MARIACHIS ADD 2-TIME MVP CASTILLO TO ROSTER

Jesse Castillo batting for Guasave

    The brand-new Guadalajara Mariachis are looking to make a splash in their inaugural Mexican League season. However, while adding prominent players to their roster, they've created a logjam for themselves at one position. According to Roberto Espinosa of Beisbol Puro, the Mariachis have picked up veteran first baseman Jesse Castillo after already signing longtime LMBer Saul Soto and former major league All-Star Adrian Gonzalez, who also play the initial hassock.

    While the threesome would have the potential to belt a combined 75+ homers in a full season for the Jalisco squad (if each was healthy and played every day), even if they split time between first base and designated hitter, someone would be sitting because the 42-year-old Soto hasn't caught a game since 2016, the 38-year-old Castillo has played three games at third base since 2015 and Gonzalez (who turns 39 next month) last played the outfield in 2012. It might make the most sense to rotate the three between first and DH over the upcoming 66-game season, meaning each would play 44 times, but it remains to be seen whether any would be willing to sit every third day.

    Castillo comes with some risk after missing all of the 2019 LMB season due to a blown knee suffered when he was rounding first base while batting for Monclova during the Fall 2018 North Division championship series. The Mexicali-born slugger did play winterball in Venezuela during the 2019-20 campaign and with Guasave last season in the Mexican Pacific

League before being named the LMP Finals MVP and belting a homer and driving in five runs for Culiacan as a reinforcement in the Caribbean Series, so it does appear that his bat is back in shape. Castillo was training to play for Leon last spring before the Wuhan Virus-caused pandemic led to the Liga's 2020 season being canceled.

    Prior to his injury, Castillo may have been the most feared hitter in the Mexican League between 2015 and 2018. Over that timespan, the 6'1” lefty swinger never batted below .324 while leading the LMB with an aggregate 557 hits, 315 RBIs and 322 runs scored. He was second with 108 doubles and 293 walks while belting 66 homers to rank sixth in the loop en route to winning consecutive MVP trophies in 2017 and Spring 2018. In other words, he has legitimate bonafides. But so do El Jefe (Soto) and El Titan (Gonzalez).

    With the start of the Mexican League's shortened schedule less than six weeks away, Guadalajara manager Benji Gil will have to determine what kind of balancing act he'll have to use in the regular season over the next two months. If he goes with the three-man, two-position rotation mentioned above, the trio would at worst be fairly well-rested heading into the playoffs in early August.

ACEREROS, TECOS TO PLAY TWO EXHIBITIONS IN SAN ANTONIO

Danny Espinosa at Acereros camp

    Two Mexican League teams will be playing a pair of exhibition games in San Antonio later this month when the defending LMB champion Monclova Acereros take on the Dos Laredos Tecolotes. The games will take place Thursday, April 29 and Friday, April 30 at Nelson Wolff Stadium, home of the Class AA San Antonio Missions, a San Diego Padres affiliate.

    The Acereros will have a major league look on their roster, starting with their manager. The American League's 1992 Rookie of the Year, Pat Listach, took the reins of the team during the 2019 season and led them to the city's first Mexican League pennant 45 years after Monclova's debut season. One of Listach's coaches is former Phillies second baseman Juan Samuel, a three-time National League All-Star. Then there's the Monclova playing roster.

    Former Cubs World Series shortstop Addison Russell signed with the Steelers last month and another big name is reportedly on the way for 2021. Russell will be joined by outfielder Rajai Davis (who played for Cleveland against Russell's Cubs in the 2006 Fall Classic), first baseman Chris Carter (2016 National League home run champion), Erick Aybar (former American League All-Star) and Bartolo Colon, the AL's 2005 Cy Young Award winner. The Acereros have also picked up former Nationals infielder Danny Espinosa, who is slated to play at shortstop while Russell moves over to third base in initials plans for the upcoming season.

    The Tecolotes will not have nearly the same star power as Monclova brings over the Texas border. The biggest name on the Dos Laredos roster may well be their manager, former pitching star Pablo Ortega. A 44-year-old Nuevo Laredo native, Ortega retired in 2019 after 19 seasons in the Liga, finishing with a 156-101 career record and a 4.41 ERA along with 1,119 strikeouts over 2,072 innings pitched. He reached double figures in wins seven times (five times between 2008 and 2012), pitched in six All-Star Games and was the LMB Comeback Player of the Year in 2011. Ortega served as interim manager last winter in Mazatlan, where he led the Venados to a winning record and a Mexican Pacific League playoff berth after replacing Juan Jose Pacho, but will not be back for the 2021-22 season.

Dos Laredos 1B Balbino Fuenmayor

    Ortega's charges will include a pair of former MLBers from Brazil. Outfielder Paulo Orlando was a member of Kansas City's 2015 American League pennant-winning team as a rookie while fellow Andre Rienzo pitched for the White Sox and Marlins between 2013 and 2015. Both spent time in the Mex Pac with the Obregon Yaquis last winter.

