LMP SEASON REAFFIRMED, THREE TEAMS WORRIED

LMP teams say they're committed for 2020-21

The Mexican Pacific League held a Board of Presidents meeting last Thursday and while the LMP reaffirmed their intention to play a full schedule in the upcoming 2020-21 season, one website reports that at least three teams broached the possibility of sitting out the campaign due to concerns originating from the Wuhan virus.

Tito Escobar of ElJonronero.com reports sources told the website that three unnamed franchises expressed their concerns over operating at all next winter while discussions were held to address difficulties in securing advertising, contract disagreements and readjustments regarding beer and soft drink brands sold at ballparks and the uncertainty over how many fans will be allowed to attend games (if health authorities allow people in the stands at all).

Another worry brought up among the owners was the status of the Caribbean Series which is scheduled to take place in Mazatlan from late January into early February. Caribbean Professional Baseball Confederation president Juan Francisco Puello has already spoken of the possibility of affiliated leagues not playing their season because of the Wuhan virus, which would necessitate a Plan B of sorts if the Serie del Caribe is to be salvaged. One possibility is that a de facto all-star team consisting of players on LMP rosters could be cobbled together, in a fashion similar to how National Teams are formed, to represent Mexico in the Crown Jewel of Latin Baseball.

In the end, all the hesitant teams agreed to move forward, however tenuously, toward playing the upcoming winterball season. Although the Monterrey Sultanes will be playing their home games in Mazatlan, sharing Estadio Teodoro Mariscal with the hometown Venados, no other similar arrangements were announced, even though there's been talk of the Mexicali Aguilas moving to Hermosillo for the season and alternating home series with the Naranjeros. Another rumor involved the less-likely prospect of the Jalisco Charros wintering in Culiacan and playing at Estadio Tomateros. Guadalajara, which also hosts the LMP office, is closer to other Mex Pac cities than either Monterrey or Mexicali while Charros ownership would be loathe to want to ship their team out of town for the season. The LMP was scheduled to announce the regular season schedule on Monday, August 10.

Locker rooms to be empty for player safety

The SeptimaEntrada.com site reported that safety protocols for the season were discussed. LMP president Omar Canizales said during a videoconference that there are a number of steps the Mex Pac and its ten franchises will take to help ensure the health of players, coaches and team staff. The first step, Canizales said, is to talk with players and staffs, asking them to stay away from any risk and to isolate themselves and monitor their health for 15 days before they think they'll report to their teams.

He said the next step would be to test everyone for the Wuhan virus upon their arrival to training sessions, with those testing positive quarantined according to procedure. Finally, players and coaches will be instructed to leave their hotels for games already in uniform, while waiting upon their return to change in order to avoid the use of ballpark dressing rooms, where players would be in close proximity to each other while dressing before and after games.

YOANYS QUIALA SIGNS WITH CPBL FUBON GUARDIANS

Yoanys Quiala pitching for Los Mochis

The Mexican Pacific League's 2019-20 Pitcher of the Year has signed a one-year contract with a team in Taiwan after his anticipated summer with the Tijuana Toros was scuttled when the Mexican League pulled the plug on playing games in 2020.

Cuban right-hander Yoanys Quiala inked a pact last month with the Fubon Guardians of the Chinese Professional Baseball League, who also signed Mexican pitcher Manny Banuelos s an import in June. The CPBL is the only league in the world to begin its season on time in April and play a full schedule (minus rainouts) while other loops have delayed or canceled their seasons altogether due to the Wuhan virus. Quiala will undergo a physical and two-week quarantine in New Taipei City before being activated.

The 26-year-old Quiala was born in Mayari, Cuba but defected from the island nation prior to signing a free agent contract with the Houston organization in time for the 2015 season, when he posted a 2-0 record with a 1.54 ERA in nine appearances (four stats) for

an academy team in the rookie Dominican Summer League.

