BARTOLO COLON, RAJAI DAVIS TO PLAY IN MONCLOVA

Cleveland's young fireballer Bartolo Colon

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

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

Texas' wily vet Bartolo Colon

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

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

Rajai Davis homering in 2016 World Series

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

JESSE CASTILLO TO RETURN TO LMB WITH LEON IN 2020

Jesse Castillo celebrates 2006 LMB pennant

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

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

Castillo during his 2017 MVP season

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

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

"El Jesse" played for Zulia ths winter

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

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

LMB DROPS FRANKLIN BASEBALLS,  REVERTS TO RAWLINGS

Rawlings balls will return to LMB in 2020

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

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

Mexican League president Horacio De La Vega

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

LMB pitchers' impression of Franklin ball

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

TJ WINS 8 STRAIGHT TO TIE MONCLOVA IN LMB NORTH

Tijuana Toros pitcher Hector Ambriz

The Tijuana Toros have reeled off eight consecutive wins (and 9 of their past 10 games) to pull into a dead heat with Monclova atop the Mexican League North Division standings.  The Toros overcame a 6-3 deficit to pull out a 7-6 home victory over former LMB South leader Oaxaca at Estadio Gasmart on Sunday.  The Toros scored three runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to knot the contest up at 6-6 and finally took the lead one frame later when an errant pickoff attempt by Guerreros reliever Luis Vasquez allowed Isaac Rodriguez to streak in from third base with the eventual game-winning run.  Daniel Moskos then came in from the TJ bullpen and recorded a 1-2-3 ninth on nine pitches to seal the triumph and secure the Toros' second straight series sweep after new manager Lino Rivera's men took three games from visiting Puebla in a midweek series on the border.

While the Toros have been a middle-of-the-pack offensive team thus far in the LMB's Fall season, the pitching staff has been solid, turning in a 3.04 ERA over Tijuana's 14-4 start to trail only North co-leader Monclova's 2.83 mark among the Liga's 16 teams.  It's been a true staff effort, as the highest-ranking Toros starterer among ERA leaders is 0-1 Hector Ambriz, a former MLBer who's 20th at 3.38 after three starts.  Former MLBer Tom Wilhelmsen leads the squad with five saves in eight outing, although his own 3.86 ERA is a bit higher than the rest of the team.  Wilhelmsen hasn't pitched since earning a save against Spring champ Yucatan in Merida on Sunday, July 15 after joining the team just before the opening of the MXL's second season, but is still listed on the Toros' active roster.  For his part, Moskos has been unscored upon in 10.1 innings over 11 appearances while fellow reliever Jesus Pirela has a 1.74 ERA out of the bullpen.  Centerfielder Justin Greene's .411 average is fifth in the league batting race and leftfielder Junior Lake, a newcomer who came from Leon in exchange for reliever Cesar Carrillo on July 10, is among the circuit's leaders with 16 runs over 16 games despite a .220 average.

Meanwhile, in the LMB South, Lake's former Bravos teammates have won six in a row to surge into the division lead with a 10-6 record, one game up on equally-surprising Campeche (10-8).  There'll be a guest story below on Leon's comeback win over Union Laguna Sunday, but skipper Luis Rivera's men moved up the ladder by virtue of home series sweeps over Durango and the Algodoneros last week while last Monday's leader Oaxaca fell to the mythical BBM curse by being swept in road sets at Monterrey and Tijuana after being our headline story (the pressure no doubt got to the Guerreros). 

The Bravos have shown a nice balance between batting and pitching thus far.  Centerfielder Eduardo Arredondo is batting .396 to rank eighth in the batting derby and Felix Pie, a former MLB outfielder, has a .317 average, but Leon is fourth (.296) in the MXL through a team effort at the plate.  Starter Dustin Crenshaw, who went from Laguna to Quintana Roo before arriving in Leon in March after being released by the Tigres, leads the mound staff with a 2.55 ERA to augment his 2-0 record.  Recent arrival Joe Colon, who pitched for Cleveland's 2016 American League champions, has yet to allow a run in eight outings and has four saves to show for it since coming to the Guanajuato team on July 5.

Quintana Roo third baseman Brian Hernandez leads the LMB with a .452 average, Monclova's Cesar Tapia is tops with seven homers after knocking out a longball Sunday against Campeche, Eric Aguilera of Union Laguna has 22 RBIs to lead Felix Perez (Aguascalientes) and Ricardo Serrano (Yucatan) by one and Perez' Rieleros mate Tony Campana heads the stolen bases list with ten.  Josh Lowey (Monclova) has been joined by Acereros reliever Carlos Fisher, Tiago da Silva (Durango) and Edgar Gonzalez (Monterrey) as three-game winners.  Another Monclova hurler, Andre Rienzo, has an Liga-best 0.49 ERA in four starts, Puebla's Enrique Oquendo has the most strikeouts with 28 in 20.2 innings and Wirfin Obispo of Monterrey has eight saves to top that list.

The biggest midweek series of the MXL will commence Tuesday when Monterrey (11-7) visits Monclova (14-4), followed by a big one between the Acereros and Tijuana (14-4) at Estadio Monclova next Friday through Sunday.


GUEST GAME STORY: LEON TAKES 10-8 WIN OVER LAGUNA

Bob Broughton is a Canadian expat now living in the Mexican state of Guanajuato.  Bob is a baseball nut who oversees the CourtesyRunner.com website, which is primarily devoted to NAIA college baseball but also has included stories on the Caribbean Series and his adopted Mexican League team, the Leon Bravos.  It's a good, lively site worth looking at.  The following is his writeup of Sunday's exciting 10-8 Bravos win over visiting Union Laguna in which Leon maintained first place in the LMB South:

Leon Bravos outfielder Felix Pie

The Bravos de León (10-6) defeated the Algodoneros (Cotton Farmers) de Unión Laguna (7-11) 10-8 at Estadio Domingo Santana in León on July 22. This was the Bravos' sixth straight win, and they are in first place in the South Division of the Mexican League.

The game was scoreless for the first three innings, with the Bravos getting a double play in the top of the third inning, and leaving the bases loaded in the bottom of the third. The shutout ended with an RBI single by 3B Eudor Garcia in the top of the fourth, and his single loaded the bases with nobody out. Bravos starter RHP Eder Llamas struck out the next batter, and the following batter hit a ground ball that resulted in a force out at home. Llamas was relieved by RHP Marco Quevedo, and he was greeted by a grand slam home run by CF Jonathan Jones. The Algodoneros added another run in the top of the sixth on an RBI single by C Daniel Mercado. They led 6-0 going into the bottom of the sixth, and it looked like the Bravos' winning streak was coming to an end.

The Bravos ended the shutout in the bottom of the sixth when LF Felix Pie scored on a ground out by DH Julio Perez. The next batter, 3B Joe Munoz, hit an RBI single. Munoz was followed by C Israel Nunez, who hit a single (good dive into first base), putting runners on first and second. Algodoneros starter RHP Saul Castellanos was relieved by LHP Roman Pena, and Pena got out of the inning with two fly outs.

