PAREDES SENT TO HERMOSILLO IN 4-PLAYER SWAP

Infielder Isaac Paredes dealt to Hermosillo

    Isaac Paredes is going home. With the first half of the Mexican Pacific League's 2022-23 season winding down, Mexicali and Hermosillo swung a big trade on Sunday with the Aguilas sending infielder Paredes, a Hermosillo native, to the first-place Naranjeros in exchange for three LMP veterans: outfielder Norberto Obeso, shortstop Walter Ibarra and lefty pitcher Marcelo Martinez.

    Paredes, 23, hit .205 with 20 homers with 45 RBIs while playing four positions over 111 games for the Tampa Bay Rays last summer. This is his sixth winter in the Mex Pac, where he's batted .304 with 15 homers and an even 100 RBIs for Obregon, Mazatlan and Mexicali. The 5'11 213-pounder has performed for the Naranjeros twice as a January playoff reinforcement and played for Mazatlan in the Caribbean Series two years ago. A former Cubs and Tigers prospect before arriving in Tampa Bay this season, Paredes was traded to Mexicali by the Venados last February in exchange for the rights to shortstop Daniel Castro and outfielder Fabricio Macias. Capable of playing three infield positions, Paredes seems to be best suited for third base to complete an infield with Jasson Atondo at shortstop, Jose Luis Cruz at second and Roberto Ramos at first.

    While Mexicali had to give up a top LMP player in Paredes, they'll add depth to their roster. Obeso has played eight seasons for Hermosillo in the LMP but used sparingly this winter, playing in only 12 of 28 Orangemen contests in 2022-23 and hitting just .167 for manager Juan Castro. Obeso's lifetime LMP numbers are much better: a .289 average with 209 hits and 79 RBIs in 219 games.The 27-year-old former Jays prospect can play all three outfield positions and hit .316 for Yucatan's Mexican League champs this year.

    Ibarra is a 14-year veteran of the winterball wars who spent four seasons in Mexicali between 2014 and 2018. The 35-year-old spent eight summers in the Yankees system and can play shortstop or second base with experience in the corners. Like Obeso, Ibarra struggled at the plate for Hermosillo this season (.191 in 13 games) but his career numbers of .247 with 72 doubles and 23 homers in 546 games are much better and he's been a .290 batter in seven Mexican League seasons, batting .257 for Yucatan this summer.

    The 26-year-old Martinez is a bit of an X factor for Aguilas manager Gil Velazquez. A Reynosa product, Martinez has pitched four years in the Kansas City organization, including two stints with AAA Omaha, primarily as a starter. His 24-26 record in the Royals system is so-so and his 4.68 ERA is nothing to write home about, but 440 strikeouts in 421.1 innings can't be ignored. Martinez has been a middle reliever in Mex Pac play, going 3-8 with a 2.29 ERA in 65 trips from the bullpen over six years for the Naranjeros.

    Hermosillo was doing well enough before trading for Paredes and currently lead the Mex Pac standings with an 18-11 record, one game ahead of 17-12 Guasave and two up on Los Mochis and Mazatlan at 16-13 each. Navojoa is fifth with a 15-14 ledger, one game ahead of 14-15 Mexicali, where impatient owner Dio Alberto Murillo may be ready to jettison manager Velazquez during the season for a second time. Obregon and Culiacan are tied for seventh at 13-16, defending champion Jalisco (12-17) is in ninth and Monterrey is 11-18 in last place in the ten-team loop.

    Los Mochis outfielder Yosmany Tomas continues to lead LMP batters with a .358 average, ahead of Roel Santos of Hermosillo (.354) and Monterrey's Roberto Valenzuela (.337). Mexicali's Anthony Giansanti homered against Culiacan last Wednesday to bring his season total to eight, two more than Sebastian Valle of Obregon. Four players are tied for third with five roundtrippers each. Christian Villanueva of Jalisco tops te RBI charts with 23 in 28 games; Obregon's Yadir Drake is second with 21 ribbies while Tomas and Niko Vasquez (Mexicali) are tied for third with 20 apiece. Hermosillo's Jose Cardona (14), Randy Romero of Mazatlan (11) and Santos (10) are the Mex Pac's top three basestealers thus far.

