MAYOS HOLD OFF GUASAVE FOR LMP FIRST HALF TITLE

    The Navojoa Mayos entered last week's final Mexican Pacific League series of the first half with a slim lead over Guasave. The schedule favored the Algodoneros, who hosted last-place Los Mochis while Navojoa was visiting a tough Obregon squad.

    However, the Mayos clinched first place last Tuesday with a 3-2 win over the Yaquis behind homers by Kyle Martin and Alan Espinoza while Guasave dropped their opener with the Caneros by an identical 3-2 score as Los Mochis overcame a 2-1 deficit in the top of the ninth when Juan Camacho lofted a bases-loaded sacrifice fly to plate the tying run and Francisco Cordoba's single pushed the go-ahead run.

    The Mayos lost their last two games in Obregon, 5-4 (Michael Wing hit a bases-clearing triple in the 7th) and 10-4 (Wing had a two-run double and Juan Carlos Gamboa contributed a two-run single for the Yaquis), while Guasave won their last two contests, 14-5 (Jhoan Urena and Yadir Drake combined for seven singles and six RBIs) and 11-4 (Angel Erro went 4-for-4 for the Algonoderos with four RBIs), but Navojoa was able to cling to the top of the standings with a 20-12 record, one game ahead of the 19-13 Cottoneers.

    As a result, manager Matias Carrillo's Mayos pocketed 10.0 points going into the second half last Friday while Guasave was awarded 9.0 points for their runner-up finish. Jalisco and Obregon tied for third place with 18-14 records, but the Charros were awarded 8.0 points due to their winning record for the half against the Yaquis, who earned 7.0 points. Defending champion Culiacan was right behind at 17-15, good for 6.0 points, while Hermosillo finished at an even 16-16 for sixth place and 5.5 points. Rounding out the standings were 15-17 Monterrey (5.0 points), 14-18 Mazatlan (4.5), 14-18 Mexicali (4.0), and 9-23 Los Mochis (3.5). The Venados got the nod in points over Mexicali due to their superior record against the Aguilas in the half.

    Somewhat surprisingly, no managers were fired during the first half of the schedule (skippers have been canned less than two weeks into the season in past years), but a couple teams have made amends for their tardiness. Robinson Cancel was sacked as manager in Los Mochis on the heels of the aforementioned pair of drubbings in Guasave to close out the first half schedule. 

    Cancel went 9-23 with the Caneros after replacing Victor Bojorquez, who led the team to two last-place finishes in 2020-21. Luis Carlos Rivera has been named as Los Mochis' new pilot. Rivera has managed Mexican League teams in Leon, Yucatan and Aguascalientes (who he led to a playoff berth last summer), but this will be his first time as a dugout boss in the Mex Pac.

    Meanwhile in Mexicali, where patience has never been a virtue, Bronswell Patrick was fired after the Aguilas' 14-18 first-half showing. Patrick took the reins of the Eagles last winter on an interim basis after serving the team as pitching coach and posted a 30-20 record the rest of the way, earning a playoff berth and coming in second in voting for Manager of the Year honors. He was hired permanently in late January, "permanent" in this case being less than ten months and 32 games. 

    Gil Velazquez, who was sefired as manager of the Aguilas during the 2016-17 LMP season, is being brought back to run the team, at least for now. Pedro Mere is returning for his third tour of duty in Mexicali, this time as Velazquez' bench coach. Mere managed the Aguilas on two previous occasions. Mexicali has now fired their manager in the middle of the season six years in a row.

    Tirso Ornelas of Navojoa leads the batting race with a .388 average, a comfortable 19 points ahead of Jalisco's Christian Villanueva (.369), while Miguel Guzman of Guasave is third at .358. Kyle Martin's homer for Navojoa against Obregon last Tuesday gave him nine for the season in 21 games, three more than six different batsmen. One of those, Jesse Castillo of Guasave, leads Jalisco's Felix Perez (who also has six roundtrippers) in the RBI derby, 30 to 29, while Maikel Serrano of Navojoa and Hermosillo's Luis Alfonso Cruz are tied for third at 27 ribbies apiece. Dairon Blanco of Culiacan is running away in the stolen bases category with 18 swipes in 22 attempts, well ahead of Obregon's Alfonso Harris (13) and Sebastian Elizalde of Culiacan (12).

