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| LMP may play with only Mexicanos in 2020-21 |
The
Mexican Pacific League held a videoconference last week to discuss a
number of issues related to their upcoming season. Reports say that
the LMP is considering narrowing the number of ballparks used for
games from the full ten venues to five while only Mexican players
would suit up, both as cost-saving measures. The ongoing saga
involving Mazatlan and the Caribbean Series was also taken up.
The El
Fildeo website says that
the Mex Pac's "extraordinary assembly" last Wednesday
included discussion among league president Omar Canizales and
representatives of the ten teams about whether to eliminate games in
the circuit's more far-flung cities like Guadalajara, Monterrey and
Mexicali while Mazatlan may be added to that list (more later). Such
a move would greatly reduce travel costs by limiting games to within
the states of Sinaloa and Sonora, although field surfaces in
ballparks where games were played daily would be placed under extra
stress without the usual amount of time between homestands available
for groundskeepers to tend to them.
Discussion
was also held on whether the season should open in mid-October (the
traditional starting time for the Mex Pac) or the first games will be
played one month later, as has been considered should the summer
Mexican League's belated season stretch into early November.
Unsurprisingly, no decision was made because LMP owners instead are
taking a wait-and-see attitude about whether the LMB is able to even
take the field on its desired August 7 opening date, which is no sure
bet.
As with
consolidating games to within five ballparks of reasonably close
proximity, LMP owners were looking at their ledgers in regards to
where their players will come from next winter. Foreign players have
been a part of the Mex Pac landscape for decades, but the expected
drop in revenues in 2020-21 means the possibility of teams suiting up
all-Mexican rosters. It would not be the first time something like
that has happened. Back in 1982-83, the LM featured only domestic
players as a response to the devalued peso that winter. Culiacan won
the pennant that season and imports were allowed to return the next
campaign.
This
time, the concern is not over the value of the peso, although that
currency had fallen to 23.06 per US dollar as of last weekend after
years with a ratio of less than 20:1. The larger worry is that
extraneros
historically take a chunk out of team payrolls, with foreigners
drawing much higher salaries than their Mexican brethren. Patriotic
pride and greater opportunities for homegrown products to play aside,
it would simply cost teams less money to employ only Mexican players.
According to Puro Beisbol
editor Fernando Ballesteros, LMP owners were split 5-5 on the issue
and nothing new emerged from last week's meeting.
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| 2021 Serie del Caribe in Mazatlan still in doubt |
One
issue that many observers had mistakenly assumed was tentatively been
settled was brought back up. It has been reported (including here)
that the Mazatlan City Council extended an olive branch of sorts in
their ongoing dispute with the LMP Venados with a letter that
expressed their desire to work out differences in order for the 2021
Caribbean Series to be played at Estadio Teodoro Mariscal next
January as planned. However (as also reported here), the letter
included nothing definite and as of last week, no signed agreement
had been reached between the City and the Venados allowing the team
to regain possession of the ballpark.
The
lack of resolution has had an effect that goes well beyond the Pearl
of the Pacific. The Pan American Baseball Confederation (or COPABE)
has given the Mex Pac a deadline of Tuesday, June 30 for the Venados
to have regained control of Estadio Teodoro Mariscal for the upcoming
season. Failure to do so could mean the Serie del Caribe might be
moved out of Mazatlan and perhaps even the country, although the
latter seems less likely given that Mexico now draws the highest
attendance by far of the countries involved in the Crown Jewel of
Latin Baseball. COPABE president Juan Francisco Puello says the event may be canceled entirely if the Wuhan virus has taken too much of a toll by November.
Of more
immediate concern, the imbroglio might mean that Mazatlan would be
one of the five teams forced to play the 2020-21 season on the road
in the five-ballpark scenario outlined above, if the Wuhan virus
lessens enough by then for a winterball schedule to be played.
PEDRO
MERE TO RETURN AS SKIPPER IN MEXICALI
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| All smiles for Pedro Mere and friends |
Following
weeks of speculation as to whether he'd be back, Pedro Mere's return
as manager of the Mexican Pacific League's Mexicali Aguilas in
2020-21 has been confirmed.
