SULTANES, CULIACAN PLAYERS POSITIVE FOR VIRUS

Sultanes players at Estadio Monterrey

    With less than two weeks remaining until the scheduled start of the Mexican Pacific League's regular season, Puro Beisbol reports that a number of players on two of the LMP's ten teams have tested positive for the Wuhan virus in their respective camps.

    According to columnist David Braverman, Monterrey Sultanes team members (seeking anonymity) said that about ten players, coaches and staff members tested positive for the virus last Tuesday at the city's Swiss Hospital. Results were reported Thursday and Friday. Among those alleged to have tested positive were pitchers Freddy Quintero and Norman Elenes, infielder Ricardo Serrano, two coaches (including Placido Pinto), a batboy and four others whose names were not disclosed.

    Braverman says that despite the significant number of positive cases, neither the Sultanes nor the LMP office provided information in the matter while the team continued its preseason training camp at Estadio Monterrey. Braverman cites reports from staff members at the Fiesta Inn where the team is concentrated as saying “the players circulate throughout the facilities without restrictions, including those who tested positive, and only rearranged the allocation of rooms to host pairs who were infected.”

    Several Monterrey players are “extremely concerned” after recent months in which they've taken great care with their families but now feel that Sultanes' upper management, led by executive president Guillermo “Willie” Gonzalez and sports manager Jesus Valdez, has not handled the problem seriously. Gonzalez has reportedly rarely been seen at either the ballpark or hotel due to his commitments to radio programs dedicated to soccer.

Tomateros players in training camp

    Meanwhile, Puro Beisbol editor Francisco Ballesteros reports that Culiacan Tomateros players tested positive for the virus, leading the defending Mex Pac champions to cancel their exhibition series in Guasave over the weekend. The team says a total of eight players and five staff members were affected, including Tomateros manager Benji Gil. Incoming pitcher Manny Barredas had tested positive prior to reporting to Culiacan last Thursday, according to the Cronica website in Jalisco. Mazatlan Venados players have reportedly also turned up in positive testing.

    The Mexican Pacific League season is due to begin Wednesday of next week with games in five different ballparks including Estadio Tomateros, which is being allowed to let in up to 40 percent of the stadium's 20,000 seating capacity (or about 8,000 fans) to start the season. The LMP is hoping to be the only professional baseball league in the world to open its season on time and with fans in the stands this year despite the pandemic.

PERICOS WIN COVETED GOLDEN STEVE AWARD FOR SPORTS PROMOTION

Puebla Periocos owner Jose Miguel Bejos

    Despite not being able to play a game in 2020 after the Mexican League canceled its schedule due to the Wuhan virus, the Puebla Pericos were still able to garner off-field accolades by winning a so-called Golden Stevie Award, an international business award handed out annually to organizations for effective promoting and marketing of their product. The Pericos won in the category of Communications and Public Relations in Sports for their “Bringing Back the Love of the Game” campaign over the past two seasons after the franchise was purchased by new owner Jose Miguel Bejos.

    An entrepreneur who heads both the Mota-Engil Mexico contracting firm and Grupo PRODI construction company, Miguel Bejos purchased the Parakeets after it was announced they would be one of four LMB franchises going dark for the 2019 season prior to Mexican president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador ordering the Liga to allow them to play.

    While the other three teams (Aguascalientes, Leon and Union Laguna) continued to struggle on and off the field, Puebla saw its attendance rise from an average of 2,712 per game over two 2018 seasons to 4,693 in 2019, an increase of 73 percent. In addition, the team has been active building their brand in the community, including the publication of manuals given to nascent fans to help teach them various aspects of baseball.

Manuals for potential Pericos fans

    A colonial-era city with a metropolitan population of 3.2 million people, Puebla has a long history in the Mexican League but support for teams has run hot and cold over the decades. The Golden Stevie Award at least implies that the Pericos are turning up the temperature. According to the Septima Entrada website, team spokesperson Ramon Ramirez said in a statement that “This confirms that with the Pericos fo Puebla, we are sure that this city is flying to the top of Mexican baseball because we offer innovative experiences for our fans both inside and outside the stadium. We also respond on the diamond by promoting young Mexican talent and we promote values through sports.”

