FERNANDO RODNEY TO PITCH FOR TIJUANA IN 2021

Rodney: "I shot an arrow in the air..."

    One of Major League Baseball's most prominent relief pitchers of the past two decades will be shooting his virtual arrows south of the border in 2021. Fernando Rodney has signed a one-year contract to pitch for the Tijuana Toros this summer.

    Rodney is coming to the Mexican League of the heels of 17 seasons in MLB, although he didn't pitch during the 2020 season. His 2019 campaign (an 0-5 record with two saves and a 5.66 ERA for Oakland and Washington) was nothing to write home about, although the Nats did win the World Series that fall, but the 5'11” right-hander had 25 saves and a 3.09 ERA in 43 outings for Minnesota in 2018 before a trade that August sent him to the A's, who used him as a setup man for Blake Treinan.

    Rodney made his major league debut for Detroit on May 4, 2002, tossing the final 1.1 innings of a 3-2 loss at Minnesota. He pitched for the Tigers through the 2009 season, when he was elevated to the closer role by manager Jim Leyland after bouncing between MLB and Class AAA the previous seven years. While his 2-5 record and 4.40 ERA were unimpressive, he posted 37 saves in 72 outings and finally had a foothold in the big leagues at age 31. However, his odyssey was just beginning.

    Since signing as a free agent with the Angels for $11 million over two years, Rodney pitched for ten MLB teams between 2010 and 2019. He appeared in three All-Star Games (2012, 2014 and 2016), led the American League in saves with 48 for Seattle in 2014 and averaged 25 saves per season during the decade while appearing in the postseason five times, so there were definitely successes along the way.

Fernando Rodney with 2019 champ Nats

    However, Rodney and the strike zone have not always seen eye-to-eye (a career 4.5 walks per 9 innings) and breaths in the stands were often held because a Rodney appearance was like Forrest Gump's box of chocolates: Fans never knew what they were gonna get. His saves were accompanied by his pantomime archer's motion sending an imaginary arrow skyward, along with thousands of sighs of relief from home crowds.

    Drama and walks aside, Rodney's overall body of work in 951 games as a major league pitcher has been generally positive. He compiled an unimpressive career record of 48-71, but his 327 saves rank 17^th all-time among MLB hurlers, his 3.80 earned-run average was creditable and he averaged just under one strikeout per inning (8.8 K's per 9). He won't be landing in Cooperstown, but the Dominican has been of of baseball's most effective and entertaining relief pitchers over the past decade. And now he's taking his talents south of the border.

    The Toros open training camp in Tijuana on April 20 while their regular season begins May 21 at Parque La Junta in Nuevo Laredo against the Dos Laredos Tecolotes.

VIRUS “TRAFFIC LIGHTS” TO BE USED FOR UPCOMING LMB SEASON

 

   With the Mexican League season a little more than 10 weeks aways, both league and team officials are keeping close tabs on the federal government's virtual Wuhan Virus-related “traffic light” system to plan game presentations for the 2021 schedule. At this point, only one of the Liga's 18 teams could be considered in the clear to proceed full speed ahead for their home schedule.

    According to Miguel Boada Najera of the Septima Entrada website, neither the LMB nor any of its teams have announced whether fans will be allowed in their respective ballparks (or what percentage of seats may be occupied) after the season opens May 20. The silence is understandable, given the fluid nature of the pandemic, but the unsettled situation is making it nearly impossible for teams to make plans moving forward. Instead, each club is having to create several different scenarios to address whatever limitations they'll have to deal with during the season.

    The “traffic light” system is based on four stages: A Red light means that only essential activities will be allowed in states or cities with that designation, meaning there will be no baseball played. An Orange light will allow limited non-essential activities, meaning that baseball games might be played but behind closed doors with no fans in ballparks. A Yellow light allows all activities to resume with limited public participation, so a set percentage of seats would be allowed to be occupied in stadiums during games. Finally, a Green light lifts all restrictions on activities and numbers allowed to watch live games, although some precautionary measures would remain in place.

    The good news for the Mexican League is that as of March 1, none of its teams are in a Red Light zone, meaning all scheduled games could take place if the season were to start today. The bad news is that only one franchise, the Campeche Piratas, are operating in a Green light zone and able to play at home in front of full capacity at Estadio Nelson Barrera, one of the Liga's smallest facilities with 6,000 seats.