Eagles
sports manager Luis Alfonso Garcia made the announcement at a virtual
press conference on June 18. "It's a pleasure for the Mexicali
Aguilas club to work again with a leader on and off the field of
play," Garcia said. "We are convinced that Pedro Mere will
be an important piece to fly towards the goal that we have year after
year: the championship."
Mere's
history with the Aguilas dates back to November 2017, when he took
the reins of the club from Roberto Vizcarra, who was fired after
leading Mexicali to a 16-19 first-half record. Vizcarra had led the
Aguilas to the Mex Pac pennant and the Caribbean Series title game in
Mexicali the previous winter, but memories are short in the front
offices of Mexican teams. Mere turned the team's fortunes around in
the second half as the Aguilas went 26-7 (setting a franchise record
for wins in one half) and reached the playoff semifinals, where they
were swept by eventual champion Culiacan. That was enough for owner
Dio Alberto Murillo to send the Veracruz native packing.
Act II
for Mere in Mexicali opened last November after he replaced Bobby
Dickerson, who was 9-16 when Murillo decided to make a change less
than a month into the season. The Aguilas went 25-17 the rest of the
way before losing in the first round to Culiacan, who again went on
to the LMP pennant under Benji Gil. Given how things ended his first
time in the border city, Mere express gratitude that he will be able
to open a season with the team. "Mexicali is my team, my home
and a great institution where I have had the fortune to work,"
he deadpanned during the press conference. "I feel very
identified with the team and with the fans."
Born in
1970, Mere broke into the Mexican League as a 17-year-old infielder
with Dos Laredos in 1988 and went on to a 22-year playing career
before retiring in 2009 as a member of the Minatitlan Petroleros
after batting .280 with 186 homers. His managerial career began three
years later when he took over for Orlando Merced at the helm of the
Veracruz Rojos del Aguila on June 10, 2012 after Merced was ejected
from a game. The move became permanent two days later when Merced was
suspended for the year after an altercation with LMB orations
director Nestor Alva Brito, and Mere took Veracruz to the pennant
with a thrilling seven-game win over Aguascalientes in the Serie
del Rey.
He has
since led Tijuana to the 2017 LMB title after a dominant regular
season before being fired after the Spring 2018 season when the Toros
only finished second with a 33-23 record and lost to Monterrey in the
LMB North final. Mere was eventually signed by Monclova and while the
Acereros lost to the Sultanes again in the Fall 2018 LMB North title
series after a resounding 42-14 regular season record (in what seemed
a bizare move at the time, Mere replaced former Pittsburgh All-Star
Carlos Garcia with the Acereos in first place at 14-5),
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| Mission Impossible? Mere to manage Tabasco in LMB |
Monclova
owner Gerardo Benavides brought Mere back for 2019 but apparently
thought the Acereros' 44-25 record at the end of June wasn't
sufficient, so he fired Mere and brought in former American League
Rookie of the Year Pat Listach as new manager. The move worked, as
Listach went on to lead Monclova to its first pennant.
Mere was hired
last October to run the Tabasco Olmecas, a perpetual also-ran who
present the biggest challenge of his managerial career. The
Villahermosa team has some recognizable veterans on the roster like
Ronnier Mustelier, Jesus Arredondo, Paul Leon, Andres Meza, Juan
Pablo Oramas and Derrick Loop but a lack of offensive firepower
doomed the Olmecas to an LMB South-worst 45-72 record.
Prior
to his LMP experience as a dugout boss, Mere had a remarkable
winterball run as manager of the Las Tuxtlas Brujos, winning five
Veracruz Winter League pennants and a Latin American Series crown in
seven seasons between 2008-09 and 2014-15.
JORGE
CANTU'S LMP RIGHTS ACQUIRED BY MONTERREY
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| Cantu homered in his first game for Mexico City |
The
Mexican Pacific League last week held a player exchange of sorts in
which the loop's two 2019 expansion teams, Monterrey and Guasave,
were able to select three unprotected players apiece from rosters of
the eight remaining established teams. A similar process is planned
for July 7. While five of the chosen players are not well-known even
within Mexico, Monterrey picked a familiar name among followers of
Major League Baseball.
