OLYMPIC TEAM CHOSEN; UNPICKED CLARK STEAMED

    Players for Mexico's first-ever Olympic baseball team have been selected, with 24 athletes slated to make the trip to Tokyo later this month along with manager Benji Gil and his coaching staff. Twelve are pitchers on the roster along with two catchers, six infielders and four outfielders.

    The two most internationally-experienced members of the team are first baseman Adrian Gonzalez and relief pitcher Oliver Perez. The former major leaguers are the only two players to have represented Mexico in the first four editions of the World Baseball Classic. Both are currently in their first seasons playing in the Mexican League, with Gonzalez playing for Gil in Guadalajara and Perez coming out of the bullpen for Omar Vizquel in Tijuana.

    In all, the Mexican roster includes eight players of dual nationality while eleven belong to the Mexican Pacific League's Culiacan Tomateros, who've won two consecutive winterball pennants under Gil's management. That latter point has raised a few eyebrows among the country's baseball cognoscenti, many of whom have said that there were better choice available. That skepticism has extended into the playing ranks, with one ballplayer in particular being very vocal over being passed over by selectors from the Mexican Baseball Federation (FEMEBE).

    Leon Bravos first baseman Matt Clark represented the United States in the 2011 Baseball World Cup but homered for Mexico against the USA in the 2019 Premier12 tournament's third-place game to help the Verdes Grande win the contest, punching their ticket to Tokyo in the process. Clark was expecting to be rewarded for his contributions during the Qualifier and was outraged after Gonzalez and Efren Navarro, who has played the past two winters for Gil in Culiacan, were selected to play first instead. Taking to Twitter, Clark said, “What a joke. Without my homerun Mexico is not even in the Olympics. I wish the players the best but what an absolute sham by the LMB and the people that make the team.”

Leon Bravos 1B Matt Clark

    Clark hit .316 with 27 homers and 87 RBIs for Leon in 2019 but was traded to Monterrey in February as part of a five-player swap that netted the Bravos outfielders Felix Perex and Chris Roberson. Since returning to the Bravos from Monterrey on June 15 (when the Sultanes traded for outfielder Carlos Alvarez), the 34-year-old Clark has hit .337 for Leon with seven homers and 19 RBIs over 21 games. Gonzalez, 39, is sixth in the LMB with a .375 average to go with five homers and 38 RBIs (tied for third) in 35 games after not playing since 2018. Navarro, 35, was batting .339 with no homers and 16 ribbies for Tijuana after 37 games. Outfielders Joey Meneses and Sebastian Elizalde can also play first if needed.

    One of the players chosen to make the trip to Japan was unsurprisingly sanguine about the Olympics. Former Yankees infielder Ramiro Pena, who has also played in Japan and is currently toiling for Monterrey. Pena told Thomas Lopez of Septima Entrada that he thinks Mexico stands a good chance of earning a medal. “I think the team is going to be very good,” Pena said. “It is very well formed. I think that with the names that are there, we can do a very good job...I think there will be very good results.” Pena, who turns 36 on July 18 and has played in Culiacan the past 13 winters, also expressed confidence in manager Gil: “Obviously I know Benjamin and I know how he is. I think he's a very good manager and I think he'll help us focus on bringing in the gold."

    The Olympic baseball squad will begin gathering in Mexico City on Saturday, with a July 21 evening departure to Tokyo. The Mexican League office has announced that the nine LMB teams with a total of 16 players going to Japan will be allowed to bring in players of any nationality to replace them on their rosters while the Summer Games are going on. The other eight players representing Mexico have been playing in Japan, Taiwan and MLB-affiliated minor leagues. One of them, former Red Sox second-round draft pick Teddy Stankiewicz, earlier pitched in Taiwan for the Uni-President Lions this season (a 1.07 ERA over 50.1 innings) before being given his release July 1 so he could play in the Olympics. Stankiewicz signed with Tijuana one day later but has yet to pitch for the Toros.

