LMB FINES, SUSPENDS 11 AFTER TIJUANA BRAWL

Start of last week's brawl in Tijuana

    The reeling Aguascalientes Rieleros may have a 10-19 record after losing seven of their last ten games, but the Rieleros seem to be making up in feistiness what they lack in wins. The Mexican League team made headlines across the country after manager Luis Carlos Rivera bloodied shortstop Richy Pedroza during a June 12 clubhouse confrontation that also involved third baseman Michael Wing. All three were fined by the LMB, Pedroza was placed on the team's reserve list shortly after the incident and Wing didn't return to the lineup until last week.

    The Railroaders found themselves in another dust-up last Wednesday, this time on the playing field. During the eighth inning of a 5-3 loss in Tijuana, Aguascalientes reliever Brandon Quintero drilled Toros batter Gabriel Gutierrez with a pitch, precipitating a heated discussion and an ensuing bench-clearing brawl between the two teams. While replays show the usual milling around seen in such confrontations in baseball, the LMB office in Mexico City saw fit to fine and/or suspend 11 combatants from both teams, with the two principle figures receiving stiff sentences.

    For the Rieleros, Quintero was suspended six games and fined 28,340 pesos for plunking Gutierrez but starting pitcher Ernesto Zaragosa was sent to the cooler for eight games on top of his 28,340 peso fine for coming back on the field to punch and kick Toros players during the fight. Catcher Francisco Cordoba was fined 14,470 pesos and suspended two games for hitting Tijuana's Jose Guadalupe Chavez after the latter was hit by a pitch in the sixth inning, while manager Rivera was fined 14,470 pesos and suspended one game for ordering his pitchers to throw at Toros batters.

    Interestingly, Tijuana came out on the short end even though they were the targets. Gutierrez was suspended ten games and fined 45,510 pesos after trying to hit Rieleros players with his bat and batting helmet while Chavez was ordered to sit out two games and pay 14,470 in fines for punching Cordoba in the sixth frame. Three other Toros players (Ricky Alvarez, Junior Lake and Peter O'Brien) were each fined 14,470 pesos and suspended for one game while pitcher Brennan Bernardino was fined 7,085 pesos but not suspended for throwing punches after things had seemingly calmed down.

    Two days before the Rieleros and Toros engaged in their tag-team bout, the Yucatan Leones decided to make a change by jettisoning manager Geronimo Gil. The decision to let the former Major League catcher go was somewhat curious, as the Leones were 14-11 and in third place in the LMB South standings, two games behind leaders Mexico City, when Gil was fired (with the usual thanks and best wishes from the team's front office). Instead, he becomes the fourth manager in Mexico to lose his job this month.

 

Geronimo Gil has been fired in Yucatan

  Gil took over the Leones during the 2019 season and led them to a 24-11 record over their last 25 games, then took them to the Serie del Rey before losing to Monclova. Yucatan began this season by winning their first six games, but losing 11 of their next 19 contests and managing in Mexican baseball is a “what-have-you-done-for-me-lately?” business. Salon de la Fama member Chico Rodriguez was hired as a bench coach the day Gil was let go, yet another curious move because nobody was announced as the new helmsman in Merida. Rodriguez has previously managed six different LMB teams and may be running the team but as of Sunday, the team website has made no mention of a new manager. Whoever the boss is, Yucatan has gone 3-3 since Gil was removed.

    While the emphasis in the Mexican League thus far has been on the several MLB veterans dotting team rosters, a couple of homegrown teenagers found themselves in the spotlight last week. The San Diego Padres have announced the signing of 19-year-old pitcher Miguel Castro, a Guasave native whose fastball has hit 92-93 MPH. Padres scout Emmanuel Rangel says the young right-hander projects as a starter in the majors. Castro's LMB rights are held by the Puebla Pericos while he's on the reserve list of Mexican Pacific League's Los Mochis Caneros.

    Another teen hurler, Alejandro Armenta, made his debut for Quintana Roo last Tuesday just days before his 17th birthday. A product of Los Mochis, Armenta started the Tigres' series opener in Cancun against Puebla and tossed a scoreless first inning, striking out the Pericos' David Olmedo-Barrera for the second out. The 5'9” 188-pound righty threw strikes on 13 of his 19 pitches before being pulled for veteran Javier Solano at the beginning of the second frame.

    In the Mexican League standings, Tijuana has won eight of their past ten games to go to 23-8 on the season, pulling into a tie for first in the LMB with Guadalajara. Defending champion Monclova is third at 20-13 while Saltillo holds fourth with a 19-14 mark. Mexico City has a two-game lead over Puebla in the LMB South with a 21-10 record. The Pericos are 19-12, Yucatan is third at 17-14 while Veracruz is a half-game behind the Leones at 17-15.

    Saltillo's Henry Urrutia has taken the lead in the batting race with a .441 average, seven points ahead of Durango's Tito Polo (.434). Three players are tied for the home run lead with 10 longballs each: Peter O'Brien (Tijuana), Xavier Batista (Leon) and Puebla's Olmedo-Barrera. O'Brien's Toros teammate, Leandro Castro, is well in front of the RBI derby with 44, ten more than Urrutia. Isaac Rodriguez of Tijuana leads with 15 stolen bases.

    Guadalajara's Masaru Nakamura (5-0) tossed six innings of one-run ball in a 6-3 win over Union Laguna last Wednesday to become the LMB's first five-game winner. Monterrey's Matt Tenuta's 1.50 ERA is tops among Liga starters and three closers are tied for first with nine saves apiece: Guadalajara's Fernando Cruz, Jenrry Mejia of Laguna and Tijuana's Fernando Rodney. Rodney (1.13) is the only one of the trio with an ERA under 5.00.

DOMINICANS WIN PUEBLA QUALIFIER, EARN FINAL OLYMPIC BERTH

    The Dominican Republic has emerged from the Final Olympic Qualifier as the sixth and final member of the field that will compete for a gold medal at the Summer Olympics in Tokyo. The Dominicans defeated Venezuela, 8-5, Saturday at Estadio Hermanos Serdan in Puebla, where the Qualifier was moved after the World Baseball Softball Confederation determined that conditions at the original venue in Taiwan were unsafe for hosting the event. Taiwan's national team later pulled out of the Qualifier in Puebla for similar reasons. With the win, the DR will face Mexico in the Olympic opener on July 30.