Pena was relieved by RHP Humberto Montiel in the bottom of the seventh, and all hell broke loose. 2B Niko Vasquez got it started by reaching on an error, then scored on a single by CF Cedric Hunter. Hunter stole second on a call that was reviewed, but the next batter, Pie, hit a home run, and the score was 6-4. Montiel was relieved by RHP Alejandro Chavarria (Indio, CA) without recording an out. Chavarria walked the first batter he faced, and the second one, Perez, reached on an error. Munoz bunted the runners to second and third, and Nunez hit a double to bring them home. The next batter, SS Marco Jaime (Phoenix, AZ), hit another double to score Nunez, and the Bravos led 7-6. Chavarria was relieved by RHP Jose Barajas, and the only out recorded by Chavarria was the bunt by Munoz. Barajas was greeted with an RBI double by 1B Eduardo Arredondo. Vasquez flied out for the second out of the inning, and Hunter hit a single for his second RBI of the inning. Barajas struck out Pie to end the inning, with the Bravos leading 10-6.

The Algodoneros got within striking distance in the top of the eighth with a two-run home run by Mercado. The Bravos responded by sending in LHP Marco Ramirez. He recorded two ground outs and a strikeout to end the inning. He started the top of the ninth with a ground out and a walk. Another ground out put a runner on second, and a passed ball put him on third. Another walk put the tying run on first, and the Bravos bullpen was busy. However, Garcia flied out to end the game.

RHP Ulises Lopez, who recorded the final out of the seventh and gave up the home run by Mercado, got the win. Chavarria got the loss. Nunez, the ninth hitter in the batting order, finished 3-for-4 with a double and two RBI. Arredondo finished 3-for-5 with a double and an RBI. For the Algodoneros, Garcia finished 3-for-5 with a double, an RBI, and three runs scored.

Jones (Vacaville, CA) played college ball at Long Beach State, was in the Blue Jays organization 2010-14. Garcia (El Paso, TX) was a JUCO All-American at El Paso CC, was a fourth round draft pick by the Mets in 2014. He was in the Mets organization through 2017. Castellanos (Jalostotitlan, Jalisco) was in the Dodgers organization 2015-2017. Pena (San Diego, CA) was drafted in the ninth round by the Indians in 2005, was in the Indians organization through 2010. Barajas (Las Vegas, NV) was in the Orioles organization 2008-10.

Pie (La Romana, Dominican Republic) played 425 Major League games, for the Cubs in 2007-08, the Orioles in 2009-11, and the Pirates in 2013. He had a career batting average of .246. Munoz (Hacienda Heights, CA) was drafted in the second round by the Diamondbacks in 2012, was in the Diamondbacks organization through 2016. Vasquez (Oxnard, CA) was drafted in the third round by the Cardinals in 2008, was in the Cardinals organization through 2012, then the Reds organization in 2012. Hunter (Decatur, GA) was drafted in the third round of the 2006 draft by the Padres, played in six Major league games for the Padres in 2011, and 13 games for the Phillies in 2016. Lopez (Cananea, Sonora) played college ball at Central Oklahoma, played some independent league ball and played in Australia.

The third base umpire for the game was Luz Gordoa, the first female umpire in the Mexican League.


MEXICO OPENS 1-2 AT CENTRAL AMERICAN & CARIBBEAN GAMES

Mexico's Octavio Acosta pitching to Nicaraguan batter 

The Mexican National Team was expected to have a fairly easy go of things at the Central American & Caribbean Games in Barranquilla, Colombia.  After all, manager Enrique "Che" Reyes had the only fully professional team in the baseball portion of the event (although Cuba typically sends teams of top "amateurs" to such tournaments) and it was thought they'd make short work of the eight-team field.

Instead, the Verdes Grande dropped their first two games before picking up a Sunday win to end the weekend at 1-2 with four games to play.  The Mexicans opened play last Friday with a 5-0 shutout loss to Cuba as veteran Lazaro Blanco combined with two relievers on a four-hitter.  Alan Espinoza had two of Mexico's hits with a single and double but starter Javier Solano was roughed up for all five Cuban runs on ten hits over 4.2 innings before being replaced by David Reyes as 2,500 looked on at Estadio Edgar Renteria.

Losing to Cuba can't be considered a shocker but Saturday's 9-1 defeat at the hands of host Colombia can.  Mexico actually had a 1-0 lead until the Colombians tied the score in the bottom of the fifth inning as starter Jose Samayoa was cruising along, but Samayoa and his teammates suffered a nightmarish sixth as Colombia posted five runs to take a 6-1 lead.  The home side plated another three tallies in the eighth on a bases-loaded single by Cristian Cano to put the game away for good.  Mexico's seven hits on the day were recorded by as many players, with Alberto Carreon and Luis Juarez each rapping doubles, but Sebastian Valle's RBI single in the top of the fourth brought in the only Mexican run of the night as 10,000 mostly-Colombian spectators were sent home happy.

Mexico finally broke into the win column Sunday by topping Nicaragua, 5-0, scoring three runs in the bottom of the first and never looking back.  Amadeo Zazueta and Jose Alvarez both singled and doubled for the winners while Ricardo Rodriguez had two singletons, but it was Octavio Acosta's solid 5.1 innings on the mound that set the tone for what ended up as a three-hitter shared among Acosta (who got the win) and three relievers.  After Saturday's great crowd, only 800 hearty souls showed up for this one in Barranquilla. 

Mexico's four remaining round-robin games will come Tuesday against Puerto Rico, Wednesday against Panama, Friday against Venezuela and Sunday against the Dominican Republic.  Puerto Rico has a 2-0 record, including an unexpected 8-1 win over Cuba, to lead the standings along with 2-0 Colombia, who preceded their win over Mexico with a 3-1 triumph over Nicaragua. 

There was a controversy before the tournament when two-time Mexican League MVP Jesse Castillo was dropped from the Mexican roster without explanation.  Initially it was thought that Castillo's LMB team in Monclova refused to allow him to make the trip to Colombia, but Castillo himself said that was not the case and all but dared Liga president Javier Salinas to give the real reason why.  Castillo was suspected by some to have tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs, but that contention has not as yet been proven. 

Cabrera hero as Leones tie LMB South title series

Yucatan Leones shortstop Everth Cabrera came up big

Former San Diego Padres shortstop Everth Cabrera capped a two-run comeback for Yucatan in the bottom half of the ninth inning with a walkoff single that scored Ruben Sosa from second base, handing the Leones a 6-5 win over Quintana Roo Sunday in Game Two of the Mexican League's South Division championship series in Merida.  The victory knotted the Leones-Tigres catfight at one game apiece as 13,147 spectators looked on at Parque Kukulkan.  Cabrera, Sosa and Jesus "Cacao" Valdez each had three hits for the winners while C.J. Retherford belted a pair of homers (one of them a three-run bom) for the Tigres, who won Saturday's opener, 4-1, behind the complete game pitching of Henderson Alvarez.