    The Pericos, who follow the 2019 Golden Stevie sports award-winning Turkish Professional Soccer League, were chosen from more than 3,800 nominations from over 60 countries. More than 150 executives from the communications industry made the selection. The StevieAwards.com website says, “The Stevie Awards are the world's premier business awards. They were created in 2002 to honor and generate public recognition of the achievements and positive contributions of organizations and working professionals worldwide. In short order the Stevie has become one of the world's most coveted prizes.

    “Past Stevie Award winners including Apple, Ford Motor Company, Procter & Gamble and Samsung.” And now the Puebla Pericos.

BASEBALL EQUIPMENT: MEXICAN BRANDS GAINING GROUND

    Most attention given to Mexican baseball is focused on the playing field, where the country has made enough strides globally to currently rank sixth in the World Baseball Softball Confederation's global rankings. However, Mexico is also gaining prestige (and business) from the manufacturing of baseball equipment like batting gloves, bats and fielders' mitts.

    The ElJonronero.com website ran a story last weekend regarding the growth of equipment manufacturers in Mexico. This is a translated version:

Jesse Castillo using Demon Slugger gloves

    Mexican baseball has had an important evolution in recent years from new stadiums, teams with a comprehensive professionalization, greater diffusion at the national and international level, to higher impact hires.

    In this context, various Mexican brands for baseball have been part of this growth and some of them have a higher preference even than foreign and popular companies for being of great tradition. Mexico has strong companies in baseball bats, mitts, gloves and other tools and accessories.

    Mexico is an important market, having professional baseball all year round, as well as great practice of this sport throughout the republic by young men and women of all ages.

The King of the Gloves

    Pablo López, a young businessman from Ciudad Obregón, heads Demon Slugger, a company specializing in gauntlets and grips for bats, the latter being the popular tapes that some players attach to their timbers to gain better grip.

    “This was born with the objective of providing better tools to hitters. We realized that the market for 'Bats Grips' was neglected by Mexican brands, that is why our focus has been to create products that help players to have greater control and grip at the bat, ” he commented.

    "The products have been widely accepted by the professional player, this due to the quality of the materials we use, the grip they provide and the design that they liked."

    In two years of existence, the Demon Slugger company has managed to position itself as one of the favorites by professionals, players like Jesse Castillo, Edson García, Carlos Sepúlveda, are some of the many players who connect with them.

The World of Bats

Ricky Alvarez eyeing a Valma bat

    Winning a place in the world of bats is quite a complicated task, with internationally positioned brands such as Marucci, Lousville, Hickory, etc., but the Mexican company Valma succeeded.

    "The experience has been very good, within the context there are many variants, because to get everything to be good there must be complications and sacrifices.", said Miguel Valle, founder of the company.

    In four years Valma was fully positioned in the national market, having working agreements with most of the Mexican professional baseball teams, as well as in semi-professional and amateur leagues and university events.

    The product has been so accepted by the baseball community that it has become an export material, both in Caribbean leagues and in Europe. Valma, has important international certifications, even his bats have been used in the Major League Baseball.

    “We have come into the hands of Mexican baseball and players who have been idols. It has been an experience that I will continue working to continue breaking more borders than those we have overcome. We have a quality product.”

Gloves that Follow a Legacy

    Ramón Montoya Enríquez, son of the legendary Ramón 'Diablo' Montoya, follows his father's legacy in baseball, but from another facet. The 'Diablo Montoya' brand of fielding gloves has been strongly positioned in recent years as one of the most satisfactory for the player.

    “It is a product that began with my father, Ramón “El Diablo” Montoya, precisely so that his legacy would continue within the field. For him, the colors red with white was his life. My father could spend 24 hours in the field,” commented the son of “El Diablo.”