A past large crowd in Campeche

    That means the other 17 LMB franchises are within Yellow or Orange light zones. The eleven Yellow light zone teams are Aguascalientes, Dos Laredos, Durango, Guadalajara, Leon, Monclova, Quintana Roo, Saltillo, Tijuana, Union Laguna and Veracruz. The six Orange light zone franchises facing tighter restrictions at home are Mexico City, Monterrey, Oaxaca, Puebla, Tabasco and Yucatan. However, all those franchises are operating in conditions apart from each other and each will have to be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.

    Despite the overall uncertainty, the Mexican League has to be somewhat heartened over the possibility of all of its 18 teams playing their full 66-game regular season schedules even if no (or limited numbers of) fans are allowed in the stands, which the LMB says will not prevent games from taking place this year.

    In 2020, the LMB said that paying fans were necessary for many, if not most, of their teams to operate without drowning in seas of red ink. While statements from the league office in Mexico City can often be taken with a grain of salt, it's hard to dispute that one. Most Mexican League franchises are unprofitable and without any large-scale sponsorships or media contracts, attendance at home games is critical because such teams generate the vast majority of their revenue from in-park ticket, concessions and merchandise sales. Whether it's opening the gates and not making enough money for expenses or keeping the gates closed and not making any money at all, neither option is an attractive one.

MEX PAC ANNNOUNCES 2020-21 SEASON GOLD GLOVE WINNERS

Mexicali pitcher Javier Solano

    The Mexican Pacific League office in Guadalajara has announced the nine winners of its Gold Glove Awards for the recently-concluded 2020-21 season. Three of the players played for Hermosillo while two others toiled for two-time champions Culiacan. Mexicali, Obregon, Guasave and Monterrey each placed one member among the LMP's leading leather men.

Pitcher: JAVIER SOLANO (Mexicali)

    To look at him, few would expect veteran Javier Solano to be a top fielder. Although he's been one of the Mex Pac's most effective pitchers for years, Solano bears a physical resemblence to former Detroit Tigers hurler Mickey Lolich or Salon de la Fama member George Brunet (neither of whom were considered svelte).

    Still, Solano helped himself by handling all 23 chances that came his way over 12 starts last winter for a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage. Three other pitchers were flawless as well, but Solano got the nod by leading the quartet with 86 innings pitched.

Catcher: ALEXIS WILSON (Culiacan)

    The Los Mochis native spent six years in the St. Louis organization and was invited to the Cardinals training camp last spring, but was never a starter before his release from Class A Peoria last May. When the 24-year-old Wilson took over for injured vet Ali Solis last winter, there were questions as to whether he was up to the task.

    Although Wilson only hit .231 for Culiacan in 46 games, he turned in a .997 fielding percentage with one error in 352 chances behind the plate while reportedly earning interest from MLB organizations, so at least some questions were answered.

First Base: EFREN NAVARRO (Culiacan)

    A former MLBer who appeared with the Angels, Tigers and Cubs between 2011 and 2018 (as well as NPB's Hanshin Tigers) after some solid minor league seasons in which he was a PCL All-Star in 2013, Navarro gave the champion Tomateros a .246 average with 13 doubles and six homers last winter.

    He gave Culiacan solid defense at first base over 50 games as well, with just two errors in 426 chances for a .996 fielding percentage. Navarro also won a PCL Gold Glove in 2011 while playing for Salt Lake.

Second Base: CARLOS SEPULVEDA (Obregon)

    Sepulveda is a former Cubs farmhand who was signed by the Dodgers and assigned to AA Tulsa heading into spring training this year. The Monclova native has not been a strong hitter north of the border but hit .305 with 13 doubles and 12 steals for Obregon last winter.

    However, it was his glovework that garnered him the most attention in the Mex Pac. Sepulveda committed only one error in 231 chances over 51 games for the Yaquis for a .996 fielding percentage, turning 35 double plays along the way, after eight miscues with a .964 percentage in 2019-20.

Third Base: EMMANUEL AVILA (Guasave)

    Avila spent his first four years of pro ball in the White Sox farm system before debuting with his hometown Los Mochis Caneros in 2009-10. He's since been an infield mainstay in both the LMP and LMB, where he topped the .300 mark every year between 2013 and 2019 and played in four All-Star Games during that span.