    Navojoa's Carlos De Leon lost his first game of the season last week, but his five wins still are most in the Mex Pac, with four pitchers on his heels at four victories each. Orlando Lara (4-0) of Jalisco is tops with a 1.13 ERA, ahead of Hermosillo's Elian Leyva (4-0) at 1.29 and Tiago da Silva (3-1) of Obregon's 1.39 mark. Obregon's Luis Escobar leads with 38 strikeouts, followed by Javier Solano of Jalisco (33) and Escobar's Yaquis teammate, former Red Sox hurler Hector Velazquez (32). Jake Sanchez of Mexicali heads the saves table with 11 while Navojoa's Carlos Bustamante has eight and Roberto Osuna of Jalisco is at six.

MEX PAX ROAD TRIP (Stop #7): Guasave, Sinaloa

    The seventh visit on our 24-city Mexican Pacific League Road Trip is Guasave, Sinaloa (also known as “The Agricultural Heart of Mexico”), which can easily be reached by traveling on Highway 15 for 45 minutes to cover the 36 miles from our last stop, Los Mochis.

    A municipality of about 320,000 residents, Guasave has an agriculture-based economy, like the majority of Mex Pac venues. The major crops in the area are corn, wheat, sorghum, soy, beans and cotton. The land around Guasave is generally rocky and the climate is usually very dry and warm, with an average of about 15 inches of rain a year and an annual temperature of 80 degrees.

    While Guasave is only 22 miles east from the Gulf of California, the major source of the city’s water is the Sinaloa River, which starts in the southwest corner of the state of Chihuahua and flows into the gulf. The river includes Navachiste Bay, which is known for aquatic sports and fishing; and San Ignacio Bay, noted for its clean landscape, calm waters and abundance of flora and fauna. Further towards the gulf from Guasave are The Glorias, a very popular stretch of the river known for its beaches and terrific seafood like shrimp meatballs. Along the river, there are many poplars and willows lining the shores.

    Among the more interesting spots for travelers to visit are the 17th century ruins of Guasave’s Old Town, the Nio ruins (which date back to 1767), and Tamazula, a colonial site featuring a museum and church first built in 1820. Guasave is well known for the raising of thoroughbred horses. Guasave is (again like most LMP cities) not a tourist destination, but it is a slice of authentic northern Mexico with its own enjoyments, and the lifestyle there is considered very traditional.

    Guasave is represented in the Mexican Pacific League by the Algodoneros (or “Cotton Growers”). The team originally entered the MexPac baseball in 1970 and won the LMP pennant in only their second season under manager Vinicio Garcia (going 1-5 in the Caribbean Series that winter) but won no further titles, although they reached three subsequent championship series. The Cottoneers were bought and moved in 2014 to Guadalajara, where they were renamed the Jalisco Charros. A second edition of the Algodoners debuted in 2019-20. No uniform numbers have been retired in Guasave.

    The Algodoneros play their home games at Estadio Francisco Carranza Limon, which is owned by the Sinaloa state government and now seats 10,000 spectators after extensive remodeling was performed prior to their 2019 return, mostly paid for by Mexico City Diablos Rojos owner Alfredo Harp Helu as well as the federal CONADE sports agency.

MAESTROS OF MEXICO: Andres Mora, OF-1B-DH

    Most North American baseball fans only remember him as a sporadic power hitter who shuttled between Baltimore and Rochester for three years in the late Seventies, but Andres Mora is revered south of the border as one of the all-time great sluggers in Mexican League history on par with Hector Espino and Nelson Barrera. When he retired after the 1997 season, only Espino’s 453 homers topped Mora’s 419 dingers among LMB batters before Barrera passed them both in the early part of this century.

    Andres Mora Ibarra was born May 25, 1955 in Rio Bravo, Coahuila. He broke into pro ball at the tender age of 16 in 1971, splitting his season in Class A ball with Zacatecas and Puerto Penasco. He only played a total of 10 games the next two seasons before settling in with Saltillo in 1974, hitting .311 with 14 homers. 

    Mora hit stride the following year when the 20-year-old led the Liga with 35 homers and 109 RBIs while batting .307 for the Saraperos before being signed by the Orioles, beginning a frustrating three-year period. He spent most of his time playing for Earl Weaver’s O’s, hitting 27 homers and driving in 83 runs in 226 games but only batting in the mid-.220’s and never getting a shot to play consistently.

