YAQUIS SWEEP BOTH HALVES, TOP LMP PLAYOFF SEED

When Obregon's Nathanael Santiago tossed eight pitches (seven for strikes) in a 1-2-3 ninth inning to close out a 4-0 Yaquis road shutout over Hermosillo on December 30 in front of 16,604 fans at a packed Estadio Sonora, it culminated a standout regular season for manager Sergio Gastelum's team in which they won both halves en route to a 44-22 record and a maximum 20 playoff points heading into

Obregon players celebrate new LMP wins record

January's postseason.  Centerfielder Aneury Tavarez went 4-for-5 with an RBI double and shortstop Isaac Paredes singled twice, doubled and scored two runs to give starter Alex Delgado and four relievers who combined on a three-hitter all the offensive support they'd need.  Obregon's 44 wins set a new record for single-season victories.

Despite being blanked by the Yaquis, Hermosillo (38-27) finished in a three-way tie with Jalisco and Culiacan for second in cumulative points with 15 apiece.  The Charros ended their schedule with an overall record of 39-28 after losing to the 37-29 Tomateros, 7-2, in Estadio Culiacan (attendance 19.357).  Joey Meneses clubbed a two-run homer off Jalisco starter Octavio Acosta in the bottom of the second to help stake the Tomateros to an early 5-0 lead that was never threatened.

Elsewhere on closing night in the Mex Pac, Mexicali (34-33) held off Navojoa (25-41) by a 3-2 score as Alex Valdez singled and homered for the Aguilas to finish all alone with 13 points and the fifth playoff seed while the Mayos came in tied with expansion Guasave for last in points with 8.5 each as both will miss the postseason.  The Algodoneros (27-39) ended their first season on a high note with a 3-2 win over fellow expansionists Monterrey (26-41) when Moises Gutierrez' walkoff single off Sultanes reliever Salvador Valdez with two out in the bottom of the ninth drove in Bryant Aragon.

Finally, Los Mochis' Josuan Hernandez came in from third base on a wild pitch by Mazatlan's Ryan Newell in the top of the 16th inning followed by a 1-2-3 bottom of the frame from reliever Irving Machuca as the Caneros (32-36) snuck past the 31-37 Venados, 3-2, in a game that lasted 5 hours, 18 minutes.  Los Mochis was their own worst enemy as the Caneros only batted 1-for-12 with runners in scoring position while leaving 19 men stranded on base.

The first round of playoffs will feature an eight-team field instead of six and no "lucky loser" format this year, a result of the LMP expansion to ten teams this season. As usual, each series will be a best-of-7 set with the higher seed hosting Games 1 and 2 with the lower seed hosting Games 3, 4 and 5 before returning to the higher seed's home park for games 6 and 7, if needed. Here are the matchups for the quarterfinals:

#1 Obregon Yaquis vs. #8 Monterrey Sultanes
#2 Hermosillo Naranjeros vs. #7 Mazatlan Venados
#3 Jalisco Charros vs. #6 Los Mochis Caneros
#4 Culiacan Tomateros vs. #5 Mexicali Aguilas


ALVAREZ, QUIALA HIGHLIGHT MEX PAC STATS LEADER LISTS

Caneros' Yoanys Quiala led LMP in wins, ERA

Los Mochis second baseman Isaac Rodriguez won the batting title with a .340 average, four points ahead of Hermosillo's Yadiel Hernandez at .336.  Hernandez drew 50 walks in 60 games to lead the loop with a .462 on-base percentage.  Jalisco outfielder Dariel Alvarez homered twice over his final ten games to finish with an LMP-best 16 homers, ahead of the 12 each by Los Mochis' Leandro Castro and Michael Choice of Monterrey.  Alvarez' 55 RBIs were also most in the circuit, outdistancing the 47 of Monterrey's Felix Perez.  Alvarez also had an LMP-leading .527 slugging percentage as the Cuban (who spent five seasons playing for Camaguey before defecting to Mexico in 2012 and subsequently signing with Baltimore, is a potential Most Valuable Player choice for 2019-20.  Rico Noel led in stolen bases for weeks and the Culiacan outfielder finished with 30 to easily beat the 21 from teammate Sebastian Elizalde while also edging Obregon's Taiki Sekine in runs scored, 47 to 46.  Sekine, a popular 24-year-old outfielder who has returned to Japan's Yokohama BayStars and will miss the Mex Pac postseason, hit .293 and led the league with five triples while stealing 20 bases in 55 games.  Jalisco veteran second baseman Manny Rodriguez was tops with 19 doubles.

If the MVP award goes to a pitcher, the odds-on favorite among that group has to be Los Mochis' Yoanys Quiala.  The 6'3" Cuban righthander led the LMP in wins with a 9-2 record, his 2.57 ERA was second only to Mexicali veteran Javier Solano's 2.23 mark (somehow Solano won only two of his 13 starts, one of them the LMP's only shutout of the season) and Quiala registered 71 strikeouts to tie with Andre Rienzo of Obregon for second behind the 76 of Hermosillo starter Juan Pablo Oramas.  Quiala was also the top workhorse in the Mex Pac with 87.2 innings pitched over 14 starts (tying Monterrey's Edgar Gonzalez and Luis Payan of Navojoa for first)   There was a three-way tie for the saves title between Brandon Cunniff (Navojoa), Jose Rosario (Guasave) and Mario Meza (Mexicali) with 12 apiece.  Among the trio, Meza's 1.99 ERA was the best.  Veteran lefty middleman Arturo Barradas, who struggled in the summer with Monclova (12.10) and Tijuana (16.20) before hitting stride in Puebla (2.95), led the Mex Pac with 16 holds in 42 appearances for Mazatlan.  Barradas was second in apprearances to Samuel Zazueta's 46 trips from the bullpen for Obregon.


HARRIS, VALDEZ TOP 2019 MEXICAN LEAGUE AWARDS LIST

To the surprise of few, if any, observers, Oaxaca outfielder Alonzo Harris and Yucatan pitcher Cesar Valdez headed the list of award winners for the 2019 Mexican League season announced last month.

Mexican League MVP Alonzo Harris

Harris, who was signed as a free agent by the Guerreros at the beginning of the season after spending 2018 with Quintana Roo prior to a two-week training camp stint with Mexico City, was named the Liga's Most Valuable Player after the 2007 Mets draft pick hit .343 and led the circuit in runs (131) and total bases (324), was second in steals (45), RBIs (117) and slugging percentage (.691), finished third in homers (39) and came in fourth with 161 hits, a 1.122 OPS and 34 doubles (tying with three other players).  A 30-year-old native of McComb, Mississippi, Harris just missed becoming the LMB's first 40-40 Club member but still joined James Steels and Luis Terrero as the only Mexican Leaguers to reach 30 homers and 30 swipes in the same season.  Harris spent all or part of seven seasons in the Mets system before going into independent ball in 2014.  He was the Atlantic League Player of the Year in 2017 after 315 with 23 homers and 73 RBIs for York that season.