    “We base ourselves on three points: quality, which is the most important thing. Hence the designs and that our brand is on par with a foreign glove,” he added.

    Based in Mexico City, but shipments throughout the Mexican Republic, these gloves have already been used by figures such as Iván Terrazas, Jorge Cantú, among others.

    Each of the brands have their social media platforms where they interact with their followers, in addition to their official sites where they offer their products, designs and colors.

MEX PAC RELEASES 2020-21 SCHEDULE

The Mexican Pacific League office has released its regular season schedule for the upcoming winterball season. The calendar has all ten teams playing 68 games spread over two halves, beginning in mid-October and running through the end of December, with Mondays used as a travel day (as has been the case for years).

One unusual feature is that the traditional two-game, home-and-away inaugural sets between rival teams are being discarded for 2020-21. While those series typically result in packed ballparks across the circuit, the possibility that no fans will be allowed in the stands due to the panicdemic has compelled the LMP to take no chances.

Instead, the regular season will open with five four-game series commencing Thursday, October 15: Mexicali at Obregon, Hermosillo at Navojoa, Mazatlan at Los Mochis, Guasave at Culiacan and Jalisco at Monterrey.

It appears that the Monterrey Sultanes may have backtracked on their plans to play home games in Mazatlan this season, although the team website wasn't even displaying a Mex Pac schedule or ticket information as this story was being written on Sunday afternoon. Sultanes sports manager Jesus Valdez Jr. was quoted in SeptimaEntrada.com as saying he was confident that the team will get the okay from Nuevo Leon state government officials to play in Monterrey with people in the stands. The Sultanes will train in Mazatlan prior to the season opener.

The first half will consist of 35 games and run through Sunday, November 22. The second half will open Tuesday, November 24, with 33-game schedules being played through Wednesday, December 30. A full eight-team, three-stage

postseason will be staged in January to determine a champion that will represent the LMP and Mexico at the Caribbean Series in Mazatlan, scheduled to run from late January into early February.

Who else will participate in the Serie del Caribe is another matter due to health, economic and political concerns in other nations. Cuba was already uninvited earlier this year due their pullout from the 2020 tournament just prior to it being held in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Colombia joined 2019 champion Panama to make it a six-team field with champions from traditional CS countries Mexico (represented by LMP title-winner Culiacan), Venezuela, Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic.

ISMAEL VALDEZ SELECTED TO LATIN BASEBALL HALL OF FAME

Former Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Ismael “Rocket” Valdez was named last month as a 2020 inductee to the Latin American Baseball Hall of Fame in La Romana, Dominican Republic. Valdez will join Panamanian Mariano Rivera as the newest members of the pantheon, which was opened in 2010. Induction ceremonies have been delayed due to the panicdemic.

A native of Ciudad Victoria, Tamaulipas, Ismael Valdes (who changed his surname to Valdez later in his career) was signed at age 17 in 1991 by the Dodgers out of the Pasteje Academy in Mexico City, a forerunner to the current Mexican Baseball Academy near Monterrey. Valdes was assigned to the Dodgers' Gulf Coast League Rookie Team in Florida that summer and went 2-2 with a 2.33 ERA in ten starts.

Three years later, after stops in AA San Antonio and AAA Albuquerque, Valdes made his big league debut at 20 in Los Angeles on June 15, 1994, tossing two innings of scoreless relief in a 4-2 loss to Cincinnati in front of over 51,000 onlookers at Dodger Stadium. His first win came July 5 in relief as the Dodgers pulled out a 2-1 victory in ten innings at home as the 6'3” right-hander pitched mostly out of the bullpen in 21 outings, finishing 3-1 with a 3.18 ERA. It was a nice debut for Valdes but gave no indication of what was to come.

Los Angeles manager Tommy Lasorda moved Valdes into the starting rotation early in 1995 and was rewarded when Valdes turned in a 13-11 record and 3.05 ERA (fourth-best in the National League) that included six complete games, two of them shutouts. He started a League Divisional Series against Atlanta and got a no-decision after pitching seven innings of in a 5-4 loss to the Reds, allowing a two-run homer by Reggie Sanders in the fourth.