    Mora found himself back in Saltillo in 1979, and hit .344 with 23 homers and 102 RBIs. With the exception of a nine-game stay with Cleveland in 1980, he played the rest of his career in Mexico, mostly with the Dos Laredos Tecolotes. From 1981 to 1993, Mora topped 20 homers ten times, including a career high 41 in 1985. He drove in 443 runs and belted 142 dingers while hitting nearly .370 in a four-year period between 1984 and 1987 as the linchpin for a Dos Laredos offense that was one of the most-feared of the era.

    Ironically, the year the Tecolotes broke through for a pennant in 1989, Mora was playing in Monterrey for the Industriales. He returned to the binational team in 1990 and spent the rest of his career splitting home games between Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas and Laredo, Texas. Mora retired from baseball in 1997, ending his 27-year pro career at the age of 42.

    Besides his 419 career Mexican League homers (he hit a total of 471 as a pro), Mora drove in 1,498 runs on 2,259 hits while batting .314. He had 12 Liga seasons at .300 or better, led the loop four times in homers and was RBI champ three times. He is a member of the Salon de la Fama and remembered as a man who could change a game with one swing of the bat.

VALDEZ PITCHES LEONES WITHIN GAME OF LMB FLAG

Cesar Valdez pitching for Oakland in 2017

If there was any doubt remaining as to why Cesar Valdez is the odds-on favorite to be named the Mexican League Pitcher of the Year for 2019, the 34-year-old Dominican right-hander should have dispelled them after he pitched a shutout Sunday to lead the Yucatan Leones to a 3-0 win over the visiting Monclova Acereros in Game Five of the Serie del Rey in front of 14,917 fans at Merida's Parque Kukulkan.  The triumph gives Yucatan a 3-games-to-2 lead in the series.

Valdez threw 112 pitches (77 of them strikes) in holding the potent Steelers to four hits and a walk, striking out eight batters to run his playoff record to 4-0 after a 15-2 regular season in which he led the LMB in wins, ERA (2.26) and WHIP (1.06) in 23 starts.  Art Charles' two-out single in the bottom of the first inning off Monclova starter Adam Quintana drove in Jonathan Jones from third with the first run of the game. It would turn out to be the only tally Valdez would need but (just in case) Jorge Flores opened the third with a triple and scored on a Jones single to make it 2-0 and Alex Liddi's solo homer in the bottom of the eighth added one more insurance run for manager Geronimo Gil's squad.  Jones contributed two singles to the Yucatan offense as seven of the other eight Leones batsmen had one hit. Catcher Sebastian Valle had an 0-fer but called a solid game behind the plate for the winners.

Valdez' outstanding Sunday outing was far removed from his work during last Tuesday's Serie del Rey Game One in Monclova.  Although he was awarded a 5-4 win over the Acereros, the 2008 California League All-Star Game MVP and future major leaguer let in four runs over seven innings and gave up home runs to Jose Amador, Eric Young Jr. (a two-run shot) and Noah Perio to account for all Steeler scoring.  Valdez did strike out 13 of the 27 batters he faced.

Monclova evened the series Wednesday with a 9-3 comeback win over Yoanner Negrin, the 2016 LMB Pitcher of the Year.  Negrin was impressive in earlier playoff wins over Oaxaca and Mexico City and had a 3-1 lead in the bottom of the seventh when the Acereros loaded the bases after striking out leadoff batter Bruce Maxwell.  At that point, Gil replaced the Cuban righty with Manny Parra, who gave up a two-run Young single up the middle and an RBI safety to Erick Aybar that gave the home team a 4-3 lead. The Acereros scored five more in the eighth, including a Ricky Rodriguez grand slam off Enrique Burgos, to put the game away.  Amador singled twice and doubled for three of ten Acereros hits as another sellout crowd of 8,500 watched at Estadio Monclova.

Art Charles (r) homered for Leones in Game 4

The title set shifted to Merida for Game Three on Friday, when Monclova took a 2-games-to-1 lead with a 6-3 road win.  Francisco Peguero went 3-for-4 with a double, scoring one run and driving in another as the Acereros collected 13 hits off Leones starter Jose Samayoa and five relievers.  Valle socked a solo homer off Monclova closer Carlos Bustamante in the bottom of the ninth but the contest was all but decided by then. Connor Herber earned his third postseason win by pitching five innings of two-run ball for manager Pat Listach.