    CourtesyRunner.com editor Bob Broughton, a Canadian now residing in Guanajuato, attended the final three days of the Qualifier in Puebla and wrote this report on Saturday's final game:

Dominican squad heading to Tokyo

    The Dominican Republic (4-0 in the tournament) defeated Venezuela (2-2) 8-5 at the Estadio de Béisbol Hermanos Serdan in Puebla, Mexico. The Dominican Republic took the sixth and final spot in the Tokyo Olympics with a six-run fourth inning.

    Venezuela opened the scoring in the top of the second inning with a three-run “no doubt” home run in the top of the second inning by RF Diego Rincones (Giants organization).

    Venezuela loaded the bases with two out in the top of the third inning. DR relieved starter RHP Radhamés Liz (Leones de Yucatán) with RHP Jhan Mariñez, and he got a fly out to leave the bases loaded.

    The bottom of the third started with a double play. Venezuela starter LHP Yapson Gomez (Tigres de Quintana Roo) walked CF Emilio Bonifacio, and was replaced by RHP Eduardo Paredes. Paredes was greeted with a two-run home run by DH Melky Cabrera, and Venezuela led 3-2 after three innings.

    DR took the lead for good in the bottom of the fourth. The inning started with singles by 1B Juan Francisco and LF Johan Mieses (Red Sox organization). Francisco scored on a double by 3B Diego Goris (Aguilas de Cibaenas). SS Ramón Torres then hit a popup that was mishandled by SS Engelb Vielma (Navigantes de Magallanes) and Mieses scored, giving DR a 4-3 lead. The play was reviewed for possible baserunner interference, but Torres was given the hit. C Charlie Valerio (Sioux Falls Canaries) hit an RBI double. The play at second was close, but it was reviewed, and Valerio was ruled safe. 5-3 DR.

    The winning run came on a two-RBI single by 2B Gustavo Nuñez (Tigers organization). Bonifacio hit a sacrifice fly for the sixth run of the inning, and DR led 8-3 after four innings.

Dutch pitcher Tom de Blok

    In the top of seventh, DH Danry Vásquez (Rieleros de Aguascalientes) hit what appeared to be an inside-the-park home run but after a review, it was ruled a ground rule double. Vasquez scored anyway on a single by LF Alexander Palma (Brewers organization). SS Vielma made a great play on a ground ball by Mieses to end the bottom of the seventh, with DR up 8-4.

    In the top of the eighth, Julio Rodríguez (Mariners organization) made a great catch in right field on fly ball by RF Diego Rincones (Giants organization). It saved a run, and the inning ended with a double play.

    In the top of the ninth, Venezuela got one more run on an RBI double by Vasquez with two out. The game ended on a ground out, with a final score of 8-5.

    LHP Darío Álvarez (Algonderos de Unión Laguna), who came in in the top of the fourth and retired all three batters that he faced, got the win. RHP Harold Chirinos (Brewers organization), who came in in the fourth inning and didn’t record an out, got the loss. Cabrera finished 1-for-4 with a home run and two RBI. Goris finished 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI. Palma went 3-for-5 with an RBI for Venezuela. Attendance was approximately 2,691.

PLAYER NOTES:
*Torres played two seasons for the Royals, had a career average of .225.
*Cabrera played 15 seasons in the Major Leagues with nine teams; he was an All-Star in 2012.
*Liz played four seasons in the Major Leagues, mostly for the Orioles. His career record was 7-12, 6.94 ERA.
*Mariñez played five seasons in the Major Leagues with seven teams, had a record of 1-5, 3.56 ERA.
*Bonifacio played 12 seasons in the Major Leagues with eight teams, had a career average of .256.
*Francisco played six seasons in the Major Leagues with four teams, career average of .236, 48 home runs.
*Álvarez played four seasons in the Major Leagues with three teams, had a record of 6-1, 5.06 ERA.
*Paredes played two seasons with the Angels, had a record of 0-1, 5.53 ERA, 32 strikeouts.
*Vielma had a cup of coffee with the Orioles, batted .143.
*Netherlands pitcher Tom de Blok signed with Puebla (LMB) after concluding in qualifier. 

PROCESO: CASTRO DETAILS OLYMPIC TEAM FRUSTRATIONS

    Myriad issues surrounding the Mexican baseball team's pending trip to Japan for the Tokyo Summer Olympics have focused a spotlight on the lack of cohesion between the team and federal organizations charged with making sure their historic first appearance in Olympic competition is properly funded.

    Beatriz Pereyra's deep dive in the June 13 issue of Proceso includes an interview with fired Verdes Grande manager Juan Castro. The following is an edited Google translation of the Pereyra piece, a long and at times convoluted) take on the situation, but a necessary one because it delves into something more layered than a Walla Walla onion:

 

Phillies coach Juan Gabriel Castro

   The lack of public resources to cover the expenses of preparing the Olympic baseball team has already caused a crisis that led to the firing of manager Juan Castro, but does not solve the execrable way the president of the Federation Mexicana de Beisbol (FEMEBE), Enrique Mayorga, and the director of the National Commission for Physical Culture and Sports (CONADE), Ana Guevara, have behaved with the Mexican team.

    Even though President Andrés Manuel López Obrador personally commissioned her to monitor the baseball team on time, Guevara did not dispersed government money or attend to the needs of a team that aspires to win a historic medal for the country.

    Less than 15 days before the Mexican nine travels to Japan, none of the players on the long list (where there are around 105 names) has undergone an anti-doping control applied by the National Anti-Doping Committee (CNA) or by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) so those who are clean will attend.

    Given the failure of Mayorga and Guevara, the Mexican Baseball League (LMB) has already taken control of the national team, but no one knows if the money required to cover expenses will be provided by the club owners or if, finally, CONADE will put government resources on the table.