    Some familiar names in Mexican baseball dot the Tecos roster. The border team recently dealt for veteran Oaxaca centerfielder Alan Sanchez, a 2017 All-Star and .305 batter since his 2010 Liga debut. Orlando and Sanchez will be joined in the outfield by Roberto Lopez, who was the 2017 Serie del Rey MVP after leading Tijuana to the pennant that year. First baseman Balbino Fuenmayor, who hit .334 with 31 homers for Dos Laredos in 2019, is back in Mexico after finishing the winterball season in his native Venezuela. One notable member of the Owls' roster is pitcher Luke Heimlich, the Pitcher of the Year in 2018 at Oregon State, who went 8-7 with a 4.58 ERA over 21 starts with the team in his 2019 pro debut.

    Game times in San Antonio for the series will be 7:05PM both night. Ticket prices for the exhibition games will range from $10 to $30 each.

SIXTEEN MEXICANS ON MLB OPENING DAY ROSTERS

Oliver Perez in 19th MLB season

    The Mexican contingent that opened the 2021 Major League Baseball season this month consisted of 16 players. While Oliver Pérez is adding a 19th MLB season to his resume, eight other players of Mexican descent had their first experience on a big league Opening Day roster, including brothers Luis and Ramón Urías.

    The Urías brothers are not the first Mexican-born pair of siblings to open the season on a Major League Baseball roster. Adrián and Édgar González, Mexicans born in California, did it playing for the San Diego Padres in 2009. In the case of Oliver Pérez, he will continue to set the record for most seasons by a Mexican in MLB, In 2020, he passed Fernando Valenzuela, Aurelio Rodríguez and Juan Gabriel Castro, who participated in 17 calendars in The Show.

    Eight of the 16 players who opened the season in the Major Leagues experienced an Opening Day at that level for the first time: José Urquidy (Houston), Giovanny Gallegos (St. Louis), Alejandro Kirk (Toronto), Luis Urías (Milwaukee), Ramón Urías (Baltimore), Víctor González (Dodgers), Río Ruiz (Baltimore) and Felipe “Tres” Barrera (Washington). Last year, Urquidy and Gallegos were scheduled to start the campaign with their teams but the pandemic prevented that from happening.

    The number of 16 Mexicans opening the 2021 MLB season is the most since the same number was recorded in 2017, but still far behind the record of 24 Mexican nationals on Opening Day rosters in the 2003 campaign.

MEXICAN NATIONALS ON 2021 OPENING DAY ROSTERS:

Baltimore infielder Ramon Urias

Felipe “Tres” Barrera (Washington Nationals)
Luis Cessa (New York Yankees)
Phillip Evans (Pittsburgh Pirates)
Giovanny Gallegos (St. Louis Cardinals)
Victor Gonzalez (Los Angeles Dodgers)
Alejandro Kirk (Toronto Blue Jays)
Oliver Pérez (Cleveland Indians)
Daniel Ponce de León (San Luis Cardinals)
Sergio Romo (Oakland Athletics)
Rio Ruiz (Baltimore Orioles)
Joakim Soria (Arizona Diamondbacks)
Julio Urías (Los Angeles Dodgers)
Luis Urías (Milwaukee Brewers)
Ramón Urías (Baltimore Orioles)
José Urquidy (Houston Astros)
Alex Verdugo (Boston Red Sox)

PREMIER12: MEXICO SWEEPS GROUP A, ON TO JAPAN

The Mexican National Team clobbered The Netherlands, 10-2, last Tuesday in Guadalajara to complete a three-game Group A sweep in the World Baseball Softball Confederation's Premier12 tournament.  The Verdes Grande had earlier defeated the Dominican Republic and the United States to clinch a berth in the second stage of Premier12 competition, the Super Round, this week in Japan.  No players on a 40-man roster in Major League Baseball are being allowed by their respective teams to play.

Mexico took an early lead over the Dutchmen in the bottom of the first when leadoff batter Jonathan Jones singled to left, advanced to third base on Noah Perio's single up the middle and then came home to score when Holland centerfielder Roger Bernadina made an errant throw to the plate that catcher Chadwick Tromp couldn't make a play with.  Perio advanced to second on Bernadina's throw, took took when Netherlands starting pitcher Tom Stuibergen uncorked a wild pitch to Efren Navarro and then plated a tally on Navarro's groundout to Sharlon Schoop at second base.

The Mexicans added two more runs in the third when Navarro doubled in Perio and Jesus Araiza later punched a two-out single to plate Navarro, bringing the score to 4-0.  After three scoreless innings, Mexico essentially put the game in their hop pocket with four seventh-inning runs.  A combined three runs came in on two Dutch errors and another scored on a wild pitch in an ugly defensive frame for the European side.  Ageless Yurendell de Caster, who played for Reynosa of the Mexican League in 2010 and 2011, accounted for The Netherlands' only scoring when the 40-year-old Curacao native rapped a two-run single up the middle off Jesus Rios in the top of the eighth but Mexico scored twice more in the bottom of the entrada for the final 10-2 margin of victory.