Although
he hasn't played winterball in four seasons, the Sultane plucked
38-year-old infielder Jorge Cantu from the Culiacan Tomateros. Cantu
played all or parts of eight MLB seasons, mostly with Tampa Bay and
Florida, between 2004 and 2011. After laboring six years in the Rays
minor league system, he broke in with the big club in 2004 before a
breakthrough season a year later, when he belted 28 homers and drove
in 117 runs for Tampa Bay in 2005. Cantu cooled down after that,
spending time in the minors and with the Cincinnati Reds, he returned
to Florida in 2008 and put up two strong campaigns for the Marlins
with 45 homers and 195 RBIs in 2008 and 2009. As before, he lost his
mojo in 2010 and went on to spend time with Texas and San Diego,
where he played his last MLB game in 2011 to finish with a .271
batting average, 105 homers and 471 RBIs over 847 career games. He's
also appeared in three World Baseball Classics for Mexico.
Cantu,
who was born in McAllen, Texas but grew up across the border in
Reynosa, made his Mexican League debut in 2013 with the Quintana Roo
Tigres, belting 31 homers and 71 ribbies over 83 games. That was good
enough to earn a one-year contract with the Doosan Bears of the Korea
Baseball Organization, where the 6'3" first baseman hit .309
with 18 longballs in 111 contests. He returned to the Tigres in 2015
and has remained in the Liga since. "El Bronco" has played
for two pennant-winning teams in Cancun and one in Tijuana, and is
currently on the Mexico City roster after hitting .283 with 12
roundtrippers for the Diablos Rojos in 2019. He's also spent five
winters in the Mex Pac, most recently with Culiacan in 2015-16 when
he batted .232 with one homer for the Tomateros in 27 games.
Monterrey's
two other selections were catcher Carlos Rodriguez and right-handed
pitcher Alejandro Barraza. Chosen from Mexicali, the Hermosillo-born
Rodriguez is a longtime veteran receiver who has spent his entire
15-year professional career south of the border. He's played the last
eight summers in Aguascalientes, representing the Rieleros in two LMB
All-Star Games, for whom he cracked 32 homers and drove in 94 runs in
2012 en route to 172 four-baggers to augment a .272 career average in
the LMB. He's also played 15 winters in the LMP, including nine for
his hometown Naranjeros before he began bouncing the circuit a bit
the past few seasons. He hit .256 in 25 games for the Aguilas in
2019-20.
Taken
from Navojoa, Barraza spent three years with the Casper Rockies from
2009-11, going 6-8 with a 6.14 ERA as both a starter and reliever.
He's played the last eight summers in the LMB, mostly with Mexico
City and Oaxaca as a middle reliever. The Guaymas product has a
lifetime Liga record of 24-21 record and a 4.94 ERA after pitching
for Dos Laredos last year, where he had a sparkling 1.89 ERA in 22
trips from the bullpen. The 29-year-old has been a reliever in five
LMP seasons, showing a 4-7 record and 5.62 ERA in 64 games.
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| New Guasave P Rafael Cordova with Laguna in 2017 |
For
their part, Guasave took three younger players: Right-handed pitchers
Rafael Cordova and Nestor Anguamea plus utilityman Miguel Guzman.
Despite only being 25, Cordova has played eight years of minor league
ball (three in the Rays system, five in the LMB). Born in Yuma,
Arizona, the 6'2" righty has come out of the bullpen in all of
his 189 professional appearances, although he did start one Arizona
Fall League game for Mexicali last year, giving up two runs in four
innings. He's spent the past three summers with Tabasco and is 9-6
lifetime in the Liga with a 4.30 ERA. He last played in the LMP with
Hermosillo in 2016-17.
Anguamea
hails from Obregon and turned 20 in March. His professional
experience is limited to six innings over five relief appearances for
Union Laguna last summer, giving up two earned runs for a 4.50 ERA.
He did win his lone decision, striking out Aguascalientes' Carlos
Rodriguez for the final out in the top of the 12th before the
Algodoneros scored twice in the bottom of the frame for a 7-6
triumph.
At 24,
Guzman is another experienced youngster with seven years in the LMB
behind him. The Leon product has played all infield and outfield
positions and has a deceptive career batting average of .323 after
batting .412 for Puebla last summer in 178 plate appearances after
fewer than 100 opportunities over the previous six years and never
hitting over .250.
Algodoneros
sports manager Alejandro Ahumada was pleased with his three newest
players: "All three are talented young players who are
distinguished by their work ethic and who will surely come with all
the desire and attitude to earn a place in our organization."
