MLB SIGNING BAN ON MEXICAN PROSPECTS TO END

Major League Baseball and the Mexican League have reportedly worked out a new agreement that outlines how MLB organizations will sign Mexican prospects.

For the first time ever, young Mexican ballplayers will receive the entire signing bonus called for when they sign their first contract to play for teams north of the border. According to Puro Beisbol editor Fernando Ballesteros, LMB teams holding the prospect's domestic rights will also receive an amount of money equal to 35 percent of the signing bonus from the MLB organization. The new pact is expected to be formally announced at next month's Winter Meetings in Las Vegas.

Prior to the new arrangement, LMB teams holding domestic rights to Mexican prospects as young as 14 years old were able to negotiate the sale of those rights outside the country, then typically give the prospect 25 percent of the proceeds.  The system sometimes inflated the price a Major League organization would have to pay LMB franchises for signing young Mexicans, leading MLB teams to seek less-expensive talent in places like Venezuela and the Dominican Republic while the Mexican player would have to remain at home in order to play.  

The old system was also subject to chicanery, with one egregious example being right-handed pitcher Luis Heredia, a 6'5" Mazatlan native who signed a contract with Pittsburgh at age 16 in 2010.  The deal was facilitated by Pirates Latin America scouting director Rene Gayo, who reportedly took his own cut of a reported US$2.6 million deal between the Bucs and the former Veracruz Rojos del Aguila, who owned Heredia's rights in Mexico.  MLB subsequently investigated Pittsburgh's signing of Heredia, who spent seven years in the Pirates system and registered a career 26-26 record with a 3.88 ERA before his release following the 2017 season, and (at the behest of Liga president Javier Salinas) decreed in January that no big league scout could work simultaneously for an LMB team. Two months earlier, the Pirates fired the Miami-born Gayo after 13 years with the organization after his role in the signing was confirmed.

However, that was not enough to put the issue of LMB player control to rest and in the wake of the "Rookiegate" scandal involving the Quintana Roo Tigres, Mexico City Diablos Rojos and Texas Rangers, MLB subsequently instituted a ban on its member organizations from signing Mexican prospects via Liga franchises until a new system considered more fair to the young players could be hammered out.  A number of Mexican League teams with the financial means to develop their own homegrown prospects, such as the Tijuana Toros and Mexico City Diablos Rojos, have benefitted from such sales in past years.

For his part, Heredia (who never advanced higher than Class AA) has not pitched since last year's release from the Pirates.  The 24-year-old's Mexican League rights have been retained by the former Veracruz franchise, which was moved by owner Jose Antonio Mansur to Nuevo Laredo last winter while his hometown Mazatlan Venados hold Heredia's Mexican Pacific League rights.

CULIACAN NEARS FIRST HALF LMP TITLE WITH 3 GAMES REMAINING

Culiacan catcher Ali Solis

With three games left in the Mexican Pacific League's first-half schedule, the defending champion Culiacan Tomateros are on the verge of clinching first place in the standings along with the eight points assigned to the top finisher in each half. Ali Solis' walkoff single to deep short brought in Rico Noel from third base with the winning run Sunday as Culiacan nipped Mexicali, 3-2, in front of 15,557 fans at Estadio Tomateros. A native of Mexicali, the 31-year-old Solis played pro ball for 13 seasons, with cups of coffee in San Diego (2012) and Tampa Bay (2014), before batting .366 in 21 games for Fall champions Monterrey in his Mexican League debut this year. THis is his eighth winter with the Tomateros.

Sunday's victory gave Culiacan a 20-12 first-half record, three games ahead of Mazatlan (17-15). It's been an unusually close race in the LMP over the first 35-game half of the 2018-19 season and while there's now a smidgen of breathing room, Culiacan is six games ahead of last-place Los Mochis (14-18) in the eight-team circuit while the second-place Venados are only two games up on Jalisco and Obregon, who are tied for sixth at 15-17. Needless to say, the four upcoming midweek series will be hard-fought as teams try to finish as high on the table as possible to secure as many points as possible heading into their respective second-half schedules Friday. For the record, Culiacan will be at Hermosillo, Mazatlan will visit Navojoa, Los Mochis is hosting Mexicali and Jalisco will welcome Obregon to Guadalajara in three-game series starting Tuesday as the MexPac wraps up the half.

After a number of hitters were flirting with a .400 average most of the first half, bats have been cooling down leaguewide the past couple weeks and now nobody is within 40 points of that magic mark. Mazatlan's Alex Liddi, a former Mariners infielder and a key player with Tijuana's 2016 Mexican League championship team, is tops in the LMP with a .358 average, seven points ahead of Navojoa's Victor Mendoza, who's been a backup first baseman for Monterrey the past six summers. Mendoza's Mayos teammate, Jovan Rosa (a one-time Cubs prospect and four-year vet of the independent Atlantic League) homered in consecutive games against Obregon to tie Jalisco's Manny Rodriguez for the MexPac lead in roundtrippers with seven apiece. Rodriguez is tops in RBIs with 26, two more than Rosa's 24, while Navojoa second baseman Alonzo Harris (who led the LMP in batting much of the first half and still packs a .342 average) tops the stolen bases list with 16 in 18 attempts.

