MEXICAN LEAGUE, ESPN 3-YEAR DEAL FORMALIZED

ESPN to stream LMB games for 3 years

    With days to go before the 2021 season opens, the Mexican League has reached an historic agreement with ESPN which includes the 2021, 2022 and 2023 seasons. ESPN's carriage of LMB games will reach millions of fans in Mexico, Latin America and the Caribbean, according to a joint press release. Terms were not announced and there was no mention regarding availability of of Mexican League games to viewers in North America. ESPN gave exposure to Korea Baseball Organization games last year while Major League Baseball's season was placed on hold until late July due to the Wuhan virus.

    LMB president Horacio de la Vega said, “We are very proud to have reached this agreement so that the Mexican League can be seen on ESPN's multi-platform screens, which will bring us closer to the most fervent fans and will also allow us to conquer new followers and (why not?) inspire the next generation of baseball players in Mexico.”

    The head of the LMB highlighted the visibility that ESPN gives to the largest baseball league in Latin America, where hundreds of Mexican, American, Dominican, Venezuelan, Puerto Rican, Panamanian, Colombian and many other nationalities take the field.

    "At ESPN, we are very happy to be part of this new stage of baseball in Mexico," said Gerardo Casanova, Head of Sports for the Walt Disney Company in Mexico. "We are proud to expand our relationship with the LMB, home to many of the best players in Mexico and Latin America, and as a brand, ESPN is leading the way in bringing baseball content from the region to fans across the continent."

ESPN executive Gerardo Casanova

    ESPN's coverage will include both regular season and playoff matchups. In all, 150 regular season games will be broadcast on ESPN's signal, including 14 games per week: Two on “online channels” every Thursday and Saturday, and 12 carried digitally via the ESPN app during the regular season. In the final phase of the campaign, there will be full series of Playoffs, including the opening rounds, Division Championships and the Serie del Rey in September.

    “Our alliance with ESPN is a home run with the bases loaded because today, it is essential to reach beyond people television,” concluded de la Vega. “The way of consuming sports content has evolved and that's how we've understood it. We want to reach a large audience through the different platforms that ESPN offers us.”

    The Mexican League season opens Thursday night when the defending champion Monclova Acereros host rival Monterrey in a single game. The rest of the LMB will begin play on Friday.

ROBERTO OSUNA, OLIVER PEREZ TO PITCH IN LIGA

Roberto Osuna returns to Diablos

    A number of players with years of MLB experience will be playing in the Mexican League this summer, and two more veteran pitchers have come to terms with LMB teams while a former All-Star infielder may also appear south of the border in 2021.

    Right-handed closer Roberto Osuna will be back in Mexico City on the team he made his pro baseball debut with as a 16-year-old in 2011. Osuna appeared in 13 games for the Diablos Rojos that year, mostly as a reliever, and went 0-1 with a 5.49 ERA. He was signed by Toronto in September 2011 for $1.5 million, of which all but $375,000 went to the Diablos (the signing bonus rules have since been changed by MLB more in favor of the player).

    The nephew of former MLB reliever Antonio Osuna made the jump from Class A to the Jays' 2015 opening day roster as a 20-year-old and went on to be named to the American League All-Rookie team that season. The younger Osuna posted 30 or more saves three times between 2016 and 2019, appearing for the AL in the 2017 All-Star Game and leading the junior circuit in 2019 with 38 salvados.

    Osuna was not controversy-free during his six-year MLB career, however. He was unavailable for a game with Toronto in 2017 due to an anxiety disorder, for which he received counseling from a psychologist. One year later, he was arrested and charged in the assault of the mother of his 3-year-old child. MLB handed down a 75-game suspension retroactive to the day of the alleged incident, during which the Jays traded the closer to Houston. Osuna went on to pitch for the Astros in their 2019 World Series loss to Washington, but arm problems shortened his 2020 season and he could not find any takers on the free agent market during the last off-season despite holding a showcase event in the Dominican Republic.