    Mexico's first Olympic baseball game is scheduled for July 30, when they take on the Dominican Republic. Their second game will be one day later against host Japan, whose hoe-field advantage will not include a partisan crowd in the stands. It was announced last week that after a recent upsurge in Wuhan virus cases in the island nation, no spectators will be admitted to any Olympic event. Initially, limited audiences were to have been permitted, but with no cheering allowed from the seats.

STREAKING MARIACHIS CREATE BREATHING ROOM ATOP LMB NORTH

Guadalajara P Masaru Nakamura

    A week before he leads the Mexican Olympic baseball team to Tokyo for the Summer Games, manager Benji Gil and the Guadalajara Mariachis reeled off a seven-game winning streak to open a 3.5-game lead over Tijuana in the Mexican League's Northern Division standings. The first-year franchise posted a weekend road sweep in Mexico City and and won two games each against Puebla and the Toros to build their record up to an LMB-best 30-9 before dropping a 6-4 decision Sunday in the border city.

    The Guadalajara offense has been firing on all cylinders the entire season, leading the Liga with a .339 team batting average while scoring 7.77 runs per game. Infielder Niko Vasquez second behind Durango's Tito Polo with a .425 mark. The Mexican League isn't seeing the inflated averages this year that marked the 2019 campaign after switching back to a Rawlings baseball instead of the livelier Franklin ball used that season. Only three teams are averaging above .300 in 2021 compared with ten in 2019 (Yucatan averaged .299 while three more teams were .294 or better).

    Despite losing Sunday, Guadalajara's 30-10 mark leads Tijuana (29-16), defending champion Monclova (28-16) and Saltillo (26-18) in the LMB North standings while Union Laguna (19-22) and Aguascalientes (17-20) are in a virtual tie for fifth place. Despite being swept at home by the Mariachis early in the month, Mexico City (26-15) is ahead of Yucatan (23-19), Veracruz (23-21) and Puebla (21-21) in the LMB South, although the Pericos have stumbled to one win over their past ten games after starting July with a 20-12 record. Tabasco and Quintana Roo have identical 21-23 records to tie for fifth in the division.

 

Durango Generales CF Tito Polo

   Colombian centerfielder Polo of Durango took over the lead in the Mexican League batting race after going 3-for-5 with a double and his fifth homer of the season during Friday's 7-3 Generales win at Dos Laredos and finished the weekend at .426, one ahead of Vasquez. Henry Urrutia of Saltillo is third with a .414 average. Leon's Xavier Batista continues to lead the circuit with 14 homers, one more than the 13 of Rainel Rosario, a former teammate of Batista's on Japan's Hiroshima Carp. Three players have 12 dingers each and Urrutia is one of four players tied for sixth with 11 roundtrippers and is closing the gap on the LMB's RBI leader Leandro Castro of Tijuana, whose 50 ribbies are just three ahead of Urrutia's 47. Toros second sacker Isaac Rodriguez, who'll be playing in the Olympics later this month, now has 17 stolen bases. Alonzo Harris of Oaxaca trails Rodriguez with 15 swipes.

    Ageless wonder Bartolo Colon of Monclova and longtime NPB hurler Masaru Nakamura of Guadalajara both won games last week, while Aguascalientes reliever Anthony Vizcaya somehow won two despite a 6.64 ERA to tie for the lead among Mexican League pitchers with six win apiece. Nakamura's ERA is a solid (for this league) 3.10 while Colon is right behind at 3.14 as both rank among the top ten in that category behind Veracruz' Dylan Unsworth's 2.57. Unsworth has walked just four batters in 42 innings and tops the loop with an 0.98 WHIP. Puebla's Jose Valdez has overtaken Mexico City's Hector Hernandez for the Liga leadership in strikeouts, 52 to 50. Tijuana's former MLB All-Star Fernando Rodney heads the list with 13 saves, one more than closers Carlos Bustamante of Monclova and Union Laguna's Jenrry Mejia.