Mexico outfielder Noah Perio

Arturo Reyes started on the mound for the Verdes Grande and tossed three scoreless innings of one-hit ball, but it was reliever Manny Barreda who got the win by pitching 1.2 frames of no-run ball into the fifth frame.  Stuifbergen took the loss for The Netherlands.  Jones went 3-for-5 with two runs for the winners, who collected ten hits and three walks on the night.  Holland had seven hits and drew seven walks but 12 Dutch runners were left stranded on base as they finished 0-3 in the Premier12 under manager Hensley Meulens and coaches Bert Blyleven and Andruw Jones.  One night earlier, the United States beat the Dominican Republic, 10-8, to clinch Group A's second Super Round berth.

The Mexican National Team is now in Japan, where they'll open Super Round play against Taiwan Monday at Noon local time at Chiba Marine Stadium.  Taiwan finished second to unbeaten Japan with a 2-1 record while hosting Group B action in Taichung.  Mexico will open the second stage with a 1-0 record because they defeated the United States, 8-2, in the opening round while Taiwan starts the Super Round 0-1 after losing to Japan in Group B.  South Korea (3-0) and surprising Australia (2-1) emerged from Group C in Seoul, with the Aussies topping both Canada and Cuba to advance.  Each of the six remaining teams will play four games this week, followed by two games at the Tokyo Dome on Friday: A Bronze Medal game between the third and fourth place finishers at Noon and a Gold Medal Game between the top two seeds at 7:00PM.  Two teams will advance to next year's Summer Olympics in Tokyo.

It was a good week all around for Mexico manager Juan Gabriel Castro, who was also hired as an infield coach for the Philadelphia Phillies in 2020.  Castro gave up a coaching job with the Los Angeles Dodgers for an ill-defined with the Tijuana Toros in 2018, only to be fired two months after his hiring.  Castro spent last summer in the Phillies organization as coordinator of minor league infielders and will join new manager Joe Girardi in Philadelphia to replace Bobby Dickerson, who left for a bench coaching job with the San Diego Padres.

MEXICO PREMIER12 SUPER ROUND SCHEDULE
Monday, Nov. 11 (12pm) vs. Taiwan, Chiba Marine Stadium
Tuesday, Nov. 12 (12pm) vs. Australia, Tokyo Dome
Wednesday, Nov. 13 (7pm) at Japan, Tokyo Dome
Thursday, Nov. 14 (7pm) at South Korea, Tokyo Dome


THREE LMP MANAGERS FIRED; WILL OSUNA PITCH FOR CHARROS?

New Mexicali manager Pedro Mere

Less than one month into the 2019-20 season, three Mexican Pacific League managers were fired with the usual thanks from teams not thankful enough to spare their jobs.  While it's a little unusual to see three skippers axed after fewer than four weeks, this is an LMP expansion year and there are now ten helmsmen to show the door.

The first firing came November 2 in Guasave, one of the MexPac's two new clubs, who parted ways with manager Rigo Beltran.  A former MLB and NPB pitcher who was a winterball mainstay in Culiacan, Beltran has spent the past six summers as pitching coach for the Indians' AAA Columbus affiliate. The Algodoneros decided they'd seen enough after a 6-12 start, jettisoning both Beltran and pitching coach Jose Silva.  The Cottoneers' new dugout boss will be Oscar Robles.  Robles was LMP Rookie of the Year in 1995-96 for Guasave and has managed both Culiacan and Obregon, and was recently fired from Tijuana in the LMB after leading the Toros to the best regular-season record in the Liga.

Four days later, the axe fell on Adan Munoz in Navojoa.  The longtime catcher who did a decent job in Cancun after being named Quintana Roo manager on May 9 and leading the Tigres to the postseason.  Munoz was in his first season with the Mayos when he was let go with the team in last place after going 6-14 over the first 20 games.  Pitching coach Hector Heredia was named interim Navojoa manager while the front office looks for a permanent (relatively speaking) replacement for Munoz, who may be reassigned elsewhere within the Mayos organization.

The Mexicali Aguilas capped the opening week of canning season by pink-slipping yet another first-year manager, Bobby Dickerson.  A former Yankees draft pick and farmhand, Dickerson was an infield coach for Baltimore for seven seasons and spent last summer with Philadelphia before taking a similar job in San Diego next season.  This was his second stint with Mexicali (he managed the Eagles to the playoffs in 2009-10), but ownership became disaffected with the Aguilas' 7-16 record, although they did "thank Bobby Dickerson for his dedication and professionalism, recognizing him as a hard working and committed manager, wishing him much success in his future projects."  Pedro Mere becomes the latest to enter the revolving managerial door in Mexicali.

Osuna signed with Charros in 2017, but didn't pitch

Meanwhile, a couple of MLB players have been talked about as possible MexPac performers this winter, although one of them has ruled out the possibility.  Telediario of Guadalajara reports that Houston closer Roberto Osuna has told Jalisco team president Salvador Quirarte that he wants to pitch for the Charros this winter.  "When it was the Houston game in Monterrey," Quirarte said, "I was talking to Roberto and he said, 'Hey, I want you to take me with the Charros this year."  Quirarte admits it's up to the Astros to allow Osuna to pitch anywhere this winter, saying "We have to wait, although being very clear and seeing the Houston team so strongly, I don't see much hope."  Another big league pitcher, Sergio Romo, is already in Guadalajara with the Charros, but the 12-year MLB veteran is a free agent and not under the same restrictions Osuna is.