LMB Pitcher of the Year Cesar Valdez

Valdez was the easy choice for Pitcher of the Year after the Dominican topped the loop in wins with a 15-2 record and ERA at 2.26.  The Leones righty allowed nearly a full run per nine innings less than teammate Yoanner Negrin, who turned in a 3.22 mark (the 2016 POY, Negrin's 13 wins were also second in the LMB).   Valdez also led the Liga with a 1.06 WHIP and finished fifth in strikeouts with 122 while allowing just 17 walks over 147.2 innings pitched.  The 34-year-old Santo Domingo product began his professional career with Yakima of the Northwest League in 2006 (where he was a teammate of current LMB outfielder Cyle Hankerd) after signing a free agent contract with Arizona and went on to play parts of three MLB seasons with the Diamondbacks, Oakland and Toronto before making his Maxican League debut with Tabasco in the Spring 2018 season.  The Olmecas actually released Valdez in May of that year and he spent three months out of work before Yucatan signed him in early August, after which he was 5-0 with a 2.48 ERA (proving there's a reason the Leones are the Leones and the Olmecas are...well...you know).

Other Mexican League award winners for 2019 included Manager of the Year Roberto Vizcarra, who led Saltillo to a 66-53 record and their first playoff appearance in four years. Reliever of the Year went to Carlos Bustamante, who was third in the LMB with 27 saves and a 2.57 ERA for champions Monclova.  Quintana Roo outfielder Erick Migueles was Rookie of the Year after the 23-year-old Tucson native hit .252 with eight homers for the Tigres.  Veteran Durango outfielder Santiago Gonzalez was named Comeback Player of the Year by batting .306 for the Generales, the seventh time he's topped .300 in his 14-year career, after missing both 2018 LMB seasons.  Executive of the Year went to Monclova owner Gerardo Benavides, who brought (some say "bought") the first Mexican League pennant to his hometown team, which was founded by his grandfather in 1974.


OMAR VIZQUEL NAMED TIJUANA MANAGER FOR 2020

New Tijuana Toros manager Omar Vizquel

Former MLB shortstop great Omar Vizquel has been picked to manage the Tijuana Toros during the 2020 Mexican League season, replacing Oscar Robles.  The Venezuelan was introduced at a press conference during the Baseball Winter Meetings last month across the border in San Diego.

Vizquel earned his playing reputation with his glove over a 24-year career in the majors, earning 11 Gold Gloves (including nine in a row between 1993 and 2001) while making three All-Star Game appearances.  His career .985 fielding percentage ranks highest among shortstops with more than 1,000 MLB games played (leading his league six times in that category) while Vizquel also ranks first all-time among shortstops with 1,734 double plays over 2,709 games (also first), is third in assists with 7,676 and 11th in putouts with 4,102.

What is often overlooked is that the 52-year-old from Caracas also developed from a bottom-of-the-order hitter into a batsman who was pesky enough to do some damage at the plate.  His 2,877 career hits ranks 47th on the all-time list and is first among Venezuelan players, including 2,264 singles (17th).  Vizquel accrued a total of 456 doubles, 404 stolen bases and scored 1,445 runs en route to a career batting average of .272 with an on-base percentage of .336.  The man nicknamed "Little O" during his playing days is on the Hall of Fame ballot for a third time this winter after appearing on 37% of ballots his first year and 42.8% last year.  While he's got ground to cover in reaching the 75% required for election, Vizquel has at least a puncher's chance of entry into Cooperstown.

Omar Vizquel during his glory days in Cleveland

After retiring following the 2012 season, Vizquel was an infield coach with the Los Angeles Angels in 2013, before serving as first-base coach with Detroit between 2014 and 2017 under manager Brad Ausmus.  He interviewed for the Tigers managerial post after Ausmus was fired but passed over for another ex-MLB infielder, Ron Gardenhire.  Vizquel has spent the past two summers managing in the White Sox system, in Class A Winston-Salem in 2018 and Class AA Birmingham in 2019, before the front office in Chicago decided to cut ties with him in November.

Tijuana marks Vizquel's first experience of any kind in Mexican baseball and it comes under the microscope of the Uribe family, one of the LMB's most unforgiving ownerships who cut Robles loose after the former Padres infielder merely led the Toros to the best regular season record in the LMB last season (75-45, tied with Monclova) before falling to the Acereros in seven games for the LMB North title.


MANAGERIAL CHANGES IN MEXICO CITY, OAXACA

Sergio Gastelum is now Diablos Rojos helmsman

After showing he could manage with success in Oaxaca, former Mexican League infield star Sergio Gastelum has been elevated to dugout boss with the Guerreros' "big brother," the Mexico City Diablos Rojos.  In turn, longtime catcher Erick Rodriguez will he handed the reins in Oaxaca with his first managerial post.  Both teams are owned by billionaire Alfredo Harp Helu.

Gastelum had a solid 22-year Mexican League playing career, during which he batted .314 between 1995 and 2016 before retiring and going into coaching.  He took over as Guerreros manager midway through the shortened Fall 2018 LMB schedule and took them to a playoff berth despite a 12-14 regular season record before two playoff series wins catapulted Oaxaca into the Serie del Rey, where they lost to Monterrey.

Gastelum followed that up in winterball by leading his hometown Obregon Yaquis to the best record in the Mexican Pacific League and a playoff berth while earning Manager of the Year honors.  Oaxaca fared much better in 2019 by going 68-51 over both halves (fifth-best in the 16-team circuit), but fell to Yucatan in the first round of the postseason.  This winter, he has led Obregon to first place in both halves of the MexPac season as the Yaquis will enter the playoffs as the LMP's top seed.  That apparently was enough to please Harp, Diablos team president Dr. Othon Diaz, deputy president Miguel Ojeda and general manager Francisco Minjarez, who is apparently immune from his league suspension following his role at both ends of the Rookiegate scandal.

Gastelum will replace Victor Bojorquez at the helm after the former Diablos star outfielder led Mexico City to an LMB South-best 67-49 record last summer but failed to bring a pennant to the capital city.  Bojorquez went 134-92 over two years with the Red Devils after being brought up from their Ensenada affiliate in the Liga Norte and it's impossible to imagine him without a new job in Mexican baseball for long.

Erick Rodriguez takes over in Oaxaca

In turn, Oaxaca team president Guillermo Spindola Morales introduced Rodriguez as manager to fill the dugout void created by Gastelum's departure.  Long regarded more highly for his work behind the plate than while swinging a bat astride it, the Monterrey native (who just turned 40 on November 27) nonetheless has hit a creditable .293 over his 19-year Liga playing career, all with the Guerreros.  In fact, Rodriguez led Oaxaca batters with a .356 average in 2019, adding a career-high 12 homers and 47 RBIs over 87 regular season contests.  For some reason, he attempted to steal a base but was caught, making him 15-for-33 in lifetime stolen base attempts.  Rodriguez faltered during the playoffs, batting just .176 (3-for-17) in the Guerreros' five-game loss to Yucatan in the first round.