As Cabrera was performing his heroics in Yucatan, the defending champion Tijuana Toros were delivering a 15-2 beatdown to the Monterrey Sultanes to tie the LMB North title series at one gabe apiece.  Dustin Martin cracked a grand slam in the top of the second off Sultanes starter Felipe Gonzalez to highlight a five-run inning that gave the Toros a lead they would widen as the game went on.  Martin finished the night with six RBIs, Cyle Hankerd contributed a three-run homer to the cause and batting champion Isaac Rodriguez went 4-for-6 with three runs scored and two more driven in for manager Pedro Mere's men.  TJ starter Kyle Lobstein pitched six pressure-free innings, allowing one run on three hits while striking out five batsmen to send 21,909 fans at Estadio Monterrey home disappointed.  Sultanes reliever Gonzalo Ochoa had a nightmarish appearance in the seventh frame, allowing six runs on five hits (including Hankerd's roundtripper) and a walk before being pulled by skipper Roberto Kelly with one out remaining, which Marcos Rivas mercifully recorded.

Yucatan and Quintana Roo both reached the LMB South finals by dispatching Leon and Mexico City, respectively, in five games.  Sebastian Valle's two-run homer gave Leones starter Jose Samayoa (6 innings, 1 run) all the support needed in Yucatan's 5-1 win over the Bravos last Monday in Leon while Jason Bourgeois' single drove in Angel Erro with the game winner in the bottom of the tenth in the Tigres' 6-5 win over the Diablos Rojos the same night in Cancun.  The victory had to be doubly sweet for Tigres owners Fernando and Linda Valenzuela, who've had their own well-chronicled issues with the Red Devils organization over the past year.

Monterrey had to go the extra mile to win their LMB North semifinal series over Monclova in six games.  The Acereros outlasted the Sultanes, 7-6, last Monday at home with the aid of four homers, including a two-run shot coming off the bat of former Yankees outfielder Ruben Rivera, now 44, who hit .385 for the series.  Monterrey wrapped things up two nights later by a 6-3 count over the Steelers as veteran third baseman Agustin Murillo had a big night for the Sultanes, socking a pair of homers (one of them a three-run dinger off Acereros starter Mauricio Lara in the bottom of the fifth.  The 39-year-old Lara had sailed through the first four frames without being scratched for a run before running into trouble in the fifth.  Tijuana had earlier eliminated Aguascalientes in a four-game sweep, giving the Toros a week to rest before opening their series with Monterrey Saturday.

Both division championship series will resume Tuesday night after Monday's travel day, as the LMB South title set shifts to Cancun for Game Three while Tijuana will host Game Three in the LMB North series.


Bravos late with payment, lose SS Amadeo Zazueta to Dos Laredos

Former Leon Bravos shortstop Amadeo Zazueta

Your friendly bank officer issuing a foreclosure notice has nothing on the Monclova Acereros, who waited just one week for a late installment check from the Leon Bravos before reclaiming shortstop Amadeo Zazueta from the Guanajuato team and immediately trading him to the Dos Laredos Tecolotes.

According to Puro Beisbol editor Fernando Ballesteros, the Bravos agreed to a series of payments to Monclova as part of an offseason deal that sent the 32-year-old Culiacan product to Leon after batting .341 for the Steelers last summer, socking 9 homers and driving in 64 runs over 101 regular season contests in 2017.  The trade surprised many Mexican League observers at the time, but the Acereros were committed to Puebla Shuttle passenger Alberto Carreon and LMB veteran Kevin Flores, who spent three years with Yucatan after nine summers with the Quintana Roo Tigres before arriving in Estadio Monclova as a free agent last winter.

Instead, Carreon never got untracked with the Acereros and was shuttled back to sister team Puebla during the Spring 2018 season while Flores ended up playing just 27 of 57 games, batting .320 with 7 RBIs.  And Zazueta?  He became one of the faces of the Leon franchise by batting .356 with 5 homers, 9 steals and a team-high 46 runs scored while adding some adventurous defense in the 6 spot with 10 errors in 55 games.  Despite being one of the Liga's more troubled franchises, the Bravos have managed to reach the playoffs in each of their first two seasons and Zazueta was a key member of this Spring's squad.

However, Zazueta apparently wasn't so important to either the Leon front office or Arturo Blanco, the Potosinos transportation company majordomo and one of the MXL's wealthier owners.  Ballesteros reports that Monclova allowed a week for the Bravos' June installation check to arrive before taking Zazueta back for a nanosecond prior to shipping him off to the Tecos in exchange for pitcher Jose Pina, a useful righty who's gone 45-37 with a 3.52 ERA in six seasons pitching for mostly dreadful teams in Tabasco, Veracruz and Dos Laredos (he was 4-5 with a 4.07 ERA this Spring for the Tecos, who had the worst record in the Liga at 18-39.  The two-time All-Star is a much better pitcher than even his decent stats would indicate and the 6'2" Dominican will finally give Acereros star Josh Lowey a decent complement in the starting rotation.  While their moves were definitely draconian, it's hard to blame Monclova for making them after a second straight first-round playoff exit.  Owner Gerardo Benavides has proven that, if nothing else, he is a hands-on guy who'll make a move at the drop of a hat to improve his hometown team (often at the expense of his Puebla franchise).

But what of the Bravos?  This would be embarrassing to any self-aware ballclub seeking to build credibility among an already-skeptical fan base.  Manager (as of this week) Luis Rivera will likely move Niko Vasquez (.341/10/36) back to his natural position of shortstop with little drop-off in production, but he's left with former Diamondbacks prospect Joe Munoz, a 2014 Midwest League all-star, at third base for Fall 2018 after Munoz played just seven games for Tijuana and Leon in Spring.  The bigger question mark may be regarding what credibility the Bravos have with Leon baseball fans after letting one of their best players leave with nothing in return but even more egg on its face after yet another front office snafu.

One more note worth passing along.  Ballesteros reports that Zazueta may choose to not report to Dos Laredos, one of the few franchises more rudderless than the one he was reclaimed from.  This may all end up in the lap of Liga president Javier Salinas, who certainly doesn't need any more problems in what has been a tough first year for the former Liga MX soccer marketer after replacing Plinio Escalante at the top of the circuit last September.


Managerial firings: Firova out in Monclova, Sandoval canned in Oaxaca

Former Monclova Acereros manager Dan Firova

After showing remarkable restraint throughout the Spring 2018 season, Mexican League owners are using June to make some corrections of their dugout bosses.  Two more managers lost their jobs over the past week after only one midseason firing in Dos Laredos, when the Tecolotes cut Eddie Castro loose last month.  After Tabasco fired skipper Alfonso "Houston" Jimenez in a rather puzzling move, given that Jimenez spun some silk from a sow's ear of a roster (Castro will be Jimenez' replacement n Villahermosa), Oaxaca severed ties with first-year manager Jose Luis "Borrego" Sandoval, a 2008 MVP shortstop for Mexico City during his playing days and a favorite of Diablos/Guerreros owner Alfredo Harp Helu, but the most surprising firing would have to be Dan Firova's reported ouster in Monclova.