Quiala as an Astros prospect

Quiala pitched in the Astros minor league system for four years, appearing in the 2017 Carolina League All-Star Game while pitching for Buies Creek. However, his 2018 season with AA Corpus Christi ended early after he received an 80-game suspension for using steroids. Quiala was subsequently released by Houston and signed a minor league free agent contact with San Francisco for the 2019 campaign. He was 6-8 for the Giants' AAA Sacramento affiliate and had a 6.68 ERA for the River Cats before he was released on August 10. The 6'3” righty, who tips the scales at 235 pounds, signed with Tijuana last November.

Expectations weren't high when Quiala reported to Los Mochis last season. He'd pitched for the Caneros in 2018-19 and went 3-5 with a 4.37 ERA as a swingman, which had been his usual role over five professional seasons. However, after he was used solely as a starter with Sacramento, Caneros manager Victor Bojorquez gave Quiala the ball every fifth game and he rewarded Los Mochis with a 9-2 mark (for a 32-36 team), leading the MLP in innings pitched (87.2), wins (9) and WHIP (0.98) while coming in second in ERA (2.57) and strikeouts (71) en route to an easy win as the Mex Pac Pitcher of the Year.

Quiala was set to help fill Tijuana's starting rotation this year before the season was called off and rumors began circulating early last month that he was in talks with Fubon to pitch in Taiwan. The CPBLstats.com website reports that five days later, the Guardians filed a hiring application for a new player with the Ministry of Labor and Quiala was confirmed as that player. At last report, Quiala was awaiting results of a test for Wuhan virus and hoping to arrive in New Taipei City by early August.

LMB TEAMS TO LOSE 1-3 MILLION PESOS MONTHLY IN SHUTDOWN

Yucatan's Estadio Kukulkan sits unused in 2020

According the Beatriz Pereyra of Mexico City's Proceso.com.mx, the Mexican League's sixteen franchises stand to lose between one to three million pesos (US$45,000-135,000) per month now that the LMB has cancelled its 2020 schedule. LMB president Horacio de la Vega called off the season in late June for the first time since its 1925 inception due to ongoing concerns over the Wuhan virus, which has taken a steep toll in confirmed cases and deaths south of the border.

The possibility of playing games behind closed doors was considered until it was determined that most Liga teams could not afford to put teams on the field without ballpark-related revenue. Owner decided that their losses would be reduced by not playing a shortened regular season followed by playoffs. Although there are a handful of franchises like the Mexico City Diablos Rojos, Monterrey Sultanes and Tijuana Toros who have the financial strength to withstand what will be a year's worth of red ink without income generated at their home stadiums, most of the teams were already operating on the margins even before the pandemic arrived last spring, causing an initial delay in the LMB's anticipated April openers.

Empty coffers to devastate LMB teams

Even though the anticipated monetary losses will cause further damage to the league's Have-Nots, LMB franchises will spend money to help finance the league office in the nation's capital, including financial support for ballplayers and the circuit's 36 umpires, because the loop does not have sponsorship resources allowing it to fund itself at the executive level. Pereyra says the league office issued a statement saying, “The LMB and its 16 teams have agreed to provide financial support to the players, as well as to the corps of umpires.”

As a result, each team will analyze what percentage of salaries for their rostered players as well as coaching staff members. Pereyra states that the average player in the Mexican League is paid US$6,700-7,600 per month, although there are novice players earning US$2,000-2,250. At the higher end of the payroll, star players may receive up to US$22,500 per month during the season, although the range for them is usually closer to US$13,500-18,000 every 30 days.

With the 2020 campaign abandoned, the LMB is moving ahead with plans to open their next season in April 2021 and using their extended offseason to invest in a “digital and technical transformation,” as the league office says, while addressing a television and media infrastructure that de la Vega considers a “weakness.”

CHITO RODRIGUEZ URGES LMB TO CANCEL SEASON

Cuauhtémoc “Chito” Rodríguez

A widely-respected Salon de la Fama member with over four decades of Mexican League front office experience is calling on the LMB to cancel the 2020 season due to ongoing uncertainty regarding the Wuhan virus outbreak in Mexico.