Another MLBer, Luis Urias, was rumored to be a possible addition to the Obregon roster this winter, perhaps as soon as this month.  However, El Fildeo reports that Urias himself is discounting the talk on social media.  A middle infielder, the 22-year-old Urias played 71 games for San Diego this year, batting .223 with 4 homers, and is considered one of the Padres' top prospects.  He hit .280 over 36 games for the Yaquis as an 18-year-old in 2015-16.  Like Osuna, Urias' availability would be subject to his parent club's approval and it's not known whether the San Diego organization would sign off on it.

The battle for first place remains tight with only nine games remaining in the first half.  Culiacan (16-9) holds the narrowest of leads over Hermosillo (15-9) and Jalisco (15-10) at the top of the table, while Lobregon and Los Mochis (both 14-11) sit two games out of first.  At the bottom of the standings, Mexicali (8-17) is eight games out of first and as mentioned above, former manager Bobby Dickerson bore the brunt of the Aguilas' slow start.

Jose Aguilar of Obregon leads the batting race with a .373 average while Culiacan's Sebastian Elizalde is second at .361.  Jalisco's Stephen Cardullo may be hitting a pedestrian .255. but he's making the most of what he can with an LMP-best seven homers among his 24 base hits.  Teammate Dariel Alvarez and Obregon's Art Charles are among three players trailing Cardullo by one homer while being tied at the top with 21 RBIs apiece.  Culiacan outfielder Rico Noel has stolen 14 bases in 16 attempts to take a healthy lead in that category.

Yoanys Quiala of Los Mochis leads the LMP in wins with a perfect 5-0 mark after six starts.  Quiala's 1.95 ERA is third behind Hermosillo's Mike Kickham (1.55) and Teddy Stankiewicz of Guasave (1.91).  Quiala also leads in strikeouts with 31 (Obregon's Arturo Lopz has 30) and his 0.81 WHIP is also tops, just ahead of Kickham's 0.86.  Monterrey's Ralph Garza and Trey McNutt of Hermosillo are tied for saves supremacy with eight apiece.  Even though Garza's Sultanes teammate Nick Struck's ERA of 4.09 may not be overly impressive, his eight holds are.

The MexPac says the one-million mark in attendance had been surpassed by the 21-game mark of the first half on November 8.  The LMP states that a total of 1,108,336 attendees witnessed games across the loop's ten cities through seven series, a number that projects to an overall average of 10,556 per opening, which is higher than any MiLB league north of the border.  According to a story on the league website, Culiacan leads with 15,853 attendees per game, followed by Hermosillo's 15,155 average.


MEXICAN LEAGUE CUTS BACK TO 102 GAMES IN 2020; 80 GAMES IN 2021?

After expanding its regular season schedule to 120 games per team for the first time since 2001, the Mexican League is making a drastic cut in games for 2020 and at least one prominent baseball writer south of the border things the LMB could be looking at even fewer openings in 2021.

The Liga once played as many as 140 games per season but gradually adopted shorter schedules until adopting a 110-game calendar in 2002, a format the circuit kept until creating two separate 56-game seasons last year.  When that proved unworkable, the LMB returned to a single-season format in 2019 with 120 games and although the loop drew 5 million fans for the first time in the 21st Century, the decision was made among owners last month to cut back to 102 games, the fewest since the reorganized Mexican League joined the National Association (Minor League Baseball's predecessor) in 1955 with a Class AA designation.

The 2020 schedule will open Monday, April 6 when the newly-crowned champion Monclova Acereros host the rival Monterrey Sultanes at Estadio Monclova, the "Biggest Oven in Mexico" (as per the LMB's own website).  Even though the schedule has been shortened, the format has each team hosting and visiting every Liga opponents so home fans will be able to watch all 15 other LMB teams in their own ballparks next season.

The two-half system will be back for a second year in a row, with the First Half closing on June 4, followed by All-Star Weekend between June 5-7 in Monclova.  The Second Half opens on June 9 and ends August 6.  As in past seasons, if three games or fewer separate the fourth and fifth place teams in either division, a wildcard game will be held August 7 at the fourth-place team's ballpark.  The full playoffs (all best-4-of-7 series) will begin Tuesday, August 11 with the Division Semifinals.  Division Championship Series will open Saturday, August 22 while the Serie del Rey for the LMB title opens Tuesday, September 1, with a Game Seven (if needed) slated for Wednesday, September 9.

Tabasco Olmecas game in Villahermosa

The point system for playoff seeding will now reflect the one used in the Mexican Pacific League per half:  First place in each division gets 8 points, second place gets 7 points while third place gets 6 points.  Fourth place gets 5.5 points, fifth place gets 5.0 points, sixth place gets 4.5 points, seventh place gets 4.0 and eighth place gets 4.5 points.