Rodriguez will continue catching for the Guerreros in 2020 in an attempt to emulate the late Nelson Barrera, who led Oaxaca to their lone LMB title as a player-manager in The seven-time All-Star (and MVP of the 2015 Juego de Estrellas) is expected to convert his calm demeanor and vast experience as a player into success as a manager, and he'll have the good fortune of making that conversion in an environment where expectations are historically no higher than they used to be in Kansas City six decades ago when the Athletics served as a de facto intramural farm team of the New York Yankees.


AMLO CALLS FOR LMB, LMP TO COMBINE INTO ONE LEAGUE

Mexico president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador

Mexican president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has never hidden the fact that he is passionate about baseball, often interjecting himself into both Mexican League and Mexican Pacific League affairs since ascending to the nation's highest office in December 2018.  While it's generally going to be a plus when your country's highest-ranking politician gives your sport preferential treatment, AMLO's involvement has often carried with it a two-edged sword.

Although AMLO personally kept four Mexican League franchises from going dark last year while making sure the Mex Pac expanded two more teams this winter, only Puebla appears to be a popular retention among the four saved LMB teams, the jury is still out in Monterrey on hosting year-round pro baseball and there's no assurance that Guasave will be any more successful this time than the Algodoneros were prior to that team's 2014 sale and move to Guadalajara (where the Jalisco Charros have been an unqualified success).

AMLO doesn't limit his of baseball to the stands

Lopez Obrador has now apparently called for the LMB and LMP to merge into one league.  According to Mexico City's Reforma, AMLO requested that the two loops form a single 26-team entity to begin play in 2021.  A December 17 meeting was convened in Mexico City by AMLO and attended by representatives from all existing franchises, who were urged to take part in a letter from Probeis director Edgar Gonzalez, as well as billionaires Carlos Slim and Carlos Bremer along with National Commission for Physical Culture and Sport head Ana Gabriela Guevara. According to the Reforma story, a source said the 16 Mexican League teams approved a merger but only three of the LMP's ten clubs (Jalisco, Guasave and Monterrey) were in favor of the proposal.

Ultimately, the merger was at least put on hold at the meeting while Lopez Obrador has repainted the picture somewhat.  Proceso's Beatriz Pereyra quotes the president as saying, “Now they are in a good moment because there is unity in the leagues, but if there is only one League, that will depend on the owners. That is not resolved by presidential decree. It has to be an agreement and, if it is convenient, if it works, let it be done, but they have to do that." Mexico City Diablos Rojos and Oaxaca Guerreros owner Alfredo Harp Helu claimed that a merger was not discussed at all, but rather an agreement was worked out in which the Mexican League would unconditionally make players available to play for the National Team at the upcoming Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo.


GENERALES SOLD, WILL REMAIN IN DURANGO

Players modeling new Durango jerseys 

After months of speculation, the Mexican League's Durango Generales have been sold.  Ever since Durango re-entered the LMB when then-owner Virgilio Ruiz moved the Carmen Delfines to the central Mexico city in November 2016, the Generales have been plagued by problems both on and off the field, including renovations to Estadio Francisco Villa that ran so late that the team had to play a month of road games during their inaugural 2017 schedule before they could play their home opener.  From that point, the situation devolved into a proverbial dog's breakfast marked by missed payrolls, players walking off the team until they were traded (usually for cash), low attendance and other maladies that beset problem teams.

Former MLB catcher Miguel Ojeda and local businessman Fernando Espinosa de Campo bought controlling interest in the Generales in January 2018, a move approved by LMB owners, but the sale disintegrated after Ojeda (who was going to run the team) decided to drop out so he could take a front office position with the Mexico City Diablos Rojos, for whom he'd once played and managed.  Ultimately, entrepreneur Alfredo Aramburo bought controlling interest in the Generales but felt slighted by the rest of the Liga's executives and owners from the start (El Sol of Durango says the Assembly of Presidents refused to approve him as team president) and the writing was on the wall for Aramburo's exit from the LMB when he emerged to buy the Mexican Pacific League Guasave Algodoneros last July to end a weeks-long search for an owner after Guasave had been awarded an LMP expansion franchise. For what it's worth, Mex Pac owners readily approved Aramburo as the Algodoneros team president.

Estadio Francisco Villa on Opening Day

Puro Beisbol's Fernando Ballesteros reports that Aramburo agreed to sell the Generales to a group of local investors, who agreed to keep the team in Durango for at least the 2020 season.  Although Ballesteros said the picture in Durango had started to improve in 2017 during their first year in the city, that sense of stability more likely didn't begin to take place until last season after Aramburo bought the Generales.  Even so, the Cottoneers play in the league's smallest ballpark, although Estadio Francisco Villa's 4,983 seats were usually more than enough to accomodate the average 3,219 backsides that attended 56 home games last summer, placing Durango 12th in the 16-team attendance derby.  The Generales ranked seventh in their first season by drawing 4,094 per game in 2017.

Durango was one of the four LMB franchises earmarked for shutdown last year before Mexican president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador intervened and ordered league president Javier Salinas to reverse the contraction and while they survived 2019, the new owners have a daunting task ahead of them.  While new manager Juan Jose Pacho has had success leading Mex Pac teams in Mazatlan, he'll work with a roster that includes 2019 LMB batting champion Daniel Mayora, Comeback Player of the Year Santiago Gonzalez and third baseman Moises Gutierrez, who responded to his first starting job with 25 homers and 91 RBIs but little else to put on the field along with a pitching staff on which Amilcar Gaxiola (6-5) was the only hurler with more than four wins and no starter had an ERA of lower than 5.00.


FORMER CATCHER, MANAGER PAQUIN ESTRADA DIES AT 71

Francisco Estrada as a Mets player

Former catcher and manager Francisco "Paquin" Estrada, whose Mexican baseball career spanned five decades, passed away December 9 in Obregon after a long illness.  Estrada was 71.

Born on February 12, 1948 in Navojoa, Estrada's playing career began in 1964 when the then 16-year-old receiver debuted with San Luis Potosi of the Class A Mexican Center League.  After two seasons with the Rojos, the stocky (5'8" and 182 pounds) backstop was brought up to the Mexico City Diablos Rojos in 1966.  He spent five years with the Diablos before being sold to the New York Mets prior to the 1971 campaign.  Estrada split that year between AA Memphis and AAA Tidewater before playing his first (and last) major league contest for New York on September 14 against Montreal at Shea Stadium, when he went 1-for-2 after replacing Jerry Grote in the seventh inning.  Suitably impressed with Estrada's .500 batting average, the California Angels traded six-time All-Star shortstop Jim Fregosi for him in the offseason, with the Mets throwing in Leroy Stanton, Don Rose and Nolan Ryan to make Gene Autry feel better about the deal.