 Owner Gerardo Benavides has proven with both the Acereros and Puebla that he has an affinity for hiring managers with Major League Baseball backgrounds such as Wally Backman, who was brought in to Monclova for a disastrous term last despite the former Mets second baseman only having enough prior experience speaking Spanish to order off the menu at Taco Bell.  Hired last December, Firova was seen as a compromise choice of sorts, possessing a less-extensive MLB background but also a Mexican-American who'd both played and managed successfully in the Liga in past years (winning Manager of the Year laurels in 2000 with the Quintana Roo Tigres).  Language and experience in baseball south of the border were not concerns with the former catcher from Texas.

The Acereros finished a disappointing 29-27 in the Spring 2018 regular season, coming in fourth in the LMB North before a first-round playoff exit at the hands of Monterrey.  While fault for failing to meet expectations may lie more with a dissension-ridden clubhouse of transient ballplayers yo-yoing between Monclova and Puebla (star second baseman Manny Rodriguez left the team and was subsequently traded to Quintana Roo) or a pitching staff that allowed more men to reach first base than Stormy Daniels (Josh Lowey notwithstanding), but it's easier to scapegoat a manager and that appears to be what may happening with Firova.  His firing, which has been reported in the Mexican baseball media, had not been officially confirmed by either the Acereros or MXL offices as this story was written and no replacement has been announced.

The firing of Sandoval in Oaxaca was not so surprising.  The 49-year-old Los Mochis native spent 14 seasons between 2000 and 2013 with Mexico City and remained as a coach or manager in the Diablos system before owner Alfredo Harp Helu send him to manage the billionaire's other Liga team in Oaxaca this year.  The Guerreros serve a similar, if not as direct, role to the Diablos that the Kansas City A's used to serve as the New York Yankees' de facto Class AAA affiliate in the American League (which both teams conveniently played in).   Sandoval took Oaxaca's perennial red-headed stepchild team to a last-place finish in the LMB South at 22-35.  While he had more talent than Castro in Dos Laredos or Jimenez in Tabasco had to work with (including such notables as Yuniesky Betancourt, Adan Munoz and Erick Rodriguez), Sandoval's roster reflected the old wartime song, "They're Either Too Young or Too Old," and sank out of contention early.

Sandoval will be replaced at the Guerreros helm by Cuban Jose Alvarez, the former Durango manager who was recently hired to manage Mazatlan this winter in the Mexican Pacific League.  Alvarez won two Gulf Coast League rookieball pennants and one Class A Florida State League title between 1986 and 1990 managing in the Dodgers system.  He spent 2017 as the helmsman in Durango, keeping the newborn Generales at .500 while the team played their first month on the road while their ballpark at home was being readied, but the team ran out of steam the rest of the season as players missed paychecks as the schedule played out (many were traded to save costs) and Durango missed the playoffs.

LMB Spring season ends, Pericos in Leon for play-in game

Estadio Domingo Santana in Leon

The first 57-game regular season of the Mexican League's unique two-season calendar in 2018 has concluded and the results are little different from last year's full 114-game schedule.  Of the eight teams that qualify for the playoffs (which will be a full, three-tiered affair as before), only one newcomer will be appearing in the postseason.  One other thing that hasn't changed is that a play-in game will be required to determine the fourth and final playoff berth in the South Division.

The Monterrey Sultanes had lost six of their previous seven games before pulling it together to win all three games of a weekend series at Monclova, outlasting charging Tijuana and finish first in the LMB North with a 37-20 record, three-and-a-half games ahead of the defending champion Toros.  TJ won their final four games (including a sweep at Dos Laredos) and seven of their last ten to come in second at 33-23, a half-game ahead of 33-24 Aguascalientes.  Monclova ended up in fourth with a 29-27 mark, avoiding a play-in game by coming in five games ahead of 24-32 Saltillo.  Durango, Union Laguna and Dos Laredos will join the Saraperos on the sidelines for the next month as the postseason plays out.  Monterrey will take on Monclova in one LMB North semifinal while Tijuana battles Aguascalientes in the other.

Similarly in the LMB South, Yucatan's season-long grip on first place came to its logical conclusion, with the Leones winning the final two games of a home series with Quintana Roo to wrap up the campaign with a Liga-best 40-17 record.  The Mexico City Diablos Rojos won eight of their last ten contests to finish second in the division at 36-19, three games behind Yucatan, to return to the postseason after a two-year absence as members of the North Division playing with a roster consisting entirely of Mexican players.  Despite dropping two of three in Merida, the Tigres were a solid third in the South at 33-21 and will play their ancient rivals from the capital city in the LMB South semifinals, starting later this week.

The only remaining point of contention is the matter of who will claim the LMB South's fourth and final postseason seed.  Leon stumbled a bit down the stretch, losing six of their last ten games, but still came in at 27-29 to hold fourth place.  However, Mexican League rules require a fourth-place team to finish at least three games ahead of their nearest competitor and 25-30 Puebla came within a game-and-a-half of the Bravos to force a single-game play-in contest Monday night at 8:15 ET in Leon to determine who'll play Yucatan in the opening round.  The Bravos defeated Veracruz in a similar game last August to qualify for the playoffs. 

All four divisional semis will begin Wednesday.

MEXICAN LEAGUE Spring 2018 final standings
North Division: Monterrey 37-20, Tijuana 33-23, Aguascalientes 33-24, Monclova 29-27, Saltillo 24-32, Durango 24-33, Union Laguna 23-34, Dos Laredos 18-39.
South Division: Yucatan 40-17, Mexico City 36-19, Quintana Roo 33-21, Leon 27-29, Puebla 25-30, Tabasco 24-33, Campeche 22-34, Oaxaca 22-35.


Toros' Rodriguez wins batting title, Hernandez wins pitching crowns

Tijuana Toros left-handed pitcher Carlos Hernandez

Although the defending champion Tijuana Toros ended up second in the LMB North after a sometimes-spotty regular season, they did have two individual players who shone brightly enough to finish atop multiple Liga batting and pitching categories in second baseman Isaac Rodriguez and starting pitcher Carlos Hernandez.

Let's start with the 27-year-old Rodriguez, an Hermosillo native who led all MXL batters with a .394 average after going 17-for-38 (.447) over his final ten games.  The Liga's 2016 Rookie of the Year, Rodriguez also led the loop in hits (89) while coming in second with 52 runs (trailing only Mexico City's Carlos Figueroa's 54 tallies) and a career-high 20 stolen bases (also second to the speedy Figueroa's 23 swipes).  The 5'8" 220-pound Figueroa may be more reminiscent of a bulldog than a greyhound, but the fellow Hermosillo product hit .475 with ten runs and six steals over his final ten contests to finish at .351 for the truncated campaign.