Puro Beisbol editor Fernando Ballesteros notes that the elimination of almost one month from the Mexican League season is in response to "great economic losses" after what he said was "another of the bad decisions taken in the Javier Salinas era by the council of owners."  The new 2020 calendar will be approved at December's Baseball Winter Meetings in San Diego.  Ballesteros, who says the LMB wants to cut its schedule back further to 80 games in 2021 (which would make it difficult for the Liga to remain at Class AAA in the MiLB structure), all 16 franchises will vote for a new president to replace Salinas.  According to Ballesteros, Salinas was installed by just three clubs, "and today they are sorry as a league in general."

DIABLOS TO OPEN NEW BALLPARK VS. PADRES

Mexico City's Estadio Alfredo Harp Helu

After a number of unexpected delays, the Mexico City Diablos Rojos are finally going to be able to inaugurate their brand new ballpark this coming weekend when they take on a team of San Diego Padres prospect at Estadio Alfredo Harp Helu in a two-game exhibition series.  Both contests have already been been sold out for several days.

The new facility, which was funded entirely by Diablos team owner Alfredo Harp Helu, cost in the neighborhood of three billion pesos (or about US$161 million) and will have a capacity of 20,233, making it the second-largest ballpark in Mexico behind only Estadio Monterrey, which now seats 22,061 following its 2018 renovation.  The original capacity of Estadio Alfredo Harp Helu was going to be closer to 13,000 permanent seats with a grass berm above the outfield providing room for a few thousand more spectators.  However, it was subsequently determined that permanent seating would occupy all available areas within the ballpark, with the only grass located in the bullpens beyond the left and right field fences.

The Diablos have spent the past four summers playing home games at 5,000-seat Estadio Fray Nano after leaving Foro Sol following the 2014 season.  Foro Sol had replaced Social Security Park, a 25,000-seater that opened in 1955, in 2000 and served the Diablos for 15 years.  While it was certainly large enough (25,000 capacity), Foro Sol was designed as a concert venue and never a good fit for watching baseball, although the playing surface was considered good.  The return of Grand Prix auto racing to Mexico City meant a remodeling of the facility that would not work for baseball. 

This meant a move to Estadio Fray Nano, which is more baseball-friendly but was the smallest ballpark in the Mexican League.  Fray Nano was expected to only be used for one or two seasons while the new ballpark (originally announced in 2010) was constructed but natural disasters and soil issues combined with the usual delays for such a project to require the Red Devils to remain at Fray Nano for four years.

The future is finally now for baseball in the nation's capital, however, and president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador will be on hand for Saturday's opener.  Managed by former star outfielder Victor Bojorquez, the Diablos have moved to the LMB South for 2019 and are expected to contend with the Yucatan Leones for divisional supremacy with such veterans as Japhet Amador, Ivan Terrazas, Carlos Figueroa, Cyle Hankerd, Luis Mendoza and Octavio Acosta dotting the roster.  Hopes are that the Padres and manager Andy Green will bring some of their best Mexican minor leaguers, including infielders Luis Urias and Esteban Quiroz and outfielder Tirso Ornelas, to Mexico City.  Quiroz spent an injury-shortened 2018 in the Boston Red Sox system before being traded to San Diego for pitcher Colten Brewer in the offseason.


WBSC'S TOP UMP WORKS WITH LMB ARBITERS AT ACADEMY

WBSC chief umpire Gustavo Rodriguez

The World Baseball Softball Confederation has signed a working agreement with the Mexican League in which both organizations will exchange umpires in an attempt to bring more Mexican arbiters into the fold for future WBSC tournaments and other competitions.  As part of the arrangement, the WBSC's Director of Umpires, Gustavo Rodriguez, was recently a visitor at the LMB's High Performance Academy near Monterrey, where he observed Liga umpires in training while consulting with his LMB counterpart, Luis Alberto Ramirez.

"I'm here partly as an observer," Rodriguez said, "and talking to the umpires about some rules like obstruction and balks."  From what he'd seen, Rodriguez said he was satisfied with what he saw from the 52 umpires who'll be working in both the LMB and its Class AA Academy League this summer.  "Mexican umpires are among the best performers in Latin America," he observed.  "I've found some here that I already know but in general, they all do a good job." 

With joint work between the WBSC and LMB, Rodriguez said, he plans for more and more Mexican umpires to participate in international tournaments.  One of those umpires he watched at the Academy, veteran Jair Fernandez, was in Osaka earlier this month as one of the crew for the WBSC-sanctioned Samurai Series between national teams from Japan and Mexico.

Along with the training and rules analyses with Rodriguez, the Mexican umpires also worked with a multidisciplinary team including nutritionist Adriana Aguila, psychologist Gabriela Rodriguez, physical trainer Josue Galvan and sports doctor Angel Lugo.  No word on whether an opthamologist was also on hand, as some fans might suggest.


PUERTO PENASCO OUT, LIGA NORTE DOWN TO FIVE TEAMS IN 2019

Some Puerto Penasco players in dugout

The Class AA North Mexico League has already had a tough offseason, with the withdrawal from their formal league-wide affiliation agreement by the AAA Mexican League offsetting the addition of the new La Paz Delfines.  La Paz became the first Baja California Sur franchise in LNM history when the loop expanded to the city after the Tecate Indios requested and received a year off to regroup financially, creating a need for a new sixth team for scheduling purposes. After all that, the Liga Norte is back down to five clubs after the Puerto Penasco Tiburones bowed out for the 2019 season in late February, also due to financial reasons.  As with Tecate, Puerto Penasco owners have have stated a desire to return in 2020.