    Among pitchers, three starters are tied for the wins lead with four victories each: Jeff Kinley (Guasave), Juan Pablo Oramas (Hermosillo) and Juan Tellez (Mazatlan), the latter showing a 4-2 record for the Venados despite a 4.74 ERA. In that category, Los Mochis' Luis Miranda continues with a perfect 0.00 after five starts and 27 scoreless innings. Nico Tellache of Guasave is second at 1.45 while Oramas is third with a 1.67 ERA. Three hurlers are tied for the lead with 34 strikeouts: Arturo Lopez (Obregon), Matt Pobereyko (Guasave) and Touki Toussaint (Hermosillo), whose 34 K's have come in just 27 entradas. Arizona's first-round pick in the 2016 draft, Toussaint went 1-1 in eight outings for the Los Angeles Angels this summer. The saves co-leaders are Brandon Koch of Guasave and Mazatlan's Elkin Alcala with 10 each. Jake Sanchez of Mexali is third with eight salvados.

    With one week remaining in the first-half battle for playoff points, Hermosillo will try to hold onto first place (and the 10.0 points that accompany it) by taking on Culiacan in a three-game midweek road series before hosting Los Mochis next weekend. Second-place Guasave will be in Mexicali for games Tuesday through Thursday before welcoming Navojoa in a three-game set Friday through Sunday.


SALON DE LA FAMA HOLDS INDUCTION CEREMONY

Mexico president Lopez Obrador at SDF in 2019

    After a wait of two years, the Salon de la Fama in Monterrey held an induction ceremony last Friday night during which seven new members were enshrined in the hall of the immortals. Each had been voted in as members in 2020 but there were no ceremonies held last year due to ongoing Wuhan virus concerns.

    Among those in attendance were Mexico City Diablos and Oaxaca Guerreros owner Alfredo Harp Helu, who bankrolled construction of the facility in 2019 after the Salon and its contents were kept in storage for seven years when the Cuauhtemoc Brewery closed the former facility that had served as home from 1973 to 2012. One of Mexico's richest men, Harp is also president of the Mexican Baseball Hall of Fame Association

    Salon director Francisco Padilla Dávila, director of the Hall of Fame, gave a welcome message and the president of the Electoral Committee, Antonio de Valdés, gave a few words to the public and those enthroned. Before beginning with the awards ceremony, Agustín Castillo, who served as master of ceremonies, mentioned how the process of choosing immortals works. De Valdés then began with the delivery of SDF jerseys, rings and plaques.

    Here are profiles of the seven Salon de la Fama inductees from Friday night:

MATIAS CARRILLO
    Carrillo was born on February 24, 1963 in Los Mochis, Sinaloa, this remarkable hitter played 22 years in the Mexican League, beginning with his Rookie of the Year season in 1982 for Poza Rica. “El Coyote” played for the Tigres in Mexico City and Puebla from 1984 until the end of his career, playing 2,110 games with 2,531 hits for a .336 average (including 330 homers and 420 doubles), 1,535 runs scored, 1,554 RBIs and 276 stolen bases. He won home run and RBI titles in 1993 with 38 and 125, respectively, as well as the batting title in 1996 with a .368 mark, led in stolen bases in 1984 with 30 and hits in 1999 with 175.

VINICIO “VINNY” CASTILLA
    Born on July 4, 1967 in Oaxaca, Oaxaca, Castilla spent three seasons in the Mexican League with Saltillo and Monclova before becoming a Major League star, playing with six teams and reaching his peak in the 1990's with the Colorado Rockies. The formidable third baseman occupies a very special place among Mexican-born MLB players after hitting 320 homers in 16 seasons. In 1,854 games, he batted .296 (topping .300 five times) with 1,884 hits, 902 runs, 349 doubles and 1,105 RBIs. while earning Silver Slugger Awards in 1995, 1997 and 1998.