Other season champions in batting categories include Aguascalientes first baseman Felix Perez, who homered five times over his final six games to surge past the troika of Jesse Castillo (Monclova), Luis Juarez (Yucatan) and Ricky Alvarez (Monterrey) for the home run title after the troika all remained stuck at 13 homers over the final week of the regular season.  Castillo, who the Cuban-born Perez replaced at first base with the Rieleros this year, did drive in 57 runs in 56 games to top Juarez on the RBI table by three.  Durango's Daniel Nunez sliced 23 doubles to lead in that category while Puebla's Michael Crouse and Ruben Sosa of Yucatan were tied for the lead in triples with five apiece.  Pericos first sacker Daric Barton won three batting-related crowns as the former Oakland starter turned in a .552 on-base percentage, .669 slugging percentage and 1.221 OPS after riding the Puebla-to-Monclova-to Puebla shuttle since February of last year.

Now let's look at Carlos Hernandez.  The 31-year-old Californian, a two-time Texas League all-star while toiling in the Athletics system, followed up a strong 2017 Mexican League debut with Tijuana (10-2 record, 2.67 ERA over a full season) with an equally-solid second year.  Hernandez went 8-2 in eleven starts to tie Monclova's Josh Lowey for most wins in the MXL, one more than Durango's Tiago Da Silva and Raul Valdez of Saltillo.  Hernandez also came in atop the WHIP table with a 1.02 figure, just .02 ahead of Valdez.  Lowey, who has arguably been the best pitcher in the Liga over the past four years, posted 79 strikeouts in 73.1 innings to easily win that crown while tossing one of three complete-game shutouts across the LMB this season, along with Valdez and Quintana Roo's ageless Pablo Ortega. 

Monterrey's Jorge Reyes is listed with the top ERA in the Liga at 1.97 in 45.2 innings pitched over nine starts, but veteran Jonathan Castellanos of Yucatan leads all pitchers with 57 or more frames with a 2.43 ERA for his 63 entradas of work.  The saves title was one by the 17 of Josh Lueke of Monclova, a former Rangers prospect who also spent time with the Mariners and Rays and spent the past two summers with Japan's Yakult Swallows before signing with Durango in the offseason.  Lueke was shipped from the Generales to the Acereros three weeks into the schedule.


Union Laguna considers sitting out 2018 Fall season, will play instead

Although the Mexican League has trotted out a "new look" this year with the two-schedule format, a new team in Nuevo Laredo (and Laredo) and new ownership in Durango, some old problems remain and one of those appears to be reaching critical mass in Laguna. 

The cities of Torreon and Gomez Palacios have had a long history of hosting LMB teams dating to 1940 with pennants in 1942 and 1950.  However, Laguna's Liga franchises have historically been underfinanced and often run with a seat-of-the-pants approach depending on who the owner du jour is.  As a result, the teams have rarely (if ever) been considered contenders and attendance has typically been middling at best while playing in an 85-year-old ballpark considered antiquated even by LMB standards in a Laguna region that is not considered a garden spot among free agents seeking to play ball south of the border.  In short, while baseball has a long tradition in Laguna, it's always been a tough go.  With all that as a background, the current Algodoneros owners were exploring whether to sit out the LMB's upcoming Fall season before issuing a press release last week stating that Mexican League games would be played at Estadio Revolucion between July and September after all. 

The owners of the Algodoneros are brothers Jose Juan Arellano, who also own the Yucatan Leones to rank among three so-called "time share" owners in the MXL, along with Alfredo Harp Helu (Mexico City and Oaxaca) and Gerardo Benavides ((Monclova and Puebla).  While Harp has been relatively benign as owner of the Diablos and Guerreros, Benavides' constant tinkering with his two teams by constantly transferring player after player between the two teams has drawn much derision in the baseball world and making him the poster child for the perils of syndicate ownership.  The Arellanos have fallen somewhat in between Harp and Benavides as meddling owners go, but their problems in Laguna (most of them self-inflicted) have resulted in what is becoming an untenable situation.

It all seemingly started last June when star first baseman Ricky Alvarez, who was leading the LMB in RBIs as the centerpiece of the then-Vaqueros batting order, was traded from Laguna to Yucatan as part of an eight-player swap that left the Vaqueros gutted and their fans enraged.  Laguna had been drawing over 5,000 aficionados per game prior to the deal to rank among the league leaders in attendance, but the crowds plummeted afterward as fans organized a boycott of games in protest.  The franchise has never recovered since, and things were exacerbated when the Arellanos admitted that their top concern is indeed their Merida team.

The current campaign has seen a team name change from Vaqueros to Algodoneros, but that's the only apparent change.  The Cottoneers finished out of the playoffs after never showing signs of contention while the team drew a middle-of-the-pack 3,067 per opening to Estadio Revolucion as disaffected fans continued to find other things to do.  Speculation became rampant among Mexican baseball cronistas that the financially-plagued team, which has been for sale for months, sought to take the second season off for 2018 as the Arellanos tried to either right the sinking ship and make another go of it in 2019 or concentrate on finding a willing buyer.  Such a move would've created a scheduling nightmare with 15 teams necessitating someone ALWAYS having a three-day bye during a ten-week season.  Whether true or not, the Algodoneros front office saw fit to issue a press release late last week bravely announcing that the team would indeed be back on the field in July for another 57-game schedule, but doubts about the franchise's long-term viability continue unabated.

Although the fans of Laguna do not deserve to lose their team due to owners who've determined their team to be a proverbial "red-headed stepchild," the turmoil in Torreon does create an opportunity for a more-moneyed investor to purchase the franchise from the Arellanos.  MXL teams are typically worth US$3-5 million each, a bargain for a AAA franchise in which a similar team north of the border might sell for at least $20 million (Forbes magazine valued the Sacramento RiverCats at $38 million five years ago while six more International and Pacific Coast League clubs were determined to be worth over $30 million).  Remaining in Torreon and its 9,500-seat ballpark built before FDR was elected to his first term in Washington may be unworkable, however, and if potential buyers seeking to buy and move a Liga team to the USA (hello, Tucson) are thinking it might be time to make an offer, it is.

Leon win streak snapped at 11; Bravos fourth in LMB South

Leon Bravos pitcher Dustin Crenshaw

Danny Vasquez' two-run single in the top of the second inning gave Campeche a 4-3 lead in Leon and the Piratas pulled away to an 8-3 Mexican League win over the Bravos Sunday afternoon at Parque Domingo Santana.  The defeat ended an eleven-game win streak for the surprising Bravos, who have moved into the fourth and final playoff slot in the LMB South with a 22-17 record, three games behind third-place Mexico City but four games up on defending division champion Puebla with three weeks remaining in the Liga's Spring 2018 season.