The Tiburones entered the Liga Norte in 2015 and had yet to win their first LMN pennant, but baseball is no stranger to Puerto Penasco, a resort city of 62,000 on the Gulf of California in northeastern Sonora 62 miles south of the Arizona border featuring the closest beaches to Phoenix, Tucson and Yuma.  Prior to joining the Liga Norte, the Tiburones won four titles in the old Northern Sonora League (1974, 1978, 1979 and 2013), but the sport dates to at least 1960 locally.  The Sharks turned in a winning record last year by going 50-45 over two halves but missed the fourth and final playoff berth by one point.  Even worse, turnout for home games was sparse at Estadio Francisco Leon Garcia, an 1,850-seat facility remodeled in 2017 for 35 million pesos and one of Mexico's relatively few ballparks sporting artificial turf.  The low turnout and uncertain LMB affiliation situation ultimately proved too much for Tiburones ownership to handle.

The result of the Puerto Penasco's pullout has been a scramble to create a schedule for a five-team league in which one team will always be taking a night off.  The Liga Norte has yet to release its full docket of regular season games for 2019 but it has announced where and when home openers for each of the remaining teams will take place.  The LNM season will open Tuesday, April 11 in Ensenada when the defending champion Marineros host Caborca.  One night later, La Paz will make its pro baseball debut when the Delfines welcome San Luis to Estadio Arturo C. Nahl and April 13 will see the Caborca Rojos at home in Estadio Heroes de Caborca against Ensenada.  After that, La Paz will be in San Luis Rio Colorado's Estadio Andres Mena Montijo to face the Algodoneros on April 16 while the final home opener is played April 19 in San Quintin, where the Freseros take on Caborca in Estadio Dr. Miguel Valdez.

BBM Summer Awards: Most Valuable Player

Mexico City shortstop Ramon Urias

I've mentioned a couple times that I was facing some mighty tough choices in picking the Summer Bammys this year, but none was harder than Most Valuable Player.  There were several standout performances this season in the Mexican League, only some of which BBM has already highlighted this week, but the MVP award (to me) boiled down to three players:  Tijuana centerfielder Corey Brown, Aguascalientes first baseman Jesus "Jesse" Castillo and Mexico City shortstop Ramon Urias.  Of all the Bammys I've considered since 2010, I agonized over this one more than any of the others and even broke down offensive and defensive stats for each player AND their respective teams to try determine who contributed the most to their club's success, and it's taken me until literally minutes before I started typing this piece to decide.

There are such good arguments for all three men.  Tijuana, of course, is this year's LMB champion and Brown was perhaps the main cog in the Toros machine.  He batted .291, his 24 homers were second in Liga to Saltillo's Rainel Rosario's 26 and finished fifth with 85 RBIs.  In addition, Brown was very effective on the basepaths, stealing 19 bases in 21 attempts to just miss being the sole member of the loop's 20/20 Club in 2017.  Defensively, he was an adequate centerfielder, hauling in 214 fly balls and throwing out four baserunners for a .982 fielding percentage with a 2.10 range factor.  Brown also played in this year's LMB All-Star Game at Campeche.  While it was his first such contest in the LMB, Brown previously played four midseason classics in the International, Texas and Midwest Leagues.  Despite his relatively-low batting average, he was my pick until Wednesday night, when I began considering Jesse Castillo.

Aguascalientes was the surprise team in the Liga's regular season this summer, winning 64 of 110 games to pull away from Union Laguna and Mexico City for fourth place in the LMB North, then provided perhaps the strongest opposition Tijuana faced in the playoffs before falling in six games in the division semis.  Rieleros manager Homar Rojas had to contend with a budget-limited roster along with the vagaries any skipper will encounter over a season, but the one constant was Castillo.  The veteran first sacker hit a rock-solid .342 with 20 homers and 82 RBIs while matching Brown with 79 runs to finish in the top ten in all four categories along with on-base percentage (.435), slugging percentage (.548) and OPS (.548).  Castillo also acquitted himself well at first with a .994 fielding percentage over 773 chances, including 712 putouts, 56 assists and a 9.72 range factor.  He played in his seventh All-Star Game this summer and was named its Most Valuable Player.  While Jose Vargas combined with Castillo to form a lethal 1-2 punch, the latter was clearly the most important player in Aguascalientes' unexpected success.  A legit MVP candidate, for sure.  But then on Thursday afternoon, I turned my attention to Ramon Urias.