From that point, Estrada bounced between the Angels, Orioles and Cubs systems for two years before returning to Mexico for good in 1974 when he joined the Puebla Pericos.  He would continue catching in the LMB for 21 more years (he also played 30 seasons in the Mexican Pacific League) before retiring in 1994 at age 46.  In his 31-year playing career, Estrada set minor league records for most games caught (2,847) while gaining a reputation as a decent, if not great, batter with some pop who was a master at working with pitchers.  However, it was as a manager that he achieved his greatest successes in baseball.

Paquin's last time behind home plate in Culiacan

Starting in 1982 as a player-manager with the Campeche Piratas, Estrada would lead teams to Mexican League pennants in 1983 with Campeche, 1990 with Leon and 2004 with Campeche (again).  In 31 seasons as a manager in the Liga, Estrada was 1,604-1,435 to rank second to Jose "Zacatillo" Guerrero's 1,971 wins on the all-time list.  He also won seven winterball pennants in the Mexican Pacific League (six in Culiacan), copped Caribbean Series championships in 1996 and 2002 with the Tomateros and managed Mexico's first World Baseball Classic team in 2006.  He has been enshrined in the Salon de la Fama since 2000 in a career that can hardly be defined on one plaque.

Leon Bravos in danger of being DQ'd by Mexican League

If Plinio Escalante is counting the days until he officially retires as president of the Mexican League, it's pretty hard to blame him.  Ever since the end of last season, the Merida native has had to put out more fires than a San Francisco fireman in 1906.  The latest involves one of the Liga's two new franchises, and it isn't the Durango Generales.  After an unbelievably shaky start since the former Carmen Delfines moved to Durango last November, the Generales have settled down to play decent, even inspired, ball while larger than expected crowds have been showing up at Estadio Francisco Villa.  Durango is hardly problem-free, but this fire comes courtesy of the Leon Bravos.

While the situation in Durango may have received more attention leading up to the start of the season, there were problems in Leon as well after the former Reynosa Broncos moved west to the Guanajuato city of 1.6 million inhabitants.  Veteran manager Francisco "Paquin" Estrada, who managed the original version of the Bravos to three winning seasons earlier in his 30-year career as an LMB skipper, was the victim of a so-called "virtual kidnapping" during training camp, going missing for two days in a story that gained international attention.  Estadio Domingo Santana, like Durango's ballpark, was behind in needed renovations, causing the Bravos to play their first five series on the road (going 7-8 during that stretch) before finally playing their home opener more than two weeks into the schedule.

Even then, the April 18 opener versus Mexico City was cancelled after complaints from Diablos Rojos players and management about poor lighting, stirring up bad blood between the two organizations after Leon team president Mauricio Martinez called the Red Devils "delicate."  As the opener was finally being played a day later, the game was delayed in the fifth inning after winds blew a metal structure near the centerfield fence onto the playing field, injuring two videographers and striking players from both teams in their respective bullpens.  Play wasn't resumed until more than two hours after the incident and the game was eventually ended by umpires after the seventh inning with Leon winning, 8-0, to even their record at 8-8.  That may have been the high point of the season for the Bravos, who then lost 12 of their next 14 games before Estrada was fired with the team at 10-20 and replaced by Luis Rivera.  The team has since gone 9-17 under Rivera.

With all that going on, news has recently broken that Escalante has begun the process of expelling the Bravos from the Liga.  According to Beatriz Pereyra in Proceso, owner Arturo Blanco Diaz has yet to pay the LMB an undisclosed price to buy the Reynosa franchise, an amount agreed upon during last November's Assembly of Presidents meeting.  Pereyra states that Escalante has informed the Bravos' board of directors that he's initiated the process of expulsion of the team and that the matter will be taken up on June 16, when the Assembly meets during All-Star Weekend in Campeche.

None of this can be a welcome development for Blanco Diaz, who owns the Laredo-based Potosinos courier company, a season sponsor for the Mexican Pacific League the past two winters.  Pereyra reports that Blanco Diaz supposedly made required payments to the LMB two days before the March 31 season opener, but that was apparently untrue and that even Bravos players were late in receiving their paychecks at one point.  Ironically, Pereyra adds, the Broncos closed shop after the 2016 season due to financial problems and lack of liquidity.

The semi-educated guess here at BBM is that Escalante and the team presidents will agree to at least a partial payment of the amount owed by the Bravos and allow the team (which is next to last in LMB attendance at 2,404 per opening after 21 home dates) to finish the season.  Logic at least suggests that while Leon may end up being a season-long headache for the Liga, it's nothing like the scheduling nightmare that would result if the circuit went down to an odd number of teams for the rest of the 111-game schedule.

As for Plinio Escalante, each day will be one day closer to September 13, when the Serie del Rey for the LMB championship is scheduled for a Game Seven, if needed.  Then again, he probably already knows that.

LMB: Leones lengthen lead, Paquin packing, Robo rolling

While the Mexican League's Northern Division has been a dogfight over the first month of the 2017 regular season, the LMB South has been more or less the sole domain of the Yucatan Leones thus far.  The 21-11 Lions are the hottest team in the Liga right now, winning 11 of their last 13 games to pull into a five-and-a-half game lead over defending champion Puebla and Campeche (both 15-16 on the season as Yucatan is the sole team with a winning record iu the LMB South).

Pitching has always been a mainstay of Yucatan baseball and it remains a team hallmark this year at Merida's Estadio Kukulcan.  The Leones are third in the Liga with a team ERA of 3.67 and tied with Tijuana for second with a 1.34 WHIP (Monterrey leads in both categories at 3.19 and 1.22, respectively) behind the starting pitching of 2016 Pitcher of the Year Yoanner Negrin (5-1 and 2.64) and two-time All-Star Juan Delgadillo (4-1 and 3.41), but it's really the bullpen that's carried the mound staff.  Five relievers have ERAs of 3.00 or less, with former MLBer Jairo Asencio thriving in the closer's role with a 1-0 record, 12 saves and a 2.12 ERA.  Asencio has allowed 13 hits and two walks in 17 innings for an 0.88 WHIP while striking out 19 batsmen.

The Leones offense has been steady if unspectacular, with very few holes in the batting order.  While Yucatan's team batting average of .280 is in the bottom half of that league table, they've benefitted from opportunistic hitting from the likes of LF Jesus "Cacao" Valdez (.360 with 2 homers and 15 RBIs), RF Leo Heras (.345/2/14), 2B Jordany Valdespin (.298/2/18) and SS Esteban Quiroz (.281/3/16).  Former Mariners IF Yuniesky Betancourt (.325/1/9) signed with the Leones in the offseason but wasn't activated until April 26. After starting off 1-for-15 over his first four games, Betancourt has since gone 12-for-25 (.480) while building up a seven-game hitting streak through last weekend's series with Veracruz.  The Leones will never bludgeon opponents offensively like Laguna has been doing as long as they play in pitching-friendly Estadio Kukulcan, but this year's batting order looks to be a death-by-a-thousand-cuts proposition for the pitchers facing them.