Cuauhtémoc “Chito” Rodríguez was inducted last year in Monterrey after an executive career during which his Dos Laredos Tecolotes reached the playoffs 15 times (winning two pennants) before taking over as president of the flagship Tigres franchise in 1994 and overseeing six title-winning teams in Mexico City, Puebla and Quintana Roo before his 2018 retirement after Fernando Valenzuela purchased the team from Carlos Peralta. He was recognized as "King of Baseball" at the Baseball Winter Meetings in 2011.

When asked by writer Angel Villegas last week about the upcoming Mexican League season, Rodriguez was quoted as saying, "cancel it," in Puro Beisbol. "I don't think baseball being played in the LMB is possible this year. The country is immersed in the virus and we don't know when it will be solved."

Rodriguez elaborated that the Liga's plan to play games with people in the stands is impractical: “The situation in the country and in the world is very complex regarding the virus. I would not recommend playing with the public in the stands in the Mexican League. It will not be controllable until you have a vaccine to counteract this evil. Therefore, it is not practical for anyone to be in a sport that people go to the stadiums and I do not only mean baseball but also others such as soccer, basketball and American football."

Rodriguez at the 2011 Baseball Winter Meetings

He echoed LMB president Horacio de la Vegas by saying that teams can't afford to play behind closed doors either. “Doing it without an audience in the stadiums as the United States plans, if it takes shape, is very different," Rodriguez explains. "MLB has very strong television income. In this case, they'll try to get their season off for television rights and sponsors are not interested in whether or not there are people. It's a situation very different from that in Mexico."

Rodriguez suggests that calling off the season gives the Mexican League an opportunity to create peace with the winter Mexican Pacific League, who would not have to shorten their season to accomodate a Mexican League schedule stretching into November. "It is time for the two leagues to make amends," he says. "I would go with the LMB Board of Directors and would do the same with the Winter Council and tell them, 'Look, we must make peace. We did not do it for many years because there are difficulties between us so there was no approach. We've criticized each other, but now it's time to lean on each other.'

“It's a complicated situation so it would be best if the Mexican League told the winter league that they can start as usual in October, finish it and play their Caribbean Series. Everyone in peace."

DE LA VEGA: LMB WILL NOT PLAY GAMES IN EMPTY BALLPARKS

Mexican League president Horacio de la Vega

Although the 2020 Mexican League season is tentatively scheduled to open August 7, it's with the full knowledge that the Wuhan virus pandemic makes everything a fluid situation and that the season may not be played at all. One thing that isn't going to change, according to LMB president Horacio de la Vega, is that the Liga will NOT play games in front of occupied stands in 2020.

"We are not going to play behind closed doors. That is our determination. The only possibility is to do it with the capacity allowed," de la Vega said.

According to the Hitazo website, de la Vega explained that he expects to start the season on August 7 to end on November 10 with a 48-game campaign for each team in the regular season, but that will depend on how the pandemic plays out over the next few weeks.

Unlike leagues elsewhere, the Mexican League is not in the financial position to play without people in the stands because the LMB does not have deals with sponsors similar to those found in the United States, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan while the majority of its 16 teams are dependent on revenue from ticket, merchandise and concession sales to meet payroll and cover their other expenses. Games behind closed doors would almost certainly lead to franchises folding, perhaps even during the season.

Tabasco Olmecas will need fan in the seats 

As a case in point, the Korea Baseball Organization (where Hermosillo-born Roberto Ramos has become a star in his first season in Asia) has played in front of empty stands since opening their season on May 5. Although the KBO is in better financial shape than the LMB and has had their games beamed to a North American TV audience on ESPN, SportBusiness.com reports that some teams are reportedly beginning to struggle without ballpark revenues and corporate team owners may be forced to take out bank loans to meet front office and team payrolls. One KBO club official said, "We've been paying our players and employees in full but if we keep playing without fans in July, a lot of teams will run into extremely serious trouble.