    Looking ahead, Mexico City will host defending champion Monclova from Tuesday through Thursday in an important matchup of two divisional contenders. Tijuana will play in Guadalajara for trio of games next weekend with the Toros minus infielders Efren Navarro and Isaac Rodriguez along with reliever Oliver Perez, who'll be heading to Tokyo for the Olympics along with first baseman Gonzalez and skipper Gil from the Mariachis.

PURO BEISBOL: CHARROS FOR SALE, PERICOS OWNER A BUYER?

Quirarte (L), Navarro (R) in happier times

    The ongoing battle between Jalisco Charros co-owners Armando Navarro and Salvador Quirarte has been well-chronicled in Baseball Mexico. The conflict between the two men, which led Quirarte being stripped of his duties as the Guadalajara team's president last winter, has gotten personal and nasty while seemingly destined to end up in a courtroom. And now there's another apparent twist in the saga: The Mexican Pacific League team may be up for sale to an outside owner.

    Puro Beisbol editor Fernando Ballesteros has been one of Mexican baseball's best-connected columnists since starting the social media outlet in 2004. The Culiacan-based scribe reported in his Zona de Contaco column last week that Navarro and Quirarte may both be willing to sell their respective shares in the Charros.

    Jalisco has become one of the MexPac's flagship clubs since the two men bought the Guasave Algodoneros following the 2013-14 season and moved the team to Guadalajara's retrofitted Estadio Panamerica, which had housed both baseball and track & field events during the 2011 Pan American Games. The 16,000-seat ballpark, now named Estadio Charros, is located in the Guadalajara suburb of Zapopan and has hosted games in the 2017 World Baseball Classic as well as the 2018 Caribbean Series.

    While the Charros have become one of the LMP's bright lights on the field and at the gate, the front office has degenerated into a proverbial dog's breakfast. Relations between Navarro and Quirarte have deteriorated over the past seven years, culminating in Quirarte being forced out of the team's day-to-day operations last year after allegations of financial irregularities surfaced. The two have held competing press conferences hurling accusations at each other since then, and the split appears as permanent as it does severe.

    Complicating matters is that there are two companies involved and potentially working at cross purposes. According to a Google translation of a January story in Milenio, “Quirarte explained that the Holding Deportiva de Jalisco, SA de CV company is the one that has shares in a series of operating companies, among which is Juegos y Espectáculos Beisbol Charros, SA de CV which operates the cash flow and has the concession of the stadium; Holding Deportiva is where the share percentages of the different team members are derived.

    “According to Quirarte, Juegos y Espectáculos is 99 percent owned by Holding Deportiva (in which Quirarte has 41.5 percent shares) while the other 1 percent belongs to Armando Navarro, who is the sole general administrator of Juegos y Espactaculos.” Quirarte was quoted later in the story that “All I want is to reach a fair agreement for the good of the team, the fans and the league.”

Puebla Pericos owner Pepe Miguel

    That “fair agreement” may be the sale of the Charros, something Quirarte says he's willing to do. Ballesteros writes that two sources from within the State of Jalisco government are saying that businessman Jose “Pepe” Miguel (aka The King of Beans) was interested in possibly purchasing the Charros, something that the owner of the Mexican League's Puebla Pericos denied in a letter to Puro Beisbol.

    Miguel bought the Pericos franchise in 2019 after it was one of four LMB franchises brought back from contraction on orders from newly-elected Mexican president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. While the other three revived franchises (Aguascalientes, Laguna and Leon) have all resumed bleeding red ink, Miguel's Pericos drew well at the gate in 2019 and their resuscitation has been a success thus far, with Miguel's proactive approach in reaching out to fans in the colonial city deserving much of the credit.

    The open conflict between the two men whose success in Guadalajara has been recognized by the international baseball community appears to be thankfully coming to an end. No matter how things play out, however, both Armando Navarro and Salvador Quirarte deserve much credit for bringing a tailender winterball franchise to a city that had never previously embraced baseball and making sure the team not only survives, but thrives.