Mazatlan's Konner Wade limited Obregon to one run while scattering seven hits last Thursday to run his record to a perfect 5-0 on the season. The Arizonan has won his past four starts and his 2.27 ERA would tie Elian Leyva of Jalisco for second in the LMP (behind the 2.23 of Mexicali's David Reyes) but Wade's 31.1 innings pitched are barely below the 32 IP required to qualify. There's a spirited battle for the strikeouts lead, with Mexicali's Javier Solano (35) one K ahead of Jose Hernandez of Mazatlan and Obregon's Sean Nolin. Hernandez, a 22-year-old Astros minor leaguer, has whiffed his 34 batsmen in just 26 frames while walking only three. Even with those impressive numbers, the Venados' hometown product is 2-3 with a 4.50 ERA in six starts after giving up seven runs in three innings against Hermosillo last Friday.

Speaking of the Venados, they swung a trade last week that sent pitcher Miguel Gonzalez to Culiacan for veteran slugger Jorge "Chato" Vazquez. Known as "El Mariachi," Gonzalez has spent the past seven seasons pitching in the majors, six as a starter. He won a combined 21 games for Baltimore in 2011 and 2012 but has struggled since. The 34-year-old righty has pitched four winters with the Venados but none since 2010-11. Vazquez, a former Yankees farmhand who belted 32 homers for AAA Scranton/Wilkes-Barre in 2011, has had an injury-plagued career that began as a 17-year-old with the Mexico City Tigres in 1999. He retired during the 2017 season as a member of the Mexico CIty Diablos Rojos but came out of retirement to play for Durango this year, batting .257 and .297 with a combined eight homers over 46 total games. The 36-year-old Vazquez was hitting .243 with no homers in 14 games when he was traded by his hometown team, for whom he'd played 16 winters.

VIZCARRA: OUT IN YUCATAN, ON HOT SEAT IN JALISCO

Jalisco Charros manager Roberto Vizcarra

The Yucatan Leones have parted ways with manager Roberto Vizcarra, who led the team to the Mexican League Spring 2018 pennant after finishing with a Liga-best 40-17 regular season record. Vizcarra then took the Leones to place first in the LMB South a second time at 32-24 for the Fall campaign before Yucatan dropped a first round playoff series to Oaxaca. A 72-41 record with two first-place finishes and a championship in one year would ordinarily be enough to save a manager's job, but losing to the Guerreros may have been what cost Vizcarra his. Oaxaca went 26-30 to come in fifth in the South, then had to beat Leon in a wild-card game to qualify for the postseason; the Guerreros eventually beat Mexico City for the South title before losing to Monterrey in the Serie del Rey.

The 51-year-old product of San Luis Rio Colorado, Sonora debuted with Leon in 1986 as a 19-year-old infielder and went on to play 23 summers for five teams in the Mexican League, ending his playing career with Campeche in 2008. Vizcarra mostly played first base the final seasons of his career but was proficient defensively at all four infield positions. No matter where he played in the field, he was always useful in the batter's box, stroking 2,581 hits for a career .304 batting average. The 5'9" right-handed hitter was more noted for his speed (470 doubles, 465 stolen bases) than his power (229 homers) and topped the 1,100 mark in both runs scored and runs batted in.

Vizcarra has since been no less successful as a manager. He debuted as a helmsman in 2014, taking Quintana Roo to a Liga-best 65-48 record and a berth in the LMB South finals. The Tigres went 64-47 and won the pennant under Vizcarra in 2015, then turned in a 68-45 mark in 2016 but were swept by Puebla in the first playoff round. "Chapo" was cut loose in Cancun late in a 2017 campaign in which the Tigres fell to 49-56 and lost to Puebla in four straight once more. He was hired by the Leones in the offseason and did manage the Merida team to their first pennant since 2006 last spring, so it's unlikely Vizcarra will be out of work in the LMB for long.

Then there's his current winterball situation with the Jalisco Charros. As with Yucatan, this is Vizcarra's first Mexican Pacific League season in Guadalajara after he was fired by Mexicali last November after managing the Aguilas to a 16-19 first-half record. He'd led the border city to an LMP pennant and Caribbean Series berth just nine months earlier. The Charros hired him a week later to replace ex-MLB outfielder Tony Tarasco as dugout boss. Vizcarra took the Horsemen to a 15-11 record the rest of the way and a berth in the playoff semis last January before losing to Navojoa in six games.