The leader of Mexico's summer baseball circuit accepted that after the Wuhan virus, it will be necessary to change uses and customs of the game, such as spitting on the ground (something usual between pitches) or eating sunflower seeds.

"It will radically change the behavior of the players," de la Vega stated. "There is a protocol that will imply changes, not only for the players, but also for the fans."

BANUELOS CUT BY MARINERS, SIGNS WITH TEAM IN TAIWAN

Manny Banuelos with Culiacan in 2019-20

If nothing else, Manny Banuelos' passport has been getting a good workout this year.

The 29-year-old lefty will be playing in his fourth country since January after the 5'10" Laguna native signed a one-year contract with the Fubon Guardians of Taiwan's Chinese Professional Baseball League last week. Banuelos will report this week to the team in New Taipei City, where the Guardians roster includes fellow moundsmen Henry Sosa, Mike Loree, Bryan Woodall and Ryan Bollinger.

Banuelos was once a highly-regarded prospect after signing a free-agent contract with the New York Yankees in 2008 at age 17. He rose as high as AAA Scranton/Wilkes-Barre in seven years as a farmhand in pinstripes, but never appeared in the majors until after he was traded to Atlanta following the 2014 season. He made an impressive MLB debut for the Braves on July 2 against Washington at home, shutting out the Nats over 5.2 innings and striking out seven batters in a no-decision 2-1 win. Banuelos followed that outing with another good start five nights later in Milwaukee by holding the Brewers to one run in 5.1 frames and was credited with a 4-3 victory. Although he mostly pitched creditably the rest of the season, he lost his final four decisions, including an 8-4 shelling at Washington on September 6 in which he allowed six runs over two innings in his final outing. That was enough to raise his overall ERA from 3.33 to 5.13 to augment a 1-4 record.

After that, Banuelos was returned to the minors and bounced from the Braves to the Dodgers and White Sox organizations before returning to MLB in 2019 with Chicago, going 3-4 with a 6.93 ERA in 16 appearances, including eight starts. He had a great April for the Chisox, finishing the month with a 2-0 record and 2.70 ERA in six appearances (including four shutout innings on April 22 at Baltimore in a 12-2 laugher), but he allowed 27 earned runs in 20.1 entradas in May to lose four of five decisions and pitched sparingly for manager Rick Renteria after that. A Mexican-American, Renteria led the Mexican League in batting with a .442 average for Jalisco in 1991.

Banuelos spent last winter pitching in the Mexican Pacific League for Culiacan, going 1-1 with a 5.40 ERA in four starts. He began the year helping the Tomateros win the LMP title in the January playoffs, traveled with the team to Puerto Rico in February for the Caribbean Series (where Culiacan reached the semifinals, then went to Arizona for MLB spring training after signing a free-agent contract with the Seattle Mariners.

Banuelos made MLB debut in 2015

Banuelos made one Cactus League appearance with the M's, allowing two runs in as many innings on two hits, two wild pitches and a hit bastman. He appeared ticketed to AAA Tacoma when the Wuhan virus halted camps across MLB, but was among about 50 minor leaguers purged from the Seattle organization on June 2 in order to save the organization $400 a week per player.

Now, Banuelos will resume his career on the other side of the Pacific Ocean. He'll join a Fubon team that has made nine playoff appearances and won three pennants since their 1993 debut as the Jungo Bears, but currently sits third in the four-team CPBL with a 17-23 record after absorbing a 13-4 loss Sunday to the Uni-President Lions, whose roster features former MLB pitchers Ryan Feieraband and Josh Roenicke.

While Taiwan is not where he expected to be when the year began, Manny Banuelos will have one decided advantage over the 750 major leaguers and thousands of remaining minor leaguers he left behind when he departed from North America last week: He'll be playing baseball.