De La Rosa, Garcia bow out as WBC opener approaches

With only a few days remaining until their World Baseball Classic opener against Italy in Guadalajara, the Mexican National Team roster is still undergoing changes as more players originally expected to play have decided to sit out the WBC in favor of remaining in training camp with their Major League Baseball teams.

The latest to send their regrets are pitchers Jorge De La Rosa and Jaime Garcia, who will stay with the Arizona Diamondbacks and Atlanta Braves, respectively.  Another player, Mexican League outfielder J.J. Aguilar, had to beg off the WBC due to a shoulder injury.  They'll be replaced by pitchers Hector Daniel Rodriguez and Miguel Aguilar along with outfielder Luis Juarez.  Reds minor leaguer Sebastian Elizalde has also been tabbed to fill in for A's outfielder Khris Davis, who recently elected to stay in Oakland's Arizona camp even though his roster spot is pretty well assured after belting 42 homers for the A's last year.

De La Rosa was signed to a minor league contract by the Diamondbacks in recent weeks after several seasons in Colorado (where he's the Rockies' all-time wins leaders) and wants to focus on trying to make his new big club.  Garcia is likewise with a different team after coming to the Braves following several seasons in St. Louis.  As with De La Rosa, the injury-plagued Garcia is wanting to concentrate on staying healthy after being dealt to the Braves for three players in the offseason. J.J. Aguilar, a top-of-the-order hitter with some speed and a career .306 average after seven seasons in the Mexican League, hurt his shoulder while training with the Yucatan Leones.

As is becoming a ritual for many managers of WBC teams dealing with rejections and injuries among their rostered players, Mexico skipper Edgar Gonzalez (pictured) is having to apply a tourniquet to his roster while trying to prepare for Pool D play against tough teams from Venezuela and the Dominican Republic and an Italy side hoping to surprise a few people.  Gonzalez' reinforcements may not have the resumes of the men they'll be replacing, but each has something to offer beyond a willingness to represent their homeland in baseball's version of soccer's World Cup.

Many observers were surprised when Danny Rodriguez was left off Mexico's original WBC roster after establishing himself as a big-game pitcher and one of the best lefties south of the border.  The 32-year-old Rodriguez was 9-4 with a 3.95 ERA last summer for a Saltillo team that failed to reach the playoffs, then turned in a decent regular season during the winter for Culiacan before raising his game in the Mexivan Pacific League postseason and Caribbean Series, as usual.  It has not been determined if Rodriguez will be used as a back-of-the-rotation starter or out of the bullpen.

Miguel Aguilar is a 25-year-old left-hander who has toiled in the Mexican League since debuting with Laguna in 2012.  He currently serves as a middleman for Yucatan, for whom he went 1-1 with a 2.08 ERA last year for manager Willie Romero's regular-season South Division champions.  Although he's had some control issues, Aguilar has averaged over one strikeout per inning for his career in both the Liga and the MexPac.  He will likely continue his reliever's role under Gonzalez in the WBC.

Luis Juarez had spent eight summers with Monterrey in the LMB and six winters with Mexicali in the LMP with fairly moderate totals (a combined .269 average and 29 homers over 517 games) before registering a career-type season of winterball with the Aguilas in 2016-17.  The 5'8" Culiacan native, who can play first lase, left field or catcher, won the MexPac batting title with a .364 average to finish 17 points ahead of the nearest hitter, and went on to bat .329 in 19 playoff games.  He was named by the league as its Most Valuable Player. Although it's hard to envision him as a starter in Guadalajara, Juarez' versaility will likely get him some playing time for Mexico in a utility role.

Sebastian Elizalde is not going to replace Davis' power in the Verdes Grande batting order, but he'll bring more foot speed to the outfield and on the basepaths.  The 25-year-old from Guaymas was a mid-season All-Star in the Florida State League while playing for Daytona in 2015, and is currently a non-roster invitee at Cincinnati's big league camp in the Sunshine State.  He topped the .300 mark three times in four LMB seasons while playing sparingly for Monterrey between 2010 and 2013 before the Red bought his contract before the 2014 campaign.  Elizalde batted .297 in 111 for AA Pensacola last summer.