The Diablos' wunderkind shortstop (he turned 23 in June) was able to carry his team to a 57-54 record and coming within four games of forcing a postseason play-in game against Aguascalientes despite a pitching staff with a 5.06 ERA while injuries and Father Time took their toll on Red Devils' position players.  Despite just missing the batting derby's top ten list (he was 12th at .340), Urias met that standard in several other offensive categories, leading the LMB with 91 runs scored along with 132 hits (tied for 10th), 29 doubles (tied for 7th), 19 homers (tied for 6th), 79 RBIs (8th), 224 total bases (tied for 4th), a .433 on-base percentage (5th), a .577 slugging percentage (4th) and 1.011 OPS (2nd).  He played most of his defensive time (65 games) at short but also spent 45 contests at second base, with a combined .967 fielding average in 530 total chances, contributing 203 putouts, 309 assists and taking part in 79 double plays (two fewer than Castillo) for a combined range factor of 4.65 over the two positions.  Although the Escarlatas missed the playoffs a second year in a row (after reaching the postseason every year between 1984 and 2015), those are numbers impossible to ignore.

As you can see, there's not a lot to create much separation among those three players, so I started comparing their individual stats with their team's overall stats and while I'll spare you that breakdown, it appeared rather clearly to me that Urias meant more to the Diablos Rojos than Brown did to the Toros and even Castillo did to the Rieleros.  While Brown and Castillo had stats similar or even below their respective team's, Urias' were better (some significantly) than his teammates accrued while working behind a pitching staff demonstrably inferior to Tijuana's and Aguascalientes'.  Adding in the fact that he was only 22 when his breakout season opened (Brown is 31 while Castillo is 34) and that being on a non-contending team didn't hurt another shortstop named Ernie Banks win TWO consecutive National League MVPs in the late 1950's, I've finally determined Urias is my top LMB player for 2017.

For being such a tender age, Urias (whose 20-year-old brother Luis is the premier shortstop prospect in the Padres system) has completed his seventh year as a pro.  Ramon spent two years in the Dominican Summer League after signing with Texas as a 16-year-old free agent in November 2010 (batting .213 in 2011 and .268 in 2012) before landing with Mexico City in 2013.  After batting an even .300 in 12 sporadic appearances that year, Urias took over the Diablos' shortstop job in 2014 and hit .262 in the regular season before raking pitchers for a .393 average with a homer over nine games as the Diablos had the Liga's best regular-season record and swept their way through the playoffs for their 16th LMB pennant.  He hit .351 with 10 homers in 2015 and was at .301 in 2016 before a June 22 injury in a game against Carmen ended his season early.

As major league scouts have also likely noticed, Urias appears to have recovered nicely.

BBM MOST VALUABLE PLAYER WINNERS
Summer 2010    Willis Otanez, Puebla
Winter 2010-11   Justin Christian, Los Mochis
Summer 2011     Luis Terrero, Mexico City
Winter 2015-16   Christian Villanueva, Obregon
Summer 2016     Cesar Tapia, Puebla
Winter 2016-17   Hector Velazquez, Navojoa
Summer 2017     Ramon Urias, Mexico City

Juarez homers, but Mexico drops 7-3 exhibition to Padres

The Mexican National Team played the first of two exhibition games against Major League Baseball teams Tuesday, losing 7-3 to San Diego in front of 2,371 fans in Peoria, Arizona.  Luis Juarez homered and doubled while Japhet Amador and Luis Urias each had two singles for Mexico, but the Padres built a 5-0 lead after four innings and were never seriously threatened.

San Diego took an early 2-0 lead when Wil Myers doubled off Luis Mendoza to bring in Erick Aybar for one run and Hunter Renfroe's sacrifice fly sent Cory Spangenberg in from third for another.  The Padres added two more scores in the bottom of the third on Carlos Asuaje's RBI sac fly and a Jabari Blash double that drove in Myers, and Spangenberg's run-scoring two-bagger one frame later gave San Diego a five-run advantage.

 Juarez put the Verdes Grande on the board in the top of the sixth by sending a Craig Stamman slider over the left field fence, but it was too little too late.  The Padres padded their lead with two more runs when Hector Sanchez homered off Giovanny Gallegos in the sixth and Franchy Cordero double Jose Pirela in in the eighth frame.  Brandon Laird launched a two-run homer in the top of the ninth (scoring Juarez) off Kyle McGrath to narrow San Diego's lead to 7-3.  Mexico was then able to load the bases against McGrath, who was pulled for Christian Bethancourt with two out and Chris Roberson stepping up to the plate to represent the tying run. Bethancourt ended the game and earned the save by inducing Roberson to pop a 1-0 pitch to first baseman Dusty Coleman for the final out.

Walker Lockett started for the Padres and pitched two scoreless innings for the win while Mendoza took the loss after giving up four runs on five hits in two-plus innings.  Mexico will play the Arizona Diamondbacks Wednesday in Scottsdale before opening the 2017 World Baseball Classic Thursday in Guadalajara against Italy.

Gallardo named WBC opener starter; will Adrian play?

With the 2017 World Baseball Classic less than two weeks away, Mexican National Team manager Edgar Gonzalez has announced his five-man starting rotation for the tournament, which will see the Verdes Grande open their Pool D schedule in Guadalajara with a March 9 game against Italy at Estadio Charros.