    Avila hit .279 last season for Guasave, his fourth Mex Pac stop. In the field, the 32-year-old led all LMP third sackers with a .964 fielding average, handling 134 of 139 chances cleanly. He's also a proficient shortstop and played second base early in his career.

Hermosillo shortstop Jasson Atondo

Shortstop: JASSON ATONDO (Hermosillo)

    Ever since debuting at 19 with Campeche of the Mexican League in 2015, Atondo has been a guy who can be plugged in at second, third or shortstop and give his team a good performance. After playing sporadically for Hermosillo over three winters, he hit .351 and was the LMP's Rookie of the Year in 2018-19, then batted .331 for the Piratas in 2019.

    Playing 52 games at shortstop for the Naranjeros in 2020-21, Atondo had four errors in 228 chances for a .982 fielding percentage to augment his .268 batting average.

Left Field: NORBERTO OBESO (Hermosillo)

    Obeso was an outfielder in the Blue Jays system for five years (and a 2015 All-Star pick with Toronto's Dominican Summer League affiliate), but elected free agency earlier this winter. He became a starter for his hometown Orangemen in 2018-19 and had his best winterball season yet last season, batting .329 with 10 doubles under manager Juan Navarrete.

    Able to play both corner outfield slots, Obeso had a .994 fielding percentage in 81 chances over 44 games in left field for the Naranjeros.

Center Field: JOSÉ CARDONA (Hermosillo)

    Cardona turned a lot of heads for his play in the Caribbean Series with Culiacan last month, but he'd been playing well all season before the Tomateros picked him up as a reinforcement. The speedy ex-Rangers minor leaguer hit .279 for Hermosillo and stole 16 bases in 17 attempts during the regular season.

    He was just as good in center field, with just one bobble in 154 chances over 52 games for a .994 fielding percentage. Possessed with a good arm, Cardona added five assists and took part in three double plays. He'll play for Leon in the LMB this summer.

Right Field: PAULO ORLANDO (Monterrey)

    One of five Brazilians to appear in MLB, the member of the 2015 World Champion Royals is better known for his hitting (.302 with 24 doubles for Kansas City in 2016) and backed that up with a .308 average and eight homers this winter, including a .323 mark for the Sultanes after coming over in a trade with Obregon.

    Orlando, a former soccer player who began playing baseball at 12, turned in a solid season on defense as well. He played 50 games in right field and went 120-for-121 on total chances to finish with a .992 fielding percentage. He'll play for Dos Laredos this summer.

LMP OPENS SEASON, FANS IGNORING PROTOCOLS

Monterrey Sultanes veteran Jose Amador

    The Mexican Pacific League opened its 2020-21 season last Thursday with a full slate of five games, four with fans in the stands. Two more teams received approval to allow a limited amount of seats to be sold at home games to bring the number to eight of ten LMP franchises. The only two clubs being required to play behind closed doors are Monterrey and Jalisco, where governors of their respective states have ruled out audiences at sporting events.

    In Monterrey, the Sultanes trounced the visiting Jalisco Charros, 14-4, with no paid onlookers at Estadio Monterrey behind the big bat of veteran Jose Amador. The 41-year-old Mexicali native crashed a pair of doubles and a two-run homer in the bottom of the third inning off Jalisco starter Elian Leyva en route to a seven RBIs for the night. Another veteran, ex-Diamondback pitcher Edgar Gonzalez, was far from sharp on the mound (10 hits and 4 runs over 5 innings) but he didn't have to be as his Monterrey mates chased Leyva after three frames (9 hits, 3 walks and 8 runs) and cracked 19 safeties for the contest. Henry Urrutia had a good night in a losing cause for the Charros by collecting three hits, including a double and homer.

    The largest crowd among the four games with people in the seats was in Obregon, where 7,982 fans witnessed a 7-5 Yaquis win over Mexicali. Carlos Sepulveda had three hits, including a two-run double, and drove in three counters for the winners, but it was Tirso Ornelas' sixth-inning solo homer off Aguilas reliever Nicolas Heredia that broke a 5-5 tie in what proved the game-winning hit. Mike Choice belted a solo homer for the Eagles, who also two hits from Balbino Fuenmayor, including a double and two RBIs.