Jalisco is off to a 15-17 start this winter and while the seventh-place Charros are only half a game out of fourth, four LMP managers were either fired or quit less than one month into the season and Vizcarra's future in Guadalajara is said to be in doubt. The Charros have a veteran-laden roster with such stars as Japhet Amador, Manny Rodriguez, Amadeo Zazueta and Agustin Murillo (and that's just the infield), but the pitching has been subpar and the team in general has not met lofty front office expectations. It should be noted that Alfonso "Houston" Jimenez, himself a longtime passenger on the Mexican managerial merry-go-round, is one of Vizcarra's bench coaches while ex-Dos Laredos slugger Marco Antonio Romero (who has managed in the LMB) is also on the Charros' staff. Just in case.

Culiacan blanks Mayos twice to take 2-0 LMP finals lead

Culiacan Tomateros P Anthony Vazquez

The Culiacan Tomateros earned a pair of 4-0 shutout wins in Navojoa over the weekend to take a 2-games-to-0 lead in the 2018 Mexican Pacific League championship series, with the next three games slated to take place at Estadio Tomateros.  The winner will advance to next month's Caribbean Series in Guadalajara.

The title series opened Saturday when Anthony Vazquez tossed a beautiful one-hitter for the visitors in their 4-0 conquest over the Mayos.  Joey Meneses belted a two-run homer off Mayos starter Barry Enright in the top of the first inning to give Vazquez a 2-0 cushion to start with.  After allowing a leadoff Alejandro Gonzalez single in the bottom of the first inning and a walk to Max Ramirez in the second, Vazquez retired the final 22 Navojoa batters of the game without allowing a baserunner after Ramirez' free pass (which was erased by Fernando Flores' 4-6-3 double-play ground out to end the frame.  Andy Wilkins stroked a two-run homer of his own in the third off Enright to put the Tomateros up 4-0, but the story of the game was Vazquez.  The 31-year-old lefty, who had a combined 12-10 record last summer with AAA Toledo and AA Erie in the Tigers' system, struck out seven while throwing strikes on 67 of his 95 pitches.

Game Two was more of the same on Sunday, with Culiacan winning another 4-0 contest while recording 11 hits for the second night in a row.  The hometown Mayos batters fared a little better by putting up seven hits for the game, but none of them resulted in a run as Navojoa ended up going scoreless over 18 innings in their two home games.  Edgar Gonzalez pitched six innings for the win, allowing four hits and striking out four.  Gonzalez and Mayos knuckleballer Eddie Gamboa locked up in a scoreless pitcher's duel through the first three innings until the dam burst on Gamboa in the top of the fourth, when Issmael Salas and Ronnier Mustelier each contributed two-run doubles to give Gonzalez all the runs he'd need.  Gamboa was tagged for the loss after lasting one out into the fifth inning, allowing those four runs on six hits and one walk with six strikeouts as a second consecutive sellout crowd of 11,500 at Estadio Manuel "Ciclon" Echeverria looked on.

Mayos first-year skipper Willie Romero, a prime candidate for Manager of the Year,  now has a travel day to figure out how to jump-start his offense before the series resumes Tuesday in Culiacan.  The Mayos reached the finals last Wednesday by beating Jalisco, 4-2, to knock out the Charros in six games in their semifinal set.  Ramirez socked his fourth homer of that series with a two-run bomb to aid starter Jaime Lugo, who got the win.  The 25-year-old Lugo was primarily a reliever for his five-year Mexican League career until after being shuttled from Monclova to Puebla last summer, starting all 13 of his appearance for the Pericos and 5-2 with a 3.92 ERA and helping the defending champions reach their second straight title series before falling to Tijuana.  He went 5-3 for the Mayos during the LMP regular season with a 2.53 ERA.

However, pitching isn't the Mayos' primary concern going into Tuesday's Game Three in Culiacan.  Somehow, Romero and his coaches are going to have to figure out how to wake up his batting order after last weekend's slumber party and win at least twice to bring the series back to Navojoa.  For his part, Culiacan helmsman Roberto Vizcarra is halfway to his goal of winning a second consecutive pennant after winning the title last winter with Mexicali.


Roberto Kelly named manager in Monterrey, signs three-year contract

New Monterrey Sultanes manager Roberto Kelly

Former major league outfielder Roberto Kelly is the Monterrey Sultanes' new manager.  The well-traveled Panamanian played for eight teams in his 14-year MLB career (including seven seasons with the Yankees), compiling a career .290 batting average with 124 homers and 235 stolen bases, making two All-Star Game appearances and reaching the playoffs four times.  His most productive season came in 1991 with the Yanks when he belted 20 homers, stole 32 bases and drove in 69 runs to augment a .267 average.  Kelly topped the .300 mark five times.

Kelly is no stranger to Mexican baseball.  After his MLB days were over, he spend two summers with the Mexico City Diablos Rojos, batting .334 with 19 homers in 2002 and .328 with 10 homers in 2003 before retiring as a player following that season at age 38.  He went on to spend several years in the Giants system, managing their Class A Augusta team in the South Atlantic League between 2005 and 2007.  He earned Manager of the Year honors in 2006 after leading the GreenJackets to a Sally League-best 92-47 record and a berth in the championship series.  He was brought up to San Francisco in 2008 and spent nine seasons coaching under manager Bob Brenly as the Giants won three World Series titles.  He was replaced as third base coach by Phil Nevin after the 2016 season.