Where Yucatan has been able to create some breathing room between themselves and the rest of the division, the Leon Bravos faded badly following a decent start after playing the first two weeks of the season on the road, and that cost manager Francisco "Paquin" Estrada his job.  Estrada had already survived a spring of uncertainty due to his reported virtual kidnapping episode during training camp, which drew international attention, and living out of a suitcase for the first five series of the regular season before Leon hosted its first home game on April 19 (a day after the scheduled opener was postponed due to a power outage at Estadio Domingo Santana).  Although the Bravos blanked Mexico City, 8-0, in their Leon debut, the team then won just two of their next 14 games, marked by three four-game losing streaks before Estrada got the axe prior to last weekend's series at home against Tabasco with the team at 10-20.  Estrada was replaced at the helm by Luis Carlos Rivera (pictured), who then steered the Bravos to a three-game sweep of the Olmecas to bring them up to 13-20 on the season.  Rivera, a former pitcher who had cups of MLB coffee with Atlanta and Baltimore in 2000, spent 11 years in pro ball before retiring in 2010 at age 32.

Meanwhile, in the Northern Division, Tijuana continued to ride the hot bats of OFs Cyle Hankerd (.351/8/32), Dustin Martin (.307/6/30) and Corey Brown (.291/12/41) to cobble together a six-game winning streak for an LMB-best record of 23-9, but Monterrey sits a half-step behind at 22-9.  As mentioned, the Sultanes have received some very good pitching this spring, particularly from starters Angel Castro (4-0 and 2.33) and Ken Sigman (3-0, 3.41), closer Wirfin Obispo (3-1, 1.11 with 4 saves) and now Alfredo Aceves (3.12 in two starts).  However, you have to go to the top of the Monterrey batting order to put a finger on the catalyst.

Leadoff hitter Chris Roberson, an Oakland native who married a Mexican woman and has achieved dual citizenship, has topped the .300 mark all six years he's patrolled center field for the Sultanes, averaging 19 stolen bases and 12 homers per season along the way.  This year, Robo is outdoing himself early by leading the LMB with a .435 average, 19 points ahead of Saltillo 2B Luis Borges, while his 10 homers are second in the loop.  As befits his leadoff status, Roberson's 31 runs scored are tied for third in the Liga with Laguna 1B Ricky Alvarez, trailing only two other Vaqueros, RF Jonathan Jones (34) and 2B Anderson Hernandez (32).  Tijuana's Brown launched a pair of homers in Aguascalientes last Thursday to bring his roundtripper total to 12 for the season, two ahead of Roberson.  Alvarez' 45 RBIs are tops in the circuit, four more than Brown and Monclova 1B Matt Clark.  Saltillo OF Justin Greene continues to lead in stolen bases with 11 swipes, but has just one steal since April 25.  Tijuana's Martin and Laguna LF Ethan Martin are tied for second with nine steals each.

Among pitchers, nobody broke the six-win barrier but Yucatan's Negrin joined Frankie de la Cruz of Saltillo and Laguna's Edgar Osuna and Dustin Crenshaw in the five-win circle.  Negrin, whose April 13 loss to Mexico City was his first in the regular season since May 1 of last year, is 5-1 thus far in 2017 with a 2.64 ERA that ranks tenth in the LMB.  That category is led by Saltillo's Raul Carrillo, who shows a 1.27 figure after four starts and three relief appearances to go with a 1-1 record. Leon's Walter Silva is second at 1.72 to go with his 3-2 mark.  Irwin Delgado of Oaxaca has passed Monclova's Josh Lowey in the strikeout derby, 43 to 41.  Delgado has one more start and seven more innings than Lowey, whose 1.11 whiffs per inning tops Delgado's .98 rate.  In the saves department, Yucatan's Asencio (12) has overtaken Durango's Brazilian closer Tiago da Silva (11) after converting his last six save opportunities.  Da Silva continues to pitch well for the Generales, with a 1.88 ERA, but the LMB's 2014 Reliever of the Year hasn't had a lead to preserve with Durango in the throes of a 12-game losing streak through last weekend.

On the schedule this week, the top midweek series will be in Monterrey, when the Laguna Vaqueros visit for a meeting of the Liga's top offense versus the league's best pitching staff.  The Vaqueros are third behind Tijuana and Monterrey in the LMB North at 21-12.  Campeche hosts Yucatan for three games between Tuesday and Thursday in an important trio of LMB South games.

Next weekend's biggest series appears to be the Monclova-Laguna set in Torreon.  The Acereros were predicted to challenge for a pennant in 2017 after most of last year's key players on Puebla's title team were moved north by Gerardo Benavides (who owns both teams) to augment an already-solid Monclova roster, but the team has not performed to expectations thus far, starting this week with an 18-15 record.  The club did win four straight games last week, including a sweep of reeling Durango, but Benavides (whose grandfather founded the team in 1974) is in "win now" mode and while it's no secret that manager Wally Backman would leave Mexico in a heartbeat if a better offer came along, his team needs to do better or his exit may not be in concert with another gig north of the border.  As the saying goes, "Wherever you go, there you are" and, Wally, right now you're in Monclova with a very talented team and one of the Liga's most loyal fan bases.  Make the most of it.

Leon skipper Paquin Estrada goes missing, is found safe

While the Mexican League's newly-minted Durango Generales are still seeking a manager with less than a month to go until the regular season opens, their fellow debutante Leon Bravos were literally searching for their pilot when Francisco "Paquin" Estrada went missing earlier this week.  Estrada eventually turned up unharmed at a motel and while both he and the Leon front office were tight-lipped about what he was doing there, it appears the 69-year-old Mexican baseball veteran was the victim of something called "virtual kidnapping," a not-uncommon occurance south of the border.

The way "virtual kidnappings" typically happen is that a person will receive a phone call from people threatening to harm a relative or loved one, with a demand for cash to call the threat off.  In Estrada's case, it appears he answered such a call on Monday and was directed to check into a hotel, where he stayed for three nights.  The former catcher said in a brief address to the media Thursday after he was found that although he had not been held captive by armed gunmen, he was kept in place by someone on the phone who Estrada says did not allow him to sleep and constantly quizzed him about what was on television to make sure he was still in the room.

The result was that Estrada missed a scheduled press conference on Wednesday morning and was reported missing Thursday morning before turning up at the hotel later that day.  Details of his discovery are unavailable, although ESPN quotes a tweet from Guanajuato state's  chief prosecutor Carlos Zamarripa stating that Estrada had been found by state authorities and was "unharmed."

