MEXICO BLASTED BY ISRAEL, 12-5; KO'D FROM OLYMPICS

Isaac Rodriguez against Dominicans

    The Mexican Olympic baseball team lost to Israel by a 12-5 count Sunday in Yokohama to be eliminated from their first appearance in the Summer Games after losing all three contests they played. The Verdes Grande had dropped a 1-0 knucklebiter to the Dominican Republic and a 7-4 decision to host Japan last week to finish 0-2 in Group A.

    In Sunday's loss, Israel took a 6-0 lead and never looked back in winning their first Olympic game after turning in an 0-2 record in Group B. Mexico starter Manny Barreda gave up six runs on four hits and three walks over two-plus innings to take the loss. The ex-Yankees prospect was trailing 1-0 after two innings before the roof caved in top of the the third, when he walked Israel's first two batters before giving up a three-run homer to former MLBer Danny Valencia, who drilled a fastball ten rows deep into the Yokohama Baseball Stadium's left-field seats. Barreda allowed two more baserunners without recording an out before being yanked for reliever Sasagi Sanchez, who then gave up a two-run Nick Rickles single to make it a 6-0 game.

    To their credit, the Mexicans fought back to make it a one-run game by scoring four times in the bottom of the third. Braves farmhand Ryan Goins doubled to deep left to plate Jonathan Jones with Mexico's first run and then came in when Israel starter Jonathan Zeid uncorked a wild pitch during a walk to Isaac Rodriguez. Rodriguez scored on a Sebastian Elizalde double to left and then Elizalde crossed the plate when Joey Meneses singled to shallow left to narrow the deficit to 6-4. Adrian Gonzalez singled in Meneses in the bottom of the sixth to close to gap to 6-5, but a horrible top of the seventh put the game out of reach.

    In that fateful frame, Israel sent ten batters to the plate and scored six runs on as many hits, keyed by consecutive two-run singles from Mitch Glasser and Zach Penprase, a pair of longtime indyball players. Former MLB hurler Oliver Perez allowed all six runs, although the first two were charged to fellow Mexican reliever Fernando Salas. Israel allowed one Gonzalez double over the last three frames to cement the win.

    Mexico dropped their first game last Friday, 1-0, to the Dominican Republic. Starter Angel Sanchez (5 IP) and four relievers combined to limit the Mexicans to four singles and three walks while Mexican starter Teddy Stankiewicz battled admirably through 4.2 innings, striking out five Dominicans but allowing the game's lone run when ex-MLBer Melky Cabrera single in Charlie Valerio in the bottom of the fifth. Diamondbacks minor leaguer Luis Castillo turned in a 1-2-3 ninth for the save.

    The Verdes Grande's best chance came in the top of the sixth when Isaac Rodriguez laid down a bunt single, advanced to second on a passed ball by catcher Valerio while Elizalde was up and then tried to score on a Meneses single to left but was cut down at the plate by a throw from Jose Bautista.

    Things were a little less dramatic one day later, when Japan bopped Mexico by a 7-4 score on Saturday. Mexico actually took a 1-0 lead against the host team in the bottom of the first when Meneses singled up the middle off Masato Morishita to score Rodriguez from second. Japan came back to tie it in the second and go ahead in the third with single runs against Mexican starter Juan Pablo Oramas. Eduardo Arredondo relieved Oramas in the fourth and gave up a pair of singles to set up a three-run homer by Tetsuto Yamada to bring Japan's lead up to 5-1.

Joey Meneses hit .500 with HR for Mexico

    Mexico got a run back in the bottom of the fourth when Elizalde scored from third on a Gonzalez double-play grounder to second, but Japan scored singletons in the seventh and eighth to stretch their advantage to 7-2. Meneses crashed a two-run homer off reliever Kaima Taira in the bottom of the eighth, making it a 7-4 game, but Mexico could get no closer before running out of outs.

    All in all, it was a disappointing Olympic baseball debut for Mexico, who was outscored 20-9 over three games. Meneses turned in the top plate performance, going 6-for-12 with a homer and four RBIs, but Gonzalez (.273) was the only other hitter above .250 as the team combined for a .202 batting average. The pitching was little better, although Stankiewicz (1.93) and Oramas (3.00) did fairly well while relievers Sanchez, Carlos Bustamante, Daniel Duarte and Cesar Vargas allowed no earned runs but Barreda and three relievers all had ERAs at 13.50 or above as Mexico finished with a 6.23 team ERA.

    Mexico manager Benji Gil was circumspect in the aftermath of what most baseball observers in the country consider a disastrous performance. “Not even in my worst nightmare did I think this would be the result,” said the former MLB infielder, who was brought in after Juan Castro was unceremoniously fired despite having led the team to the country's-ever Olympic baseball appearance by qualifying in the 2019 Premier12 tournament. Gil pointed to a pitching collapse after allowing just one run against the Dominican Republic.

    “Normally in all these competitions, Mexico always has tremendous pitching,” said Gil. “We compete with that and that is why we are known in baseball. In the last two games, we did battle...not all of them, but as a team we did battle. Allowing 19 runs in 18 innings is something that has never been seen for a Mexican team.”

    Now it has.

SECOND-PLACE TOROS FIRE VIZQUEL AS LMB PLAYOFFS APPROACH

Omar Vizquel tossing BP as TJ skipper

    With the Mexican League playoffs just days away, two teams have made decisions regarding the men managing them. The Tijuana Toros demoted Hall of Fame candidate Omar Vizquel for “personal reasons” last Monday after the team suffered a three-game weekend sweep to Monterrey at home. The Toros were 32-22 at the time and in second place in the LMB North with nine games left in the regular season. There is speculation that Vizquel stepped down due to pressure from Major League Baseball because of an unresolved domestic violence case filed by the wife of the former shortstop, but the team owners (the Uribe family) are rather capricious even by LMB standards and have cut loose a dozen managers despite six consecutive playoff appearances and a 2017 pennant.

    The Tijuana front office issued a statement claiming "the decision that resolves the labor agreement was generated by mutual agreement and is adopted from the highest responsibility between the board of directors and the Venezuelan helmsman." Vizquel will be reassigned to other duties with the Toros while longtime Mexican baseball figure Homar Rojas (who was fired earlier this year as Monterrey's helmsman) becomes the 13th manager in Tijuana since the Toros debuted in 2014 while Bronswell Patrick moves from pitching coach to bench coach. Tijuana won five of their first six games under Rojas, who is managing his sixth LMB team since 2005.