    While the home team won both above games, visitors were victorious in the other three contests. One of those were the Mazatlan Venados, who came away with a 5-2 triumph in Los Mochis. A crowd of 4,251 looked on as Ramon Rios stroked a two-run single for the Deer while Issmael Salas singled twice and drew a walk. Francisco Rios posted a strong start for the winners, allowing two hits over five shutout innings for the win. Eddy Martinez was 2-for-4 at the plate for the Caneros but Los Mochis starter Daniel Duarte was touched for five runs in five entradas, allowing five hits and walking another four to absorb the loss.

    Hermosillo took a 5-0 shutout win in Navojoa Thursday night, giving 3,107 (mostly) Mayos fans little to cheer about. Naranjeros starter Juan Pablo Oramas was sharp in the opener, sprinkling two hits and striking out eight batters over five innings for the win, sharing the whitewash with three relievers. Yadiel Hernandez socked a pair of solo homers for the Orangemen while Francisco Peguero and Luis Alfonso Cruz each went deep. Mayos opener Hector Velazquez took the defeat, but deserved a better fate. The former Red Sox hurler gave up Hernandez' first homer with two out in the bottom of the first, the only hit he would allow in five frames. Jorge Flores singled and doubled for Navojoa in the loss.

    Finally, Guasave pulled out a 6-4 road win over Culiacan in front of 7,349 spectators at Estadio Tomateros. Yadier Drake gave Algodoneros starter Thomas Dorminy offensive support with a grand slam while newcomer Erisbel Arruebarrena knocked out a roundtripper. Ramiro Pena led the Tomateros with three hits, including a two-run longball. Dorminy, a former Padres farmhand who went 7-1 for Chicago in the independent American Association this summer after stints in Australia and Taiwan, turned in five innings of two-hit scoreless ball for the Cottoneers to earn the win.

What's wrong with this picture?

    Fans in Culiacan were understandably happy to see their defending LMP champions back in action, albeit minus manager Benji Gil (who is out after testing positive for the Wuhan virus), but a few too many were willing to take being allowed to be in attendance for granted. Several were watching the games while not wearing masks and not maintaining safe distancing protocols, much of it caught on camera and later posted on social media.

    One particularly overheated Tomateros fan chose to bathe himself in beer as fans in the above tier of seating poured their cups on him as well, then doused nearby fans with beer from the bottom of one of the cups he was holding. The scene brought team owner Hector Ley down from the boxes for a chat and it's assumed that the fan is one of two who've been banned for the rest of the season after violating protocols so egregiously.

    Estadio Tomateros was not the only LMP ballpark where people in the seats were shown on social media and live television not wearing masks and sitting closer than procedures permit. Aurelio Vargas of El Fildeo reports “stadiums violating the limit of allowed capacity, no respect for healthy distances, fans without masks, small children, crowds in the entrance lines and a couple of scandalous drunks were the balance of this experiment.”

    The Mex Pac office in Guadalajara issued a press release on Friday denouncing the behavior in Culiacan and urging “all fans not to replicate this type of act and point out who is breaking protocols,” but opening night was not a good look for a circuit walking on eggshells in order to play games with live crowds during a pandemic.

MEXICAN LEAGUE TO SIGN NEW WORKING AGREEMENT WITH MLB

    As the clock ticks towards the expiration of a two-year working agreement between the Mexican League and Major League Baseball that likely cost former LMB president Javier Salinas his, job, the two sides are reportedly working on a similar document that will hopefully be on more equitable terms for the Mexican teams.

    Luis Miguel Vasavilbaso of ESPN reports that Liga president Horacio de la Vega is heading negotiations with MLB on the new pact. Although ten Mexican players were on playoff team rosters when the playoffs began earlier this month, the country is lagging behind fellow Latin American nations Venezuela, Puerto Rico, Cuba and the Dominican Republic in overall representation in MLB despite placing higher than all of them in the latest World Baseball Softball Confederation rankings released in February.

    Much of that has been due to a smaller talent pool due to baseball's secondary status to soccer in Mexico, where the latter has become the more popular sport in comparison to the other countries mentioned. MLB teams in the past have found it more expensive to sign prospects south of the border because they've had to negotiate with Mexican League teams who developed top young players (and whose rights they owned), paying the LMB team directly with a portion of the agreed-upon amount going to the player as a sort of bonus.