The Sultanes' hiring of Kelly highlights an offseason during which they thought they had ex-MLB catcher Miguel Ojeda lined up to manage the team in 2018, only to have Ojeda back out to take a similar position with a Durango club that endured endless problems during their first season in the LMB last summer.  Although it was first thought that Ojeda would manage the Generales this summer, indications are that he may instead end up working in the front office if that team's ownership situation is ever resolved.  While Monterrey doesn't have nearly the off-field issues that the Generales do, they are coming off a campaign in which they were eliminated in the playoffs by Tijuana a second straight time after finishing second to the Toros in the LMB North during the regular season with a 68-43 record under manager Felix Fermin, who was not rehired.  Kelly's deal is for three years, a remarkable figure in a league with almost manic levels of managerial turnover.

One of the Sultanes' shortcomings was on the basepaths, where they finished 14th in the Liga in stolen bases with 55 swipes.  That should change under Kelly, who gained notice while managing in Augusta for his team's aggressive baserunning tactics as the GreenJackets stole 624 bases in three years while putting together an aggregate 258-157 record.

With Kelly's hiring in Monterrey and Tim Johnson being tabbed as the new manager in Quintana Roo (more on that next week), that leaves the Saltillo Saraperos and Tabasco Olmecas as the remaining Mexican League teams in search of new pilots, although the perpetually uncertain situation in Durango regarding Ojeda (who is part of a group bidding to buy the team from owner Virgilio Ruiz) could make that three clubs.


MLB bans scouts from working for Mexican League teams

P Luis Heredia during his Pirates days

The fallout over the Pittsburgh Pirates' firing of their Latin America scouting director, Rene Gayo, after he reportedly gained a personal financial windfall in the Bucs' 2010 signing of Mazatlan teen pitching prospect Luis Heredia for a reported $2.6 million, has led to Major League Baseball issuing a decree that scouts working for MLB organizations will not be allowed to simultaneously work for Mexican League franchises. 

Beatriz Pereyra of Mexico City's Proceso writes that MLB's ruling comes at the behest of new Mexican League president Javier Salinas during last month's winter meetings in Orlando, according to a claim Salinas made in an interview.  "We told MLB that we want to prohibit LMB executives from participating as scouts because there is a conflict of interest," says Salinas.  "Those scouts would not only be able to work for teams of the LMB, but for any league in the world."  The former Liga MX soccer commercial and marketing director, who was working for MedioTiempo website when he was picked to succeed Plinio Escalante as LMB presidente last year, added that "you can't work buying and selling at the same time because there is no clarity when you are judge and party."

The Miami-born Gayo spent five years as the Cleveland Indians' Latin America scouting director before being hired by Pittsburgh in 2004 to fill a similar position that had been vacant for five years.  Among his signings over the years for both teams were Danys Baez, Jhonny Peralta, Starling Marte and Willy Taveras (who now plays for Monclova).  He was fired by the Pirates in November after an MLB investigation found that Gayo received a kickback from the Veracruz Rojos del Aguila (who owned Heredia's LMB rights, which MLB organizations officially recognize) when Heredia signed his 2010 deal with the Bucs.  Team owner Jose Antonio Mansur, who reportedly owns 16 mansions and is a close friend of imprisoned former Veracruz governor Javier Duarte, moved the franchise to Nuevo Laredo last fall.  Mansur has owned Mexican League teams in Aguascalientes, Poza Rica and Cancun as well as Veracruz and now Nuevo Laredo over the years.  He was named Executive of the Year in 2012 when Veracruz won the pennant under current Tijuana manager Pedro Mere, but Mansur's teams have typically not seen success either in the standings or at the box office.

Interestingly, MLB's edict does not extend to Mexican Pacific League teams like the Mazatlan Venados, whose general manager, Jesus "Chino" Valdez, is a Heredia family friend, also works as a Pirates scout and may have been key in Heredia's signing with Pittsburgh (although there have never been rumors of kickbacks to Valdez).  Heredia, who is now 23, was released by the Pirates after last season and is once again a free agent after turning in a 26-26 record with a 3.88 ERA over seven years in the Pittsburgh organization.  It was thought he might pitch for the Venados this season, but the 6'5" righty decided to rest for the winter instead while seeking employment for the coming season after being a Baseball America Top 100 prospect as recently as 2013.  Mansur and the Tecolotes still own his LMB rights.

Hermosillo wins LMP first half title; Vizcarra, Sojo both fired

Roberto Vizcarra in happier times with Mexicali

The Hermosillo Naranjeros have won the Mexican Pacific League’s first-half championship, picking up eight playoff qualification points in the process, after beating last-place Obregon twice in a three-game weekend home series. Managed by longtime Mexican baseball figure Lorenzo Bundy (a Philadelphia native), the Orangemen were in a three-way tie at the top of the LMP standings with Culiacan and Mazatlan after going 20-15 in the half, but got the nod for first based on their record against the Tomateros and Venados, respectively.  