Still, it was a good year for Valdes, who finished seventh in Rookie of the Year balloting, and began a string of five seasons in LA in which he won 58 games and turned in a sub-4.00 ERA each year before he was sent the the Chicago Cubs as part of a five-player trade in December 1999. After an ineffective stint with the Cubs (2-4, 5.37 in 12 starts), Valdes was sent BACK to the Dodgers for two minor leaguers and cash in July 2000, struggled his way to three more losses in eight starts and was declared a free agent after the season.

Valdes signed a contract with the Anaheim Angels for the 2001 season but became a bit of a baseball vagabond for the rest of his career, changing teams five times before tossing his final MLB pitch for the Florida Marlins in 2005. He had limited success along the way, going 14-9 in 2004 (after changing his surname to Valdez before the season), but ending that year with a 5.19 ERA and being traded by San Diego to the Marlins in midseason. Valdez' final big league appearance was on October 1, 2005 when he threw five relief innings against Atlanta, allowing three runs on five hits in a 6-4 win over the Braves in Miami. He then retired from baseball just weeks after his 32nd birthday. In 12 Major League seasons, Valdez had a 204-205 record and a 4.09 ERA, striking out 1,173 batters over 1,827 innings.

Valdez came out of retirement in 2013 when, at 39 years of age, he pitched eight games (including two starts) for the Mexican League's Quintana Roo Tigres. It was not the swan song he may have hoped for, going 1-1 with a 10.91 ERA before retiring for good in June, but his signing did draw the Cancun team some extra nationwide attention and he did contribute a win for manager Matias Carrillo's pennant-winning club.

He now becomes the twelfth Mexican named to the Latin American Baseball Hall of Fame. Hector Espino and Beto Avila were among the first inductees in 2010 and have been followed by Mel Almada, Chile Gomez, Angel Castro, Felipe Montemayor, Vinny Castilla, Nomar Garciaparra, Aurelio Lopez, Ted Higuera and Fernando Valenzuela. Garciaparra is actually California-born but his father Ramon is a Mexico native; Nomar is “Ramon” spelled backwards.

LIQUIDITY: THE GENERAL PROBLEM OF THE LMP

Writer Tito Escobar of ElJonronero.com recently wrote a story outlining the problems the Mexican Pacific League will face as they move forward in anticipation of playing a 2020-21 season. According to Escobar, the main problem will be the ability of Mex Pac teams to pay the bills in the face of the current panicdemic. Here is a Google translation (slightly edited) of his column:

El Jonronero cronista Tito Escobar

We already know all the effects that the devastating pandemic has brought worldwide. Mexico is one of the countries hardest hit by infections and deaths, but the drive and the desire to move ahead with order while following the instructions of the federal health authorities have encouraged the reactivation of the economy in different business areas. The decision was made to carry out the 2020-21 campaign of the Mexican Pacific League but, like all entrepreneurs, today they are experiencing a complicated situation on the issue of liquidity.

This reporter has talked with owners, brands, sponsors, advertising agencies and with all those involved in the mechanics of advertising and getting sponsorships, brand managers and advertising sellers. They have found as a barrier in their work: the obvious problem of lack of liquidity.

Even so, the Mexican Pacific League remains firm, but at the moment things are complicated collectively and with almost all clubs. We know who the clubs are that have the most economic power due to their locations, but they are all important and the efforts are aimed at them: Having advertisers, the best players and, therefore, having liquidity to face the campaign.

As an example and unofficially, the negotiations with the players have flowed, but if there are cases where we will soon find out about players who (given the decision not to accept the reduction that exists as a league agreement to lower the payroll to 50%) have rejected the offers and will not play. There is everything, those who demand discreetly and those who publish private conversations such as the Cuban Félix Pérez of the Monterrey Sultans.