    Another reliever born in Sinaloa, Oliver Perez, has signed with the Tijuana Toros after earlier turning down an assignment to Class AAA by the Cleveland Indians. Perez made five appearances from the bullpen for the Tribe this season and allowed no earned runs, although he lost his only decision on April 17 in Cincinnati when he entered a 2-2 game in the bottom of the tenth and gave up an RBI single to Tyler Stephenson that plated automatic runner Sean Doolittle from second base.

    The 39-year-old lefty's time with Cleveland marked his 19th season in MLB, a record for Mexican-born players. Like Osuna, Perez cut his teeth in the Mexican League, although his 11 games with Yucatan in 2000 (going 3-2 with a 4.36 ERA for the Leones) came a year after he'd signed a contract with San Diego as a 17-year-old and appeared in 15 games for the Padres' Arizona Rookie League club.

Oliver Perez in World Baseball Classic

    Perez eventually reached the majors with San Diego in 2002 and went on to a star-crossed career in which he's pitched for eight teams, reaching the double-digit mark in wins three times, going 2-0 over 11 games in four postseasons and earning over $67 million during his MLB career (including a three-year, $36 million contract with the Mets signed in 2009). However, he's also battled control problems and injuries and was unconditionally released by the Mets before the 2011 season despite having another year and $12 million left on his contract. At that point, Perez' career was at a crossroads and he signed a minor-league deal with Washington and essentially started over with Class AA Harrisburg that year.

    At the suggestion of Nats' pitching coordinator Spin Williams, Perez reinvented himself as a relief pitcher after having been a starter in 196 of his 205 MLB games. He worked his way back to MLB with Seattle in 2012 and has exclusively been a middleman ever since. Perez is expected to come out of the bullpen for Tijuana manager Omar Vizquel and is being mentioned as a potential candidate for Mexico's Olympic team at the Tokyo Summer Games this year.

    One more former big leaguer who may play in the Mexican League is three-time All-Star second baseman Brandon Phillips, who recently uploaded an image of the Oaxaca Guerreros presenting him as a new team member on his Instagram account. Phillips spent part of the 2019 LMB campaign with the Guerreros' “big brother, the Mexico City Diablos Rojos, for whom he hit .267 with three homers and 15 RBIs over 36 games.

    A Georgia native, Phillips debuted in MLB with Cleveland in late 2002 after spending several seasons in the Montreal system. He played sporadically with the Indians and spent much time in the minors before being traded to Cincinnati at the beginning of the 2006 campaign. He became a mainstay in the Reds lineup for the next eleven seasons, averaging 17 homers and 17 steals and batting .279 en route to All-Star Game selections in 2010, 2011 and 2013 as well as four Gold Gloves at second base.

    The Reds traded Phillips to Atlanta prior to the 2017 season, picking up $13 million of the $14.5 million he was owed on the last year of his contract. Phillips was dealt that September to the Angels and signed as a free agent with Boston in February 2018. However, he only played nine games with the Red Sox, spending most of the year in the minors, and was let go following the season. After playing with the Diablos in 2019, he played eight games last year with the Baseball Brilliance team in something called the Yinzer Baseball Confederacy (a four-team collection of players from independent leagues playing all games in Washington, Pennsylvania) as well as a trio of exhibition games with the Frontier League Lexington Legends.

PIONEER LEAGUE TEAM TO CARRY ACEREROS PROSPECTS

Monclova to send prospects to Colorado

    A Pioneer League team in Colorado Springs, the Rocky Mountain Vibes, has entered an agreement with the Mexican League's Monclova Acereros to host some Acereros' minor leaguers this season. The Pioneer League was initially formed in 1939 and operated continuously operated from 1946 until last year, when the pandemic caused the suspension of the schedule. During the offseason, Major League Baseball decided they'd be better off without 42 minor league teams as affiliates, after which the Pioneer League (which had been a Rookie circuit since 1963) being forced into Independent status, although they have the dubious honor of being an MLB “partner.”