Culiacan was awarded second (7 points) while Mazatlan takes third (6 points).  In one of the tightest races in recent LMP seasons, Jalisco finished one game out of first at 19-16 to place fourth while 18-17 Navojoa finished two games back in fifth place.  The final first half standings and points are posted below this story.  Playoff seedings in the MexPac are based on points accrued over the two halves of the schedule.

Meanwhile, Mexicali has fired the man who led them to the pennant last winter.  Manager Roberto Vizcarra was cut loose Sunday after the Aguilas finished a disappointing sixth in the first half with a record of 16-19.  It’s the second time Vizcarra has felt the axe in 2017 after he was fired by the Mexican League’s Quintana Roo Tigres, a team he led to the 2014 pennant, late in the regular season.  Vizcarra will be replaced in Mexicali by Pedro Mere, skipper of current Mexican League champion Tijuana who’d been managing the Moroleon Toros Bravos in the Mexican Winter League with players assigned from both the Toros and Leon.

The Los Mochis Caneros didn’t wait until the end of the first half to fire manager Luis Sojo, who was let go last Thursday.  The former Yankees utilityman, who was a member of five World Series champions (including the 1993 Toronto Blue Jays), had the Caneros at 13-18 when he was canned.  Sojo managed a Yankees team to the Rookie Gulf Coast League title last summer.  He was replaced in Mochis by another former longtime Liga infielder Ramon Orantes, who led Union Laguna to a 60-49 record in his first stint as a manager this year but missed the LMB North playoffs.  Like Mere, Orantes was managing in the LIM with the Maravatio Leones, an affiliate of both Laguna and Yucatan.  The Caneros are 1-3 under Orantes and were swept by Mazatlan over a three-game weekend home series.

The LMP All-Star Game is slated for Monday night at Mochis’ Estadio Emilio Ibarra Almada. The All-Star contest, which will be preceded by a Legends Softball Game and Home Run Derby, was revived last winter after an absence of 19 years when the North defeated the South, 4-3, on a walkoff single by Obregon’s Olmo Rosario in the bottom of the ninth in front of 15,145 fans at Nuevo Estadio Yaquis in Obregon.  Attendance won’t approach that figure this time, as Emilio Ibarra Almada holds just 11,000.  Ironically, the two managers who’d been slated to head the All-Star teams were Vizcarra and Sojo, whose teams met in last winter’s finals.  

LMP FINAL FIRST HALF STANDINGS

Hermosillo 20-15 (8.0), Culiacan 20-15 (7.0), Mazatlan (20-15) 6.0, Jalisco 19-16 (5.0), Navojoa 18-17 (4.5), Mexicali 16-19 (4.0), Los Mochis 14-21 (3.5), Obregon 13-22 (3.0).

LMP HITTING LEADERS

Batting-Sebastian Elizalde (CUL) .382,  Hits-Sebastian Elizalde (CUL) 52, Runs-Randy Arozarena (NAV) and Jeremias Pineda (MAZ) 29, Homers-Jovan Rosa (NAV) 8, RBIs-Manny Rodriguez (JAL) 32, Stolen Bases-Jeremias Pineda (MAZ) 22.

LMP PITCHING LEADERS

Wins-Mitch Lively (MAZ) 5, Earned Run Average-Edgar Gonzalez (CUL) 1.80, Strikeouts-Cesar Vargas (HM) 35, Saves-Austin House (HMO) 11, Holds-Edgar Gomez (MXI) 10, WHIP-Edgar Gonzalez (CUL) 1.09.

Forged passport, prospect sale kickback, Rookiegate on LMB plate

Ex-Pirates farmhand Luis Heredia

It’s been anything but a quiet offseason for the Mexican League even when you don’t factor in the franchise move from Veracruz to Nuevo Laredo or the creation of two 57-game seasons with playoffs between late March and early October 2018.

The LMB has fined the Yucatan Leones 5 million pesos (about US$263,000) for registering Cuban outfielder Ronnier Mustelier with a fake passport.  That discussion at the LMB’s recent Assembly of Presidents meeting was led by a claim from Tabasco Olmecas president Jose Luis Dagdug that Campeche had done something similar with another Cuban outfielder, former international star Alfredo DeSpaigne, who is now playing in Japan.  The topic swung to Mustelier’s passport, which the Mexico City Attorney General’s office investigated and found to be falsified.  

Mustelier was brought into Yucatan as one of six allowed foreigners in 2017 and hit .318 with one homer in 48 games for the LMB South regular season champs but went 4-for-27 in the playoffs as the Leones lost to Puebla in the Division Championship Series.  The 33-year-old Mustelier, who won’t face an LMB suspension in 2018, was released by Yucatan in early October.  He’s hitting .337 with 16 RBIs and 14 runs scored in 28 games for Culiacan in the MexPac.