The Mexicans will have tuneup game against the San Diego Padres in Peoria on Tuesday and the Arizona Diamonbacks on Wednesday in Scottsdale prior to their WBC opener against Italy Thursday night in Guadalajara.

Twenty-six Mexican players in MLB spring training camps

Although the Caribbean Series concluded Mexico's four-month winterball season less than two weeks ago, pro baseball is only now stirring to life north of the border as Major League Baseball organizations open spring training camps in Florida and Arizona this month.  There are 26 Mexican players scattered among 15 big league teams, including ten non-roster invitees.

Fifteen of the 25 are in National League camps.  The Los Angeles Dodgers have four Mexicans training with the big club while the San Diego Padres have three among 16 MLB teams with at least one Mexican player in camp.  Left-handed pitcher Jorge De La Rosa (pictured above), who'll turn 36 on April 5, signed with Arizona this weekend as a free agent after a nine-year stint with the Colorado Rockies, for whom he went 86-61 between 2008 and 2016, winning 16 games twice and 14 once.  De La Rosa is the Rockies' all-time wins leader while going 53-20 record at Coors Field. De La Rosa signed a minor league contract with the Diamondbacks, but has been invited to the team's major league camp.

AMERICAN LEAGUE

Chicago White Sox - RHP Miguel Angel Gonzalez

Kansas City Royals - RHP Joakim Soria

Los Angeles Angels - LHP Manny Banuelos*

New York Yankees - RHP Luis Cessa, RHP Giovanny Gallegos

Seattle Mariners - RHP Yovanni Gallardo, C Sebastian Valle*

Texas Rangers - RHP Eddie Gamboa

Toronto Blue Jays - RHP Marco Estrada, RHP Roberto Osuna

NATIONAL LEAGUE

Arizona Diamondbacks - Jorge De La Rosa*
Atlanta Braves - LHP Jaime Garcia

Cincinnati Reds - OF Sebastian Elizalde*

Colorado Rockies - IF Daniel Castro*

Los Angeles Dodgers - 1B Adrian Gonzalez, RHP Sergio Romo, LHP Julio Cesar Urias, OF Alex Verdugo*

New York Mets - C Xorge Carrillo*, RHP Fernando Salas

Philadelphia Phillies - RHP Victor Arano*

San Diego Padres - IF Luis Urias*, RHP Cesar Vargas, 3B Christian Villanueva*

Washington Nationals - RHP Rafael Martin, LHP Oliver Perez

*-Non-roster invitee

One more Mexican in a major league camp is former utility infielder Tony Perezchica, a Mexicali native making his debut as a third base coach in Arizona under new manager Torey Luvollo.  Perezchica hit .228 in 69 games over parts of four seasons with San Francisco and Cleveland between 1988 and 1992.  A Giants third round draft pick in 1984, the 50-year-old Palm Springs HS grad has been coaching and managing in the D-Backs system since 2004.

Perezchica becomes the first major league coach born in Mexico since the legendary Ben "Cananea" Reyes (pictured left) spent the 1981 season as the Seattle Mariners' third base coach after being brought north by M's skipper Maury Wills, under whom Reyes had coached in Hermosillo during the 1970-71 Mexican Pacific League season.  Reyes unofficially became the first Mexican to manage an MLB team after Wills was suspended two games in 1981 for having the batter's box altered before a game at the Kingdome.

Reyes lost his April 28 debut in Minnesota, 4-1, as Richie Sisk's fifth inning homer was the only blot on Pete Redfern's five-hitter for the Twins.  The two teams battled to a rare 7-7 tie on April 29 as rain halted play in the bottom of the eighth inning at old Metropolitan Stadium.  Reyes has never officially received credit for filling in for Wills, who was fired a week after returning to the Mariners dugout.  Reyes stayed the rest of the season under new Seattle manager Rene Lachemann.