Yucatan battled back to tie the series Saturday night with 3-2 victory.  Monclova took an early lead in the top of the first when leadoff hitter Perio doubled off Leones starter Dustin Crenshaw and came in one out later on a Peguero two-bagger.  The Acereros made it 2-0 one entrada later when Perio's two-out single off Crenshaw brought in Amador from second after the latter had doubled to open the inning.  From that point on, Crenshaw went unscathed through the sixth inning and benefitted from a three-run Yucatan fourth keyed by a two-run Charles homer against Monclova opener Geno Encina.  That would mark the last run of the game as Crenshaw, who earned the win, and three relievers held the Acereros scoreless over the last seven innings. A Californian who pitched collegiately at South Alabama and spent four years in indy ball before making his 2015 LMB debut with Laguna, the 6'5" Crenshaw has been one of the Liga's best pitchers since when healthy with a 29-14 record and 3.63 ERA in 61 starts.

The Serie del Rey now shifts back to Monclova for Tuesday night's Game Six.  All five games have been sellouts and another full house is expected at Estadio Monclova as the Acereros strive for the city's first Mexican League pennant since entering the league in 1974.  Negrin is expected to start for Yucatan while Jaime Lugo will take the mound for Monclova.

LOS MOCHIS, GUASAVE BALLPARKS READYING FOR LMP SEASON

Estadio Emilio Ibarra Almada in Los Mochis

Two of the Mexican Pacific League's ten ballparks are undergoing upgrades in preparation for the upcoming 2019-20 season.  

State approval of renovations at Estadio Emilio Ibarra Almada in Los Mochis was signed by Sinaloa governor Quirino Ordaz Coppel on October 7, 2017 with hope that the two-stage project would be completed by October 2018 after an initial investment of 50 million pesos for work that winter and 260 million pesos projected as the overall price. Sinaloa Public Works secretary Osvaldo Lopez Angulo envisioned a total remodel of the central portion of the stadium, which now has three seating levels (lower and upper box seats topped by luxury and press boxes), and other safety- and comfort-related amenities.  Instead, the facelift will be unveiled a year late with a pricetag of 400 million pesos, or about 20 million US dollars, not an unusual turn of events when it comes to ballparks, new or renovated. 

Estadio Emilio Ibarra Almada was first opened in 1947 when Los Mochis was admitted to the old Pacific Coast League, precursor to the modern LMP.  Initially known as Estadio Mochis, the facility seated 3,000 and had no lights. It has since undergone a number of renovations, the first coming in 1963 when seating was doubled to 6,000 and a lighting system was installed.  A second renovation took place in 1972, as seating was nearly doubled again to a capacity of 11,000 while being renamed after Ibarra, who brought pro baseball to Los Mochis in 1947 and helped inaugurate the ballpark that winter.  Ten years later, Hurricane Paul damaged the facility so badly that the Caneros were forced to play the first half of the 1982-83 LMP schedule on the road before playing home games without lights during the second half. The updated, modern facility is expected to be ready to host 12,000 spectators when the Caneros play their first home game on Saturday, October 12 against Guasave.

Speaking of Guasave, work at Estadio Francisco Carranza Limon has been hurrying along in advance of the revived Algodoneros' home opener against Los Mochis on October 13, one day after the two teams welcome the season at the Caneros' new digs.  Where renovations in Los Mochis have had almost two years to reach completion, Guasave has had less than a year to bring their stadium up to modern standards because the city was only granted re-entry to the Mex Pac last winter after the previous version of the Algodoneros were sold and moved to Guadalajara in 2014.

Guasave's Estadio Francisco Carranza Limon

Estadio Francisco Carranza Limon is a much newer plant than its counterpart in Los Mochis, opening in 1970 with seating for up to 8,000 spectators.  However, the ballpark was not upgraded over the years and by the time it was 44 years old in 2014, it was showing its age and falling into disrepair as the undercapitalized team owners couldn't afford to make needed changes and the state government wasn't willing to pick up the tab.  Attendance had long been declining in Guasave and the team was eventually sold to a group led by Armando Navarro and Salvador Quirarte and moved inland to Guadalajara, where the renamed Jalisco Charros have become of of Mexican baseball's more recent success stories, hosting several international tournaments and winning last winter's LMP pennant.  After a five-year absence, the Mex Pac returned to Guasave when Mexico president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador fulfilled a campaign promise to bring baseball back to the Sinaloa agricultural center.

Mexico City Diablos Rojos owner Alfredo Harp Helu, who bankrolled a new ballpark of his own in the nation's capital, is paying for renovations at Estadio Francisco Carranza Limon, which will be expanded to 10,000 seats.  While there was speculation that Harp might own an LMP along with his Mexican League franchise, he said he had no such interest and another LMB owner, Arturo Aramburo (who owns the Durango Generales but is said to be looking to sell that franchise), officially bought the team over summer.  