    In Merida, the Yucatan Leones announced a new skipper to replace Geronimo Gil, who was fired on June 22 with a 14-11 record. Salon de la Fama member Chico Rodriguez led Yucatan to a 13-14 mark as interim manager until the Leones named Luis Matos as dugout boss on July 21. Matos spent seven years as an MLB outfielder before playing for Yucatan between 2008 and 2012. He managed Caguas to two Puerto Rican League pennants and Caribbean Series titles in 2017 and 2018 during a four-year stint with the Criollos. Matos split his first eight games at the helm of the Leones going into Sunday's contest with Campeche.

    The expansion Veracruz Aguilas still have Leo Rodriguez III as manager, but they brought in some experienced help last week by hiring former Mazatlan Venados leader Juan Jose Pacho as bench coach. Pacho was fired by the Mexican Pacific League team last winter, allegedly because he made public appearances supporting a political candidate opposed by Venados ownership. The Salon de la Fama shortstop's presence certainly hasn't harmed veteran slugger Jesus “Cacao” Valdez, who swatted a pair of three-run homers and drove in nine runs in an 18-6 blowout in Oaxaca last Thursday as Veracruz clinched a playoff berth.

    Just three games remain in the regular season and most playoff slots have been secured. In the LMB North, Guadalajara has clinched first place while Tijuana, Monclova and Saltillo have also punched their tickets. Aguascalientes is fifth after winning seven of ten games and close to reaching the postseason but Union Laguna, Dos Laredos and Monterrey are in a fairly tight battle for the sixth and final berth. Mexico City has clinched the top of the LMB South while Tabasco has won nine of ten outings to secure a playoff slot. Yucatan, Veracruz and Quintana Roo are also locks, meaning sixth-place Puebla needs one win or one Leon loss for the final postseason berth.

Luis Escobar has starred for Tabasco

    Guadalajara's Leo Heras is batting .415 after 43 games, good enough to top the batting race on the LMB website, ahead of Saltillo's Henry Urrutia (.391) and Tito Polo (.390) of Durango. Leon's Xavier Batista has pulled ahead of Rainel Rosario of Saltillo in the home run derby, 19 to 18, while Tijuana's Leandro Castro's 68 RBIs will likely be enough to hold off Japhet Amador's 57 for Mexico City to take that crown. In stolen bases, Quintana Roo's Reynaldo Rodriguez has 21 while Herlis Rodriguez of Tabasco is one behind at 20.

    Among pitchers, Masaru Nakamura of Guadalajara still has a perfect 8-0 record to lead the Liga in wins, one ahead of five other hurlers. Former Pirates righty Luis Escobar heads the ERA list as the Colombian shows a 2.60 mark after 11 starts, comfortably ahead of Laguna's Rafael Pineda (3.21). There's a battle for strikeout supremacy between Aguascalientes' Erik Leal (66), Puebla's Jose Valdez (66) and Mexico City's Hector Hernandez (65) while another three pitchers have 60-plus K's. Fernando Rodney of Tijuana is tops in saves with 15, one more than Guadalajara's Fernando Cruz.

    Just nine midweek series remain before the regular season closes. The most important may be a crossover set when Aguascalientes visits Leon, with the Rieleros trying to fight off three teams for one of two unsettled LMB North berth and the Bravos needed to win all three games to even have a chance to qualify in the LMB South.

JUAN VENE: JALISCO CHARROS HEADED FOR SALE, NAME CHANGE

    Now in his 90's, Juan Vene has covered Mexican baseball for years and his column “En la Pelota” is carried by 37 newspapers and websites. In a recent column, the Florida-based Vene states that a sale of the Mexican Pacific League's Jalisco Charros to the owners of the Guadalajara Mariachis is pending, as is a change of the team nickname. Puro Beisbol reports that sources from the State of Jalisco confirm the transaction and that the LMP will approve the deal.

    The following is a lightly-edited Google translation of Vene's column:

    The Jalisco Charros, whose name is owned by Armando Navarro, are about to end. The next team for the Guadalajara winters would be called the Jalisco Caballos and owned by José Luis González Íñigo and Carlos Valenzuela Gómez, who also own the Mexican League's Guadalajara franchise.

    "Both González and Valenzuela, co-owners of the Mariachis, are very good people," said a fellow journalist from Guadalajara.

    Navarro had contributed the name of Charros to be a partner of Salvador Quirarte, who invested the necessary money. The two got into a fight under accusations of mismanagement of the team's money. And there is no way to reconcile them.

    Quirarte does not respond to calls and Navarro's cell phone number always get the “beep-beep-beep” busy signal.

    Meanwhile, the Zapopan stadium, in the beautiful metropolitan area of Guadalajara, is owned by the Government of the State of Jalisco. And the governor, Enrique Alfaro Ramírez, is a Guadalajara leader who only wants peace and good baseball.

    Alfaro Ramírez likes the name “Jalisco Caballos” and is willing to provide all the necessary support to those who dedicate themselves to organizing the best show for Jalisco and not to fight for two or three pesos of old paper.

    Navarro has accused Quirarte of mishandling the team's money, so I try to contact him to see if he informs me how his partner did something wrong. But I already told you it's a case of “beep-beep-beep” every time I call him.

Name change likely for Estadio Charros, too

    Beautiful Guadalajara and its surroundings are home to hundreds of thousands of frenzied baseball fans, who have always supported it.

    However, there is a kind of gypsy curse on the ball in that sector of the world. The original Charros played in an uncomfortable stadium, built for student baseball and located on the outskirts of the city.

    It was not comfortable to go there. The Charros had to disappear in 1995.

    They returned in 2014, with great enthusiasm to a full stadium in the modern house of Zapopan, until peace ended in 2021. That is why, possibly, the 2021-2022 season will be that of the burial of the Charros and the birth of the Caballos.

    The figure of the caballo (or “horse”) is emblematic in Jalisco, especially for what these beautiful animals mean in the life of the charros.

    It will be a new life for baseball in Jalisco, absolutely better than Navarro and Quirarte pulling their hair out for two or three pesos of old paper.

ESPN TO STREAM MEXICAN LEAGUE GAMES IN 2021

Mexican League president Horacio de la Vega

    According to The Economist, ESPN is among the networks that will broadcast Mexican League games this summer. The LMB hopes to increase their audience spectrum and improve the economic conditions of all 18 teams. The announcement was made during a virtual league press conference last week, but no specific dates were given for ESPN live coverage. Other channels involved in 2021 will be TV Azteca, Multimedios and Canal 1.