A Navojoa native, Estrada made his pro debut as a 16-year-old with San Luis Potosi of the Mexican Center League in 1964.  After going on to spend five seasons with the Mexico City Diablos Rojos, Estrada was sold to the Mets organization prior to the 1971 season.  He split that year between AA Memphis and AAA Tidewater, playing one game with New York and going 1-for-2 at the plate in the only MLB appearance of his career.  Following that campaign, he was packaged with pitcher Nolan Ryan in a trade to the Angels in exchange for former All-Star shortstop Jim Fregosi in one of the most lopsided deals in baseball history.  After toiling two years in the California system, Estrada returned to Mexico in 1974 and went on to play 20 more years in the Liga before retiring after the 1993 season.  He holds the minor league record with 2,701 games caught over three decades behind the plate.

Estrada's managerial began while he was still active, leading the Campeche Piratas to the LMB pennant as a player-manager in 1983.  He's gone on to win three Mexican League pennants as a manager and his 1,583 career wins ranks second only to Jose "Zacatillo" Guerrero in Liga annals.  He's done even better in the Mexican Pacific League, where Estrada has led teams to seven pennants and two Caribbean Series titles. Even without the past week's events, it's been an eventful 12-month period for the Salon de la Fama member. He began the 2016 season as manager in Tabasco before getting fired just one month into the schedule. Estrada was then hired by Saltillo on July 1 and led the Saraperos for the rest of the season before being let go in favor of Orlando Sanchez.

After the Reynosa Broncos franchise moved to Leon last winter, Estrada was named the team's new manager. When promised renovations at 3,000-seat Estadio Domingo Santana stalled, it appeared the Bravos might've ended up in Monterrey as co-tenants at Estadio Monterrey with the Sultanes.  The renovations have begun, however, although the Bravos will have to play on the road until Estadio Domingo Santana is considered ready. Wherever they end up playing, the Leon Bravos do have their manager back.

Which is more than they can say in Durango.

Umpire fined, suspended following argument in Monterrey

A reversed umpires' call in Monterrey Saturday resulted in a protracted on-field dispute, with several fines and suspensions later handed down by the Mexican League, including one of the umpires.

The visiting Saltillo Saraperos were leading archrival Monterrey, 12-10, in the bottom of the ninth, but the host Sultanes had Agustin Murillo standing on second base with two out when pinch-hitter Arturo Rodriguez swatted a pitch from closer Tony Pena over the wall above the left-field foul pole that third-base umpire Hugo Torres ruled foul, bringing Monterrey manager Felix Fermin out of the dugout to appeal the call, which was reversed by the crew into a game-tying, two-run homer.  At that point, Saltillo skipper Francisco "Paquin" Estrada and his coaches emerged from the Saraperos dugout to protest the reversal and the battle was on.

When the dust finally settled, the call stood (Monterrey eventually won, 16-14, in twelve innings) but things got ugly enough that the LMB has handed out the following suspensions and fines: Saltillo skipper Estrada was suspended a total of three games and fined $14,608 for insulting umpires Torres and Jair Fernandez upon his ejection, then remaining in the dugout following his expulsion; Saraperos coaches Fernando Elizondo and Luis Carlos Martinez will each miss a game due to their use of abusive language to the men in blue; Saltillo right fielder Carlos Alvarez was suspended for a game and fined $3,652 for using foul language and threatening Torres; and relief pitcher Rudy Gonzalez was suspended for the rest of the season after head-butting Torres during the argument.  Saltillo's entire coaching staff was given a blanket warning by the LMB that if they engage in similar behavior again, strong sanctions will come their way.

Even the umpires were not unscathed, although it was for what was NOT done Saturday.  Home plate umpire Fernandez was suspended two games and fined $3,000 for taking an inordinate amount of time to consult with his crewmates on Fermin's appeal, reversing the initial decision of his companions "without the strong elements to do so" ("sin tener los elementos contundentes para hacerlo"), failing to maintain control of the argument between Saltillo team members and coaches and the umpires and no applying a regulation that calls for a forfeit if an argument lasts more than 20 minutes.

The first-place Sultanes have won their last six games to improve to 66-34 on the season, becoming the first team in the LMB North Division to clinch a playoff berth with eleven games left on the schedule.  Monclova (62-39) is in second place, Tijuana (61-41) is third and Laguna (56-46) holds the fourth and final playoff berth, five games ahead of Mexico City (50-50).  Saltillo is next-to-last at 44-56.  Puebla (68-32), Yucatan (67-32), Quintana Roo (61-41) and Campeche (52-47) have all punched their tickets to the postseason.

Puebla catcher Cesar Tapia (.374) has a comfortable lead in the batting race, Monterrey third baseman Alex Valdez (whose two-run walkoff homer in the twelfth won Saturday's game) now has a Liga-best 27 longballs, Aguascalientes shortstop Diory's 90 RBI's tops the circuit and Saltillo outfielder Justin Greene's 32 stolen bases is one more than Christian Zazueta of Saltillo.  Among pitchers, departed Monclova ace Josh Lowey's 1.66 ERA and 131 strikeouts both remain best among the loop's hurlers, Cuban exile Yoanner Negrin is 16-1 for Yucatan to lead in wins and Monclova closer Arcenio Leon has 32 saves, one up on Puebla's Chad Gaudin.

Puebla has a pair of crucial LMB South series this week, starting with a three-game midweek set in Cancun against the Tigres and continuing next weekend with three more against Yucatan in Merida.  In the North, Aguascalientes tries to stay in the race as they host Laguna from Tuesday through Thursday while Monterrey has a big series in Tijuana starting Friday night.


Northern Mexico League playoff semis underway

The Northern Mexico League's regular season has concluded and the Mexican League's AA minor circuit is currently in the midst of their playoff semifinals.

The San Quintin Freseros, Ensenada Marineros and Mexicali Centinales all finished the schedule with identical 42-32 records to lead the composite LNM standings, but the Freseros got the nod for top seed in the postseason by collecting 13.0 points over the two-half campaign, just ahead of Ensenada's 12.5 points and 12.0 for both Mexicali and the San Luis Rio Colorado Algodoneros, who finished at 36-35.  The Tecate Toritos picked up 10 points for the fifth playoff seed and the Puerto Penasco Tiburones copped the final berth with 9 points, two ahead of the last-place Caborca Rojos.

Currently, both San Luis and San Quintin are one win away from meeting in the LMN Championship Series.  The Algodoneros lead Tecate, 3 games to 2, in their series while the Freseros have a 3-to-2 advantage over Mexicali in the other semifinal set.  San Luis, San Quintin and Tecate all won their first round series while Mexicali earned the fourth and final wild card berth for putting up the best performance among the three teams who lost in the opening round.  All three first round sets were decided in six games.

Randy Arozarena of Tecate won the batting title with a .377 average.  The 21-year-old Cuban exile, who also led the LNM with 42 stolen bases, was signed by the St. Louis Cardinals to a $1.25 million contract last week, likely more than he used to earn playing in Pinar del Rio.  Puerto Penasco Karexon Sanchez led the loop with 11 homers and San Quintin's Yordani was tops in RBI's with 47.  Yeiper of San Quntin led all pitchers with eight wins and 105 strikeouts.