The ballpark used by the new Algodoneros was in enough disrepair that the facility might not have been ready to host games next month.  LMP president Omar Canizales, who toured the stadium with Governor Ordaz last week, was quoted in Puro Beisbol as saying, "I am pleasantly surprised.  I had come a couple months ago and I was really a little worried, and when I realize what has happened in the last six weeks, I see a very important breakthrough.  

"They will be ready to sing 'Play ball' on October 13." 

MEDIUM: 30% OF 2019 LMB PLAYERS WERE MEXICAN-AMERICANS

Tijuana outfielder Beau Amaral

It's been two years since the Mexican League expanded its definition of what constitutes a "Mexican" player.  The issue is one reason the LMB underwent an offseason schism that threatened either a split into two separate leagues or cancellation of the 2017 season altogether.  An uneasy truce was eventually brokered and the new policy, in which a player with Mexican heritage who can qualify for a passport is considered "domestic" and does not count against foreign player limits per team, has played out for two years.  While it can be argued that making players with peripheral family connections to Mexico eligible has raised the overall level of play in the Liga, homegrown Mexican players are now having a harder time finding work in their own country.

A September 18 story by Joseph Bien-Kahn for the Medium website delves deeply into the topic.  According to Bien-Kahn, "If you had a Mexican ancestor and could qualify for a Mexican passport, you were Mexican in the eyes of the league."  Tijuana Toros press officer Armando Esquivel estimates that 30 percent of the Mexican League's 400 players (25 players per team) are Mexican-Americans, many of whom bring Major League Baseball experience south of the border.  One such player, Tijuana outfielder Beau Amaral, is a son of former major league infielder Rich and spent seven seasons in the Reds minor league system and part of 2018 with the Mariners' AA Arkansas affiliate before joining the Toros this year.  A Californian who played collegiately at UCLA, Amaral had a great-grandmother who was born in Mexico and thus is not considered a foreigner in the eyes of the LMB.

Indeed, Tijuana has come to specialize in finding players with tenuous literal relations to Mexico who still oxymoronically qualify as domestic imports, with Director of International Operations Arturo Marcano heading the effort.  "That's one of my areas of work: to look for pochos," Marcano told Bien-Kahn, "It's kind of like detective work."  Marcano is a hard-working man, as only six Toros players this season were born in Mexico, including just one pitcher.  He says, "It's not like we have a network of spies looking for pochos everywhere.  What we're doing is scouting players for the team."

Tijuana won their first LMB pennant in 2017 after embracing the philosophy and earning the enmity of Monterrey owner Jose "Pepe" Maiz, who played on Mexico's 1957 Little League World Series champions as a 12-year-old.  Maiz called the team who defeated his Sultanes in the LMB North Championship Series the Pocho Toros, a term that stuck among opposing fans and players who saw the influx of foreign-born players after eligibility rules were relaxed as taking away jobs from homegrown talent.  Although the Mexico City Diablos Rojos played the 2017 season without a single foreign player in protest and missed the playoffs. Other teams noticed that Tijuana won a pennant with 22 foreign-born players (including 16 Mexican-Americans) while Monterrey was eliminated in the semis and Mexico City took the postseason off altogether, and the Toros' philosophy was eventually adopted by organizations across the Liga.

Manny Barreda pitched 2017 no-hitter for Toros

The term pocho technically applies to foreign-born ethnic Mexicans (similar to the longer standing term chicano), but it can also be a derogatory one used toward ethnic Mexicans perceived to have "lost their way" culturally.  While players like Watkins won't hear it directed towards them, Mexican-Americans like pitcher Manny Barreda are frequently targeted.  Born and raised in Arizona, Barreda came to Tijuana in late 2015 after eight years in the Yankees system and one in the Brewers organization.  Except for an excellent seven-start stint with the Braves' AAA Gwinnett affiliate in 2017 (3-1 record with a 1.83 ERA), he's played for the Toros every summer since.  Barreda memorably tossed a 138-pitch no-hitter for Los Mochis of the Mexican Pacific League on November 28, 2016 and then repeated the feat for Tijuana on July 16, 2017, requiring 135 pitches for that 14-strikeout performance.