    In an Assembly of Presidents meeting held in San Diego more than a year ago, it was determined that in 2021 the LMB will for the first time control the broadcasting rights of all member teams that comprise it to commercialize them collectively. One of the plans in the management of league president Horacio de la Vega is to increase its reach to spectators and promote teams beyond their local market.

    "Leagues like the NFL have managed to improve a lot in production issues to create a more competitive league," de la Vega says, "so that the teams can have better conditions when making a global negotiation. For that reason, this agreement has been made. "

    The Mexico City Diablos Rojos and Monterrey Sultanes were among the most affected franchises, since they already had lucrative contracts with SKY Sports, an ESPN competitor. The Proceso website detailed that the economic blow for the Diablos will exceed five million pesos (about US $ 250,000) with this decision.

Diablos executive president Othon Diaz

    According to information provided at a press conference by the Diablos' executive president, Othon Díaz, the process consists of packaging the games to sell them at three levels (A, AA and AAA). Each television station is assigned a certain number of games, depending on the amount that has paid, so that in the end all teams are on different channels

    In addition, Diaz pointed out that in conjunction with the league, it will allow local television stations to carry important games.

    “In the case of local television stations, especially at the state level,” says Diaz, “they have normally broadcast the teams' games. There is a matter of negotiation where through the sale of the rights for those cities, the local television station only has the possibility of broadcasting in the city or state where it has been negotiated with the league.”

PURO BEISBOL: PACHO FIRED AFTER BACKING MAZATLAN MAYOR

Ex-Venados manager Juan Jose Pacho

    Juan Jose Pacho has apparently been given an object lesson in the perils of bringing politics into the workplace. According to Puro Beisbol editor Fernando Ballesteros, Pacho was fired by the Mexican Pacific League's Mazatlan Venados organization after appearing in a photograph standing next to current Mazatlan mayor Luis "El Quimico" Benitez Torres at a recent campaign event. Benitez stepped down as mayor in March to take a three-month leave until June 7 to focus on his re-election campaign.

    Benitez and the City have been at loggerheads with Venados owners Jose Antonio Toledo and his family ever since Estadio Teodoro Mariscal reopened in time for the 2018-19 LMP season after undergoing US$18 million worth of renovations. The first dispute involved three clandestine water lines discovered by the City at the facility early that season. 

    After the state-owned Jumapam water utility determined that the Venados owed them 12.9 million pesos, water to the ballpark was shut off in late November and city staffers closed the ballpark to fans in the stands until the bill was paid. The imbroglio lasted into December before an uneasy settlement was arrived at and the stadium opened back up to ticketbuyers.

    Differences between the City and the team flared up again last year when employees of the municipality evicted the Venados staff from their ballpark offices and padlocked the 16,000-seat facility in April after violations of the signed lease were cited. The Toledo family also had their concessions contract at Estadio Teodoro Mariscal terminated. That was a particularly hard pill to swallow for the Toledos, who had managed concessions there since 1980 and were able to build up enough wealth to purchase the team from the Mazatlan-based Pacifico brewery in 2005.

    The team was forced to operate out of temporary offices away from the ballpark and while Mazatlan had been awarded last winter's Caribbean Series by the Pan American Baseball Conferation (COPABE), the standoff carried into June and COPABE head Juan Francisco Puello was threatening to move the tournament elsewhere if his organization was not given access to the stadium during the event. Eventually, Benitez relented and the Venados were allowed to occupy Estadio Teodoro Mariscal for the 2020-21 season and the Serie del Caribe, but the dispute concerning the ballpark lease has still not been resolved.

    With that as back story, it had to come as a shock to the Toledos when the picture of Pacho and Benitez at a rally surfaced in early April. The former shortstop was relieved of his managerial duties during last season (the third time he's managed the club) but had remained on the payroll as a consultant while supervising a children's baseball school.

Mazatlan mayor Luis Benitez Torres

    A Salon de la Fama member as a player, Pacho first became the Venados skipper after replacing Dan Firova amid the 2004-05 season and led the squad to the LMP pennant and a Caribbean Series title, Mazatlan's first, that season. The Deer also copped the 2005-06 Mex Pac flag but Pacho was eventually let go with thanks, as all managers in Mexico experience. He replaced Miguel Olivo at the helm during the 2015-16 campaign and once again led them to the pennant and CS crown that winter but was eventually let go again. This time around, he was brought in to replace Joe Alvarez after the latter left with the team in first place during the 2018-19 season and held the post until he was sent back to the front office last winter.

    Now, however, the 59-year-old Pacho (who was fired shortly after his birthday) has apparently crossed a bridge too far by appearing to support a mayor that has been anathema to his team owners for the past two years. He will likely hop on the Mexican managerial merry-go-round and find a new job as dugout boss elsewhere because nobody seems to be out of work for long as long as they've had past success, and there may have been a lesson learned in what can happen when you back a politician who has been the bane of your employers' existence.

SALON DE LA FAMA MEMBER JORGE FITCH DIES AT 87

Jorge Fitch as Puebla shortstop

    Sinaloa native Jorge Fitch, one of the best shortstops in Mexican baseball history, died last Thursday due to health problems. His son of the same name reported in a statement on social networks that the senior Fitch had passed away after turning 87 on March 30.

    The former player and manager had battled serious problems for a long time after suffering a stroke. One of Fitch's last public appearances was two years ago in Reynosa at the reunion of the 1969 Mexican League champion Broncos.

    A member of the Mexican Baseball Hall of Fame since 2001 (when he was inducted along with catcher Rudy Sandoval, first baseman Jack Pierce and utilityman/pitcher Pedro Ramirez), Fitch was considered the Mexican League's best shortstop during a playing career that lasted from the late 1950's into the mid-1970's, especially with Puebla and Reynosa. Playing winterball in the Mexican Pacific League, he also stood out in the middle infield with Hermosillo, Obregon and Navojoa.

    Born in Novalato, Sonora on March 30, 1934, Fitch broke into pro baseball at age 22 with the Fresnillo Mineros of the Class C Mexican Center League in 1956. Despite only batting .203 with five homers and 39 RBIs over 87 games while committing 25 errors at shortstop, he was acquired by the Mexico City Tigres for 1957 and spent three seasons with the team, socking 10 homers and stealing 25 bases under manager George Genovese in 1958. However, it wasn't until after Fitch was dealt to Puebla in 1960 that he hit his stride.