    For now, the LMB is operating with the expenses that are being generated, the clubs will loan their players and pay them as if they were playing normally in the season and sponsors New Era will provide the uniforms and equipment.

    On Friday, June 11, the LMB announced that the FEMEBE appointed as manager of the Olympic team Benj Gil, skipper of the Guadalajara Mariachis. Gil is a former Major League Baseball player who has won four titles in five seasons of winter baseball with the Culiacan Tomateros, two of them consecutive.

    Gil, 48, will lead the first representative of Mexico in Olympic baseball and fight for a medal against Japan, South Korea, Israel, the United States and the Dominican Republic, who won the recent final qualifier in Puebla.

    The schism in the baseball team began long before June 5, when, through a telephone link, both Mayorga and the president of the LMB, Horacio de la Vega informed manager Juan Gabriel Castro and Olympic team GM Kundy Gutiérrez that they would be relieved of their positions.

    On that Saturday night, the team that both Castro and Gutierrez had been building for months broke. Unhappy about a host of unfulfilled promises, including the payment of their fees and the coaching staff they have been working with, Castro and Gutiérrez demanded (not without reason) the money as well as help with a series of procedures such as FEMEBE paying a bond owed to the Major League Baseball office to be able to negotiate the loan of Mexican players who belong to MLB organizations.

    More than once the duo threatened to not deliver information that, scratching with their own nails, they generated during long hours of work. They also showed the possibility of not attending the Olympic joust.

    Despite being the head of national teams in the country, Enrique Mayorga acted as a “zero to the left.” He was not able to arrange for CONADE to give him the money budgeted for the Olympics nine but he also did not want to accept in the FEMEBE account the 2.5 million pesos that owners of five LMB clubs offered as a loan until the government resources were released.

    Thus, in the face of Mayorga's ineffectiveness, the LMB wanted to solve the problem of lack of money but it couldn't. Seeing this, Castro and Gutiérrez cut off all communication with de la Vega and decided to solve it by taking up a collection with companies in the United States and Mexico, which upset all parties (especially Mayorga) as it seemed in bad taste.

    “He didn't want us to do it,” Castro said in an interview with Proceso. “This was better because if we could collect that money, we would no longer need the CONADE budget. We saw it as helpful that they did not have to worry about giving us a budget, but he told us not to do it."

    The solitary confinement began on April 30 when Castro sent a letter telling de la Vega that they would no longer discuss anything with him, since the LMB did not have the capacity to resolve the economic issue.

    The silence that lasted throughout May resulted in Mayorga finally convincing Castro and Gutiérrez to take a phone call, during which Mayorga had De La Vega to thank both the manager and the GM of the selection.

Mexican Olympic Team manager Benji Gil

    Castro says, “Mayorga turned things over to Horacio because he did not have enough - I cannot say the word here- as manager of FEMEBE to give us that news because we were working with him, not with the League. Mayorga had to ask other people to tell us the news.

    “We answered everything they asked about why we no longer wanted to continue with the national team, then they hung up on us. They never told us clearly the reason they were going to remove us from the national team.”

    PEREYRA: “Do you recognize that when you refused to hand over the short list of players and other information that they felt it was blackmail; that they conditioned your participation and that when they felt cornered, they decided that?”

    CASTRO: “Maybe, but it was not the first time that we told them that if they did not pay us, we would not deliver information and the list). After they said that they were going to pay us, because the LMB was already going to give the money, we put the members of the coaching staff back to work and they made us deliver certain information. In three days we collected passports, as there were players who didn't have them, and Kundy moved in with his contacts at the consulates to get the papers ready. Then, after a few days, they tell us that they can't pay us.

    “We felt that they were using us to get the information from us. That is why we said 'from now on, we are not going to give you anything' because, to begin with, the WADA anti-doping tests were not carried out to know who is clean of prohibited substances to be able to reduce the list. Then we couldn't even talk to the managers of the major league teams to ask the players. They (Mayorga and de la Vega) demanded a list of 50 players and how we were going to do it without those two conditions. That's why we said: 'If they don't pay us, we won't give them the list,' but we couldn't do it because giving names without the missing information would have been incorrect.”

    Currently the infield coach for the Philadelphia Phillies, Castro says they were surprised to learn that "the team" would play two exhibition games in Mexico City: “We told them that those games had nothing to do with the National Team because we don't have the players ready and the coaching staff wasn't going to be able to be there. I found out that it was going to be a selection of LMB players called the 'Olympic team' and we said no. I don't know if they liked that answer."

    Castro says that no one informed them that those games will be held at the request of President López Obrador. “If it is something that the president wants to do it is respected, but if I wouldn't be the manager nor have selected players, then it is not the Olympic team.”

    In fact, to carry out those exhibition games (the opponents were Venezuela and the Dominican Republic), LMB clubs will have to loan at least one star player just as the first month of a season cut to 66 games is being played.

    The reason why the LMB could not lend FEMEBE the 2.5 million pesos is because Mayorga refused to sign a loan agreement with the league to receive the money, due to the uncertainty that CONADE would reimburse him that money.

    “After months of battling,” Castro claimed, “Horacio told us 'I have the money and if they'd like, I'll deposit it tomorrow.' We instantly sent him the necessary documentation but then he told us no, it couldn't be done like that. The only way was to deposit to FEMEBE. Mayorga was not going to accept that and with good reason, because he did not know if he was going to receive the funds from CONADE or if he was going to be left with a debt."

    Neither Mayorga nor Gutiérrez did not respond to an interview request made by this reporter while de la Vega did not want to address the issue.

    In statements with El Jonronero, a digital medium in Culiacán, Gutiérrez spoke about what happened. Visibly annoyed, he said that this was the end of his work with the Mexican national team because he was tired of always having to struggle with money and organization problems.

    The most recent thing he suffered was that Mayorga accepted that Gutierrez and two members of the team's coaching staff would travel to Florida to attend the Olympic qualifier, where the United States won their ticket to Tokyo. However, Mayorga only bought their air tickets and did not provide the threesome a per diem for the trip. Under these conditions, they all refused to get on the plane, since there would be a precedent that they'd have to pay out of their own pockets for hotels, meals, ground transportation and other expenses while FEMEBE would not reimburse that money.

