 30 homers. Garcia set the mark in 2008 with the Lotte Giants.

    Ramos' performance translated to a large raise from the Twins in 2021 after he'd explored playing in Japan, where salaries are higher. After being paid a reported $500,000 last year, Ramos came to terms with the Twins for a $600,000 salary plus a $200,000 signing bonus and performance incentives that would have paid up to another $200,000.

    Instead, the former College of the Canyons star (who hit 62 homers over his last two seasons in the Rockies system before heading overseas) is now a free agent. There's a chance Ramos will play an eighth Mexican Pacific League season for hometown Hermosillo Naranjeros this winter after some rehab time but for now, the 6'3” 220-pound free agent is weighing his options.

“JUGAR A LA PELOTA!” LIGA OPENS 2021 SEASON

Monclova Acereros P Bartolo Colon

    The Mexican League played its first regular games since September 2019 over the weekend, starting last Thursday night when defending champion Monclova bopped visiting Monterrey, 9-3, behind the arm of Bartolo Colon and the bats of Erick Aybar and Chris Carter. Colon, the American League's 2005 Cy Young Award winner, tossed five innings for the Acereros, throwing 91 pitches (57 for strikes) while giving up one earned run on five hits before being replaced by Zach Phillips in the sixth frame.

    Despite allowing a solo homer by Sultanes centerfielder Jose Cardona to lead off the top of the third, Colon (who turns 48 on Monday) pitched well enough to earn the win in the first game of the 2021 LMB season. After the contest the 21-year MLB veteran said, “The hills are old but they still turn green.” Aybar aided the Monclova cause with three hits and an RBI while Carter (who led the Liga with 49 homers in 2019) socked a solo blast.

Tabasco OF Jovan Rosa

    The rest of the LMB swung into action Friday with a full slate of games. One of them, the Dos Laredos Tecolotes opening series against Tijuana had to be shifted from Nuevo Laredo's La Junta Park across the border to Texas' Laredo Ballpark after a rainstorm with winds topping 90 MPH swept through the Mexican border city last Monday, causing flooding and electrical problems. The Toros ended up winning Friday night's opener, 8-3, behind homers by Peter O'Brien and Leandro Castro while Balbino Fuenmayor launched a roundtripper for the Tecos.

    Among Friday's other LMB lid-lifters, Adrian Gonzalez drove in five runs as the expansion Guadalajara Mariachis topped the Durango Generales, 12-3; Roberto Osuna tossed a 1-2-3 ninth inning to seal the Mexico City Diablos' 8-4 triumph over visiting Veracruz at Estadio Alfredo Harp Helu; Henry Urrutia went 4-for-5, driving in two runs and scoring twice as Saltillo overwhelmed Aguascalientes, 10-2; Michael Choice collected four hits and two runs as every Laguna batsman had at least one hit in the Algodoneros' 15-7 triumph over Leon in Torreon; Puebla clobbered Oaxaca, 16-9, as David Olmedo-Barrera and Danny Ortiz combined for six RBIs as the Pericos posted 19 hits on the night; and Tabasco slipped past Quintana Roo, 2-1, in 12 innings at Villahermosa on Jovan Rosa's walkoff RBI single. The entire Campeche-Yucatan series in Campeche was rained out.

    Following Sunday's games, four LMB North teams ended the weekend without a loss. Monclova, Guadalajara and Laguna are all 3-0 as of Monday morning while Tijuana is 2-0. Conversely, Monterrey, Durango and Leon show 0-3 records and Dos Laredos is 0-2.

LMB LAUNCHES JONRON TV, EXPECTS UP TO 10K SUBSCRIBERS

    The Mexican League unveiled another facet of their expanded digital presence for the 2021 season last week when they unveiled their new Jonron TV, from which subscriptions to view LMB games this year are now available. Proceso's Beatriz Pereyra filed this translated report:

    The Mexican League announced the implementation of its channel for subscribers from the season which will allow it to generate revenues of between 50 million and 100 million pesos during the next three years.

    At a press conference, the president of the LMB, Horacio de la Vega, presented Jonrón TV, a platform to which fans will be able to subscribe for 449 pesos (with a discount) and a 549 pesos regular price per season.

    According to their estimates for the 2021 campaign, they expect between 5,000 and 10,000 people to subscribe, a figure that by 2024 should increase substantially.

    “Other platforms have between 50 thousand and 100 thousand subscribers. Our goal is that in three years we'll have between 50 and 100 million pesos of profits. There is a free pre-registration on Jonrón TV for people to experience,” de la Vega explained.