ISIDRO MARQUEZ
    Born May 15, 1965 in Navojoa, Sonora, Marquez is the king of Mexican baseball relievers after playing for eight teams over 22 seasons in the LMB. He participated in 850 games, achieving a 97-78 (.554) record with a 3.44 ERA and 301 saves, the Liga record. He made an important name for his serenity on the mound and his ability to come out ahead in the climactic moments of matches. He was the saves leader in 1997 with the Tigres (30) and in 2005 with Campeche (25). Marquez pitched seven games in relief for the Chicago White Sox in 1995, going 0-1 with a 6.75 ERA.

JOSE LUIS SANDOVAL
    Born on August 25, 1968 in Los Mochis, Sinaloa, Sandoval shone defensively at shortstop but also was an impactful batter. He played 22 seasons with the Mxco City Diablos Rojos and one with Saltillo. In a record 2,219 games, “El Borrego” collected 2,263 hits, 435 doubles, 253 homers, 1,171 runs, 1,315 RBIs and a .293 batting average. A charismatic player, he soon became the great idol of the capital's fans. Sandoval holds several defensive records for shortstops, including most double plays ever for a shortstop with 1,731 and most double plays in a season with 128 twin-killings.

EDUARDO JIMENEZ
    Jimenez was born September 4, 1964 in Tijuana, BC and went on to become a notable outfielder and designated hitter. He played 21 years in the LMB with eight teams, taking part in 1,795 games an racking up 1,758 hits (including 351 homers and 297 doubles) for a career average of .301. Along the way he scored 1,142 runs and drove in 1,285 more.Jimenez was home run champion with Saltillo in 2000 and holds the record for the most times hitting two longballs in a single game seven times that same year. In addition, he ranks fifth in all-time home runs with 351 roundtrippers.

BONNIE “EL GRILLO” SERRELL
    Born March 9, 1922 in Dallas, Texas, Serrell played second base alongside Jackie Robinson with the Kansas City Monarchs before spending spent 10 seasons with five teams over two stints in the Mexican League from 1945-48 and 1952-57. The lefty batter joined the Tampico in 1945 with Tampico and helped win two pennants there, then was a big factor for Nuevo Laredo's champs in 1953 and 1954. He averaged .311 over his Liga career with 560 runs scored, 1,099 hits, 173 doubles, 66 triples, 44 home runs, 517 RBI, 90 stolen bases and posted six years over .300. Magnificent in the field as well.

JORGE MENENDEZ TORRE
    Born December 24, 1938 in Mérida, Yucatán, Menendez was one of the best journalists of his day. His career began in 1960 with the Yucatán Diario, where he was until 1968 when he founded the sports weekly La Crónica. He later wrote for Juzgue, Excelsior, Heraldo de México, Ovaciones, Sport Illustrated, Hit, and SuperHit magazines, as well as The Sporting News. He won four Writer of the Year awards from the Salon de la Fama and one Fray Nano National Award in 2000. In his last years, Menendez wrote in Mundo al Día and Novedades de Yucatán before dying in 2013 at age 74.

MEXICAN LEAGUE ADDS 19TH TEAM IN QUERETARO
 

   The Mexican League has awarded a nineteenth franchise to the state of Queretaro, contingent on construction of a new baseball stadium there. According to sources, a new facility will cost an estimated 400 to 500 million pesos (US$20.5-35.6 million) and be built with private funding. The team will be nicknamed the Conspiradores, or “Conspirators.”

    LMB president Horacio de la Vegas was present at the announcement and said, “It is a historic day, very important for baseball in our country. Baseball has grown significantly. We have had an important streak of growth.” De la Vega added that Liga income grew by nearly 1,000 percent from 2019 to 2022, leaguewide attendance went up from 1.9 million spectators in 2019 to 4.3 million this year and that the LMB had 24 television contracts with distribution in more than 20 countries in 2022 reaching more than 60 million viewers.