MEXICO TOPS USA 3-2 IN 10 TO QUALIFY FOR OLYMPICS

Mexico's Efren Navarro and Matt Clark

Matt Clark's ninth-inning solo home run put the game into extra innings, but it was Efren Navarro's single in the bottom of the tenth that gave the Mexican National Team a hard-fought 3-2 win over the United States in Saturday's Premier12 Bronze Medal game at the Tokyo Dome.  More important, the Verdes Grande's second win over the USA in the tournament meant that Mexico will make their Olympic baseball debut next summer in Tokyo.

The Americans sprinted to a quick 1-0 lead when Angels prospect Jo Adell socked an opposite-field solo homer off Mexican starter Arturo Reyes in the top of the first, but Reyes settled down to toss two-hit shutout ball before giving way to reliever Brennan Bernardino with one out in the sixth frame with the score still at 1-0.  Mexico tied the contest up in the bottom of the sixth when Clark drilled a sharp bases-loaded single to right off reliever Daniel Tillo to plate Jonathan Jones from third base.  Tillo had replaced Cody Ponce, a Pirates farmhand who whitewashed the Mexicans on three hits with six strikeouts over the first five entradas.

The USA regained the lead in the top of the seventh when Andrew Vaughn led off with a single, moved to second on Eric Kratz' sacrifice hit and scored when Bobby Dalbec singled up the middle off Jesus Rios to make it a 2-1 contest, a score that held up until Clark belted a leadoff four-bagger deep to center off American closer Brandon Dickson to tie things up at 2-2.  Dickson got out of the inning without further damage and manager Scott Brosius decided to keep the former St. Louis pitcher (who's spent the past seven years with NPB's Orix Buffaloes) on the mound for the tenth after the USA failed to score on Mexican closer Carlos Bustamante in the top of that inning.

Using WBSC tiebreaker rules, Noah Perio was placed on second base and Jorge Flores on first to start the bottom of the tenth for Mexico.  Jones led off with a sacrifice bunt to Dickson on the mound, moving Perio to third and Flores to second.  Dickson then intentionally walked Esteban Quiroz to load the bases before being pulled for Caleb Thielbar to face Navarro, who blooped a broken-bat single to shallow center to bring Perio in from third for the walkoff game-winner.   Navarro, who was 0-for-4 for the game at that point, fouled off four consecutive Thielber deliveries before delivering the coup de grace for Mexico on the eighth pitch in the count.  Bustamante earned the win by hurling a scoreless tenth while Dickson was tagged with the loss.  Clark finished with a pair of hits and two RBIs for Mexico while Adell singled and doubled for the Americans while contributing defensively with a diving catch of a Navarro fly to left field in the eighth.

Verdes Grande: "We're going to Tokyo (again)!"

After sweeping all three of their Group A games in Guadalajara, Mexico won their first two Super Round contests in Japan, including a 2-0 shutout over Taiwan last Monday in Chiba as Reyes and five relievers combined on a three-hitter while Ali Solis contributed a solo homer.  The Verdes Grande followed that up with another shutout on Tuesday, this one a 3-0 blanking of Australia in Tokyo with Eduardo Vera and four relievers tossing a four-hitter while Jones and Clark went deep for the winners.  Mexico then lost for the first time in six games Wednesday, dropping a 3-1 decision to host Japan in the Tokyo Dome despite Jones' second homer in as many nights.  Then it was a second loss in a row on Thursday as manager Juan Castro's side fell, 7-3, to South Korea with Jones homering once again for Mexico, who finished third in the Super Round with a 3-2 record, including a Group A win over the USA (2-3) that counted in the second stage to set up the Bronze Medal contest.  Japan (4-1) and South Korea (3-2) squared off Saturday for the Gold Medal, with the Baseball Samurai emerging victorious by a 6-3 score.

By defeating the second-ranked Americans, Mexico (rated sixth in the world by the WBSC prior to the Premier12) qualified for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, marking the first time the Verdes Grande will play in the Games.  After Saturday's win, Navarro was humble. "You must credit all of the team for this accomplishment, " he said,  "including the pitchers and Matt Clark, who kept us in the game with his homer."  For his part, Clark said, "We're going to the Olympics.  You can't put it in words.  It's such a great achievement as a country, as players, as coaches...everyone that's involved back home, the fans.