Mexican Baseball Fiesta returning to Tucson for sixth year

Five Mexican Pacific League teams will converge on Tucson, Arizona in late September for the sixth annual Mexican Baseball Fiesta.  Two teams of prospects from as-yet-named Major League Baseball organizations will also take part in the four-day, eight-game event between September 29 and October 2 at Kino Stadium.  The Fiesta was held at venerable Hi Corbett Field in downtown Tucson last year.

Play will open Thursday, September 29 when the Hermosillo Naranjeros and Obregon Yaquis each take on teams with MLB farmhands.  Hermosillo and Obregon have taken part in all five previous Fiestas and will play all four days while Culiacan, Los Mochis and Mexicali will play two games apiece.  The Naranjeros and Yaquis will meet head-to-head in nightcap games both Friday and Saturday in a matchup that has drawn over 5,000 fans each of the past five years, according to event organizer Mike Feder.  Feder was GM of Tucson's Pacific Coast League teams from 1989 through 2000 and again between 2011-13, earning the PCL's Executive of the Year award in 2013, the last year The Old Pueblo had a AAA franchise before the parent Padres moved their top affiliate to El Paso.

The two MLB-affiliated teams will likely come from among the 15 organizations with Cactus League training facilities in Arizona, with the Arizona Diamondbacks and San Diego Padres arguably the two franchises that have been the most proactive at marketing south of the border.

Prior to the Tucson event, Hermosillo and Mexicali will play single games against each other in Round Rock, Texas on September 24 and 25, then move west to El Paso for games September 25 and 26.  The Naranjeros and Aguilas will play an afternoon game in Round Rock before playing that evening nearly 600 miles away in El Paso on September 25.

Paquin Estrada hired as new Saltillo skipper

After finding themselves in the unusual position of seventh place in the Mexican League's North Division with a 32-40 record, the Saltillo Saraperos fired manager Noe Munoz last Friday and brought in the venerable Francisco "Paquin" Estrada to take over the foundering club.  Estrada began the season as manager in Tabasco before getting canned one month into the campaign.

Estrada (pictured), who is mostly known to North Americans as a catcher sent by the Mets along with Nolan Ryan and two other players to the California Angels in exchange for shortstop Jim Fregosi after the 1971 season, during which he played in the only game of his Major League Baseball career.  South of the border, however, Paquin is regarded as far more than the answer to a trivia question.

The Navojoa native made his Mexican League debut in 1966 as an 18-year-old with the Mexico City Diablos Rojos and went on to play until 1994, spending 26 of his 29 playing seasons in the Liga.  Although he topped .300 seven times, he was widely hailed for his defense and ability to handle a pitching staff.  Estrada caught a minor league record 2,847 games with 2,415 of them in the LMB, where he hit .275 with 2,706 hits, 84 homers and 923 RBI's.  He also spent 30 winters in the Mexican Pacific League, including two championship seasons to go with the two LMB pennant-winners he played for during the summer.

He began managing in 1983 when he was playing for Campeche and ended up winning a pennant.  Estrada's 1,567 career wins (including two of his first three games with Saltillo at Carmen over the weekend) places him second in Liga annals to only Jose "Zacatillo" Guerrero.  Estrada has led three teams to Mexican League pennants (Campeche in 1983 and 2004, Leon in 1990) and seven more flags in the Mexican Pacific League plus two Caribbean Series crowns.  He was inducted into Mexican baseball's Salon de la Fama in 2000 and the Caribbean Series Hall of Fame in 2013.

Munoz spent 25 seasons in pro ball as a catcher himself.  He was 32 when he came to Saltillo as a player in 1999 and went on to become one of the squad's most popular in 16 seasons in a Saraperos jersey, many as the team captain, before retiring at 46 in 2014.  Munoz played 2,060 games in his LMB career, collecting 2,059 hits (including 127 homers) for a .301 average.  He played for pennant winners in 2010 and 2011 and his number 28 was retired in Saltillo last year.


Matias Carrillo now coaching in Yucatan after surprise Puebla firing

While Noe Munoz begins his job search after getting sacked in Saltillo, another longtime Mexican Leaguer ended his after a surprise firing last month.  Matias Carrillo, a former Marlins outfielder and one of the top sluggers in Liga history, was hired last Friday by Yucatan as a coach under manager Willie Romero, who has the Merida club tied with Puebla for first in the LMB South with identical 53-24 records after the Leones won 17 of 21 games in June to eliminate what had been a solid Pericos lead.

Carrillo should be more than able to give Romero good advice in how to fight off Puebla over the final month of the regular season, since he was the Pericos manager up to the All-Star Break.  All the Los Mochis product did was lead the Parrots to a Liga-best 38-15 record at that point, leaving his dismissal perhaps the least-explainable during a season that has seen even more firings than usual in a league not known for managerial stability in even the best of times.

As a player, Carrillo debuted in the LMB in 1982 as a 19-year-old with Poza Rica, hitting .309 in 99 games.  After two years with the Petroleros, he was dealt to the Mexico City Tigres in 1984 and spent three years with them before his contract was sold during the 1986 season to the Pittsburgh Pirates organization.  He ended up spending eight years in the USA (with a two-year return to the Tigres in the middle), hitting .251 in 104 games with the Florida Marlins in 1993 and 1994 before returning to Mexico for good in 1995.

El Coyote spent the last 14 years of his career with the Tigres in Mexico City, Puebla and Cancun before officially retiring in 2008 at 46 (he did play one game in 2009).  In 22 Mexican League seasons, he played 2,113 games and collected 2,484 hits for an average of .335 along with 325 homers and 1,526 RBI's.  He is not a member of the Salon de la Fama, which has not inducted a new member since 201, closed its doors in Monterrey at about the same time and now resides in storage while a permanent site is discussed and discussed and discussed.

Although he's been replaced as Puebla manager by former MLBer Cory Snyder, Carrillo will manage Los Mochis in the Mexican Pacific League's upcoming winter season, replacing Enrique "Che" Reyes, who was replaced as manager in Oaxaca one month into the current LMB schedule before finding work shortly thereafter in Tabasco to replace Paquin Estrada, who was just hired to replace Noe Munoz in Saltillo.


Sultanes maintain lead over LMB North field

The Monterrey Sultanes have won five of their last ten games to bring their Liga record to 50-27, good enough to hold a four-game lead over 46-31 Monclova in the LMB North standings.  The Acereros have closed what had been a seven-game gap in part by winning seven of their last ten contests.  Laguna (43-34) has heated up with six straight wins to pull past Tijuana into third place, knocking the 40-37 Toros into fourth.

Yucatan and Puebla continue to duke it out in the LMB South, both teams showing 53-24 records. The Leones have only lost once in their last ten games while the Pericos have won eight of ten.  Defending champ Quintana Roo is alone in third at 46-32, six games up on 40-38 Campeche.  Oaxaca has played better after an awful start, but the 30-46 Guerreros are nine games out of the fourth and final playoff berth.