    According to Vasavilbaso, part of the new MLB/LMB working agreement is that all major league franchises will be able to sign Mexican players directly without restrictions. The LMB team who owns the player's rights in Mexico will be paid a percentage of the contract, essentially a reversal of the old policy. 

    What likely led to Salinas' ouster as LMB president was subsequently found in the fine print of the expiring agreement, especially one stipulation requiring a player to have been on the Mexican League team's roster for two years before the team could receive a portion of the contract the player signs with an MLB team. That policy will reportedly be dropped in the new arrangement.

MLB may play more games in Mexico

    Vasavilbaso adds that decreased tensions between the two bodies as a result of the new agreement could lead to more MLB exhibition and regular season games played in Mexico. While Monterrey has received the lion's share of such contests in the past, Mexico City's Estadio Alfredo Harp Helu was set to host a two-game regular series between Arizona and San Diego in April before the Wuhan Virus ended professional baseball across the Western Hemisphere. It's likely that MLB will make another effort to play in the capital city, while the Jalisco Charros owners have made no secret of their desire to land games in Guadalajara, Mexico's second-largest city.

    Big league clubs might even consider holding part of their training camps at sites in places like Sonora, a baseball hotbed state bordering Arizona to the north. Mexican League teams have often trained in the Phoenix and Tucson areas in the past (including this past spring), so the concept of crossing borders for spring training is hardly new.

    Vasavilbaso said the new contract between MLB and the LMB was expected to be signed this month, but no specific date was given. The Mexican Pacific League is not part of the negotiations.

AMLO ANNOUCES TWO BASEBALL ACADEMIES IN SINALOA    

Estadio Hector Espino, Hermosillo

    Mexican president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has formally announced that two of the country's proposed federally-funded baseball academies will be in the state of Sonora. El Fildeo's Alejandra Gonzalez writes that the academies are “part of ProBeis' initiative of positioning baseball as one of the recreational and professional options for young Mexicans.”

    One of the two academies in Sonora will be located at Estadio Hector Espino in Hermosillo while the other will be in Obregon at Estadio Tomas Oroz Gaytan. Both are former longtime Mexican Pacific League ballparks that were replaced in the 2010's. The other three ProBeis facilities are slated to be in Campeche, Veracruz and Texcoco (a municipality of 259,000 located 16 miles northeast of Mexico City.

    In a statement, Lopez Obrador said, “The selection of young players will be made and in addition to receiving accommodations and food, they will be granted scholarships.” While there are a number of baseball academies in Mexico operated by teams or the Mexican League itself in such places as Monterrey, Oaxaca, Mazatlan, Monclova and Tijuana, the ProBeis academies would mark the most concerted effort by the federal government to develop young players aged 10-18.

    The plan got off to a rocky start since the March 2019 formation of ProBeis (formally titled the Office of the Presidency for the Promotion and Development of Baseball in Mexico) because of funding issues. Executive director Edgar Gonzalez experienced the labyrinthian process of how money winds its way through the corridors of government. According to Proceso, he even paid one million pesos of his own money to fund his own office until 350 million pesos via the Ministry of Public Education finally arrived months after ProBeis was formed. This year, the allotment of 280 million pesos (a pandemic-induced 20 percent reduction) made its way through the Civil Ministry's Physical Education Excellence program.

Estadio Tomas Oroz Gaytan, Obregon

    A good chunk of that money has gone towards the purchase of the old Mex Pac ballparks. The Hermosillo facility, which housed the Naranjeros from 1972 through 2012, is costing the government 511.7 million pesos while the Obregon ballpark (used by the Yaquis between 1971 and 2016) comes with a 548.7 million peso pricetag. “What I hope is that before the government is finished, the first generation will come out and if we now have many good players in the major leagues, we are going to have many more so we made the decision to buy the two stadiums,” said Lopez Obrador about the project.

    While the physical academies are being developed, ProBeis has leased existing facilities for some of its activities. The most noteworthy may be the Mexican Prospect League, which completed its second season late last month in Guadalajara with the Juan Gabriel Castro team defeating the Joakin Soria team in the playoff finals. Three LPM youngsters signed contracts with major league organizations during the course of the short season: Outfielder Alex Osuna inked a deal with Texas, pitcher Roque Gutierrez came to terms with the Los Angeles Dodgers and fellow hurler Jose Reyes signed with San Diego. Four Prospect Leaguers signed with MLB franchises in 2019.