    The proposed ballpark is expected to be located between five and ten minutes from Queretaro International Airport, according to Conspiradores owner Francisco Orozco. The first stone for the 6,000-seat facility (which will include 144 private boxes, will be laid in January with completion due in March 2024. Orozco said advanced negotiations are underway the the property near Queretaro City in El Marquez.

    The state of Queretaro is located in in north central Mexico and lies north of Mexico City, south of San Luis Potosi and east of Guanajuato. One of the smallest states in the country, Queretaro is home to 2.4 million residents, 1.6 million in metropolitan Queretaro City, the state capital. The climate is relatively mild, with average high temperatures in the low to mid 80's during baeball season and annual rainfall of about 20 inches. Queretaro City is one of Mexico's fastest-growing and has become an industrial center with a per capita income of US$20,000, second only to Monterrey. The Conspiradores will be the city's first professional baseball club.

    Team director Gerardo Quezada expressed his belief that the Conspiradores will be a competitive team from the start. “This is a historic day: a franchise is born in the Mexican Baseball League,” he declared. “Baseball is a family sport. We will lead Querétaro to triumphs and victories in the future.”

    It's estimated that 60 to 70 percent of Queretaro's players in 2024 will be supplied by the 18 current LMB teams, with the remainder coming through other channels like free agency.

    A twentieth Mexican League franchise for 2024 is expected to be formally announced soon.

CARIBBEAN SERIES TO MOVE TO JANUARY?

CBPC president Juan Francisco Puello

The president of the Caribbean Professional Baseball Confederation is floating the idea of moving the Caribbean Series one week ahead to the end of January and the leader of the Mexican Pacific League, whose Mazatlan franchise will host the Serie del Caribe in 2021, is receptive to the idea.

According to the Septima Entrada website, CBPC head Juan Francisco Puello says that one reason for an earlier start is so more national winterball champions can take part in the event "as long as they meet the requirements and that we have the time for that...time is very important." Puello also told Septima Entrada that "we have a term according to the agreement with Major League Baseball, a limited period, so I have always insisted that this series should start at the end of January and conclude at the latest, in my opinion, on February 1."

Mexico's Caribbean Series team in 2017

Six nations sent their winter league champions to San Juan, Puerto Rico earlier this month for the Caribbean Series, including the Dominican Republic (home of the CS winner Este Toros), Venezuela, Mexico, Panama, first-timers Colombia and host Puerto Rico. Cuba was scheduled to send their CNS champion for the seventh consecutive year but backed out a month before the tournament, stating visa problems. Puello has disqualified Cuba from sending their pennant-winner to Mazatlan next January but is said to be interested in bringing new entries, perhaps from Nicaragua, Curacao or Argentina.

Such a move would almost guarantee the demise of the Latin American Series, a second-tier competition that was scheduled for January but cancelled after Panama and Colombia both took part in the CS instead while the Veracruz Winter League in Mexico went dark, leaving Nicaragua and Argentina as the sole LAS nations free to participate. Curacao was set to send champions Santa Maria to the 2019 LAS in Veracruz last winter but pulled out of the tournament, leading to the host LIV to be represented by two teams, Acayucan and Xalapa.

Mazatlan will host 2021 Serie del Caribe

Puello added that another consideration in proposing an earlier Caribbean Series is so it won't have to compete with the NFL's Super Bowl championship game, which also happens in early February. The CPBC will take up the matter at their next plenary session, ahead of which, Puello says, "We are working to see what the leagues think and hopefully, God willing, that can be confirmed to give a 180-degree turn to the Caribbean Series."

For his part, Mexican Pacific League president Omar Canizales is open to the idea of his league concluding its season earlier to accommodate the Caribbean Series in late January. "We have to analyze the schedule we assembled this last season with ten teams," said Canizales. "This forces us to put together a mirror calendar so teams can have road trips, home games, weekends...it can be a bit complicated. However, we are always in the best position to find formulas that help the Caribbean Series.