Each one handles their situation differently and faces the pandemic in a different way. Most understand that the easy thing was for the owners to say NO to play and voila'…they leave the player to his own devices. But that's not the case. The player is going to play with everyone sacrificing something in the face of the difficult situation because having a job in these times is a blessing.

And as many owners have mentioned to El Jonronero, with a player who does not want to play there is no problem: he stays at home, next year things are better in every way and contract negotiations begin on a regular basis. But, of course, there are no loans to other clubs for this year in the case of players who wish not to sign with their club for not wanting to accept the mandatory reduction in salary.

On the topic of brands, El Jonronero received unofficial information that two of the main advertisers at the LMP level have said no for this campaign: One prestigious brand of fried foods and a major sportsbook that has been enthusiastically supporting winter baseball year after year. But obviously, the economic damage caused by the effects of the pandemic leads them to step aside this year. Sponsoring brands are obviously also experiencing economic problems in this chain of problems unleashed by the global pandemic.

The beer brands have individual contracts with the LMP clubs and are normally one of the strongest sponsorships, but today they are in serious economic difficulty to be able to participate according to contracts. There are cases in which they want to be absent this season, as there are those who can only contribute 25% of what was agreed to and thus help in some way. Each city and each beer brand is different. The soft drink brands that distribute bottled soft drinks, tea, and natural water are waiting mainly for what is the number of people who will be authorized by the federal health authorities to enter each ballpark of LMP. They go through that as a sales projection exercise and it is logical in their business.

And so hundreds of examples, like the dealers who are seeing if they bet on selling their products like other years, are waiting. The sale of seats is a very complicated topic among fans. Buying tickets or not is what fans have in mind in all the cities and to a certain extent, it is understood. The work of each club in this sense is titanic when it comes to the bet they have made that the Mexican Pacific League season is going to be played.

All the actors in the different areas should cooperate to boost the Mexican baseball economy and try to normalize as soon as possible this great game that we all enjoy in Mexico.

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.”

SALTILLO P MITRE CHARGED WITH RAPE, MURDER

Sergio Mitre went 9-3 for Saltillo in 2019

Saltillo Saraperos pitcher Sergio Mitre, a California native who spent all or part of eight seasons in Major League Baseball, was arrested and jailed earlier this month on suspicion of the rape and murder of the 2-year-old daughter of his teenage live-in girlfriend. Mitre was initially arrested in downtown Saltillo early Monday, July 13 by members of the Criminal Investigation Agency, who booked him into the Strategic Operations Center for possession of two bags of marijuana, according to Saltillo's El Zocalo newspaper. The rape and murder charges were brought forth two days later.

The 39-year-old Mitre had been romantically involved for three months with with a 19-year-old woman, who had a two-year-old daughter from a prior relationship. Fansided's David Hill reports that the toddler was taken to a doctor due to excessive vomiting. She continued vomiting throughout the day, when it was discovered during an examination that she also had a rupture of her renal artery. The rupture caused the toddler to go into shock before she died on July 12, one day before Mitre was first arrested. A subsequent investigation by authorities resulted in the added charges on July 15.

Hill adds that this was not the first time Mitre (who was born in Los Angeles and raised in the San Diego area) has run afoul of the law. In August 2019, while pitching for the Saraperos, Mitre was arrested on an attempted femicide charge after allegedly trying to kill a former girlfriend in a hotel. He was suspended by the team, who'd signed Mitre three months earlier following his release from the Dos Laredos Tecolotes. Local law enforcement authorities eventually set him free with orders to wear an electronic tracking bracelet after Mitre paid a fine of 20,000 pesos (about US$1,000).