    The Vibes were created by an earlier shakeup of minor league teams owned by the Elmore Sports Group in 2019, who shifted the AAA Colorado Springs Sky Sox to San Antonio after 30 years in the Pacific Coast League and then moving the Helena Brewers to Colorado Springs to fill the void in the city of 478,221. A Name the Team contest was held, but “Rocky Mountain Vibes” was chosen despite not being one of the five finalists (among which were Rocky Mountain Oysters, Colorado Springs Happy Campers and Colorado Springs Punchy Pikas). The Vibes went 32-43 their first season in 2019, drawing 137,296 to finish second to Ogden in the PioL attendance derby.

    Acereros owner Gerardo Benavides called the player-sharing arrangement with the Vibes a necessary step. “From the moment I made the decision to buy a Mexican League team, I knew what was needed to maintain it,” he said. “It was very clear to me that to win championships, it was necessary to develop talent. That is why we bet and trust in this challenge of exporting our prospects to a high-level league such as the Pioneer League.”

Colorado Springs baseball stadium

    Monclova sports manager Jose Melendez echoed Benavides' sentiments. “We as a club always have the vision of growth and of supporting prospects in their development,” said Melendez. “With the break of last season and the current one in our development leagues, we were fortunate to find the opportunity to play them in this renowned league partnered with Major League Baseball.”

    For his part, Vibes team president Chris Jones said in a press release, “We are beyond excited to begin a historic and what we all hope to be a very long affiliation and relationship with the Acereros of Monclova. Big thanks to Jose Melendez with the Acereros, the Elmore Sports Group and the great Colorado Springs community.”

    The Pioneer League will serve as a laboratory for MLB in 2021 with experimental rules in place for the coming season, including a home run derby to decide winners of games that are tied after nine innings.

BARTOLO COLON, RAJAI DAVIS TO PLAY IN MONCLOVA

Cleveland's young fireballer Bartolo Colon

If there was any doubt whether Monclova Acereros owner Gerardo Benavides was going to take a breather after his team won their first Mexican League pennant last year, the signing of four-time MLB All-Star pitcher Bartolo Colon and longtime big league outfielder Rajai Davis should prove that the hard-driving Benavides wants his club to become the first team to repeat as LMB champions since the Saltillo Saraperos won titles in 2009 and 2010.  The signings were announced last week by Monclova's President of Baseball Operations, Jose Melendez.

The 46-year-old Colon, who grew up in the Dominican Republic harvesting fruit and coffee beans alongside his father, spent 21 seasons in the majors after debuting with the Cleveland Indians in 1997.  The 5'11" righthander made his first All-Star Game appearance one year later en route to a 14-9 record and 3.71 ERA before tossing a four-hit complete game win over the New York Yankees in the American League Championship Series that October.  Colon went on to pitch a no-hitter against the Yanks in 2000 and lead the AL in wins with 21 victories for the Los Angeles Angels in 2005 (winning the Cy Young Award that season) before arm miseries plagued him between 2006 and 2010, missing the latter season entirely after stem cell transplant surgery on his right shoulder that spring.

Texas' wily vet Bartolo Colon

Colon reinvented himself from a hard-thrower once capable of hitting triple-digits on the radar gun into a 38-year-old finesse control pitcher with the Yankees in 2011.  He was able to spend eight more MLB seasons as a starter, pitching in two more All-Star Games and his first World Series (in 2016 for the Mets after going 15-8 that year) before his most recent campaign with Texas in 2018, during which he went 7-12 with a 5.78 ERA in 24 starts.  With a career MLB record of 247-188, Colon is the winningest Latin American pitcher in big league history.  The well-traveled hurler, who pitched four eleven teams between 1997 and 2018, picked up 2,535 strikeouts while whiffing 100 or more batsmen 13 times.  His 4.12 ERA is nothing to write home about, although he did finish in his league's Top Ten in that category six times.  Colon signed a one-year contract with the Acereros and is expected to contend for a starting rotation berth under manager Pat Listach.