Leon had posted their eleventh straight victory Saturday night with a 5-3 triumph over the visiting Piratas when consecutive RBI singles by Junior Lake and Quincy Latimore in the bottom of the seventh broke a 3-all tie and gave Eder Llamas the win out of the bullpen.  Llamas was one of seven relievers to follow starter Dustin Crenshaw, who tossed 5.1 innings for the Bravos and gave up two runs (one earned) on six hits and no walks, striking out two Campeche batsmen.  Leon was 11-16 when they began their skein on Tuesday, April 24 with a 5-1 win at Tabasco despite batting only 2-for-12 with runners in scoring position.

Manager Luis Carlos Rivera's team is second in the league with a .322 batting average (trailing only Durango's .329) while the Bravos' 48 homers tops the loop.  Leon has three batters in the top ten: outfielder Felix Pie (sixth at .392), shortstop Amadeo Zazueta (eighth at .381) and second baseman Niko Vasquez (ninth at .376) while Pie is tied for third in homers with nine.  The Bravos' pitching has been middle-of-the-road with a 5.08 ERA, ninth in the 16-team league, although Crenshaw has done well so far with a 3-1 record and a 3.30 ERA over eight starts, winning the first game of the streak in Villahermosa and picking up another W five nights later in Campeche.  Leon barely snuck into the playoffs last year in their debut season, but with Puebla fading badly (losing nine of their last ten) and only 21 games left in the abbreviated regular season, the Bravos are sitting pretty.

While Leon has zoomed past Puebla for fourth in the LMB South, there remains a spirited three-team battle for the division lead, with Yucatan (27-12) holding a one-game lead over another surprising team, Quintana Roo (25-12) while Mexico City (25-14) is two games out of first.  The Tigres, who were not expected to contend this year under new manager Tim Johnson, have won eight of their last ten to vault past the Diablos Rojos into second heading into a crucial three-game set against Leon opening Tuesday in Cancun.  In the LMB North, Monterrey (26-13) won two of three games in Dos Laredos over the weekend to maintain a 3-5-game lead over defending Liga champs Tijuana (22-16).  The Sultanes topped the Tecolotes, 8-4, Sunday at Uni-Trade Stadium in Laredo as DH Yadir Drake came one homer shy of hitting for the cycle, scoring twice and driving in two more runs.  Aguascalientes (22-17) and Monclova (20-18) hold the final two Zona Norte playoff berths with none of the division's other four teams within five games of the .500 mark.

First-year Durango first baseman Dustin Geiger, a former Cubs and Marlins farmhand, leads the Mexican League with a .408 batting average, six points ahead of Puebla first sacker Daric Barton.  Monterrey's Ricky Alvarez is tops with 13 homers and tied with Tijuana's Cyle Hankerd for the RBI lead at 41 while Hankerd's Toros teammate Justin Greene's 18 stolen bases leads the league despite Greene only playing twice since April 24.  Pitcher Carlos Hernandez (also of Tijuana) pitched six innings in the Toros' 7-1 home win over Saltillo Saturday to post his sixth victory of the Spring, best in the LMB.  Yucatan's Jose Samayoa's 2.17 ERA leads all starters, Josh Lowey of Monclova looks like a lock for another strikeout title with 58 (17 more than his nearest rival) and former MLBer Josh Lueke of the Acereros has ten saves to top Liga closers in that category.

Coming up this week is a huge series in Tijuana, where the Toros host LMB North-leading Monterrey in a three-game set starting Tuesday.  Next weekend's top series will be in Cancun when the Tigres host Mexico City in a renewal of Mexican baseball's oldest rivalry, which has been spiced up by the Rookiegate scandal and Tigres owner Fernando Valenzuela's open frustration over the Liga office's "What Me Worry?" response.


First MLB no-hitter in Mexico tossed during series in Monterrey

Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Walker Buehler

As if there wasn't enough history being made last weekend in Monterrey, where Major League Baseball played its first regular season games since 1999, Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Walker Buehler combined with three relievers to toss the first MLB no-hitter outside the USA and Canada on Friday night in the Dodgers' 4-0 win over San Diego at Estadio Monterrey.  Five no-hitters had been spun in Montreal or Toronto previously.

Buehler, a 23-year-old righty who was the Dodgers' 2015 first-round draft pick, pitched the first six hitless innings for Los Angeles, striking out eight and walking three to go to 2-0 on the season.  He was followed in order by relievers Adam Cimber, Kazuhisa Makita and Phil Maton, each of whom contributing a hitless frame to seal the no-no for the Dodgers, who then lost the last two games of the series.  San Diego evened the set Saturday with a 7-4 triumph behind two-run homers by first baseman Eric Hosmer and catcher Rafael Lopez, then took Sunday's rubber match by shutting out the defending National League champs, 4-0, as starter Eric Lauer combined with three relievers to scatter eight hits while Hosmer homered once more with a two-run shot in the bottom of the fifth.

While Buehler and his bullpen mates stole the lion's share of attention for the series on Friday night, it ended up being three games that Padres third baseman Christian Villanueva would probably just as soon put in the taillights.  Villanueva, a Guadalajara native who has received much early notice as a potential Rookie of the Year candidate, went 0-for-11 over the series and committed two errors in the field Sunday.  Villanueva has gone 1-for-20 in May to bring his season batting average, which stood at .355 on April 22, down to .265 after Sunday's contest.

The series, which sold out in less than two hours, was well-received by fans and media alike as a total of 65,116 attendees in 22,000-seat Estadio Monterrey.  The success of the Mexico Series brought out calls for a future MLB team south of the border, either in Monterrey or Mexico City.  MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said during Friday's ESPN2 broadcast that both Mexico and Montreal are potential candidates for expansion teams, but some Mexican baseball columnists quickly pointed out that the country's political and financial instability would be tough obstacles to overcome and that it's a lot harder to get people to attend 81 home games as opposed to a single three-game series.


Mazatlan Venados tab Joe Alvarez as new skipper

New Mazatlan Venados manager Joe Alvarez

The Mazatlan Venados front office decided after last winter that one season with Daniel Fernandez as manager of the Mexican Pacific League team was enough and that a change was needed at the helm.  After a months-long search, the Venados last week introduced Cuban-born Joe Alvarez as their pilot for the 2018-19 LMP campaign.

The 61-year-old Alvarez will make his LMP managerial debut with Mazatlan this October, but he is no stranger to the MexPac after previously serving as a coach with the Obregon Yaquis under Eddie Diaz.  However, Alvarez' Mexican baseball bonafides have been mostly been built in the Mexican League.  After winning Gulf Coast League pennants in 1986 and 1987 managing the Dodgers' Rookie league entry and a Florida State League title with Vero Beach in 1990, the former minor league infielder spent time in the Rays and Phillies organizations before taking over in Puebla on an interim basis in 2014 after Houston Jimenez was fired during the season.  Alvarez then guided the Pericos to second place in the LMB South and won playoff series against Campeche and Quintana Roo before falling to Mexico City in the Serie del Rey for the Liga pennant.