    Fitch topped the .300 batting mark in each of his first two years with the Pericos, for whom he spent eight summers and won one pennant (1963) while finishing second twice (1964, 1965). In the timespan, Puebla put together one of the strongest infields in LMB history with 1B Ronnie Camacho, 2B Moises Camacho, SS Fitch and 3B Jose “Zacatillo” Guerrero. Fitch and Moi Camacho (no relation to (Ronnie) formed an airtight keystone combo and all four are members of the Salon de la Fama.

Fitch passed away at 87 last week

    By 1969, Fitch was member of the Reynosa Broncos, who won the Liga pennant despite batting just .259 and hitting 44 homers as a team (pitcher Salvador Sanchez' 22-12 record and 1.84 ERA might have had something to do with their first-place finish). Fitch played one more year with the Broncos and spent 1971 in Tampico, where he was teammates with the legendary Hector Espino and a 22-year-old pitcher named Adan Munoz, whose yet-to-be-born son Adan caught 21 years in the LMB and is now manager in Quintana Roo. After that season, Fitch retired as a player at age 37, although he came out of the dugout to play 21 more games for Reynosa in 1974 and 1975 when he was managing the Broncos.

    Fitch played 1,670 games in his LMB career, collecting 1,676 hits for a .272 average. He spent nine winters playing in the Mexican Pacific League with Hermosillo, Obregon and Navojoa, batting .250 on 469 hits to give him a total of 2,145 safeties in both leagues. In addition to his managerial experience in the Mexican League, where he went an overall 525-518 with two flags over seven seasons, Fitch managed the Mex Pac's Tijuana Potros for several winters during the 1980's and won the LMP pennant in 1987-88.

LMB ANNOUNCES RULES CHANGES FOR 2021 SEASON

New rules for LMB umps to learn in 2021

    The Mexican League has announced that some rule changes will be implemented during the upcoming 2021 season, which will begin on May 20 and will consist of 66 regular season games for each club prior to commencing a four-tiered, 12-team playoff in August.

    One of the rule changes will be regarding the intentional walk, which will again require four pitches to the plate. According to an LMB press release detailing the rule changes, this is due to the fact that an evaluation was carried out as to whether the elimination of the four pitches reduced the duration of the games. The study determined that there was no relevant impact. Because of this, leaders of Mexico's senior circuit determined that since a traditional intentional walk involves four pitches in which the ball is alive and in play, there are many possibilities of plays that can arise from each one. Thus, it will be returned to the obligation to pitch the batter.

    Each club will be entitled to six visits to the mound without changing pitchers during a nine-inning game. Regarding any extra innings that are played, teams will be entitled to an extra visit to the mound each frame without changing pitchers.

    In another measure meant to help speed up the games for the 2021 season, pitchers will be required to face a minimum of three consecutive batters, including a batter in the midst of a plate appearance (or any pinch-hitter). The three-batter minimum will apply until said batters are put out or reach base, or until the team's offensive opportunity runs out. An exception will be granted if the starting pitcher or reliever suffers an injury that (in the judgment of the main umpire) makes them unable to continue in the game.

    Last Friday, sports managers and managers around the loop began four seminars on updating the game rules. LMB chief umpire Luis Alberto Ramírez will teach these courses in which they will also address rules regarding the infield fly, balk, obligation of pitchers to face three consecutive batters and visits of managers, coaches or player to the pitcher's mound.

    One unrelated element of the press release from the LMB head office in Mexico City was that the text referred to “16 clubs” instead the 18 teams playing this season. A typo, perhaps, but a further look at the Mexican League's website shows only 16 teams in the directory, with neither expansion Guadalajara nor Veracruz mentioned even though the two franchises were announced by Mexican president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador at a press conference in the National Palace in the capital city nearly four months ago. 

Fewer trips to mound for Geronimo Gil

    The virtual gathering included no personnel from the Liga office, including LMB president Horacio de la Vega, which suggests that de la Vega was not on board with an expansion that may have been Lopez Obrador's idea. The Mexican League Board of Presidents did approve both new teams in late January, a month after the press conference.

    Both new LMB teams WERE included in the master 2021 season schedule, although the name “Jalisco” is used instead of “Guadalajara.” While the change may have made it easier to include the Mariachis within the space allotted in the schedule, the team's name has been at least a minor issue with the mayor of Zapopan, Pedro Lemus, who said in December that in order for the Mariachis to play at Estadio Charros (owned and operated in the suburban municipality by Jalisco's Mexican Pacific League franchise), they would be required to change their name from “Guadalajara” to “Jalisco” to reflect the state's identity.

    Although Veracruz appears to be moving along towards their May opener, from the naming of manager Leo Rodriguez and the signing of players to renovations on Estadio Beto Avila, things are moving at a slower pace in Guadalajara. A deal on the use of the ballpark has still not been signed less than two months away from the start of the season while the Mariachis are the only team in the league to not have a field manager in place.

MEX PAC MANAGERS: NAVARRETE TO STAY, ORTEGA OUT

Juan Navarrete back in Hermosillo

    Both Hermosillo and Mazatlan front offices have made decisions regarding their respective managers for the 2021-22 Mexican Pacific League season. The Naranjeros will open play next winter with Salon de la Fama member Juan Navarrete at the helm for the start of his second campaign, but the Venados have announced that they will be replacing interim skipper Pablo Ortega.

    Given the impatience for a pennant from ownership in Hermosillo, it may have been somewhat surprising that Navarrete will be back after a season that was somewhat similar to the one his predecessor, Vinny Castilla, turned in for 2019-20 before he was shown the door with thanks for closing it behind him after crossing the threshold. The former Rockies slugger, who was enshrined in Monterrey last winter, led the Orangemen to a 38-27 record (third-best in the LMP) before falling to Mazatlan in the first round of the playoffs in his only season as dugout boss.

    Navarrete was hired last spring after some postseason confusion regarding Castilla's job status and took Hermosillo to a 33-23 regular season mark (slightly better than the previous year and second overall in the Mex Pac) before the Naranjeros reached the championship series, where they lost in seven games to Culiacan for the LMP pennant, a playoff performance that may have been the deciding factor in the former second baseman's return for another season. However, the longtime Oakland A's minor league instructor has been around long enough to know that anything less than a pennant may not be enough to save his job under demanding team president/GM Enrique Mazon.