Reyes had more success managing at home, winning five Mexican League pennants managing the Mexico City Red Devils after winning a flag with Jalisco in 1971.  He also managed four Mexican Pacific League champions (three in Hermosillo) and took Caribbean Series titles with the Naranjeros in 1976 and Mexicali in 1986 for the only CS crown the Aguilas have won.  Reyes died in late 1991 at age 54, and was elected to Mexican baseball's Salon de la Fama the following year.

MLB restricts 12 Mexicans from playing in MexPac, "extreme fatigue" cited

One of the banes of existence for winter baseball in Mexico and other Caribbean nations is the "extreme fatigue" clause in contracts between players and Major League Baseball organizations.  The clause allows MLB teams to determine which of their players are (in essence) too tired to play winterball after the major and minor league summer schedules are completed.  Twelve such Mexican players have been ruled out from competing in the Mexican Pacific League this winter, including four for Hermosillo.

The Naranjeros will be without pitchers Jorge de la Rosa (Rockies), Jaime Garcia (Cardinals), Cesar Vargas (Padres) and Adrian Rodriguez (Reds) this winter.  De la Rosa (pictured) has won 101 MLB games since his debut in late 2004, winning 16 contests for the Rockies in 2009 and 2013.  He's pitched 134 innings for Colorado this season, including 24 starts, and has an 8-9 record. Garcia is 10-2 for St. Louis over 170 innings in 2016.  The 24-year-old Vargas is 0-3 after seven starts for San Diego and has pitched a total of 46.2 innings this year.  Rodriguez, who turned 20 last month, tossed 33.2 frames for the Reds' Rookie affiliate in Billings, with his last pitch coming against Great Falls on July 29.

Obregon will have to make do without three players: pitchers Dallas Martinez (Yankees) and Samuel Zazueta (Rangers) plus third baseman Christian Villanueva (Cubs).  All three missed the 2016 season with injuries.  The Yaquis will particularly miss Villanueva, who was BBM's Most Valuable Player last winter after hitting .322 with nine homers in 64 games and playing good defense at the hot corner.

Other players sitting out the winter will be Los Mochis pitchers Marco Estrada (Jays) and Luis Niebla (Yankees); Culiacan hurlers Rafael Ordaz (Yankees) and Carlos Torres (Brewers); and Jalisco reliever Roberto Osuna, who has had an outstanding year with AL East-leading Toronto and wasn't too fatigued to strike out all four Seattle batters he faced on 19 pitches Wednesday night.

While there was no assurance that the likes of de la Rosa, Villanueva or Osuna would've played ball in Mexico this winter, MLB has made that decision for them (something MLB never gets fatigued from doing).


Diablos, Oaxaca to field Mexican-only nines in 2017

The Mexico City Diablos Rojos and Oaxaca Guerreros have announced their intentions to play the 2017 Mexican League season with teams consisting entirely of Mexican players.  The Puro Beisbol website has posted a press release from the Diablos stating that the two teams will be relying on homegrown talent next year, with a large number of players having spent time at the Alfredo Harp Helu Baseball Academy in San Bartolo Coyotepec, Oaxaca.

The academy, named after the Diablos' billionaire owner and a longtime proponent of developing domestic baseball talent in Mexico, opened its doors on November 12, 2009.  Since then, more than 600 prospects have attended the academy, with 38 of them now toiling with Major League Baseball organizations (including Toronto closer Roberto Osuna and Dodgers wunderkind pitcher Julio Cesar Urias, who was rated the #4 prospect in the game by Baseball America prior to the current season).

Mexico City currently has 77 graduates on their reserve list, with 13 who played at Estadio Fray Nano during the recently-concluded season.  One, pitcher Alexandro Delgado, went 11-1 with a 2.83 ERA for the Red Devils while shortstop Juan Carlos Gamboa batted .321 with 9 homers.  Oaxaca has a total of 36 ABAHH products in tow, including ten Guerreros in 2016.  Nineteen-year-old pitcher Erick Casillas was 1-3 with a 4.67 ERA as a reliever last summer while 21-year-old Luis Medina played three infield positions and hit .259 for Oaxaca.