Although he and wife Karla have become more comfortable living in Mexico, Barreda's first full year in the LMB resulted in several hostile emails and a sense of isolation in a country where he had much stronger cultural roots than many players with far more tertiary ties.  Players of Mexican descent born and raised north of the border often find themselves in a cultural void on both sides of the border. Barreda explains to Bien-Kahn, "In the U.S., you're considered 'Mexican.' And when you come to Mexico, you're an American. You're a pocho. People like us, we don't have a place."  Minnesota Twins reliever Sergio Romo, who still pitches winterball for the Mexican Pacific League's Jalisco Charros, has voiced similar frustrations in the past.

Perhaps the biggest losers with the new regulations are the Mexican-born players who would have played in the LMB in the years prior to 2017.  Previously, Mexican League teams could only carry four foreign-born players, including Mexican-Americans, so only 64 total imports were on the 16 active team rosters.  If Marcano's estimate is accurate, that number is now 120 and could be higher. Not being able to play in their national circuit has hurt these players economically because the average pay in the both the Liga and Mex Pac for homegrown players is said to generally be in the $3,000-$5,000 per month range, a lot of money in a nation where the International Monetary Fund estimated the per capita income in 2017 to be equal to 9,377 US dollars per year. Minor league baseball is not a lucrative undertaking north of the border but in Mexico, many players extend their careers as long as possible because few jobs at home pay the kind of money they can earn in the LMB and LMP.

The notion of limiting the number of foreign-born players may be an unfamiliar one outside Major League and Minor League Baseball (where such practices are illegal), but it is a common practice in almost every other country in the world as a means to allow domestic talent a chance to play.  With the apparent impending ouster of president Javier Salinas and return to power of the so-called Old Guard owners who opposed relaxing player eligibility rules, a return to the old standards may well be discussed during the offseason.

STREAKING SARAPEROS TAKE FIRST IN LMB NORTH

Saltillo infielder Juan Perez

The Saltillo Saraperos have put together a nine-game winning streak to vault into a race with Tijuana and Monclova for the Mexican League’s North Division second-half championship.  Saltillo began their skein with a July 19 win at Aguascalientes and went on to sweep the Rieleros, cop three wins in a midweek home series against Durango and then topped Aguascalientes in a trio of home games to run their second-half record to 21-10.

As 6,275 looked on at Estadio Francisco I. Madero, Manny Rodriguez’ grand slam in the bottom of the eighth broke open Sunday’s contest with the Saraperos clutching a 4-3 lead.  Rodriguez, now 37, has had a very quiet year with only six homers and a .249 average after 89 games, the first 25 with Quintana Roo before the Tigres loaned the four-time LMB All-Star to Saltillo on May 7 after he’d hit just .202 for the Tigres, who retain his rights.

The Saraperos were just 28-32 in the first half, finishing fifth in the LMB North and collecting just 4.5 playoff points.  Beyond Rodriguez, they’re not a star-studded team. Former Reds minor league infielder Juan Perez is batting .335 with 20 homers and 63 RBIs, outfielder Rainel Rosario has a .319 average with 19 homers and 61 ribbies and veteran first baseman Jorge “Chato” Vazquez homered four times in six games last week to reach 17 for the year. He’s hitting .313 with 56 RBIs in 60 games as the injury-prone, 37-year-old slugger shows he can contribute when healthy.

Tijuana won two of three weekend games at Dos Laredos to stay two games behind Saltillo at 20-12.  The Tecolotes won Sunday’s game, 9-5, at Laredo’s Uni-Trade Stadium as catcher Arturo Rodriguez had a solo homer and three RBIs on three hits.  Monclova (19-13) is in third after beating Monterrey, 6-3, at home Sunday as Chris Carter belted his 41st homer and Alex Mejia, Francisco Peguero and Ricky Rodriguez each singled, doubled and drove in a run.  Monterrey and Dos Laredos are virtually tied for fourth: The Acereros are 16-16 while the Tecos are 15-15.

While Saltillo, Tijuana and Monclova duke it out for LMB North supremacy, Durango and Aguascalientes are in freefall at the bottom of the division.  The Generales (11-16) have been swept in four straight series for 12 losses in a row, changing managers and apparently being put up for sale in the process (more below) to fall to 11-21 and out of playoff contention for all intent and purposes.  Durango and Union Laguna (11-16) are fighting to stay out of last place but while the Generales haven’t won for two weeks, the Algodoneros have helped themselves by winning four in a row and eight of their last ten under new manager Jonathan Aceves.  For their part, the Rieleros (9-23) have the worst record in the league while turning into a train wreck, so to speak.  