 

Pablo Ortega let go by Venados

   In Ortega's case, he took over in Mazatlan last November with the team showing an 8-14 first-half record under Juan Jose Pacho, who was on his third tour of duty as Venados manager after previously leading the team to four pennants and two Caribbean Series titles. Ortega, a longtime star pitcher in both Mexican Leagues for 20 seasons after four years in the Tampa Bay system, was able to coax a 20-16 record out of the Deer the rest of the regular season to secure a playoff berth, but fell in six games to Hermosillo in the first round.

    A press release from the Venados front office announcing that the 44-year-old Ortega would not be back in 2021-22 said that a new manager would be named “later,” and thanked the former right-hander for his work as interim skipper.

    Ortega, who had been Pacho's pitching coach prior to his ascension to Mazatlan's field boss, will have little time to lick any wounds over his dismissal. The Nuevo Laredo native is slated for a second year as new manager for his hometown Tecolotes. Ortega had been hired for that post prior to last season and led the team during training camp before the ongoing pandemic led to the cancellation of the 2020 Mexican League season. This year's late-starting camp will open next month.

VET SLUGGER SOTO SIGNS WITH MARIACHIS FOR 2021

Saul Soto goes deep for Rieleros

    When a veteran athlete sports the nickname “El Jefe” (“The Boss”), it's logical to assume that he's gained respect as a team leader over the course of his playing career. That would certainly be the case with longtime Mexican baseball slugger Saul Soto, who'll bring his nickname with him to the expansion Guadalajara Mariachis for the 2021 Mexican League season after playing for Aguascalientes since 2015.

    The 6'4” 235-pound native of Los Mochis would carry a commanding presence regardless of his on-field bonafides, but the 42-year-old Soto has a playing resume that matches him in physical size. Since debuting in 1998 as a catcher with Reynosa, Soto has played 22 seasons in the LMB. In 1,938 career games (mostly with Mexico City, Monclova and Aguascalientes), the right-handed batter has hit .306, topping the .300 mark 13 times, including a six-season run between 2014 and 2018. He's contributed 422 doubles, 288 homers and 1,177 RBIs while scoring 1,084 runs on 2,075 hits.

    Although the Rieleros' last season in 2019 was otherwise forgettable as usual, Soto reached personal milestones of 2,000 hits, 400 doubles and 1,000 runs scored. While his batting average dipped below .300 for the first time since 2013, he socked 22 homers and added 24 doubles among his 117 hits while only missing four games, driving in 85 runs en route to a .268 average and playing in his eleventh LMB All-Star Game since 2006.

    During his time in Aguascalientes, Soto became the last Mexican League player-manager after replacing Marco Antonio Romero on July 8, 2016 (the eleventh LMB manager fired at that point) with the Railroaders showing a 38-41 record at the time. Although Soto didn't fare badly at the helm, turning in a 15-17 record the rest of the way while batting an even .300 with ten homers for the year, then-Liga president Plinio Escalante made him return to a player-only role after the season.

Soto on basepath for Los Mochis

   Soto is coming off his 21st winterball season in the Mexican Pacific League, all with his hometown Los Mochis Caneros. He had a tough year with the last-place club, batting .153 with two homers and 11 RBIs, but has a fair career .244 average in the pitching-strong league with 146 homers and 512 RBIs over 1,132 games. Soto has not caught a game since 2016 and is now primarily a designated hitter and backup first baseman.

    Although former MLB All-Star first baseman Adrian Gonzalez has been touted by some as a future player-manager in Guadalajara while Jalisco Charros skipper Benji Gil is said to be a front-runner for the job, it would not be shocking if the Mariachis front office makes an attempt to convince the LMB and president Horacio de la Vega to allow Saul Soto to take the reins of the first-year team this summer. After all, there's a reason he's called “The Boss.”

GUASAVE PLAYER HITS 3 HOMERS IN SINGLE GAME

Guasave outfielder Leo German

    After a self-imposed shutdown of eleven days due to increasing cases of the Wuhan virus among players and coaches, the Mexican Pacific League swung back into action last Tuesday night with four games. A fifth scheduled contest, in which Los Mochis was to play in Guasave, was moved to Monday, November 23 in Los Mochis due to logistical issues, according to an Algodoneros press release.

    The extra day off didn't do anything to throw off Guasave outfielder Leo German's timing. The 5'9” veteran had never hit more than three home runs in a season (summer or winter) until he launched 10 longballs for Dos Laredos in a 2019 Mexican League campaign that saw numbers inflated by a very lively Franklin ball that was discarded after one year. Even so, it was the 27-year-old German who became the 39th player in Mex Pac history to hit three homers in a nine-inning game, two of them “panoramic” blasts, according to Puro Beisbol editor Fernando Ballesteros, in Guasave's 5-3 win over the Caneros.

    A three-run homer by Felix Perez keyed a four-run top of the seventh inning that lifted Obregon into a 9-8 comeback win at Mexicali Saturday night, completing a Yaquis doubleheader sweep of the Aguilas that helped keep the visitors in first place, although Sunday's closing game was forfeited to Mexicali, 9-0, by the LMP office after three Yaquis tested positive for the Wuhan virus. The forfeit drops Obregon's record to 19-7, two games ahead of Hermosillo in second at 15-7.

 Monterrey first baseman Dustin Peterson had a night to remember in Thursday's 11-4 win in Navojoa. During a ten-run outburst in the top of the seventh in which 13 Sultanes went to the plate, Peterson socked a solo homer off Marco Carrillo and a two-run roundtripper off Francisco Moreno to become only the third batter in LMP history to hit two homers in the same frame. The first was Hermosillo's Altar Greene against Navojoa in 1979 while Roberto Saucedo of Mazatlan did the double in 2001, also against the Mayos. Older brother D.J. Peterson, playing the initial hassock for Navojoa, had earlier launched a longball in the bottom of the third inning as the Petersons set a league record with three homers while playing for opposite teams.

    It was a tough week for the Mayos, who are 9-16 and a half-game ahead of 8-16 basement-dwelling Los Mochis. Navojoa lost 20-year-old Padres outfield prospect Tirso Ornelas for the season with a serious arm injury. Ornelas, one of four players sent by Obregon in exchange for first baseman Victor Mendoza early this month, was batting .286 with a double and two runs scored in five games for his new team.