The change in team policies means that some foreign players would need to find new teams in Mexico next spring.  Californian first baseman Cyle Hankerd, member of Mazatlan's Caribbean Series title team last winter, batted .322 with 16 homers and 74 RBIs for Mexico City this season while veteran Venezuelan catcher Eliezer Alfonso hit .342 with 14 homers in 69 contests for the Diablos.

This would not be the first time all-Mexican teams take the field in the LMB.  For years, Tigres' owner Alejo Peralta, who played for Veracruz in the Thirties before going on to become one of the richest men in the country, took considerable pride in his team winning Liga pennants primarily using home-grown talent.  Playing in Puebla, the Tigres celebrated their 50th anniversary season with an all-Mexican roster in 2005 and went on to win the franchise's ninth (of twelve) championship that year.


Summer BBM Awards next week, "Golden Greats" book taking shape

While Baseball Mexico has been taking a breather since last week's conclusion of the Mexican League season with Puebla's win over Tijuana in the Serie del Rey, things have been moving forward behind the scenes.

Our revived annual Summer Award winners will be announced next week.  There were no Bammys given during BBM's hiatus from 2012 through 2015.  For a trip down Memory Lane, here are the 2011 Summer Bammy winners:

Manager of the Year:  Daniel Fernandez, Veracruz Rojos Aguilas
Newcomer of the Year:  Doug Clark, Quintana Roo Tigres
Pitcher of the Year:  Francisco Campos, Campeche Piratas
Most Valuable Player:  Luis Terrero, Mexico City Diablos Rojos
Playoff MVP:  Pablo Ortega, Quintana Roo Tigres

Also coming in October, there will be wraps for all Mexican summer leagues, from the Liga through the Academy League near Monterrey.

BBM's planned "Golden Greats of Mexican Baseball" book commemorating fifty top players in the history of Mexican baseball is also coming together.  The preliminary format for "Golden Greats" will include two pages devoted to each player, with two photos, career MLB and/or LMB stats (and hopefully LMP stats, too), biographical data and 500-word profiles.  A draft list of fifty players has been put together to feature five players each at catcher, first base, second base, third base and shortstop, ten outfielders and fifteen pitchers.  Up to ten more non-players will be featured, there'll be a history of Mexican baseball and a four-page chapter on Hector Espino, easily the nation's most beloved and respected ballplayer.  The hope is that "Golden Greats" will be ready for release in time for Christmas.  That's the HOPE.

ROCKIES RE-SIGN DE LA ROSA FOR UP TO $43 MILLION

Rather than test the trade market or free agent waters, the Colorado Rockies decided to bring back pitcher Jorge de la Rosa by signing the free agent to a contract worth up to $43 million over four years. De la Rosa will receive a guaranteed $9.5 million in 2011 and $10 million in 2012 plus a player option of $11 million for 2013 (with a $1 million buyout). If he exercises his option, the Rockies have a team option for another $11 million in 2014. The 29-year-old Monterrey native earned $5.6 million with the Rockies in 2010.

According to Jim Armstrong of the Denver Post, de la Rosa turned down better offers from the Pittsburgh Pirates and Washington Nationals to remain in Colorado, where he is being projected as the Rockies’ number two starter behind Ubaldo Jimenez. The 6’1” lefty was 8-7 in 2010 after winning 26 games for Colorado the two previous seasons. His strikeout rate of 8.95 per nine innings since coming to Denver in 2008 is the all-time best among Rockies starters.

Had de la Rosa accepted another offer, the Rockies would have had to search for a proven starter to replace him in the rotation. Free agents Carl Pavano and Kevin Millwood were potential possibilities, as were trades involving Tampa Bay’s James Shields and Gavin Floyd of the Chicago White Sox.