Gonzalez has named Yovani Gallardo, Miguel Angel Gonzalez, Jaime Garcia, Luis Mendoza and Jorge De La Rosa as his pitching starters.  All have significant major league experience.  Gallardo, Gonzalez and Garcia are currently on 40-man MLB team rosters, De La Rosa recently signed a minor league deal with the Diamondbacks and Mendoza is prepping for his fourth season with the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters of Japan's Pacific League.  The Fighters are training in Arizona this month.

The 30-year-old Gallardo is the expected starter for Mexico's opener against Italy.  A 2010 All-Star while pitching for Milwaukee, Gallardo was traded by Baltimore to Mariners GM Jerry Dipoto's merry-go-round in Seattle after going 6-8 with a 5.43 ERA for the Orioles in 2016.  After ten MLB seasons, the 6'2" Gallardo has a career 108-83 record, including 72 wins for the Brewers between 2009 and 2013.  Although he's not likely to pick up a bat in the WBC, the 2004 second-round draft pick for Milwaukee wouldn't be out of place doing so.  He's come up to the plate 476 times in his big league career and while his .200 average won't turn any heads, the right-hander's 12 homers and 42 RBIs have shown he was anything but an automatic out for opposing moundsmen.

He'll face an Italian team that is not a pre-WBC favorite to advance beyond Pool play but could surprise observers in Jalisco next month.  While manager Marco Mazzieri will not have the services of Chicago Cubs All-Star first baseman Anthony Rizzo for the tournament after the latter opted to play preseason games in Arizona instead of the WBC (he hit .235 in the 2013 tourney), Italy's roster includes Cubs minor league outfielder John Andreoli as well as Pirates catcher Francisco Cervelli, Royals receiver Drew Butera, Mariners switch-pitcher Pat Venditte and Indians first baseman Chris Colabello.

While Gonzalez has his starting rotation set and a strong bullpen featuring the likes of Roberto Osuna, Yoakim Soria and Oliver Perez, the former Padres infielder continues to plug holes among his position players.  After A's outfielder Khris Davis backed out of playing for Mexico earlier this week, Gonzalez' latest alteration came after infielder Daniel Castro pulled out of the WBC because he wants to concentrate on making the Colorado Rockies roster.  Castro signed with the Denver club as a free agent over the winter after the 24-year-old Guaymas native hit .217 over 80 games with Atlanta in 2015 and 2016 after callups from AAA Gwinnett.

Castro will be replaced on Mexico's roster by 19-year-old infielder Luis Urias, a Padres minor leaguer.  Although the slight (5'9" and 160 pounds) Urias is a longshot to reach San Diego this year, the big club has high hopes for him after he was named Rookie of the Year in the Class A California League last summer after batting .330 to lead the league, adding 26 doubles and 71 runs scored for Lake Elsinore. He's primarily been a second baseman in three minor league seasons, but is expected to see a lot of time at shortstop in training camp.  Urias is said to likely be heading to Class AA San Antonio of the Texas League.

Gonzales did receive some needed good news this week when younger brother Adrian's tennis elbow, which has limited him in the Dodgers' camp thus far, has improved enough the the All-Star first baseman is more likely to be in the Mexican lineup at the WBC.  "El Titan's" participation in the Classic as a player was in doubt after the Los Angeles organization told him to lay off swinging a bat for two weeks, but the longtime linchpin of the Verdes Grande lineup is said to be more likely to be in Guadalajara in two weeks.  With bats in tow.

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On an unrelated note, one infielder who definitely would've been a boon to Mexico's WBC fortunes in his prime was Aurelio Rodriguez, the late former MLB infielder regarded by many as the best third baseman in his country's history.  A member of Mexican baseball's Salon de la Fama since 1995, Rodriguez spent all or part of 17 big league seasons as one of the top glove men in the game with a throwing arm that Tigers broadcaster Paul Carey called a "howitzer."  Rodriguez died at age 52 when he was struck by a car while walking a sidewalk during a visit to Detroit for a card show in 2000. Weird fact:  Of the three major league players who've had the first name of Aurelio (Rodriguez, Lopez and Monteagudo), all three played for the Tigers and all three were killed in car accidents.

Aurelio Rodriguez' body was brought to Los Mochis, where he had played winterball for the Caneros, and thousands attended his funeral, including Mexican president Ernesto Zedillo.  His remains were interred at Estadio Emilio Ibarra Almada, where his cross still stands atop the ballpark.  Rodriguez' loss was also felt in Detroit, where he'd been an extremely popular player, often venturing into the inner city to conduct clinics.  Fred Feliciano, a one-time community relations manager for the Tigers, has been quoted as saying, "He was really the first prominent Hispanic figure in the Detroit community."

Fast forward to 2017.  In his "En la Pelota" column for Puro Beisbol, columnist Juan Vene says that Rodriguez' tomb now lies in ruins.  According to Vene, politician Mario Lopez was behind the effort to place the Cananea product's remains behind the fence in the ballpark's right field corner.  Lopez then neglected it thereafter (not even visiting the site) and no maintenance has ever been performed on it.

It's easy to say this as I write from a location much closer to Canada than Mexico, but Aurelio Rodriguez deserves better.  Heroes should never be forgotten, especially where thousands once cheered their exploits.