FEMEBE president Enrique Mayorga

    Gutiérrez also questioned that how it is possible that since November 2019, when the national team qualified for the Olympic Games during the Premier12 tournament after having beaten the United States twice, neither CONADE nor FEMEBE had paid a single peso but now there is money for exhibition games in Mexico City.

    “Mayorga is responsible for the exhibition games, how they work and about the resources used,” Gutierrez told El Jonronero. “You have to be transparent. The one who bears all the responsibility is Mayorga and if it was not with government money he should have sought the resources, but he remains stuck. In his meetings he talks about what he does with his annual budget, but where are his bank accounts? Let his associates know. Since Mayorga joined FEMEBE, it is the same: What has he done to do this in a better way? He has the obligation to promote baseball throughout the country.”

    Finally, Juan Castro explains that his intention and that of Gutiérrez was to try to do things in the correct way and in order so that there is a solid structure and that the players, from the minor teams to the major, attend with pleasure. to the calls and see that there is a strong system that works well.

    “We never did anything with a negative intention, but to make things change for the better. The decision has already been made and can no longer be reversed. I do not agree, it was unfair, but they decided and it is respected,” concludes Castro.

BENJI GIL NAMED MEXICAN OLYMPIC TEAM MANAGER

Mexico's Olympic manager Benji Gil

    In the wake of the surprising ouster of Juan Gabriel Castro as manager of Mexico's Olympic baseball team without public explanation less than two months before the start of the Tokyo Summer Games, Benji Gil has been appointed as the team's new skipper.

    The Tijuana-born Gil had a playing career that included eight seasons in the major leagues, including a berth on the 2002 World Champion Anaheim Angels. He spent seven summers in the Mexican League and was a member of Monterrey's 2007 champions, while also playing several seasons of winterball in the Mexican Pacific League (winning four pennants and two Caribbean Series with the Culiacan Tomateros).

    After retiring as an infielder, Gil went into managing and has led Culiacan to four Mexican Pacific League pennants since the 2014-15 season. He's come under some fire for not winning a Caribbean Series title, but teams still have to be champions to compete for one. Gil is in his first season of managing a Mexican League team and has piloted the expansion Guadalajara Mariachis to a 14-6 record over three weeks, good for a first-place tie with defending champion Monclova in the LMB North.

    The announcement was made by the Mexican Baseball Federation (FEMEBE) last week. FEMEBE is ostensibly charged with overseeing national teams but some baseball journalists in the country have in effect called it a figurehead organization, claiming that the ProBeis federal agency headed by former MLB and NPB player Edgar Gonzalez wields the real power in the Mexican game.

    Gil steps into a landmine-filled situation following the firing of both Castro and Olympic Team GM Kundy Gutierrez, who had steered Mexico to a berth in Tokyo by winning the Premier12 tournament's group stage at Guadalajara and then qualifying for the Olympics with a third-place showing at the medal round in Japan in November 2019. No reason was given for the move and nobody has stepped up and taken responsibility for the move. 

    Castro and Gutierrez had both publicly criticized the National Commission on Physical Culture and Sports (CONADE) for withholding funds meant to cover the baseball team's travel expenses during the trip to Tokyo. CONADE is led by former Mexican Olympic runner Ana Guevara, who was appointed to her post by president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador shortly after the latter had assumed office. Guevara and AMLO have both been members of the same political party, with Guevara serving as a senator under the banner of that party. Some speculation is that the ousters of Castro and Gutierrez were retribution for their criticism of CONADE and Guevara, who has been mired in allegations of job-related corruption for the past several months.

CONADE director Ana Guevara

     Another school of thought is that the firings were directed from the ProBeis office after Castro was publicly cautious regarding the desire of Edgar Gonzalez' younger brother Adrian to go to Tokyo after not playing since 2018. While the hiring of Gil, who manages the same Guadalajara that Adrian Gonzalez plays for, raised a few eyebrows and led to speculation that the appointment virtually assures that El Titan will make the trip to Japan. It should be noted that Gutierrez has been a longstanding friend of the Gonzalez family and that his firing would be unlikely to have been instigated by Edgar Gonzalez. In short, only the principles know for sure and a promised public airing of the situation by Castro has yet to happen.

    While Gil might appeal to the 30+ players who took their name out of Olympic consideration in protest of the firings, he'll have a chance to look over some of the remaining candidates next weekend when Mexico hosts exhibition games against the Dominican Republic and Venezuela at Estadio Alfredo Harp Helu in Mexico City. The game against the Dominicans is set to take place Saturday, June 19 while Mexico will host Venezuela the following afternoon.

    A poll taken by Puro Beisbol before Castro's ouster showed that 52.5 percent of respondents believe that Mexico will not win a medal in Tokyo. Another 26.7 percent are predicting a Gold medal, 14.4 percent foresee a Bronze and 6.4 percent see Silver in Mexico's future. Six nations will compete in Olympic baseball this year. The sport is being discontinued after Tokyo.

RIELEROS SKIPPER HITS PLAYER, BOTH FINED AND SUSPENDED

Rieleros SS Richy Pedroza

    The Aguascalientes Rieleros have struggled on and off the field for years. The Mexican League team has won just one pennant and two division titles since their 1975 debut, played before sparse home crowds at aging Parque Alberto Romo Chavez and lost money on an annual basis. Last August, Rieleros players forced to sit after the 2020 season was canceled on July 2 asked Liga president Horacio de la Vega for financial assistance that had been promised to players and umpires by the LMB office. In short, the Railroaders are perennial also-rans, one of many franchises with that status.

    Given that history, the 2021 season has begun in expected fashion for the team. Monclova's 48-year-old Bartolo Colon became the oldest player in Mexican League history to pitch a complete game Saturday night by tossing a 6-2 home win as the Rieleros lost their fourth in a row to drop to 7-11 and seventh place in the eight-team LMB North. Colon gave up two runs on five hits and struck out seven in going the distance to raise his own record to 3-1.