New Venados manager Pablo Ortega

    Although the trade looked like a potential bonanza for Navojoa at the time, it's not working out that way. Besides Ornelas' injury, then-league ERA leader Octavio Acosta was unenthusiatic about the move and was shelled in his first start against Monterrey for five runs on six hits in 1.2 innings. Likewise, reliever Moreno (already pitching for his third team this winter) has been hit hard in two outings and, like Acosta, has a 27.00 ERA for the Mayos while second baseman Moises Gutierrez is batting just .214 after for games with Navojoa. If there's any consolation for the Mayos, Mendoza is rehabbing a leg injury and has yet to play for the Yaquis.

    It was also a tough week for veteran manager Juan Jose Pacho, who was fired by Mazatlan Thursday after the Venados ended a three-game series in Culiacan with an 8-14 record. Even a 9-7 victory over the Tomateros in the finale wasn't enough to save Pacho, who led Mazatlan to three LMP pennants and a pair of Caribbean Series wins in two previous terms at the helm of the team, from being the second manager canned this season (Mexicali parted ways with Pedro Mere after an 0-8 start and has since gone 11-6 under Bronswell Patrick).

    Pacho has been replaced by pitching coach Pablo Ortega, a longtime star hurler in both Mexican leagues (including a 76-71 record and 3.27 ERA over 18 LMP seasons, 15 with Mazatlan) who had been named manager of Dos Laredos for 2020 but never managed a game for the Tecolotes after the Mexican League canceled the season. He won his managerial debut at home Friday night as the Deer topped Los Mochis, 7-4, and followed that up with a 6-5 Saturday win as Isaac Paredes scored from second in the bottom of the ninth when a Carlos Munoz grounder that Caneros second baseman Esteban Quiroz had to dive to stop drew an errant Quiroz throw to the plate that brought in Paredes with the winning run.

MEXICAN PACIFIC LEAGUE STANDINGS (as of 11/22/20)
Obregon 19-6, Hermosillo 15-7, Culiacan 14-12, Monterrey 12-10, Guasave 11-12, Jalisco 11-14, Mexicali 11-14, Mazatlan 10-14, Navojoa 10-16, Los Mochis 8-16.

JALISCO TO JOIN VERACRUZ AS LMB EXPANSION TEAMS?

Salvador Quirarte of Guadalajara

    The Mexican League's announcement that an acceptable proposal from Veracruz for an expansion team has been received (and that the port city will likely be given a franchise in the near future) created speculation as to who would be the second new club. It now appears that the Jalisco Charros may become the 18th LMB team, joining the Monterrey Sultanes in operating ballclubs in both the LMB and Mexican Pacific League.

    Guadalajara is Mexico's second-largest city and while previous attempts by operators of Mexican League teams have ended in failure, baseball's profile in a metropolis where soccer is king has risen considerably over the past several years, beginning with the purchase and shifting of the Mexican Pacific League's team in Guasave in 2014 couple with the renamed Jalisco Charros buying Guadalajara's existing Estadio Panamericano ballpark (built for the 2011 Pan-American Games) and renovating it. Since then, the Charros have become one of the best-drawing clubs in the Mex Pac during their six years of existence and won their first LMP championship and Caribbean Series berth last winter.

    On a broader scale, Charros co-owners Armando Navarro and Salvador Quirarte have been very proactive in bringing outside baseball events into renamed Estadio Charros, which can now seat up to 16,000 spectators, including the World Baseball Classic, Premier12 and Caribbean Series. Now it looks as though Guadalajara is poised to host professional baseball on a year-round basis.

    However, it appears that they may be be doing it without Quirarte in the fold. Jose Carlos Campos, a former LMP media relations director who now oversee the El Rincon Beisbolero website, says that Quirarte is coming up short in an internal struggle within the front office and “was forced by the members to leave the office (and club) for reasons of lack of clarity regarding the basketball club that he also managed.”

Jorge y Bernardo Pasquel

    Campos speculates that the two new LMB teams would not be the product of expansion to 18 teams, but rather a “recomposition” involving two current Liga members, adding that “growing in numbers in times of severe crisis is not exactly a good idea.” There had been rumors that the Aguascalientes Rieleros would be sold and moved to Veracruz in 2021, but the LMB office quashed them.

    A familiar name is apparently heading the effort to bring a Mexican League team back to Veracruz. According to Jose Antonio Otero of El Fildeo, local businessman Bernardo Pasquel is son of former Veracruz Azules co-owner Bernardo Senior and nephew of former LMB president Jorge Pasquel, whose strong will and deep pockets turned the circuit into a threat to Major League Baseball's hegemony over the game in the 1940's. After bringing a number of top Negro League players to Mexico, the elder Pasquel turned his attention and resources to MLB players. 

    Stan Musial and Ted Williams both turned down his offers, but he was able to get Vern Stephens, Max Lanier, Sal Maglie and Danny Gardella to agree to play south of the border, resulting in baseball commissioner Happy Chandler slapping a lifetime ban on players who stayed in Mexico (it was later reduced to a five-year ban after Gardella's antitrust lawsuit was allowed by a federal appeals court to move forward). The Pasquels eventually left the game in 1952 and Jorge died in a plane crash three years later.

AMEZCUA, MAZON ELECTED TO CARIBBEAN SERIES HALL OF FAME

Former Culiacan catcher Adan Amezcua

    Longtime Culiacan catcher Adan Amezcua and Hermosillo Naranjeros team president Enrique Mazon have been selected as new members of the Caribbean Series Hall of Fame. The two are scheduled to be be inducted during a ceremony held at the 2021 Serie del Caribe in Mazatlan.

    Amezcua, who played 21 consecutive seasons with the Tomateros in the Mexican Pacific League, was named the Most Valuable Player in the 2002 CS in Caracas after batting .455 with three homers as Culiacan became the first team in Mexico to win two championships in that event. The man nicknamed “El General” had already been a champion with the Tomateros in Santo Domingo in 1996 and later obtained a third in Mazatlan 2005 as a reinforcement for the Venados in their first Caribbean Series crown, earning kudos for his work with a pitching staff that included Francisco Campos, Pablo Ortega and Jorge Campillo.

    Now 46, the 6'3” 200-pounder had an LMP career batting average of .267 with 68 homers and 299 RBIs in 794 games when he retired in 2014. After spending time playing in the Astros, Orioles and Padres systems between 1993 and 2002, Amezcua played the final 13 summers of his pro career in the Mexican League and played on pennant winners with Monterrey in 2007 and Quintana Roo in 2013 and 2015. He had unofficial LMB career totals of 60 homers and 409 RBIs to augment a .293 average in 872 contests.