The perpetually cash-strapped team’s trading of star third baseman Jose Vargas to Monclova removed one of their larger salaries and likely netted then some money in return, but at the cost of goodwill with remaining Aguascalientes players and fans.  Puro Beisbol editor Fernando Ballesteros writes that he received an email from several Rieleros claiming owner Armando Medina threatened to “freeze” them if they didn’t sign for what he was offering, called sports manager Leo Clayton an “agent” and accused team president Eustacio Alvarez of corruption.  Ballesteros says sources tell him the franchise is for sale and that businessmen in San Luis Potosi have shown interest. Other than that, everything’s fine in Aguascalientes.

Quintana Roo pitcher Wilfredo Boscan

Meanwhile, in the LMB South, Quintana Roo and Yucatan have separated themselves from the pack to make it a two-team race for first place.  The Tigres pounded Tabasco, 11-0, Sunday night in Villahermosa to bring their record to 23-9, giving them a one-game lead over idle Yucatan in the battle for those eight playoff points.  In Sunday’s rout, Eric Aguilera went 2-for-5 for Quintana Roo with a run scored and three RBIs while Brian Hernandez had three hits to score once and drive in two more. Ex-Pittsburgh pitcher Wilfredo Boscan tossed seven shutout innings for the Tigres, allowing five hits and striking out eight to lift his season record to 6-3.  Like Saltillo, the Tigres are a surprise team in the second half after they went 25-35 in the first half to finish sixth in the LMB South with 4.0 playoff points.

Yucatan is right behind the Tigres at 22-10 and carried a five-game winning streak into Monday’s travel day.  The Leones swept a midweek road series in Tabasco and won the first two games of their weekend set in Campeche before Sunday’s tilt was rained out.  Cesar Valdez won his LMB-leading 13th game Saturday in a 6-2 Yucatan victory. Mexico City is third at 18-15 and Tabasco holds forth with a 15-16 mark in a decent second-half showing.  Oaxaca (15-17), Campeche (13-16) and Puebla (13-17) are all less than two games behind the fourth-place Olmecas. Last-place Leon (10-21) won in Oaxaca Sunday, 7-2, as Felix Pie went 3-for-5 with a double and two RBIs for the Bravos.

Pie still leads the batting race with a .406 average but Mexico City teammates Emmanuel Avila (.388) and Jesus Fabela (.384) have closed the gap a bit.  Chris Carter of Monclova leads in both homers and RBIs. Carter homered off Tijuana’s Orlando Lara last Tuesday to become the first player in pro ball to reach 40 roundtrippers this season.  Carter is in the discussion for MVP honors along with Oaxaca’s Alonzo Harris. The former Mets and Cards farmhand is second in homers (33), RBI’s (89), runs scored (100) and stolen bases (38), trailing only Dos Laredos’ Johnny Davis’ 48 in that category to augment a .339 average.  Prior to coming to Mexico, Harris was the Atlantic League’s 2017 Player of the Year playing for York.

Yucatan moundmates Cesar Valdez and Yoanner Negrin are the only two legitimate candidates for Pitcher of the Year.  Valdez’ win in Campeche Saturday gives him a 13-1 mark and league leadership in wins (13), earned-run average (2.38) and WHIP (1.12), microscopic numbers during a season where only five starters qualifying for the ERA title are at less than 5.00.  Negrin (11-3) is second to Valdez in wins (11), ERA (2.85) and WHIP (1.19). Leon’s Yasutomo Kubo leads the Liga with 119 strikeouts. Ramon Mendez is 0-5 for Dos Laredos and the Tecos must accept it as a trade-off for his LMB-best 26 saves in 27 opportunities and 3.47 ERA.  All-Star middleman Jesus Pirela still leads with 24 holds. Pirela also has a 4-3 record and three saves for the Toros.  

Important midweek series opening Tuesday night include Monclova visiting Tijuana and Mexico City hosting Oaxaca.  Yucatan will welcome Quintana Roo Friday for a huge LMB South weekend series while Tijuana heads to Saltillo for three against Roberto Vizcarra’s surprising Saraperos.

PACHO NAMED THIRD DURANGO MANAGER SINCE MAY

Juan Jose Pacho managing in Mazatlan

The Durango Generales made their second managerial change in a two-month span when the Mexican League team fired Efren Espinoza last Monday and brought in longtime Mazatlan Venados skipper Juan Jose Pacho as dugout boss.  Pacho becomes the third manager in Durango this season.  