    Things are never pleasant when a team's season appears to be going bad early but as befits a club from a city named Aguascalientes (meaning “hot waters”), things reached a boiling point in the visitors locker room after the game, when Rieleros manager Luis Carlos Rivera punched former Cal State Fullerton infielder Richy Pedroza, who'd sat out the contest. Photos of a bruised Pedroza circulated on the internet later during the weekend.

    Blanca Cisneros of ABC Noticias reported that the manager lost control and that “players affirm that Richy did nothing to provoke this situation and that he did not respond to the attack.” One Aguascalientes player, third baseman Michael Wing, posted a Tweet stating “Punching players now...what a joke.”

    On the other hand, the Mexican League office handed down one-game suspensions and fines of approximately 14,170 pesos (or about USD$714) to both Rivera and Pedroza. The LMB said Rivera was being punished for hitting Pedroza while the latter was sanctioned for “violating the regulations in team facilities, including insulting the manager.”

Michael Wing's postgame tweet

    The 5'6” Pedroza was batting .241 after playing shortstop and going 1-for-3 with a walk and scoring a run from the leadoff slot in Friday's 15-3 drubbing at the hands of the Acereros. A 29-year-old switch-hitter from Covina, California, Pedroza was a 17th-round pick by St. Louis in the 2013 draft and played all or part of three seasons in the Cardinals system before being released early in the 2015. He landed in Aguascalientes the following season and has been with the Rieleros since, batting .283 with 260 runs scored over 412 total games. Pedroza's best season in the LMB was in 2019, when he hit .310 with 28 doubles and 104 runs scored in 111 games under then-manager Felix Fermin.

    The 42-year-old Rivera is a Chihuahua native who spent part of the 2000 season pitching six games for Atlanta and Baltimore, going a combined 1-0 with a 1.23 ERA after five years in the Braves' organization. Although he was ranked the fifth-best prospect in the Orioles system in 2001, the 6'3” righty didn't pitch that year or the next before his release in 2003. He later surfaced in the Mexican League, where he pitched until 2010 and spent his last four seasons with his hometown Chihuahua Dorados. Before his hiring in Aguascalientes prior to the canceled 2020 campaign, Rivera managed Leon for both Spring and Fall seasons in 2018 and registered 27-29 and 26-28 records.

    The Rieleros front office had yet to issue an official statement on the incident or suspensions as of Sunday.

LMB TEAMS ON TIGHTER BUDGETS AFTER LOST 2020 SEASON

Proceso writer Beatriz Pereyra

    The Mexican League's 2021 season is coming on the heels of their canceled 2020 schedule due to the pandemic and for many (if not most) of the LMB's 18 franchises, year after year of red ink dominating their profit/loss statements before that.

    Beatriz Pereyra of Proceso penned a report detailing how teams have been cutting expenses in an attempt to stop the bleeding. Here is a Google translated portion of her report:

    The pandemic caused by Covid-19 has left a trail of millions in economic losses among the owners of the clubs of the Mexican Baseball League but, at the same time, it has opened the the door to an unprecedented increase in the number of former major league players and the expansion from 16 to 18 teams that will play a schedule shortened from 120 to 66 games, plus the playoffs.

    Depending on the club and the percentage of fans with which they will be allowed to play at home, the economic blow can amount to 70 million pesos. In addition, they must invest in the application of anti-covid protocols which can increase operating expenses in up to 3 million pesos.

    To resist negative impacts, teams took drastic measures such as cutting player salaries by 20 to 50 percent, cutting back office staff, hiring interns and bartering with sponsors via publicity in exchange for service delivery.

    The payroll of players of the Yucatan Leones, owned by the Arellano brothers, which was 79 million pesos in 2018 (the year in which they were champions), was reduced to 43 million in 2019. Now the pandemic forced them to adjust it to 16 million for 2021.

    The team created a financial analysis that included the players, sponsors and even Yucatan's state governor, Mauricio Vila. The document indicates that they still lack 29.8 million pesos to operate the season, a figure that is reduced to 21.8 million if the team is allowed to play with 40% of the capacity at Estadio Kukulcán.

    “We believe that with this reduction in the cost of payroll we will move forward,” says Leones president Juan Jose Arellano. “If conditions improve, we can adjust and raise them. We explained that to the players and they understood it perfectly. They know that not playing all of last season made it difficult for us. Although we did not play, we helped them with their maintenance because if a player does not play, he does not generate income.”

    The days of the “fat cows” are over, when operating for a season cost the team more than 100 million pesos. In 2021, spending on jobs exceeds 53 million. Another of the items sacrificed will be that of player development, which fell from 14 million in 2019 to 8 million during 2020 and 2021.

    “We are also going to reduce travel costs and in whatever way we can because last year's losses were stratospheric,” added Arellano.

    So it is that even one of the LMB's more solid second-tier franchises behind the top tier of Monclova, Tijuana, Monterrey, Mexico City and Oaxaca (the latter two owned by billionaire Alfredo Harp Helu, one of Mexico's richest men) has had to drastically cut expenses in an attempt to likewise cut their losses as a result. If the Yucatan Leones have had to tighten their belt in such a fashion, how are franchises already operating on the margins like Tabasco, Leon, Laguna and Aguascalientes going to tighten belts that have already run out of notches?

CASTRO OUT AS MEXICO MANAGER AHEAD OF OLYMPICS

Juan Castro fired as Mexico Olympic manager

    With little more than a month prior to the planned opening of the Tokyo Olympics, Juan Gabriel Castro has been fired as manager of Mexico's Olympic baseball team. Castro himself tweeted that he had been relieved of his duties, as has the team's general manager, Kundy Gutierrez.

    “Just to give you the very sad and unfair news that we received today,” Castro's tweet opened, “the FEMEBE (Engineer Enrique Mayorga) and the president of the Mexican Baseball League (Horacio de La Vega) made the decision to let us know that they do not want us to continue leading the team.