    Likewise, de la Vega said that the names of two other television channels where LMB games will be broadcast will be announced shortly, and that they will join ESPN, Channel 11, Multimedios and Azteca Digital: “On all these platforms we will reach more than 32 million homes on open television and another 20 million on pay television models where the 594 games of the regular season plus the playoffs can be seen.

   “We are going to have four or five times more income from the sale of television rights than in 2019 and since the agreements we signed are for more than three years for the most part, almost all of them have an increasing scale so that they are more productive until reaching 40% more than what we generate right now,” he explained.

    According to LMB figures, in 2019, five million people attended LMB games at a baseball stadium and the league has 4.9 million followers on social media.

    “We will reach more than 30 million people on the different platforms. If you don't see baseball, we are not going to grow in fans. We have to position our stars and carry out a very powerful marketing project,” emphasized de la Vega.

    For his part, the director of Marketing and Communications of the LMB, Alberto Guadarrama, asserted that the league's project is aimed at “offering baseball both to traditional audiences and to new generations who have different forms of consumption such as more short videos (highlights) and thus hook these new baseball fans.”

LIDDI DEALT TO MEXICALI IN SIX-PLAYER LMP SWAP

Former Mazatlan IF Alex Liddi

   Former MLB infielder Alex Liddi has been sent by the Mazatlan Venados to Mexicali as part of a six-player Mexican Pacific League trade last week. Relief pitcher Felipe Arredondo and first baseman Fernando Diaz were packaged with Liddi to the Aguilas while infielders Hector Hernandez and Alex Valdez went to Mazatlan along with pitcher Juan Pablo Tellez. The 6'4” Liddi (who turns 33 in August) played parts of three seasons for Seattle between 2011 and 2013, batting .208 with six homers and 16 RBIs over 61 MLB games after debuting in the Mariners organization as a 17-year-old in 2006.

    Liddi was traded to Baltimore during the 2013 season, starting an eight-year odyssey that saw the native of San Remo, Italy play in four big league minor league systems, Taiwan, Mexico and winterball stints in both the LMP and Puerto Rico. Liddi spent two seasons with Mazatlan, struggling to a .187 average over 39 games with the Venados in 2019-20 after batting .278 with four homers in 63 games the previous season. Last winter, he hit .242 with one homer over 17 games with Manati in Puerto Rico. The only native Italian to play in both MLB and the CPBL, Liddi will play this summer with the Mexican League's Yucatan Leones in Merida, where he now lives year-round.

    Arredondo, a 34-year-old righty, is a former Angels minor leaguer who has pitched in the Mexican League since 2011 (currently with Quintana Roo). He pitched briefly for his hometown Culiacan Tomateros in 2010-11 and has pitched for three LMP teams the past two winters. After going 2-0 with a 2.75 ERA for Jalisco last winter, he was traded to Mazatlan during the season and was 0-1 with a 13.50 ERA in two appearances. Diaz is a 19-year-old Ensenada product who hit .270 with six homers in 54 games for the Cardinals Dominican Summer League rookie team in 2019 before becoming one of the hundreds of victims of MLB's minor league purge last year.

Aguilas trade vet IF Hector Hernandez

     Hernandez is a longtime veteran infielder in both Mexican leagues. The 38-year-old Cosamaloapan product is capable of playing both left side positions as well as second base. He debuted in the LMB with Veracruz and played for Los Mochis that winter. He's gone on to play for nine LMB teams in 15 years, his last two for Yucatan in 2018 and 2019, and has a career .278 batting average over 1,234 games. In the Mex Pac, Hernandez appeared for three clubs in ten winters (the past five for Mexicali). As a utilityman for the Aguilas in 2020-21, he batted .268 in 83 plate appearances during 24 games.

    Valdez spent nine years in the Athletics organization and has also played with minor league teams in the Nationals and Red Sox systems. The Dominican corner infielder (who can also play second base) came to the Mexican League in 2011 and has hit .302 with 14 homers in eight seasons, splitting the 2019 campaign between Yucatan, Oaxaca and Mexico City. Valdez is a 13-year veteran of winterball, mostly in the Liga Dominicana. He hit .455 in seven games for the Aguilas 2019-20.

    Tellez is a 21-year-old right-hander who was a reliever in the 2019 Latin American Series for the old Xalapa Chileros and is now on the roster of the Mexican League's expansion Veracruz Aguilas.