"At the same time, we have to take care of our local championship, without a doubt. Our local championship is very important."

16 CANDIDATES NAMED ON 2020 SALON DE LA FAMA BALLOT

Ex-Tigres OF Matias Carrillo

Former Mexican League slugger and Florida Marlins Matias Carrillo topped a list of ten new Salon de la Fama candidates that will join six existing nominees on the ballot to be sent out voters later this winter. Carrillo received 53 nominations from the 54 journalists and broadcasters who filled out their preliminary votes earlier this year. Ballots were counted by Mexican League president Horacio De La Vega, his Mexican Pacific League counterpart, Omar Canizales, Salon de la Fama director Francisco Padilla and Salon historian Horacio Ibarra.

Here's a list of the top ten vote-getters: Matias Carrillo (53 votes), Isidro Marquez (48), Vinny Castilla (43), Jose Luis Sandoval (43), Eduardo Jimenez (37), Luis Arredondo (29), Erubiel Durazo (22), Juan Manuel Palafox (21), Roberto Vizcarra (21) and Cecilio Ruiz (18).

A native of Los Mochis, Sinaloa, Carrillo batted .251 over 107 Major League games for Milwaukee and Florida spread over three seasons between 1991 and 1994 but by far had his greatest success in the LMB. In 22 Liga seasons, El Coyote hit .336 with 2,531 hits, including 330 homers, 420 doubles, 1,631 RBIs and 276 stolen bases. He is the only player in Mexican League history to top the 250 mark in both homers and steals and has gone on to become a successful, if well-traveled, manager.

LMB all-time saves leader Isidro Marquez

Marquez was a top reliever with a similarly long career, coming out of retirement at age 54 to make six scoreless appearances with his hometown Navojoa Mayos of the Mexican Pacific League this winter. He is the Mexican League's all-time saves leader with 301, nearly 100 more than his nearest competitor, Sixto Baez (who had 210), and earned saves in all three games of a series three times for Campeche in 2003.

The ten aforementioned players will be on the ballot with holdovers Nick Castaneda, Alex Trevino, Antonio Pulido, Francisco Garcia, Homar Rojas and Pablo Gutierrez, who've all been up for election in years past. From the

Salon de la Fama in Monterrey

ballot of 16 nominees, voters will determine the next five new members of the Salon de la Fama. Results will be announced in April and induction ceremonies held n November.

The Salon de la Fama spent seven years in limbo after the Cuauhtemoc brewery in Monterrey shut down the building where the museum had been housed in 2012. A new hall of fame in Monterrey was paid for by Mexico City Diablos Rojos owner Alfredo Harp Helu and formally opened February 20, 2019. In its first year, the Salon welcomed nearly 65,000 visitors from 27 countries.

"PANCHO PONCHES" NAMED NEW CAMPECHE MANAGER

Francisco Campos is new Piratas skipper

One of the Mexican League's most venerable and beloved pitchers will remain in Campeche as Francisco "Pancho Ponches" Campos has been named manager of the Piratas for 2020. A 15-time All-Star who spent nearly all of his 27-year LMB career pitching in the Walled City, Campos retired as an active player following the 2019 season. The Guaymas native has served as a bullpen and pitching coach over the past three winters for the Culiacan Tomateros of the Mexican Pacific League, but this will be his first manager's job.

Campos made his professional baseball debut in 1991 with Houston's Gulf Coast League affiliate as a catcher after wowing scouts at a tryout in Hermosillo. However, the 18-year-old hit just .147 for an Astros' rookie league squad that included future MLB star Bobby Abreu, then a 17-year-old outfielder. Campos also struggled defensively committing four errors and waving at nine passed balls, although the strong-armed backstop nailed 15 baserunners over his 21 outings. Campos' switch to the pitcher's mound following his release proved to be a prescient move.