    “The details? Many of you already know them, but in a little while we will let you know the same ones through this and many other means. Thank you and we remain at your service.”

    Castro has been serving as a member of the Philadelphia Phillies coaching staff this season under manager Joe Girardi. He led Mexico in the 2019 Premier12 tournament as the Verdes Grande qualified for their first-ever Olympic baseball appearance after replacing Dan Firova at the helm weeks before the tournament began. Gutierrez, a 42-year-old Mexican American, had been the National Team GM after a career in the construction business. Mayorga has been the head of FEMEBE (Mexican Baseball Federation) since 2017 while de la Vega was hired to run the Mexican League in late 2019, replacing Javier Salinas.

FEMEBE leader Enrique Mayorga

    At least one Mexican journalist speculates that president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador had a hand in the exits of Castro and Gutierrez. Both had complained publicly about expected funds for the trip to Mexico not being released by CONADE (National Commission for Physical Culture and Sport), an agency charged with overseeing Mexico's Olympic effort this summer.

    CONADE's director, Ana Guevara, is a 44-year-old former Olympic track athlete from Sonora who served in the Mexican Senate before being appointed by AMLO to her current post in late 2018. Both Guevara and Lopez Obrador have past political ties to the National Action Party (PAN). While it would not be out of the realm of possibility that Lopez Obrador, a self-described baseball fanatico, was involved in Castro's and Gutierrez' firings, there is no evidence that he had a hand in the move.

    The firings have created a backlash among the players. Tito Escobar of El Jonronero tweeted that more than two dozen of the 100 players under consideration for Mexico's Olympic team have opted out of the trip to Tokyo in protest: “They tell me more than 30 renowned players and considered in the Mexican baseball pre-selection list, that after what happened with Castro and with GM Kundy Gutierrez, they get off the boat due to the mismanagement of the FEMEBE and the rest of those involved. They prefer not to attend.”

    Castro's replacement has not been named and Ii's a safe bet that this episode is far from over.

ROJAS FIRED AS MONTERREY SKIPPER, GASTELUM BROUGHT IN

Homar Rojas canned after ten games

    The often-referenced “Mexican Managerial Merry-Go-Round” was fired up just two weeks into the 2021 season, but this time the Mexican League's Monterrey Sultanes have done a housecleaning that included their front office as well as their manager and coaches.

    After the legacy team won just two of their first eight games on the abbreviated schedule, manager Homar Rojas was fired last Wednesday, with the usual “wishing you the greatest of success in the projects you decide to undertake in the future” line inserted into the team's press release announcing the veteran skipper's removal. Rojas managed the Sultanes' Mexican Pacific League team last winter before taking over their Liga club after Roberto Kelly decided to not manage this summer due to stated concerns over the pandemic.

    One of Rojas' coaches, Antonio Aguilera, ran the team on an interim basis before Sergio Gastelum was brought in to manage the Sultanes. Then Aguilera was summarily fired, along with pitching coach Arturo Gonzalez (an LMB legend whose 232 career wins ranks sixth among Liga hurler) and all other members of Rojas' staff after Gastelum arrived with five coaches of his own. Puro Beisbol editor Fernando Ballesteros reports that two of the fired coaches are considering suing the Sultanes, who are co-owned by the Grupo Multimedios conglomeration and longtime Monterrey baseball figure Jose “Pepe” Maiz, a member of Mexico's 1957 Little League world champions.

    Gastelum is expected to shake up the playing roster as well, and he'll have a new front office working with him toward that end. In addition to the firing of Rojas and his staff, the purge included both sports director Manuel Flores and sports manager Grimaldo Martinez. Flores was replaced as sports director by Jesus Valdez, Junior (son of longtime Mazatlan GM Jesus “Chino” Valdez, who now holds a similar role with the expansion Veracruz Aguilas). Valdez will oversee both of Monterrey's LMB and Mexican Pacific League teams. Martinez was let go to make room for Manuel Velez, who will serve as an advisor for the Sultanes' Sports Directorate.

Sergio Gastelum new skipper in Monterrey

    Monterrey began the season with five consecutive losses for the first time since 1978 and were tied with Durango for the LMB North basement when Rojas was fired after a 14-3 road loss last Tuesday to the Dos Laredos Tecolotes. The Sultanes ranked ninth in the Liga with a .283 team batting average but the pitching was second to last among the 18 teams with a 7.15 ERA.

    Gastelum has jumped on and off the merry-go-round since leading Oaxaca to an unexpected appearance in the Fall 2018 Serie del Rey, where they ironically lost to the same Monterrey team he's now managing after finishing the regular season with a 26-30 record and having to win a play-in game at Leon to qualify for the playoffs. Following a 2019 season in which the Guerreros finished second in the LMB South with a 68-51 mark before a first-round playoff loss to Yucatan, the 42-year-old Obregon product was named manager of the Mexico City Diablos Rojos.

    The former star infielder (who played 22 years in the LMB) led the Red Devils in training camp last year before the 2020 season was canceled due to the Wuhan virus, then was let go after team eecutive Miguel Ojeda was sent back to the dugout after a front office battle that resulted in GM Francisco “Pollo” Minjarez' firing.

TOROS, PERICOS LEAD TIGHT EARLY LMB STANDINGS

 

LMB batting leader Isaac Rodriguez

   Tijuana and Puebla have taken the lead in their respective Mexican League divisions after two-plus weeks of the LMB's 66-game 2021 schedule, but nobody is running away with things as three teams are within two games of the Toros in the LMB North while only a game-and-a-half separates the Pericos from four other squads in LMB South.

    Tijuana completed the weekend with an 11-4 record with a 7-6 loss Sunday in Monterrey after winning the first two games of the series. The final contest was tied at six runs apiece going into the bottom of the ninth inning, when the Sultanes loaded the bases off Toros reliever Josh Corrales, who then gave up a walkoff walk to Ramon Rios on five pitches to push Andres Martin across home plate to complete Monterrey's first win in three games under new manager Sergio Gastelum. The Sultanes went 2-0 under interim helmsman Antonio Aguilera before he was sent packing Friday in last week's team housecleaning.