Puebla's Cesar Tapia continues to lead the batting race with a .370 average as former Cal State-Fullerton outfielder Carlos Lopez' first year in Mexico has seen him turn in a .366 mark for Veracruz to pull into second while Oaxaca infielder Irving Falu, who joined the Guerreros early in the season from Omaha of the PCL, is third at .359.  Quntana Roo's Alex Liddi and Alex Valdez of Monterrey are tied for first in homers with 20 apiece, Aguascalientes' Diory Hernandez continues to lead the loop with 75 RBI's, eight ahead of Mario Lisson of Saltillo, but Hernandez has not driven in a run since June 23.  Former White Sox farmhand Justin Greene has six stolen bases in his last seven games to push his season swipes total to 27, five up on Tijuana's Dustin Martin at 22.

Monclova pitcher Josh Lowey pitched five innings of one-run ball Friday at home against Veracruz to pick up his 13th win of 2016 to maintain his lead in that department over Yucatan's Yoanner Negrin, a 31-year-old Havana native pitching in Merida via the Chisox system, who is 12-1.  Lowey also leads the Liga in ERA (1.65), WHIP (0.93) and strikeouts (131).  Given the LMB's 109-game regular season schedule, yesterday's 20-game winner is today's 15-game winner and Lowey is a good bet to reach that total by mid-July.  Former Astros minor leaguer Arcenio Leon earned two saves last weekend to raise his total to 27 for the season, four more than the 23 of Puebla's former big leaguer Chad Gaudin.  Prior to this season, Gaudin had saved a total of 28 games in 12 seasons of major and minor league ball combined.

Merry-Go-Round Time: Four LMB teams recycle managers

It's not unusual for Mexican League teams to fire managers before the All-Star Break (this year's will be June 3-5 in Monterrey), but the triggers have started firing a little sooner this season.  Three teams canned their skippers before the end of April, replacing each with other former managers who've been aboard the same merry-go-round the recently-dispatched helmsmen have boarded once more themselves.  While younger managers will filter into the Liga here and there, there are many veteran LMB leaders who seemingly recycle from team to team for years.

The axe first swung on April 28 when Oaxaca let Enrique "Che" Reyes (pictured) go after the Guerreros got off to a 4-18 start, losing their first eleven games.  Reyes previously managed in Aguascalientes, Puebla, Dos Laredos, Cancun, back to Puebla, Angelopolis, Quintana Roo, Veracruz, Tabasco, Monterrey, Aguascalientes (again) and Tabasco (again) before coming to Oaxaca.  He was replaced by Alfonso "Houston" Jimenez, who has managed in Mexico City, Saltillo, Puebla, Minatitlan, Veracruz and (of course) Oaxaca.  Jimenez' first stint with the Guerreros was from 2002-04.

It didn't take long for Reyes to find his next stop, replacing Francisco Estrada in Tabasco after the well-traveled "Paquin" (Toluca, Minatitlan, Puebla, Cancun, Chihuahua, Tabasco) posted a 7-15 to start the year, leading to his dismissal. Estrada was hired in the offseason, plenty of time to build a winning team in Villahermosa.

Not to miss out on the fun, the Laguna Vaqueros determined that an 11-13 mark was enough to sack Mario Mendoza on April 30.  The man who gave baseball the Mendoza Line, the Chihuahua native led teams in Monclova, Aguascalientes, Dos Laredos, Angeleopolis, Tabasco, Campeche, Monclova (again) and Tijuana before coming to Torreon this year.  The Vaqueros opted for youth in bringing Daniel Fernandez in.  The 50-year-old Fernandez has only been managing long enough to work in Mexico City, Tabasco, Veracruz and Yucatan before his hiring in Laguna.

And to stay with the theme after this story was first posted on May 9, the Veracruz Rojo Aguilas sent yet one more first-year manager, Mark Weidemaier, packing after the Red Eagles began the year with a 12-21 record.  Weidemaier, who also managed Torreon in 1988, was hired by Veracruz in the offseason after spending two years coaching with the Washington Nationals.

He was replaced by another of the new breed, Lino Connell, who'd been managing the Northern Mexico League Ensenada Marineros, a farm team shared by Mexico City and Oaxaca.  Connell has seen enough of the world to be a Samsonite spokesman, playing in the United States, Mexico, Italy and his native Venezuela from 1991 to 2010.  He spent from 2000 to 2006 with Veracruz, Oaxaca and Reynosa during his 20-year playing career.  Connell began last season in Ensenada before finishing out the campaign running the Monterrey Sultanes and was recently named bench coach of the winter Venezuelan League Zulia Aguilas.

Although it's not unusual to see players spend 10 to 20 seasons with the same Mexican League team, managers have less job security than being married to a Kardashian.

MEZA OUT, PAQUIN IN AS PETROS SKIPPER

The merry-go-round that is the Minatitlan Petroleros managerial job took another spin this week when Cuban skipper Victor Meza submitted his resignation after an 11-15 start to the season. While the Petros’ current record is not panic-inducing, the pitching staff’s 6.01 ERA is.

Enter Francisco “Paquin” Estrada.

A Salon de la Fama member who caught more games (2,847) than any other player in minor league baseball history, Estrada (pictured)  is being brought into Minatitlan to address the team’s pitching woes while bringing a sense of calm that may have eluded the Petros under the volatile Meza, whose managerial reign in Veracruz last year likewise was a short one. Estrada has led several pennant-winners in both the Mexican and Mexican Pacific leagues and managed Mexico’s entry in the 2006 World Baseball Classic.

This is the second time a Mexican League team has changed managers in the past week. Last Saturday, Gerardo “Polvorita” Sanchez (himself a Salon member as a player) was relieved as helmsman for the Monclova Acereros. Marco Antonio Davalillo, son of former player and manager Pompeyo and nephew of ex-MLBer Vic, has taken over as Monclova’s manager.

And it’s only April, folks.

LEYVA FIRED, ESTRADA BACK AS TOMATEROS SKIPPER

Former Philadelphia Phillies manager Nick Leyva has been sacked as skipper of the Culiacan Tomateros after the team won just six of their first 19 games this season. Leyva, who spent the 2009 season as a coach in Toronto under Cito Gaston, was booed by Culiacan fans during Tuesday’s 6-3 home loss to Hermosillo. Tomateros team president Juan Manuel Ley also incurred the wrath of attendees of the game at Estadio General Angel Flores.
According to the Puro Beisbol website, Leyva will be replaced by Francisco “Paquin” Estrada (pictured), a member of Mexico’s Salon de la Fama who spent 26 years as a catcher in his pro baseball career before becoming one of the country’s top managers. Estrada has led three teams to Mexican League pennants as well as earning three more Mex Pac flags (including two for Culiacan). He was expected to take the helm for the Tomateros last Thursday night.
The 60-year-old Estrada, who holds Minor League Baseball’s career record with 2,847 games caught, was enshrined in Monterrey in 2000.