Then there’s the matter of Luis Heredia’s 2012 signing with Pittsburgh for a reported $2.7 million.  That transaction appears to have been the final straw for the Pirates, who fired Latin America scouting director Rene Gayo after it was determined that he received a kickback in the signing of Heredia, who was 16 at the time.  

Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports Gayo was compensated by a Mexican League team for delivering Heredia to the Pirates.  Since Veracruz held his rights in Mexico, all signs seem to point at owner Jose Antonio Mansur, who moved the team to Nuevo Laredo last month although there are questions as to whether his is the franchise’s legal owner.  Heredia was released by the Pirates after never rising above AA ball and is expected to pitch for Mazatlan this winter.  Venados GM Jesus Valdez has been the Bucs’ top scout in Mexico for years and was instrumental in landing Heredia.

Finally, the LMB has made a statement regarding their investigation into the transfer of five prospects from Quintana Roo to Mexico City last winter just before the Tigres were sold to former Cy Young winner Fernando Valenzuela and his wife Linda Burgos.  Two of those teenaged prospects were subsequently sold by the Diablos Rojos to the Texas Rangers for over $2.5 million last summer.  The common thread appears to be current Diablos GM Francisco “Pollo” Minjarez, who was an assistant GM in Quintana Roo when the deal allegedly occurred, then moved to the nation’s capital and the Diablos after the sale.  

The Liga says they are working on the restructuring of their player transfer protocols but added nothing about the transaction in question between the Tigres and Diablos, which means the Valenzuelas, who took a financial beating in Cancun this summer, will be calling Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred’s office in New York soon, if they haven’t already.

Dodgers, Padres to play May 2018 series in Monterrey

Estadio Monterrey

There WAS some good news for the Mexican League last week, when it was officially announced that the National League champion Los Angeles Dodgers will meet the San Diego Padres for a three-game series in Monterrey early next season.  The set will take place May 4 through 6 at Estadio Monterrey, Mexico’s largest ballpark with a capacity of 27,000.

This will mark the third time the Padres have hosted MLB games in Monterrey.  San Diego played a set against the New York Mets in August 1996 and then battled the Colorado Rockies in their April 4, 1999 season opener.  The last time MLB teams ventured south of the border was in March 2016, when the Padres and Houston Astros played two games at Mexico City’s Estadio Fray Nano.  This will be the first-ever Dodgers regular season foray into Mexico.

The upcoming Dodgers-Padres series had originally planned for Mexico City’s new 13,000-seat ballpark, but the facility was already behind schedule even before September’s devastating earthquakes exacerbated some pre-existing structural problems.  Citing uncertainty over whether Estadio Alfredo Harp Helu will be ready by May, both Major League Baseball and the Monterrey Sultanes announced the series would be moved to the northern city, as had been speculated for weeks.  The Sultanes, who led Minor League Baseball in attendance this year, are already linking tickets to the series with season ticket sales for the 2018 Mexican League season.

Besides stars like Clayton Kershaw,  Dodgers players who might make the trip are first baseman Adrian Gonzalez, pitcher Julio Urias and outfielder Alex Verdugo.  Gonzalez was thought to be joining the Jalisco Charros for the second half of the Mexican Pacific League season, but the LA front office may want him to rest after an injury-plagued 2017.  The Padres lineup is expected to include Guadalajara-born third baseman Christian Villanueva, who hit .344 with four homers in 12 games for San Diego in a September call-up.  Villanueva was BBM’s Winter MVP in 2015-16 after a .322/9/38 LMP season for Obregon.

LIGA LIFTS BLACKLIST OF MLB/MiLB VETERANS

The VICE Sports website reports that a longstanding gentlemen's agreement among Mexican League teams barring native-born Major or Minor league veterans who did not originally sign with them as prospects has been called off.

A story by writer David Mark Simpson quotes a November 13 World Baseball article in which Veracruz Rojos Aguilas owner Jose Antonio Mansur as saying the unwritten agreement is being eliminated, allowing players who've been playing ball north of the border to return home and play summer ball in their home country. The VICE Sports story names such players as Amadeo Zazueta ( above ) as one of the potential beneficiaries of the lifting of the blacklist, which seemed unwarranted in Zazueta's case.  

A Culiacan native, Zazueta tried out for a number of Mexican League teams as a teen before signing a free agent contract with Houston in 2003. After three years in the Astros system, Zazueta has since shuttled back and forth between independent leagues and stints in the Atlanta , San Diego and Toronto systems. He spent last summer batting .260 in 117 games as a middle infielder with the Atlantic League's Sugar Land Skeeters. No such rule exists in the Mexican Pacific League, where Zazueta is currently with Jalisco for his seventh season of winterball.