    Expansion team Guadalajara is a game behind Tijuana with a 10-4 ledger after taking two of three games in Mexico City. The first two tilts were slugfests, with the Mariachis taking an 8-7 Friday win as Adrian Gonzalez up-the-middle single in the top of the 14th scored Luis Sardinas from second with what proved to be the winning run the go-ahead run. One night later, Guadalajara piled up 20 hits en route to a 10-5 victory with Gonzalez, Niko Vasquez and Beau Amaral each collecting three hits (and Amaral scoring three times). The Diablos avoided the sweep Sunday with a 7-3 triumph, capping a weekend in which the two teams combined for 40 runs on 75 hits over the three-game set.

    In the LMB South, Puebla held on to first in the standings at 10-5 despite losing two of three weekend games in Leon. The Bravos outscored the Pericos, 5-3, Sunday thanks in part to ageless Chris Roberson, who homered, doubled, walked and scored three times in a 3-for-3 afternoon batting second ahead of another former longtime Monterrey star, Agustin Murillo. With the win, Leon won for the eighth time in their last ten games to pull within a game of Puebla at 9-6, also trailing 9-5 Mexico City and 8-5 Yucatan.

    The Leones have leveled off after a hot 8-0 start to the season by splitting their last ten contests, including a solid 9-2 win in Merida Sunday over rival Quintana Roo. Yucatan got solo homers from both Art Charles and Humberto Sosa, who'd gone hitless his first seven games before going 2-for-3 Sunday as a seven-run sixth broke the game wide open. The Tigres outhit the Leones by a 12-9 margin hurt themselves by only batting 2-for-9 with runners in scoring position and leaving nine baserunners stranded.

Masaru Nakamura in NPB days

    As might be expected in the early season (especially in a hitter's league like the LMB), batters are ahead of pitchers. Even though only five teams are hitting above the .300 mark after 15 games, with Guadalajara leading the way at .356, twelve teams have collective ERAs above 5.00. Durango's staff is allowing a generous 8.79 per game, which might explain their 4-11 record.

    Tijuana second baseman Isaac Rodriguez heads a list of 14 batters at .400 or above with a .473 average after 14 games, ahead of Guadalajara's Vasquez (.465) Eliezer Ortiz of Aguascalientes (.458). Oaxaca infielder Orlando Pina and Saltillo first baseman Henry Urrutia are tied for the lead with seven homers each and Guadalajara's Sardinas is tops with 21 RBIs, two up on three other batters who have 19 ribbies each. Reigning MVP Alonzo Harris of Oaxaca leads the LMB with 11 stolen bases, four more than TJ's Rodriguez.

    Two hurlers are tied for the lead with three wins apiece, although neither has much else to brag about. Guadalajara starter Masaru Nakamura is 3-0 but with an ERA of 5.53 while Puebla middleman Yosshel Hurtado's 3-0 record comes with a 9.45 ERA after eleven appearances. Nakamura toiled nine seasons in Japan's NPB for the Nippon Ham Fighters before making his Liga debut this season. 

    Pitching hasn't been totally hapless in the LMB thus far in 2021. Seven starters sport ERAs below 2.00, with Tigres veteran Wilfredo Boscan's 0-0 record after three starts betraying his 0.53 ERA. Oaxaca's Hector Hernandez is 0-2 and 7.29 after four starts, but his 25 strikeouts in 21 innings leads the loop. Three closers have five saves each: Tijuana's Fernando Rodney, Carlos Bustamante and Laguna's Jenrry Mejia. Rodney is still the roller-coaster ride he was in MLB with four walks over seven innings in as many appearances, but he's also whiffed eight batsmen and has a 1.29 ERA.

CRIMINAL COMPLAINT AGAINST LMB PREZ RATIFIED

LMB president Horacio de la Vega

    Puro Beisbol editor Fernando Ballesteros reports that the Mayor's Office in a Mexico City borough has confirmed the filing of a criminal complaint against Mexican League president Horacio de la Vega for his alleged "fraudulent administration" in the Magdalena Mixihuca Sports City of the nation's capital, when he was Director of the Sports Institute during the period between 2013-2018.

    Puro Beisbol obtained the copy of the original document with the complaint filed on July 30 with the Territorial Investigation Prosecutor's Office in Iztacalco against de la Vega and two other former officials, in addition to confirming its ratification on February 10 with new elements contributed by the affected party.

    The complaint was presented by Enrique Escamilla Salinas, Executive Director of Legal Affairs and legal representative of the Iztacalco mayor's office. De la Vega, who assumed the presidency of the LMB on November 26, 2019, has not declared anything about the criminal complaint against him.

    As part of the alleged "fraudulent administration," the current head of the LMB has been accused of awarding all contracts directly in the Sports City with millions of pesos that do not coincide with the works that were carried out. The documents point to one of these direct award contracts dating to 2017 with the minor maintenance of the baseball fields, whose company Pastos y Juegos Deportivos invoiced the amount of 15,037,906 pesos.

    On the other hand, the Mayor of Iztacalco considers the construction of a lake within the Sports City as one of the biggest frauds, which led to the destruction of five soccer fields and four basketball fields. The lake has been inoperative and is considered one of the most "fraudulent" works in Horacio de la Vega's administration at Indeporte.

    Another act that has aggravated Iztacalco authorities who now administer the Ciudad Deportiva is that the Mexico City Diablos Rojos built their new Estadio Alfredo Harp Helú ballpark within the complex but they have yet to pay a single peso since it opened on March 23, 2019. De la Vega awarded the team room for the stadium as administrator of the Sports City, and Ballesteros notes that it was the Red Devils who promoted him for the LMB presidency of the LMB with the support of the Monterrey Sultanes after his term as leader of Indeporte ended in 2018.

    Sources have informed Puro Beisbol that the Diablos have sought to negotiate these irregularities with Iztacalco mayor Armando Quintero Martínez. It's unknown if they have already reached an agreement with the team but in the case of de la Vega, what the Mayor's Office did was ratify the criminal complaint against him. "We are going to go to the end of the day," said an official for Quintero, who will seek re-election for another term as mayor.