He went on to serve as a coach with the Korea Baseball Organization's SK Wyverns before returning to Mexico last summer as manager in Durango, leading the Generales to a .500 record playing the first month on the road while their ballpark was undergoing renovations.  The team eventually fell victim to injuries and front office mismanagement and finished seventh in the LMB South with a 43-66 record.  Alvarez could hardly be blamed for the Generales' misfortunes, but he was not rehired after the 2017 season.

Alvarez, who was born in Manzanillo, Cuba but attended high school in New Jersey before making his pro baseball debut in 1974 in the Yankees organization (later playing in the Astros and Orioles systems), takes over a Mazatlan team that finished the regular season with a 37-31 record and qualified for the postseason under Fernandez before falling to defending MexPac champion Mexicali in the first round, four games to two.

LMB regular season ends, Bravos at Veracruz for qualifier

2017 LMB batting champion Yadir "El Comandante" Drake

The Mexican League's 2017 regular season came to a close Wednesday and when the dust settled on the schedule, the bedraggled Leon Bravos were three games behind the Veracruz Rojos del Aguila, who finished fourth in the LMB's South Division, triggering a wild card qualifying game for the playoffs.  Leon came in at 45-60 while Veracruz was 48-57.  Liga rules state that whenever a fifth-place team finishes within three games or less behind the fourth-place team, a single game will be played to determine which team advances to the division semifinals.  Thus, the Red Eagles will host the Bravos Friday night at Estadio Universitario Beto Avila for the right to play LMB South-leading Yucatan in the first round, which starts Sunday.

The other three series are set in stone.  In the LMB North, the Aguascalientes Rieleros were able to hold off Union Laguna for fourth place by three-and-a-half games, meaning the Railroaders will travel to Tijuana for Sunday's opener against division kingpin Toros.  Monterrey came in second by a half-game over Monclova during the regular season, meaning the Sultanes will host the Acereros in Sunday's Game 1 of their best-of-seven opening round series.  Meanwhile, in the South, defending champion Puebla finished second and will welcome Quintana Roo to Estadio Hermanos Serdan Sunday for the inaugural game of their series.

After some initial confusion, former Durango outfielder Yadir Drake was awarded the batting title after batting .385 for the Generales prior to leaving for Japan in late June to play for the Nippon Ham Fighters.  The Cuban exile is finding the going tougher in the Pacific League, hitting just .185 with no homers and 2 RBIs after 18 games.  The LMB office initially gave the batting crown to Drake's former Durango teammate, Daniel Mayora, who hit .375 for both the Generales and Monterrey through his last game on July 20 (subsequent absence still unexplained), including a 35-game hit streak which fell one shy of the regular season record.  Once someone at the Liga determined that Drake's 300 plate appearances barely met the requirement of 299.7 plate appearances for the batting title, a correction was made and Drake's name was re-entered at the top of the list and Mayora's bumped to second.

No controversy arose in any other statistical category.  Saltillo's Rainel Rosario's breakthrough season, similar to fellow Dominican Diory Hernandez' year in 2016, concluded with a Liga-high 26 homers, two more than Corey Brown's 24 dingers for Tijuana.  Rosario, who hit .331, finished with 104 RBIs to come in second to Ricky Alvarez of Yucatan's Ricky Alvarez' 105.  Alvarez drove in two runs in the Leones' season finale against Quintana Roo to slip past Rosario and claim leadership of a category he'd led most of the season.  Mexico City infielder Ramon Urias led the circuit with 91 runs scored, two more than Justin Greene of Monclova (by way of Saltillo).  Greene, by the way, easily won the stolen bases title with a combined 51 swipes for the Saraperos and Acereros.  Monterrey's Chris Roberson was tops in doubles with 35 while Yosmany Guerra of Campeche led with 12 triples.

Nestor Molina, who finished 12-3 for Veracruz, had the lowest ERA among LMB starting pitchers with a 1.89 mark.  Molina allowed 13 earned runs in 31 innings over his last five starts after his ERA had been just 1.41 heading into a July 13 start against Monterrey.  Mexico City's Octavio Acosta, who began the year with a 3-5 record and 6.84 ERA in two previous Liga campaigns, ended up with a 14-1 record for the Diablos Rojos to lead the loop in wins, two more than Molina and Yohan Flande of Aguascalientes.  Acosta and Molina are the two top candidates for Pitcher of the Year.  While 2015 POY Josh Lowey of Monclova wasn't as dominant as he was in 2016 before heading off to South Korea in midseason, he did win his second consecutive strikeout title with 146 ponches in 127 innings.  Lowey finished 8-5 while his ERA was 2.69 (it was 1.65 last year), but the Floridian put together a string of eight strong starts to bring his ERA down from 4.14 in mid-June.  He'll likely be a factor in the postseason for the Steelers.

Among relievers, Monclova closer Chad Gaudin recorded seven saves in his last ten outings to finish with 29, one more than Tijuana's Jason Urquidez and Wirfin Obispo of Monterrey.  Gaudin let in seven earned runs over 9.1 innings for an ERA of 6.75 in that timespan, however, and will need to pick things up in the postseason, starting with the Acereros-Sultanes series.  In other pitching categories, Molina's 152.2 innings, 1.08 WHIP, 3 complete games and 23 starts (tied with Flande) were all most in the LMB, 2016 Pitcher of the Year Yoanner Negrin of Yucatan led with two shutouts, Tijuana middleman Juan Sandoval easily had the most holds with 29.  After putting that last sentence together, it'll be tough to not choose Molina as POY for this summer's BBM Awards even though Acosta lost only one of 15 decisions for a Mexico City team that failed to qualify for the playoffs a second consecutive season after 33 straight postseason appearances.

Note: Leon second baseman Carlos Valencia, a 17-year veteran who has played in several All-Star Games (winning the All-Star MVP trophy in 2009), was suspended for 100 games by the Liga after testing positive for amphetamines a second time in the past year.  The 37-year-old Valencia was suspended the first 50 games of the 2017 season and went on to hit .255 with 5 homers over the 45 games he did play.  For his Mexican League career, he has 237 homers and 951 RBIs in 1,510 games.  North American outfielder Jason Pridie of Puebla was suspended 50 games after testing positive for oxycodone.  Pridie, an All-Star in three leagues before moving south of the border, went 1-for-6 in two May games for the Pericos before being released one week after the team signed him as a free agent.

Mayora falls one game short of Liga hit streak record

Durango Generales third baseman Daniel Mayora went 0-for-2 in a Tuesday night home game against Leon to see his hitting streak come to an end at 35 games.  Mayora's skein brought him to within one game of tying the Mexican League record of 36 consecutive games with a hit, set in 2000 by third baseman Luis de los Santos of Saltillo and tied by Quintana Roo second sacker Carlos Gastelum in 2012.