"It's going to be an amazing experience for everybody to be able to go there and show the world what we have."


YAQUIS TAKE LMP LEAD INTO FINAL WEEK OF FIRST HALF SCHEDULE

Obregon lefty Arturo Lopez

With just six games remaining in the Mexican Pacific League's first-half schedule, the Obregon Yaquis have pulled into a two-game lead over Jalisco in a battle for first place and the eight accompanying playoff points.  The 21-11 Yaquis completed a three-game road series in Navojoa Sunday with a 4-0 shutout over the Mayos as Arturo Lopez and four relievers combined to hold the host team to three singles while number nine hitter Ricardo Valenzuela keyed a four-run seventh inning for Obregon with a two-run single.  Jesus "Cacao" Valdez contributed a pair of doubles and scored once for the winners while leadoff batter Taike Sekine, an import from Japan's Yokohama BayStars, chipped in with two singles, one of them scoring a run.

The Yaquis have been led offensively by outfielder Jose Aguilar, who leads the team with a .358 average and 25 runs scored.  Aguilar has had his share of misadventures on the basepaths thus far this season, however, and has been caught stealing seven times in eleven attempts.  Obregon's power has been supplied by the triumvirate of Valdez, Paulo Orlando and Art Charles, who have six homers each and a combined 68 RBIs through 31 games.  Orlando is second to Aguilar on the Yaquis with a .326 average.  Charles has otherwise struggled to a .216 mark but his 19 hits have produced six homers and 21 ribbies.  Sekine, a 24-year-old outfielder who bats left, has hit .282 since joining the Yaquis after the season started, but his most valuable asset may be his speed.  On a team where no other player has more than four stolen bases, Sekine has 10 swipes in 11 attempts over 23 games.  To put that into perspective, the rest of the Yaquis are a combined 10-for-27 in steals, which makes the 5'6" Sekine even more valuable to manager Sergio Gastelum.

Yaquis outfielder Taiki Sekine

The aforementioned Lopez has been the most consistent pitcher among a pretty good mound staff.  His win Sunday brought his record to 3-1, his 2.04 ERA ranks third in the MexPac behind Navojoa's Raul Carrillo and Jon van Meter of Mexicali and Lopez' 35 strikeouts leads the league.  While no other Obregon pitchers ranks in the top 20 of qualified hurlers in the ERA race, the Yaquis' team ERA of 3.42 is fifth in the circuit and their collective 242 strikeouts lead the LMP.  Former White Sox prospect Ryan Kussmaul has been the primary closer for the Yaquis and while his 2.37 ERA over 18 outings has been fairly impressive (as is his limiting opponents to a .222 batting average), he's only got a team-high five saves for the season thus far and none since November 1.  The Obregon roster generally doesn't stack up favorably compared to the likes of Culiacan or Jalisco, but Gastelum has shown over his short managerial career that he can figure out ways to win with limited resources and took an underpowered Oaxaca Mexican League team to the Fall 2018 Serie del Rey so the Yaquis shouldn't be summarily counted out either.

Los Mochis outfielder Noel Cuevas leads the MexPac in batting with a .371 average, just ahead of Navojoa veteran Christian Zazueta's .368.  Jalisco first baseman Stephen Cardullo's nine homers is tops in the LMP with four players tied at seven roundtrippers apiece, while Cardullo teammate Daniel Alvarez (one of that foursome) leads with 27 RBIs, one more than Monterrey's Felix Perez.  Rico Noel of Culiacan continues to pace base stealers with 15 SBs, while Tomateros teammate Sebastian Elizalde has 11.  Elizalde has reached double figures in steals once in his 10-year professional career.

Yoanys Quiala of Los Mochis earned a win over Guasave Friday night to run his record to 6-0 in seven starts for the Caneros and still leads the LMP in wins.  As mentioned, Obregon's Lopez leads with 35 strikeouts while Navojoa's Carrillo leads in ERA at 1.71.  Ralph Garza of Monterrey and Trey McNutt of Hermosillo are tied at the top with nine saves apiece and Monterrey's Nick Struck's nine holds head that list as well.