Listach will also have the speedy Davis patrolling the outfield in 2020 after the former American League stolen bases champion inked a one-year deal with Monclova.  Davis played with eight teams for all or part of 14 MLB seasons, batting .262 with 62 homers and 415 steals.  The Pirates' 38th round draft pick out of the University of Connecticut in 2001 (after borrowing gas money to drive from UConn to Pittsburgh for a pre-draft workout), the 5'10" Davis made his MLB debut with the Bucs in 2006.  He was traded to San Francisco one year later but it wasn't until after he was picked up on waivers by Oakland in 2008 that he had the chance to see significant action. 

Rajai Davis homering in 2016 World Series

Davis hit .305 with 41 steals in 2009 for the A's but was dealt to Toronto after the 2010 season and later suited up for Detroit, Cleveland, Boston and the New York Mets (for whom he hit .200 in 29 games last year).  While never a power hitter, Davis was generally a solid baserunner who averaged over 34 steals a year between 2008 and 2018, leading the American League with 43 for Cleveland as a 35-year-old in 2016.  He appeared in the postseason three times for as many teams, reaching the World Series in 2016 and batting .227 with three steals and a two-run homer off Aroldis Chapman in the deciding contest as the Indians lost to the Chicago Cubs in seven games.  Davis is being penciled in as Monclova's starting centerfielder this season.

JESSE CASTILLO TO RETURN TO LMB WITH LEON IN 2020

Jesse Castillo celebrates 2006 LMB pennant

Two-time Mexican League Most Valuable Player Jesse Castillo will be returning to action this year after signing a contract with the Leon Bravos for 2020.  While playing for 82Monclova, Castillo blew out his left knee while stepping on first base to make a run for second during a Fall 2018 LMB North final playoff game against Monterrey.  Teammates had to carry him into the locker room, from which he was taken to the hospital by an ambulance.  Up to that point, Castillo had become arguably the best batter in the Mexican League but he hasn't played an LMB game since.

Of course, this story begins long before 2018.  Born in Mexicali on March 3, 1983, Jesus Castillo made his Liga debut with Yucatan in 2004 and played sparingly for the Leones for the next three years, although the third baseman did bat .321 in 69 games as a part-timer for Yucatan's 2006 LMB champions under manager Lino Rivera, cracking a walkoff homer in the 14th inning of the fifth and deciding game of the Serie del Rey against Monterrey.  Castillo ended up playing for the Lions through 2009, playing in the 2007 and 2008 All-Star Games, before signing as a free agent with Veracruz for 2010.  He hit .293 with five homers and represented the Rojos del Aguila in his third All-Star Game before moving into free agency again, this time joining the Tabasco Olmecas.  Castillo topped the .300 mark twice and played in two more All-Star Games between 2011 and 2013, when the Villahermosa team dealt him late in the season to Aguascalientes for outfielder Ricardo Gastelum.  While Gastelum only hit .194 in 37 games for the Olmecas and was out of the Liga within two years, the trade turned Castillo from a respected batter into a feared one even though he only hit .182 himself over 17 games for the Rieleros over the rest of the 2013 campaign.

Castillo during his 2017 MVP season

Castillo had never hit more than nine homers or driven in more than 64 runs n a single season before 2014, although he did bat .300 or better four times.  However, his move to Aguascalientes did wonders for his power numbers after nearly a decade playing in more humid climates where the ball didn't carry as well.  Playing in the dry desert air in a city over 6,000 feet above sea level, Castillo hit .335 for the Rieleros in 2014 with 17 homers and 94 RBIs, all career highs.  That began a string of four seasons in Aguascalientes in which he batted between .335 and .361 while belting a total of 66 homers, bringing home 306 runs and stealing 52 bases over 440 games, playing in two more All-Star Games along the way.  Castillo, who was playing mostly first base by then, earned his first MVP trophy in 2017 when he battered Liga pitchers for a .342 average with 20 homers and 82 RBIs, winning the All-Star Game MVP award that summer.