Mayora's last hitless game had come on May 5 against Union Laguna during the Generales' first-ever homestand following a month of games on the road to open the season while Estadio Francisco Villa was undergoing renovations needed to host the former Carmen Delfines.  The streak opened one night later when Mayora topped an Enrique Legucha pitch to send a slow roller to third and beat Jaime Pedroza's throw to first for an infield single for his only safety in a 1-for-5 outing.  Not the most auspicious start, perhaps, but from that game forward, Mayora went more than six weeks without being held hitless while seeing his batting average rise from .323 to a .363 mark.  Until Tuesday.

Batting in the cleanup slot, Mayora had no luck against Leon's crafty veteran starter Walter Silva, lining out to right fielder Junior Lake to open the second inning, drawing an inning-opening walk in the fourth and grounding out to third baseman Miguel Torrero to lead off the bottom of the seventh.  Mayora's last chance for a hit came in the ninth with the score tied at 2-2, but had the bat taken out of his hands when Leon reliever Fernando Villalobos intentionally walked him to set up a double play after Henry A. Rodriguez had bunted Daniel Nunez from first to second base.  That strategy became moot two batsmen later when Jairo Perez launched a three-run walkoff homer to give the Generales a 5-2 win.

The versatile Mayora, who can also play second base and shortstop when not manning the hot corner, is in his first Mexican League season but is no rookie.  The 5'11" product of Venezuela, who'll turn 32 next month, is a case study in persistence.  Mayora signed with Colorado as a free agent in 2005 and began his pro career with the Rockies' Casper affiliate in the rookie Pioneer League, hitting .263 with 1 homer.  Mayora spent a total of six season in the Colorado system, reaching as high as AA Tulsa, topping the .300 mark twice while being named to the Northwest League All-Star Team in 2006 and getting a South Atlantic League All-Star Team berth in 2007.

He opted for free agency after the 2010 season and began to bounce around the minors, first by signing on with Tampa Bay and splitting 2011 between Rays affiliates in AA Montgomery and AAA Durham and batting a combined .288 with 9 homers while being tabbed for the Southern League All-Star Game.  Mayora then inked a free agent deal with San Francisco for 2012 and hit .281 at AA Richmond, earning a nod for the Eastern League All-Star Game that year (his fifth such selection in six years).

Even so, the Giants released him the next March and he ended up spending 2013 with Bridgeport of the independent Atlantic League and hit .306 for the Bluefish, earning yet another All-Star Game call. That was enough for the Dodgers to sign him after the season and ship him to AA Chattanooga in 2014, where Mayora posted a .302 average with the Lookouts.  He spent yet another year in AA for the 2015 campaign, this time for the Dodgers' Tulsa farm club, and batted .248 while battling injuries.

Once again, the 5'11" infielder chose free agency after the season but this time signed on with Rimini of the Italian Baseball League for 2016 and hit .311 in 33 games to finish eleventh in the batting race for the Coppa Italia champions.  Mayora has also spent nine seasons with the Caracas of the Venezuelan Winter League, batting .281 for the Leones over that span.  His career average at all levels since 2005 is .294 over 1,523 games with 105 homers and 135 stolen bases.

It's been a long and winding road for Daniel Mayora, who's making the most of his first Mexican League campaign.  He appeared in his seventh All-Star Game in six leagues Sunday in Campeche, grounding out to short in his only plate appearance after replacing Tijuana's Alex Liddi at third base in the fifth inning.  He was batting .364 (eighth in the LMB) after going 2-for-3 in Durango's 4-1 win over Leon Wednesday night.

Leon Bravos in danger of being DQ'd by Mexican League

If Plinio Escalante is counting the days until he officially retires as president of the Mexican League, it's pretty hard to blame him.  Ever since the end of last season, the Merida native has had to put out more fires than a San Francisco fireman in 1906.  The latest involves one of the Liga's two new franchises, and it isn't the Durango Generales.  After an unbelievably shaky start since the former Carmen Delfines moved to Durango last November, the Generales have settled down to play decent, even inspired, ball while larger than expected crowds have been showing up at Estadio Francisco Villa.  Durango is hardly problem-free, but this fire comes courtesy of the Leon Bravos.

While the situation in Durango may have received more attention leading up to the start of the season, there were problems in Leon as well after the former Reynosa Broncos moved west to the Guanajuato city of 1.6 million inhabitants.  Veteran manager Francisco "Paquin" Estrada, who managed the original version of the Bravos to three winning seasons earlier in his 30-year career as an LMB skipper, was the victim of a so-called "virtual kidnapping" during training camp, going missing for two days in a story that gained international attention.  Estadio Domingo Santana, like Durango's ballpark, was behind in needed renovations, causing the Bravos to play their first five series on the road (going 7-8 during that stretch) before finally playing their home opener more than two weeks into the schedule.

Even then, the April 18 opener versus Mexico City was cancelled after complaints from Diablos Rojos players and management about poor lighting, stirring up bad blood between the two organizations after Leon team president Mauricio Martinez called the Red Devils "delicate."  As the opener was finally being played a day later, the game was delayed in the fifth inning after winds blew a metal structure near the centerfield fence onto the playing field, injuring two videographers and striking players from both teams in their respective bullpens.  Play wasn't resumed until more than two hours after the incident and the game was eventually ended by umpires after the seventh inning with Leon winning, 8-0, to even their record at 8-8.  That may have been the high point of the season for the Bravos, who then lost 12 of their next 14 games before Estrada was fired with the team at 10-20 and replaced by Luis Rivera.  The team has since gone 9-17 under Rivera.

With all that going on, news has recently broken that Escalante has begun the process of expelling the Bravos from the Liga.  According to Beatriz Pereyra in Proceso, owner Arturo Blanco Diaz has yet to pay the LMB an undisclosed price to buy the Reynosa franchise, an amount agreed upon during last November's Assembly of Presidents meeting.  Pereyra states that Escalante has informed the Bravos' board of directors that he's initiated the process of expulsion of the team and that the matter will be taken up on June 16, when the Assembly meets during All-Star Weekend in Campeche.

None of this can be a welcome development for Blanco Diaz, who owns the Laredo-based Potosinos courier company, a season sponsor for the Mexican Pacific League the past two winters.  Pereyra reports that Blanco Diaz supposedly made required payments to the LMB two days before the March 31 season opener, but that was apparently untrue and that even Bravos players were late in receiving their paychecks at one point.  Ironically, Pereyra adds, the Broncos closed shop after the 2016 season due to financial problems and lack of liquidity.

The semi-educated guess here at BBM is that Escalante and the team presidents will agree to at least a partial payment of the amount owed by the Bravos and allow the team (which is next to last in LMB attendance at 2,404 per opening after 21 home dates) to finish the season.  Logic at least suggests that while Leon may end up being a season-long headache for the Liga, it's nothing like the scheduling nightmare that would result if the circuit went down to an odd number of teams for the rest of the 111-game schedule.

As for Plinio Escalante, each day will be one day closer to September 13, when the Serie del Rey for the LMB championship is scheduled for a Game Seven, if needed.  Then again, he probably already knows that.