Hermosillo president Enrique Mazon

    Amezcua, who is an analyst on a podcast for Puro Beisbol, will have a special motivation because the tribute will be in his hometown of Mazatlan. He'll be adding another achievement to his brilliant career after the Tomateros retired his number 31 in December 2017.

    Mazon has been with the Hermosillo organization since 1987 and a fundamental piece in the Naranjeros' past success as part of eight of the sixteen titles that the Hermosillo team has won in the Mex Pac: 1989-1990, 1991-1992, 1993-1994, 1994-1995, 2000-2001, 2006-2007, 2009-2010 and 2013-2014. Under Mazon, the Orangemen also were champions in the 2014 Caribbean Series in Margarita, Venezuela while organizing the Caribbean classic's 1987, 1992, 1997 and 2013 in Hermosillo.

    Mazon also helped oversee the construction of Estadio Sonora, a 16,000-seat ballpark that opened in February 2013 to replace Estadio Hector Espino (the Naranjeros' longtime home) and is considered by many to be the nicest baseball facility in Mexico. Hermosillo annually ranks among the LMP's attendance leaders with well over 10,000 seats filled nighty. Last winter, the team finished second in the loop with an average of 14,324 per opening in the regular season. This winter, he's celebrating 33 years as the Naranjeros team president.

STREAKING SARAPEROS TAKE FIRST IN LMB NORTH

Saltillo infielder Juan Perez

The Saltillo Saraperos have put together a nine-game winning streak to vault into a race with Tijuana and Monclova for the Mexican League’s North Division second-half championship.  Saltillo began their skein with a July 19 win at Aguascalientes and went on to sweep the Rieleros, cop three wins in a midweek home series against Durango and then topped Aguascalientes in a trio of home games to run their second-half record to 21-10.

As 6,275 looked on at Estadio Francisco I. Madero, Manny Rodriguez’ grand slam in the bottom of the eighth broke open Sunday’s contest with the Saraperos clutching a 4-3 lead.  Rodriguez, now 37, has had a very quiet year with only six homers and a .249 average after 89 games, the first 25 with Quintana Roo before the Tigres loaned the four-time LMB All-Star to Saltillo on May 7 after he’d hit just .202 for the Tigres, who retain his rights.

The Saraperos were just 28-32 in the first half, finishing fifth in the LMB North and collecting just 4.5 playoff points.  Beyond Rodriguez, they’re not a star-studded team. Former Reds minor league infielder Juan Perez is batting .335 with 20 homers and 63 RBIs, outfielder Rainel Rosario has a .319 average with 19 homers and 61 ribbies and veteran first baseman Jorge “Chato” Vazquez homered four times in six games last week to reach 17 for the year. He’s hitting .313 with 56 RBIs in 60 games as the injury-prone, 37-year-old slugger shows he can contribute when healthy.

Tijuana won two of three weekend games at Dos Laredos to stay two games behind Saltillo at 20-12.  The Tecolotes won Sunday’s game, 9-5, at Laredo’s Uni-Trade Stadium as catcher Arturo Rodriguez had a solo homer and three RBIs on three hits.  Monclova (19-13) is in third after beating Monterrey, 6-3, at home Sunday as Chris Carter belted his 41st homer and Alex Mejia, Francisco Peguero and Ricky Rodriguez each singled, doubled and drove in a run.  Monterrey and Dos Laredos are virtually tied for fourth: The Acereros are 16-16 while the Tecos are 15-15.

While Saltillo, Tijuana and Monclova duke it out for LMB North supremacy, Durango and Aguascalientes are in freefall at the bottom of the division.  The Generales (11-16) have been swept in four straight series for 12 losses in a row, changing managers and apparently being put up for sale in the process (more below) to fall to 11-21 and out of playoff contention for all intent and purposes.  Durango and Union Laguna (11-16) are fighting to stay out of last place but while the Generales haven’t won for two weeks, the Algodoneros have helped themselves by winning four in a row and eight of their last ten under new manager Jonathan Aceves.  For their part, the Rieleros (9-23) have the worst record in the league while turning into a train wreck, so to speak.  

The perpetually cash-strapped team’s trading of star third baseman Jose Vargas to Monclova removed one of their larger salaries and likely netted then some money in return, but at the cost of goodwill with remaining Aguascalientes players and fans.  Puro Beisbol editor Fernando Ballesteros writes that he received an email from several Rieleros claiming owner Armando Medina threatened to “freeze” them if they didn’t sign for what he was offering, called sports manager Leo Clayton an “agent” and accused team president Eustacio Alvarez of corruption.  Ballesteros says sources tell him the franchise is for sale and that businessmen in San Luis Potosi have shown interest. Other than that, everything’s fine in Aguascalientes.

Quintana Roo pitcher Wilfredo Boscan

Meanwhile, in the LMB South, Quintana Roo and Yucatan have separated themselves from the pack to make it a two-team race for first place.  The Tigres pounded Tabasco, 11-0, Sunday night in Villahermosa to bring their record to 23-9, giving them a one-game lead over idle Yucatan in the battle for those eight playoff points.  In Sunday’s rout, Eric Aguilera went 2-for-5 for Quintana Roo with a run scored and three RBIs while Brian Hernandez had three hits to score once and drive in two more. Ex-Pittsburgh pitcher Wilfredo Boscan tossed seven shutout innings for the Tigres, allowing five hits and striking out eight to lift his season record to 6-3.  Like Saltillo, the Tigres are a surprise team in the second half after they went 25-35 in the first half to finish sixth in the LMB South with 4.0 playoff points.

Yucatan is right behind the Tigres at 22-10 and carried a five-game winning streak into Monday’s travel day.  The Leones swept a midweek road series in Tabasco and won the first two games of their weekend set in Campeche before Sunday’s tilt was rained out.  Cesar Valdez won his LMB-leading 13th game Saturday in a 6-2 Yucatan victory. Mexico City is third at 18-15 and Tabasco holds forth with a 15-16 mark in a decent second-half showing.  Oaxaca (15-17), Campeche (13-16) and Puebla (13-17) are all less than two games behind the fourth-place Olmecas. Last-place Leon (10-21) won in Oaxaca Sunday, 7-2, as Felix Pie went 3-for-5 with a double and two RBIs for the Bravos.