SAN LUIS POTOSI TO HOST LMB PRESEASON EVENT

Estadio 20 de Noviembre

    The central Mexico city of San Luis Potosi is returning to the Mexican League (sort of) with a four-week series of weekend exhibition games between late April and mid-May. At this point, five LMB teams have signed on for at least one three-game series to be played at the 6,500-seat Estadio 20 de Noviembre. Organizers are hoping the San Luis Potosi Cup serves as a launching pad for future use of San Luis Potosi as a spring training site.

    The tournament, which will include Mexican League umpires officiating 12 single games, will be held to an as-yet-determined capacity in the stands. Game times will be at 7PM on Fridays, 6PM on Saturdays and 5PM on Sundays. “It is going to be a great, unprecedented event,” said SLP Cup organizing committee director Patricio Perez. “For a month, we want San Luis Potosi to be one of the main focuses of the LMB preseason, with a quality show on and off the field of play.”

    Perez envisions the competition leading to his city becoming a magnet for multiple Liga teams to conduct their training camps and exhibition games: “The idea is ambitious. We want to turn San Luis Potosí into something similar to what Arizona or Florida is for Major League clubs; that is, the base of training camps for clubs that wish to join in the future.”

    San Luis Potosi is a city of more than 2.8 million residents (19th-largest in Mexico) that serves as capital of the similarly-named state north of Mexico City and south Monterrey. The region was once of the country's most prominent mining areas and it remains a leading industry there, although agriculture employs a large percentage of people and the service sector is growing.

    SLP has had five previous runs in the Mexican League. After fielding a team from late 1925 until early 1927 (during which the name Tuneros was first adopted) and again in 1934, when the team finished second, a third version of the Tuneros inaugurated Estadio 20 de Noviembre in 1946 and played there until moving to Mexico City early during the 1952 season. Another Tuneros squad played in the Class A Mexican Center League from 1960 through 1962 and again in 1971 before the LMB returned in 1986 to provide six more seasons in AAA ball (they were known as the Reales in 1991, the final season of SLP's second Liga stint). One more Tuneros squad played between 2004 and 2006 before the Liga and baseball left the city for good.

    Among the more prominent players to represent San Luis Potosi over the years have been Hall of Famer Martin Dihigo, Hector Espino, Leon Durham and Luis Tiant, Sr. Depite the array of talent, the Tuneros turned in just three winning records and one playoff appearance in 15 full LMB seasons .

    After the last incarnation of the Tuneros moved to Chihuahua for the 2007 campaign, conditions at Estadio 20 de Noviembre deteriorated to the point where only occasional concerts were being held there. The ballpark was remodeled in 2018 and hosted a preseason series between Mexico City and Oaxaca one year later. The SLP Cup will open on Friday, April 23 with a game between Monterrey and an undetermined opponent and wrap up Sunday, May 16 when Aguascalientes meets Guadalajara. Durango and Leon are the other teams scheduled to play.

SAN LUIS POTOSI CUP 2021 Schedule
April 23-24-25: Monterrey Sultanes vs. TBD
April 30-May 1-2: Durango Generales vs. Aguascalientes Rieleros
May 7-8-9: Monterrey Sultanes vs. Leon Bravos
May 14-15-16: Aguascalientes Rieleros vs. Guadalajara Mariachis

CASTRO ACCUSES CONADE OF BLOCKING OLYMPIC FUNDS

Olympic team manager Juan Castro

    After defeating the United States along the way and qualifying via the 2019-20 WBSC Premier12 tournament to play in the Olympic Games for the first time, Mexico's national team is standing still and without funding towards the Summer Games scheduled to be held this July and August in Tokyo. In an interview with Mexico City's Proceso, Mexican manager Juan Gabriel Castro and GM Kundy Gutiérrez launched a call for help and publicly denounced that CONADE, led by Ana Guevara, has kept the resources that the federal government had already assigned them.

    Guevara and CONADE (an acronym for National Commission on Physical Culture and Sports) have come under withering criticism in the past several months for their handling of various sports at the national level. According to Proceso writer Beatriz Pereyra, five months prior to the start of the Tokyo Olympic Games, the Mexican Baseball National Team was “ruined” after President Andrés Manuel López Obrador left the project in the hands of Guevara, CONADE's General Director. She has since been accused of corruption, poor monetary practices, involvement with bribes and other irregularities during her first year in that office in a recently released162-page audit.

    In Mexico's first Olympic baseball commitment in history, the national representative must arrive in the capital of Japan no later than the end of June to comply with the 14 days of isolation required by the protocol for the covid-19 pandemic, allowing the players and coaches to get used to the time change and play a series of preliminary games. Pereyra says that means the baseball team has only four months to be ready, but so far there isn't even a working shortlist of an itinerary.

    In an interview with Proceso, Castro and Gutiérrez called for assistance so CONADE will begin to disperse the budget assigned by the federal government and they can start hiring and working with a team of scouts, statistical analysts, physical therapists, nutritionists, specialists in doping and psychology.

CONADE director Ana Guevara

    “We wanted to keep quiet because we were waiting for what was going to happen,” said Castro. “We can no longer be silent and we have to be honest with people. I don't want to lie. The project had already been in place for a year, the Olympic Games were postponed and everything stopped. Last October, they told us that we were going to start and four months have passed and everything is still stopped.”

    Gutierrez adds that the allocated money amounts to 28 million peso to be used to form a pre-selection of 150 players which will be refined until there are 28 players: 24 for the active roster and four reserve players. Then there the services of the coaching body and the salaries of the aforementioned personnel, as well as the costs of accommodation, food, logistics in Japan and requirements related to the Wuhan virus. From Gutierrez' point of view, it is urgent to be certain when the resources will begin to flow, since the people they have contacted to work with the Verdes Grande are already being hired by other teams.

    Six nations are slated to compete in Olympic baseball this summer. In addition to Mexico, host Japan, South Korea and Israel occupy four of the berths, while two more qualifying tournaments are due to determine occupants of the final two slots.