One of the unique aspects of Mexican baseball is that, unlike elsewhere, Liga teams will typically sign contracts with homegrown prospects before they're old enough to sign free-agent contracts with MLB organizations or other foreign teams. It can be a business bonanza for LMB franchises. When Veracruz sold the rights to 16-year-old pitching prospect Luis Heredia of Mazatlan to the Pittsburgh Pirates for $2.6 million in 2011, $1.8 million of that went to the Rojos Aguilas. Simpson adds that several sources claim that some Mexican League teams garner more revenue from player sales than ticket sales.

The flip side is that MLB organizations have for years bypassed Mexican prospects in favor of those from the Dominican Republic and Venezuela because they can sign multiple players for the same cost a single Mexican teen would cost.

However, not every LMB majordomo has signed off on allowing prodigal sons to come home. Mexico City Diablos Rojos president Roberto Mansur (yes, he's related to Jose Antonio ... the Mansur family has been well-represented in Mexican baseball for decades) says he will continue to employ only Mexican players who first signed with Liga teams as teens. According to Solo Beisbol , Mansur told a Mexico City newspaper that he will continue to promote players from the Red Devils Academy and winter farm teams rather than sign expats returning from the States without first signing with a Mexican team.

Thanks to BBM reader Callum Hughson for the story tip. Email BaseballMexico@live.com if you have an interesting story on Mexican baseball. It only SEEMS like I see everything.   -Bruce

HEREDIA STRUGGLES THROUGH TOUGH YEAR FOR PIRATES GCL TEAM

Heralded pitching prospect Luis Heredia found the going tough in his first season of pro ball in the Pittsburgh Pirates system.

The 6’6” 17-year-old righthander struggled his way to one win in eleven starts for the Pirates’ Gulf Coast League rookie team in 2011, going 1-2 with a 4.75 ERA in 30.1 innings. He had a fair strikeout total of 23 (a rate of 6.8 whiffs per nine innings), but his early control problems never completely went away. Heredia dished up 19 walks and hit four batsmen, also a rate of 6.8 per nine frames for free passes.

The campaign ended on an upswing for the Mazatlan native, however. Heredia pitched scoreless ball over nine innings in three appearances (two starts) between August 8 and 19 before getting racked up for three runs on four hits in three entradas against the Phillies in his last start of the season on August 25.

Heredia's lone win against the Tigers on September 8 began his scoreless stretch, but even that was somewhat flawed. While Heredia did toss three shutout innings with two strikeouts, he gave up two hits and two walks in his only relief outing in ten appearances for the Pirates under manager Tom Prince.

Given his $3 million bonus and mid-90’s fastball, Heredia remains one of Pittsburgh’s top prospects and should develop once the Pirates let him throw more than just heaters as he matures.

HEREDIA STRUGGLING TO FIND PLATE FOR CGL PIRATES

Pitching prodigy Luis Heredia is finding common ground with young hurlers everywhere throughout baseball history: No matter how hard you throw, you need to throw strikes.

Heredia absorbed his first loss in four starts for the Pittsburgh Pirates’ Gulf Coast League rookie team on July 8, dropping a 5-2 decision to the Phillies. The 16-year-old righty only lasted 2.1 innings, letting in two runs on as many hits with five walks and only one strikeout.

The Mazatlan native has found home plate elusive thus far, with the 6’6” Heredia issuing nine bases on balls in nine frames to go with his six strikeouts. After giving up three free passes in 2.2 innings for his first pro outing against the Blue Jays on June 21, Heredia settled down in his next two starts and allowed just one walk with five whiffs over four stanzas before his control problems returned during last Friday’s loss in his first decision of the year.

While his propensity for walks is probably a concern (but not a major crisis, since Heredia IS a 16-year-old away from home for the first time in a foreign country) and his 4.00 ERA won’t knock anyone dead, one thing that probably has Pirates brass pleased is that while opponents are getting on base, they’re not knocking him out of the box. Heredia, whose fastball can reach the mid-90’s, has only allowed a .115 batting average among batters he’s faced and has given up just three hits over nine innings.

Imagine how effective he might be once he starts throwing strikes.

HEREDIA MAKES PRO DEBUT FOR PIRATES GCL TEAM

Pittsburgh Pirates pitching prospect Luis Heredia made his long-awaited pro baseball debut Tuesday, tossing 2.2 innings for the Pirates’ Gulf Coast League squad in a 10-7 win over the Toronto Blue Jays. The 16-year-old Heredia, who signed a contract with Pittsburgh last August for a reported $2.6 million, did not have the greatest of starts, allowing two runs on one hit while walking three Jays batters without a strikeout.

Heredia fared reasonably well over the first two innings, holding Toronto hitless as the Jays’ Angel Gomez reached base on an error by Pirates shortstop Alen Hanson in the first and Seth Connor got on board with a walk in the second frame.

Things got tougher for Heredia in the third, however. After retiring the first two batters to make it eight outs recorded among the first ten hitters faced, the 6’6” righty from Mazatlan hit Gomez with a pitch. Then, with Dickie Thon, Jr. batting, Gomez stole second and third before Thon was walked. Heredia then issued a free pass to Kevin Patterson to load the bases for Toronto, setting the table for Santiago Nessy’s two-run line-drive single to center. At that point, Pittsburgh skipper Tom Prince replaced Heredia with former Texas Tech hurler Robert Kilcrease.