Pie still leads the batting race with a .406 average but Mexico City teammates Emmanuel Avila (.388) and Jesus Fabela (.384) have closed the gap a bit.  Chris Carter of Monclova leads in both homers and RBIs. Carter homered off Tijuana’s Orlando Lara last Tuesday to become the first player in pro ball to reach 40 roundtrippers this season.  Carter is in the discussion for MVP honors along with Oaxaca’s Alonzo Harris. The former Mets and Cards farmhand is second in homers (33), RBI’s (89), runs scored (100) and stolen bases (38), trailing only Dos Laredos’ Johnny Davis’ 48 in that category to augment a .339 average.  Prior to coming to Mexico, Harris was the Atlantic League’s 2017 Player of the Year playing for York.

Yucatan moundmates Cesar Valdez and Yoanner Negrin are the only two legitimate candidates for Pitcher of the Year.  Valdez’ win in Campeche Saturday gives him a 13-1 mark and league leadership in wins (13), earned-run average (2.38) and WHIP (1.12), microscopic numbers during a season where only five starters qualifying for the ERA title are at less than 5.00.  Negrin (11-3) is second to Valdez in wins (11), ERA (2.85) and WHIP (1.19). Leon’s Yasutomo Kubo leads the Liga with 119 strikeouts. Ramon Mendez is 0-5 for Dos Laredos and the Tecos must accept it as a trade-off for his LMB-best 26 saves in 27 opportunities and 3.47 ERA.  All-Star middleman Jesus Pirela still leads with 24 holds. Pirela also has a 4-3 record and three saves for the Toros.  

Important midweek series opening Tuesday night include Monclova visiting Tijuana and Mexico City hosting Oaxaca.  Yucatan will welcome Quintana Roo Friday for a huge LMB South weekend series while Tijuana heads to Saltillo for three against Roberto Vizcarra’s surprising Saraperos.

PACHO NAMED THIRD DURANGO MANAGER SINCE MAY

Juan Jose Pacho managing in Mazatlan

The Durango Generales made their second managerial change in a two-month span when the Mexican League team fired Efren Espinoza last Monday and brought in longtime Mazatlan Venados skipper Juan Jose Pacho as dugout boss.  Pacho becomes the third manager in Durango this season.  

The Generales began the 2019 campaign with veteran helmsman Lorenzo Bundy running the team, but Bundy was fired May 22 following an 18-9 home loss to Leon and Espinoza, a 14-year LMB outfielder with no prior managerial experience, was named interim manager with Durango holding a 16-25 record.  Espinoza led the Generales to a 21-24 mark but the club had lost six games in a row when the change was made. A Salon de la Fama shortstop who has guided Mazatlan to three Mex Pac pennants and two Caribbean Series titles, Pacho made his Durango debuted last Tuesday with an 8-4 loss in Saltillo.

One day after Durango installed Pacho as manager, the Leon Bravos severed ties with manager Tony Aguilera, making him the ninth skipper fired this season in the LMB.  In comparison, no Major League Baseball manager has been handed his walking papers this year. The firings have happened in two bursts, with five skippers getting pink-slipped between May 9 and 21 while the other four were shown the door between July 1 and 23.  Here is a current list of 2019 managerial changes in the Liga:

May 9:    Quintana Roo fired Jesus Sommers, replaced by Adan Munoz

May 12:  Campeche fired Tim Johnson, replaced by Jesus Sommers

May 18:  Dos Laredos fired Felix Fermin, replaced by Houston Jimenez

May 21:  Aguascalientes fired Joe Alvarez, replaced by Feliz Fermin

May 22:  Durango fired Lorenzo Bundy, replaced by Efren Espinoza

July 1:     Monclova fired Pedro Mere, replaced by Pat Listach

July 20:   Yucatan fired Luis Carlos Rivera, replaced by Geronimo Gil

July 22:   Durango fired Efren Espinoza, replaced by Juan Jose Pacho

July 23:   Leon fired Tony Aguilera, replaced by Luis Carlos Rivera

Monclova manager Pat Listach

All, of course, publicly received thanks from the teams firing them for their hard work and professionalism along with best wishes in future endeavors. 

In case you didn’t notice, Sommers found work in Campeche three days after being fired in Quintana Roo, Fermin landed in Aguascalientes three days after losing his job in Dos Laredos and Rivera was hired in Leon three days after Yucatan jettisoned him.  Bundy caught on in Monclova as Listach’s bench coach but as a longtime figure in Mexican baseball, mostly in the Mex Pac, he may be considered a hot property among other LMB owners looking to make a chance. Mere, who was reassigned to another position within the Acereros organization, would be another while Johnson and Alvarez are potential candidates to manage teams for owners with itchy trigger fingers.

GENERALES OWNER ARAMBURO IS NEW OWNER IN GUASAVE

Durango, Guasave owner Alfredo Aramburo

The Guasave Algodoneros have been scrambling to put together a team in time for next winter’s Mexican Pacific League season after joining the loop earlier this year along with Monterrey as the LMP’s two new expansion franchises.  Along with players, coaches, ticket takers and popcorn sellers, the Algodoneros have spent their short existence looking for a team owner after billionaire Alfredo Harp Helu made it clear that while he would foot the bill for renovations at Estadio Francisco Carranza Limon, he has no desire to be the primary owner in the Mex Pac’s smallest market.

The search for an owner of the Cottoneers ended last week when Mazatlan businessman Alfredo Aramburo was introduced at a press conference in Guasave as the man who will sign the paychecks.  At the press conference, Aramburo thanked LMP president Omar Canizales, other team owners and Algodoneros general director Sebastian Sandoval for their support, adding that “we come with great enthusiasm, with a lot of seriousness and a lot of professionalism.”

That latter point might be disputed by fans in Durango, where Aramburo is also the owner of the Mexican League Generales.  Shortly after the press conference in Guasave, the Generales fired their second manager in two months, the team is sliding out of playoff contention, attendance ranks in the lower half of the league and Aramburo himself is rumored to want out of Durango, according to Puro Beisbol editor Fernando Ballesteros.

Guasave's Estadio Francisco Carranza Limon

With the Mexican League about to enter into another schism among owners over the agreement with Major League Baseball regarding the signing of domestic prospects making it nearly impossible for LMB teams to recoup the cost of developing them, Aramburo may simply prefer operating in the less-fractured Mex Pac, although he told Durango’s El Siglio newspaper  in June that rumors the league is seeking a new owner for the franchise is speculation.

Although Aramburo is a Mazatleco, he is friends with Venados owner Jose Antonio Toledo, who encouraged him to purchase the Algodoneros and was at the press conference, during which Canizales said, “The philosophy is that the franchise stays here for a long time, but it is clear to us that we cannot force anyone if the city does not respond” with support.