Mitre pitched for the Yankees in 2010 ALCS

The Saraperos issued an official statement at the time of Mitre's release decrying domestic violence, but the team brought him back for 2020 and had the 6'3" righthander making autograph-signing appearances and even a promotional video as one of their "faces" before his July 13 arrest. This time, both the Saraperos and Mexican League suspended Mitre shortly after the rape and murder charges were filed. The Septima Entrada website says "the Mexican League sent a statement explaining that 'based on the current regulations of the Mexican Baseball League, the pitcher Sergio Mitre is suspended indefinitely while he is under investigation for his alleged involvement in a serious crime.' In addition to that, in a brief statement the squad from Saltillo explained that they disapprove of any act of violence and atypical and unacceptable conduct against the values and principles of society."

Mitre pitched scholastically for Chula Vista's Montgomery High School (which also produced future MLB infielder Oscar Robles, who'll manage Guasave for a second Mexican Pacific League season this winter) and San Diego City College before being a seventh round draft choice by the Chicago Cubs in 2001. He debuted in MLB two years later and went on to post a 13-30 record with a 5.21 ERA in 143 outings (including 64 starts) for the Cubs, Marlins, Yankees and Brewers between 2003 and 2011. He appeared in the 2010 playoffs for New York, pitching in three ALCS games against eventual champions Texas and turned in a 10.13 ERA over 2.2 innings of relief work.

Mitre made his LMB debut with Leon in 2017 and subsequently bounced to Tijuana and Dos Laredos before landing in Saltillo in May 2019. He had an impressive combined record of 12-5 in 19 starts last year, going 9-3 for manager Roberto Vizcarra's playoff-bound Saraperos, but only had a 6.10 ERA to go along with it.

SULTANES TO PLAY IN MAZATLAN, PEREZ WANTS RELEASE

Mazatlan's ballpark will be busy in 2020-21

After weeks of speculation whether more far-flung Mexican Pacific League teams would choose to play designated "home" games closer to the LMP's traditional base near the Sea of California as a response to expected financial losses due to the Wuhan virus, the Monterrey Sultanes announced that they will indeed play half their 2020-21 games in Mazatlan's Estadio Teodoro Mariscal. And they may not be the last team to share a ballpark this winter. Monterrey is located in the northeastern state of Nuevo Leo, 446 miles by air to Culiacan, the Sultanes' closest Mex Pac rival.

The El Jonronero website reports that the Sultanes stand to save 4,000,000 pesos (US$179,488) in air travel expenses alone by setting up their winterball shop in the Pearl of the Pacific, where the hometown Venados only recently put their ongoing dispute with the City of Mazatlan on hold in order to use the 16,000-seat ballpark for the upcoming Mex Pac season and 2021 Caribbean Series. Monterrey's front office determined they would be better off cutting down travel costs should they only be allowed to play home games in front of 30% of Estadio Monterrey's 22,000-seat capacity, let alone if no fans will be let into ballparks this winter.

Estadio Teorodo Mariscal will get quite a workout with the Sultanes and Venados combing to use it six days a week throughout the regular season. A schedule is reportedly being worked out to avoid any conflicts on dates from the October 13 LMP opener through the end of December, but things could get interesting if the two teams qualify to play on the same side of the bracket for the January playoffs (e.g., both teams gain home-field advantage during simultaneous series).

According to Puro Beisbol editor Fernando Ballesteros, the Mexicali Aguilas may try to move home games from the border city to Hermosillo and share Estadio Sonora with the Naranjeros while the Guadalajara-based Jalisco Charros may attempt the same and shift home dates to Culiacan, splitting dates at that ballpark with the defending champion Tomateros. Ballesteros adds that Charros ownership is less likely to seek such a move, given their commitments to Guadalajara and support the team has already received from the state in order to stay put.

Felix Perez has asked for his release from Sultanes

Like all LMP franchises, the Sultanes are looking to save money where they can, and that includes on player payroll. One of Monterrey's best hitters from last winter's inaugural Mex Pac season, outfielder Felix Perez, is already balking at a pay cut for 2020-21 and has asked the team to release his rights so he might be able to seek a better deal somewhere else. Perez, who hit .270 with 10 homers and 48 RBIs in 69 games last winter, may have a hard time doing that in Mexico since most teams are hoping to slash salaries from 40 to 60 percent this season to help make up for the expected revenue shortfall. "Unfortunately, we are not on the same page," Perez told the Monterrey Board of Directors. "My family comes before money. If you don't respect that, I'm sorry to tell you that I decline the offer you made to me and await my release. You can find another player. Blessings."