MEXICAN PACIFIC LEAGUE standings
Obregon 21-11, Jalisco 19-13, Hermosillo 18-13, Culiacan 17-15, Monterrey 16-16,  Los Mochis 15-17, Mazatlan 14-18, Mexicali 14-18, Guasave 14-18, Navojoa 11-20.



FERNANDO, 3 OTHERS INDUCTED INTO SALON DE LA FAMA

Rodriguez, Valenzuela, Fernandez and Saenz

Former Los Angeles Dodgers pitching star Fernando Valenzuela was one of four new members who were inducted into the Mexican baseball hall of fame last week in Monterrey.  Valenzuela was joined by Daniel Fernandez, Ricardo Saenz and Cuauhtemoc "Chito" Rodriguez at ceremonies held at the new Salon de la Fama facility, which was completed earlier this year and largely bankrolled by Mexico City Diablos Rojos and Oaxaca Guerreros owner Alfredo Harp Helu.  The foursome were elected in 2014 and become the first actual inductees since a similar ceremony was held in 2011, after which the old Salon de la Fama on a brewery site was shut down by its owners and all plaques and other treasures were placed in storage until last spring.

Valenzuela, who now owns the Quintana Roo Tigres with his wife Linda Burgos, was the Mexican League Rookie of the Year with Yucatan in 1979 as an 18-year-old before being purchased by the Dodgers.  He made his MLB debut one year later, going 2-0 in ten relief appearances in 1980.  However, it was in 1981 when "Fernandomania" gripped southern California and baseball in general as the Navojoa native went 13-7 with a 2.48 ERA and a league-leading 180 strikeouts, winning the Cy Young Award and Rookie of the Year while making the first of six All-Star game appearances as the Dodgers won the World Series that Fall, all at the ripe age of 20.  Valenzuela went on to a 17-year MLB career and finished with a lifetime 173-153 record and a 3.54 record.  While he likely won't end up elected to the other Hall of Fame in upstate New York, "El Toro" was easily the most popular Mexican player in the big leagues and is still beloved by fans south of the border.

Fernandez is a Veracruz native who spent 26 seasons playing in the Mexican League, all but one with the Diablos Rojos, and hit .315 lifetime (including sixteen .300+ campaigns).  The 5'8" outfielder, who tipped the scales at 170 pounds, was never a slugger and hit fewer than 100 homers for his career.  However, Fernandez was a productive leadoff batter who had enough gap power to stroke 388 doubles while his 111 triples are tied for third all-time in the Liga.  He was also speedy enough to steal 479 bases (also third on the all-time list) and his 1,837 career runs are the most ever scored by an LMB player and nearly 200 more than his nearest competitor.  Fernandez also managed Mexico City to a pennant in 2008, his first year as a skipper, but has yet to duplicate that success since.

Saenz was another longtime veteran in the Mexican League, as the Coahuila product patrolled left field over 25 seasons for several teams during his playing career, primarily for Saltillo and Monclova.  Although he didn't hit for as high an average as Fernandez did (batting .296 for his career, although he did top .300 twelve times), Saenz had much more power and belted 296 career homers among his 2,453 career hits, topping 20 homers five times and once hit four longballs in a single nine-inning game.  He also drove in 1,318 runs and had enough speed to swipe 102 bases.  Saenz is the LMB's all-time leader with 496 doubles.  Saenz also spent 21 winters in the Mexican Pacific League, knocking out 102 homers in that time.

Rodriguez is a Sonora native who made his mark in Mexican baseball off the field, spending over four decades in the front office as a general manager with LMB teams, primarily the Tecolotes and Tigres.  He was in Nuevo Laredo from 1975 through 1994 before joining the then-Mexico City Tigres in 1995 and remaining with them through franchise shifts to Puebla and Cancun until his retirement in 2017, shortly after Carlos Peralta sold the Tigres to the Valenzuelas.  Between the two organizations, Rodriguez oversaw nine Mexican League pennant-winning teams.  He was also part of a player selection committee for Mexico in three World Baseball Classics (2006, 2009 and 2013) and represented the LMB for several years with Minor League Baseball, who named him "King of Baseball" in 2011.