Although he was clearly the best player in Rieleros togs, the perpetually cash-strapped team traded him to Monclova after the 2017 for Tim Torres, a serviceable utilityman from California on loan from Oaxaca who'd ironically hit over .300 with 11 homers for Aguascalientes in 2016 before beginning a somewhat remarkable tour of Mexican baseball by first being returned to the Guerreros after the season and later being loaned to Tabasco, who then traded him to Monclova, all in an eight-month span.  Torres had hit 307 for the Acereros in limited action during 2017 but never suited up for Aguascalientes after the trade. Instead, he was assigned to Tijuana, where he doubled and scored in one at-bat in one Spring 2018 game before being placed on reserve and has not played since. 

"El Jesse" played for Zulia ths winter

On the other hand, Castillo won his second straight Liga MVP award in Spring 2018 with Monclova, raking for a .378 average with 13 homers and 57 RBIs over 56 games in the short season to tie Yucatan's Luis Juarez for the longball title and leading the loop in ribbies.  He put in a solid Fall 2018 regular season as well by hitting .324, socking four homers and driving in 43 runs in 51 contests.  

Over 15 seasons between 2005 and 2018, Castillo batted .322 with 115 homers and 732 RBIs in 1,258 LMB regular season games. He'd been a Mexican Pacific League fixture between 2006-07 and 2017-18, batting above .280 with 45 homer over 599 games and playing in two Caribbean Series.  This winter, in his return after his 2018 injury, Castillo hit .301 in 35 games for Zulia in the Venezuelan League with no homers and 17 RBIs.  He'll be joining a Leon team that finished sixth in the Mexican League with a .306 average and a lineup with such returnees as Matt Clark, Felix Pie and Carlos Rivero under new manager Tim Johnson, who was hired in November.  The Bravos have reached the postseason three of the past four seasons, but have yet to get past the first round. 

LMB DROPS FRANKLIN BASEBALLS,  REVERTS TO RAWLINGS

Rawlings balls will return to LMB in 2020

After seeing the number of home runs jump precipitously in 2019 (while pitchers' nerves also jumped accordingly), the Mexican League has reportedly ended the use of Franklin baseballs after one season and will go back to using the Rawlings ball previously used.  However, according to an interview with Beatriz Pereyra of Proceso, new LMB president Horacio De La Vega said it was the increase in costs and not in roundrippers that led to the change in a deal put together by former Liga leader Javier Salinas.

De La Vega explained that Salinas worked out a deal with Franklin's representative for Mexico, Roberto Contreras, to supply the LMB with 11,000 boxes containing a dozen baseballs each for the 2019 season to be delivered to the Mexican League office in Mexico City.  Previously, the Rawlings balls were imported from China and delivered to the border crossing customs office in Nuevo Laredo, from where they were distributed to each of the 16 LMB teams. In addition to the lower cost per ball, to be bought in bulk by the Liga and not by individual franchises, the article states that the LMB (as partners with Franklin) would be able to make a profit reselling them to its teams.

Mexican League president Horacio De La Vega

Instead, Contreras was detained at the customs office in Mexico City because he lacked the funds on hand to pay for a 3 million peso (about US$150,000) shipment, even though the Liga had previously sent him the money.  As a result, the LMB had to pay that amount a second time to get them out of customs and is currently in litigation to recover it.  De La Vega says that while the financial imbroglio actually increased the cost of baseballs in 2019, the silver lining is that Rawlings came back with a better offer this year of US$64.40 per dozen balls that includes the cost of importing them, which was not the case in the past.

LMB pitchers' impression of Franklin ball

The sighs of relief at the league office will no doubt be echoed on pitcher's mounds throughout the LMB.  In 2017, the last full season using the Rawlings ball before 2018's two-schedule format, three teams batted over .300, five teams topped 100 homers and only two mound staffs had ERAs above 5.50 (Saltillo at 5.70 and Durango at 6.01).  In 2019, using the Franklin ball, ten teams topped the .300 mark (Yucatan just missed at .299), fifteen teams hit 108 or more homers and nine pitching staffs had ERAs above 5.50, with Laguna the worst at 8.05.  Ten batters in 2019 belted 30 or more home runs, with Monclova's Chris Carter knocking out 49 four-baggers.  Conversely, Rainel Rosario of Saltillo led the loop with 26 longballs in 2017 as only five hitters reached 20 for the season.