Originally a Monclova property, Campos was sent to Campeche in 1993 and, except for stints in the Brewers and White Sox organizations and a late-season loan in 2006 to Monterrey (where he went 5-0 for the LMB North champ Sultanes), the man eventually known throughout Mexico as "Pancho Ponches" remained a Piratas mound mainstay for 27 seasons. After coming into the 2016 with 192 career wins, Campos struggled for four years to record his 200th victory, finally doing do last July 2 at home against Union Laguna and immediately going on the reserve list following what proved to be his last game. His 2,181 strikeouts place him fourth on the LMB's all-time list and he holds the record with five ponches titles. Campos also won the Pitching Triple Crown in 2004 with a 12-2 record, 99 K's and a 1.47 ERA, becoming the only hurler since Reynosa's Jim Horsford in 1968 to turn the hat trick. He tossed a no-hitter against Puebla in 2008, the year before he won his third ERA title.

New Rieleros manager Luis Carlos Rivera

Francisco Campos is arguably Mexican baseball's best pitcher of the 21st century and a sure bet for the Salon de la Fama, but now he'll take over from Jesus Sommers (a Salon member himself) to manage a team that finished 47-68 in 2019 and missed the playoffs for the third straight year. He becomes the LMB's latest managerial hire after Aguascalientes replaced Felix Fermin (gone to Durango) with Luis Carlos Rivera, who was canned in Yucatan last season after a previous stint in Leon.

Campos and Rivera bring the total number of Mexican-born managers in the LMB to ten (seven in the South Division) as teams open training camps. Campos is one of three homegrown skippers making their managerial debuts in 2020, joining Erick Rodriguez in Oaxaca and Dos Laredo's Pablo Ortega. Rodriguez, who played in his seventh All-Star Game of the decade last season, will become the LMB's first player/manager since Saul Soto performed double-duty on an interim basis with Aguascalientes in 2016. Tim Johnson, who'll make his Leon debut this spring, is the only extranero helmsman in the LMB South.

The following is a list of current Mexican League managers (as of February 23) and their countries of origin:

NORTH DIVISION

Aguascalientes - Luis Carlos Rivera (Mexico)

Dos Laredos - Pablo Ortega (Mexico)

Durango - Felix Fermin (Dominican Republic)

Monclova - Pat Listach (United States)

Monterrey - Roberto Kelly (Panama)

Saltillo - Roberto Vizcarra (Mexico)

Tijuana - Omar Vizquel (Venezuela)

Union Laguna - Omar Malave (Venezuela)

SOUTH DIVISION

Campeche - Francisco Campos (Mexico)

Leon - Tim Johnson (United States)

Mexico City - Sergio Gastelum (Mexico)

Oaxaca - Erick Rodriguez (Mexico)

Puebla - Carlos Gastelum (Mexico)

Quintana Roo - Adan Munoz (Mexico)

Tabasco - Pedro Mere (Mexico)

Yucatan - Geronimo Gil (Mexico)

MARQUEZ PITCHES IN LMB-RECORD 812TH GAME

Minatitan Petroleros reliever Isidro Marquez pitched in the 812th game of his Mexican League career, breaking Salon de la Fama member Ramon Arano’s old record of 811.

The 45-year-old Marquez came on with one out and nobody on base in the top of the ninth hoping to hold a 9-5 Petros lead over the Yucatan Leones. The righty got Raul Sanchez to fly out to Dennys Abreu in left field before striking out Fernando Valenzuela, Jr. swinging for the final out.

Marquez made his Mexican League debut with Tampico in 1985 and spent three years with San Luis Potosi before being picked up in 1988 by the Dodgers organization, where he pitched for five seasons. He also spent two years with the White Sox’ AAA farm club in Nashville, but the Navojoa-born Marquez has played the vast majority of his career in Mexico, almost entirely as a reliever.

Marquez has a career 95-81 record with 268 saves in 20 LMB seasons. This season, he is 3-1 with a team-high six saves and a 3.22 ERA in 43 trips to the mound from the Minatitlan bullpen.