Still, the Pirates had to be pleased that although Heredia’s control left something to be desired, he only allowed the one Nessy single. Heredia chose to sign with Pittsburgh after reportedly receiving interest from ten MLB organizations. Ironically, Toronto was said to have offered Heredia even more than the Pirates, but the youngster’s long-term friendship with Pirates scout Jesus “Chino” Valdez was enough the seal the deal for the Buccos.

HEREDIA NAMED PIRATES’ FIFTH-BEST PROPECT BY BASEBALL AMERICA

For a 16-year-old kid who has yet to throw a pitch in a pro baseball game, Luis Heredia is already being held in high esteem in some quarters. Baseball America’s 2011 Prospect Handbook has named the Mazatlan prodigy as the fifth-best prospect in the Pittsburgh Pirates minor league system.

The 6’6” Heredia (who was signed by the Pirates for a $2.6 million bonus last August shortly after his 16th birthday) “doesn’t have one singularly superb trait,” the Handbook says, “aside from doing so much so well with such size at his age.” Also noted was that “His frame, coordination and delivery are highly advanced, and he has excelled against older competition all his life.”

Heredia was the subject of spirited bidding among more than a dozen Major League organizations, but his longtime relationship with former Mazatlan Venados general manager Jesus “Chino” Valdez (who is Pittsburgh’s lead scout in Mexico) meant the other teams had little chance of signing him. As is customary south of the border, Heredia’s rights were held by the Mexican League’s Veracruz Aguilas, who kept 75 percent of the bonus.

Heredia is one of three teenage pitchers among the Pirates’ top five prospects, according to Baseball America, along with top-rated Jameson Taillon and third-ranked Stetson Allie.

PIRATES SIGNEE HEREDIA ADAPTING TO U.S. CULTURE

Mexican pitching phenom Luis Heredia has moved to the Pittsburgh Pirates training facility in Bradenton, Florida and is working on becoming acclimated to life in the United States. The 6‘4” right-hander from Mazatlan with a 92 MPH fastball signed a multi-million dollar contract with the Bucs on his 16th birthday in August after being courted by a number of major league organizations. His rights were purchased from the Mexican League’s Veracruz Rojos Aguilas.

“I am working very much on the physical aspects,” Heredia says. “The truth is that they have treated and received me very well.” Heredia has spent time with fellow Pittsburgh pitching prospects Jameson Taillon and Stetson Allie while attending weekday English classes at Pirate City, saying, “I attend English classes Monday through Friday and have learned very much.”

Heredia is one of 46 pitchers on Pittsburgh’s Florida Instructional League roster this fall.

PITTSBURGH ACQUIRES RIGHTS TO PRIZED 16-YEAR-OLD PITCHER

The bidding war for a highly-sought teenaged pitcher from Mazatlan appears to be over. The Pittsburgh Pirates announced August 19 that they have reached an agreement to acquire the rights to 6’4” right-hander Luis Heredia from the Veracruz Rojos Aguilas of the Mexican League for a reported $2.6 million (three-quarters of which will go to the Aguilas).

Ten major league organizations were said to be interested in Heredia, who had to wait until his 16th birthday on August 19 before MLB teams could begin negotiating with him in earnest, but Pittsburgh apparently had the inside track from the beginning. Pittsburgh's Mexican scout, Jesus “Chino” Valdez (former GM of the Mexican Pacific League Mazatlan Venados) has known Heredia since the pitcher was 5 years old and is said to be a father figure.

Heredia reportedly possesses four pitches, including a 95 MPH fastball. Once the deal is finalized, the Pirates will send him to their main training complex in Bradenton, Florida.

BIDDING WAR OPENS FOR MEXICAN PITCHING PRODIGY

The scramble to sign international prospects has opened and one young pitcher from Mazatlan stands to become a millionaire when the dust settles. Luis Heredia, who turns 16 in August, is a 6’4” right-hander who throws four pitches, including a 95 MPH fastball and a changeup. Former All-Star second baseman Roberto Alomar has compared Heredia to Stephen Strasburg of the Washington Nationals.


Up to ten teams are said to be interested in the son of Hector Heredia (a pitcher for Monterrey and Yucatan in the 1980s and 1990s who spent a few years in the Dodgers system). The Toronto Blue Jays are reported to have a $2.8 million signing bonus on the table for the younger Heredia, while the Pittsburgh Pirates are said to be offering $2.5 million.


Whoever wins the bid battle for Heredia will have to wait until his 16th birthday to sign him. Unlike other Latin countries, where teenage free agents are truly “free” (to a point), Heredia’s rights in Mexico are owned by the Veracruz Rojos Aguilas, who would have to be compensated for releasing him to an MLB organization.