The Generales began the 2019 campaign with veteran helmsman Lorenzo Bundy running the team, but Bundy was fired May 22 following an 18-9 home loss to Leon and Espinoza, a 14-year LMB outfielder with no prior managerial experience, was named interim manager with Durango holding a 16-25 record.  Espinoza led the Generales to a 21-24 mark but the club had lost six games in a row when the change was made. A Salon de la Fama shortstop who has guided Mazatlan to three Mex Pac pennants and two Caribbean Series titles, Pacho made his Durango debuted last Tuesday with an 8-4 loss in Saltillo.

One day after Durango installed Pacho as manager, the Leon Bravos severed ties with manager Tony Aguilera, making him the ninth skipper fired this season in the LMB.  In comparison, no Major League Baseball manager has been handed his walking papers this year. The firings have happened in two bursts, with five skippers getting pink-slipped between May 9 and 21 while the other four were shown the door between July 1 and 23.  Here is a current list of 2019 managerial changes in the Liga:

May 9:    Quintana Roo fired Jesus Sommers, replaced by Adan Munoz

May 12:  Campeche fired Tim Johnson, replaced by Jesus Sommers

May 18:  Dos Laredos fired Felix Fermin, replaced by Houston Jimenez

May 21:  Aguascalientes fired Joe Alvarez, replaced by Feliz Fermin

May 22:  Durango fired Lorenzo Bundy, replaced by Efren Espinoza

July 1:     Monclova fired Pedro Mere, replaced by Pat Listach

July 20:   Yucatan fired Luis Carlos Rivera, replaced by Geronimo Gil

July 22:   Durango fired Efren Espinoza, replaced by Juan Jose Pacho

July 23:   Leon fired Tony Aguilera, replaced by Luis Carlos Rivera

Monclova manager Pat Listach

All, of course, publicly received thanks from the teams firing them for their hard work and professionalism along with best wishes in future endeavors. 

In case you didn’t notice, Sommers found work in Campeche three days after being fired in Quintana Roo, Fermin landed in Aguascalientes three days after losing his job in Dos Laredos and Rivera was hired in Leon three days after Yucatan jettisoned him.  Bundy caught on in Monclova as Listach’s bench coach but as a longtime figure in Mexican baseball, mostly in the Mex Pac, he may be considered a hot property among other LMB owners looking to make a chance. Mere, who was reassigned to another position within the Acereros organization, would be another while Johnson and Alvarez are potential candidates to manage teams for owners with itchy trigger fingers.

GENERALES OWNER ARAMBURO IS NEW OWNER IN GUASAVE

Durango, Guasave owner Alfredo Aramburo

The Guasave Algodoneros have been scrambling to put together a team in time for next winter’s Mexican Pacific League season after joining the loop earlier this year along with Monterrey as the LMP’s two new expansion franchises.  Along with players, coaches, ticket takers and popcorn sellers, the Algodoneros have spent their short existence looking for a team owner after billionaire Alfredo Harp Helu made it clear that while he would foot the bill for renovations at Estadio Francisco Carranza Limon, he has no desire to be the primary owner in the Mex Pac’s smallest market.

The search for an owner of the Cottoneers ended last week when Mazatlan businessman Alfredo Aramburo was introduced at a press conference in Guasave as the man who will sign the paychecks.  At the press conference, Aramburo thanked LMP president Omar Canizales, other team owners and Algodoneros general director Sebastian Sandoval for their support, adding that “we come with great enthusiasm, with a lot of seriousness and a lot of professionalism.”

That latter point might be disputed by fans in Durango, where Aramburo is also the owner of the Mexican League Generales.  Shortly after the press conference in Guasave, the Generales fired their second manager in two months, the team is sliding out of playoff contention, attendance ranks in the lower half of the league and Aramburo himself is rumored to want out of Durango, according to Puro Beisbol editor Fernando Ballesteros.

Guasave's Estadio Francisco Carranza Limon

With the Mexican League about to enter into another schism among owners over the agreement with Major League Baseball regarding the signing of domestic prospects making it nearly impossible for LMB teams to recoup the cost of developing them, Aramburo may simply prefer operating in the less-fractured Mex Pac, although he told Durango’s El Siglio newspaper  in June that rumors the league is seeking a new owner for the franchise is speculation.

Although Aramburo is a Mazatleco, he is friends with Venados owner Jose Antonio Toledo, who encouraged him to purchase the Algodoneros and was at the press conference, during which Canizales said, “The philosophy is that the franchise stays here for a long time, but it is clear to us that we cannot force anyone if the city does not respond” with support.