A former Cincinnati Reds farmhand who played for the NPB Rakuten Golden Eagles in 2016, Perez may not have many options after originally accepting the Sultanes offer. The 35-year-old veteran is a native of Cuba, where salaries are guaranteed to not be on a par with even a slashed LMP paycheck, and other winter leagues in Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic and especially Venezuela were dealing with their own financial struggles and declining attendance even before the panicdemic began earlier this year.

ALONZO HARRIS TO OBREGON AS LMP TRADING HEATS UP

Navojoa has traded Alonzo Harris to Obregon

As Mexican Pacific League teams gear up for an anticipated 2020-21 season set to open October 13, the reigning Mexican League Most Valuable Player was one of four recognizable names involved in trades last week. Outfielder Alonzo Harris, who had a 2019 season for the ages with Oaxaca, was shipped by the Navojoa Mayos to Obregon for first baseman Xavier Scruggs, who can also play outfielder.

The 31-year-old Harris was named MVP for the LMB after batting .343 for the Guerreros with 39 homers, 45 stolen bases, scoring 135 times and driving in 117 runs over 119 games, narrowly failing to become the first player in Liga history with 40 homers and 40 steals in the same season. Harris did not do nearly as well for the Mayos last winter, posting a .237 average with four homers and 14 RBIs in 67 contests, although he did score 37 runs and swipe 19 bases. He's currently playing for St. Paul in the American Association, which just got its season underway last week.

Scruggs, 32, spent parts of three MLB seasons with St. Louis and Miami between 2014-16, batting .227 with one homer in 50 games. He had much more success in the Cardinals and Marlins minor league systems, belting a career 169 homers over nine seasons, topping 20 homers six times in seven years. Scruggs also played two seasons in South Korea with the NC Dinos, averaging 30 homers and 104 ribbies between 2017 and 2018 before joining the Mexican League's Yucatan Leones last year, posting .262/11/31 numbers over 57 games. Last winter, playing for both Mexicali and Obregon, Scruggs hit .208 with 8 homers and 18 RBIs in 45 outings.

Michael Wing, Romario Gil to swap places

In the other high-profile Mex Pac swap last week, the Monterrey Sultanes dealt infielder Michael Wing to Culiacan for left-handed pitcher Romario Gil. A 31-year-old Californian, Wing played with the Angels and Padres systems between 2007 and 2012 before spending another three summers playing independent ball in Frontier League and American Association. He was out of organized basaeball in 2016 before heading south of the border and hitting stride with the Mexican League's Aguascalientes Rieleros. In three years as the Railroaders' third baseman, Wing has hit .368 with 51 homers and 211 RBIs in 217 games while playing in last year's LMB All-Star Game. He struggled with the Sultanes last winter, batting .223 with four homers, and will go to Culiacan on loan while his rights are retained by Monterrey. Wing can also play second base and shortstop.

The only "youngster" involved in the two swaps, the 25-year-old Gil was traded by his hometown Tomateros after a disappointing 2019-20 season during which he only won one of six starts with an ERA of 5.92. He did not pitch for the LMP champions during the Caribbean Series in Puerto Rico, completing a remarkable drop in effectiveness after having been the Mexican League's 2018 Rookie of the Year for the Puebla Pericos. Gil was a combined 4-2 for the Parakeets over two short seasons that year. As happened with so many Pericos players when Gerardo Benavides owned both the Puebla and Monclova teams, Gil found himself with the Acereros last year. He had a winning record at 5-1 for Monclova and was named to the All-Star Game, but his ERA ballooned to 5.86 after being under 3.00 in 2018, he was placed on the Steelers' reserve list four times during the season and was dealt to Campeche during the offseason.