New Salon de la Fama in Monterrey

Salon de la Fama director Francisco Padilla welcomed guests to last week's ceremony before turning things over to new Electoral Committee president Antonio de Valdes.  Also taking part were Harp and Nuevo Leon governor Jaime Rodriguez as the four Salon newcomers brought the total number of enshrinees to an even 200.  Mexican League co-founder Alejandro "Fray Nano" Aguilar, a sports writer by trade, introduced the Salon de la Fama in 1939, albeit on more of a conceptual basis.  Annual inductions began in 1973 in Monterrey at a building on the Cuahutemoc Brewery grounds and continued until the brewery decided to shut down the Salon in 2012.  There was an abortive attempt to resurrect the Salon in Culiacan a few years ago but it wasn't until the billionaire Harp stepped up to cover the cost of construction that a permanent home in Monterrey was opened this year.

MEXICO BLANKS VENEZUELA IN PREMIER12 TUNEUP

The Mexican National Team opened a quick two-game series against Venezuela in Puebla with a 2-0 shutout Saturday afternoon in front of 4,514 onlookers at Estadio Hermanos Serdan.  The short set is serving as a warmup to next month's WBSC Premier12, during which Mexico will be one of four nations represented in Group A competition in Guadalajara for the first stage of the Olympic qualifying tournament.  Mexico is sixth in the WBSC's latest world baseball rankings while Venezuela is ninth.

As one might surmise from a 2-0 contest, pitching dominated Saturday's tilt, in which former Braves starter Horacio Ramirez opened for Mexico against Venezuela's Felix Doubront, who won Game Four of the 2013 World Series for Boston and spent last summer pitching for Saltillo in the Mexican League.  Both ex-MLBers went two scoreless innings before being replaced as Mexico manager Juan Castro and Venezuela skipper Carlos Subero made sure to avoid overworking any of their hurlers.  Ramirez, who went 40-34 over eight big league seasons and has pitched the last four years for Tijuana, only allowed one walk and no hits over his two innings of work.

The scoreless tie carried into the ninth inning, as it took a Jorge Flores double with one out in the top of the sixth (Venezuela was the designated home team) to record the Verdes Grande's first hit of the day.  Flores advanced to third on a Jose Vargas flyout to center, but a Javier Salazar popup and Noah Perio groundout ended the threat without any further damage.

The Venezuelans nearly broke the deadlock one inning later, but the hosts benefitted from a defensive gem via an unlikely source.  Matt Clark, who usually is pencilled in as a designated hitter and known far more for his power hitting, reached above the right field wall to nab a likely home run from Alexander Palma to earn an ovation from the crowd.

It was that kind of game until the top of the ninth, when the Mexicans rapped three doubles to end the orgy of 0's on the scoreboard.  Vargas opened the entrada with a two-bagger up the middle and then scored the first run of the game on Salazar's double down the third base line.  Efren Navarro later stroked a double to right that brought Salazar in to give Mexico a 2-0 lead.  Then it was left to Justin Kelly, who pitched in the Braves and Dodgers systems before joining eventual Mexican League champion Monclova this summer, to toss a scoreless ninth to save the victory for the Verdes Grande. Adam Quintana pitched the seventh and eighth innings for Mexico to earn the win.

Game Two of the so-called Giants of Latin America series was set for Sunday afternoon in Puebla, with Hernandez Alvarez scheduled to start for Venezuela.  Castro had not named a starter for Mexico as of Saturday.  Alvarez pitched a no-hitter for the Florida Marlins in 2013 and was picked for the National League team in the All-Star Game one year later.  As of BBM post time, results for Sunday's game were not available.

The Mexican Nationals will open the Premier12 tournament on Saturday, November 2 when they play the Dominican Republic at 7:00PM local time in Guadalajara's Estadio Jarros.  The USA will meet The Netherlands in the other Group A Saturday game at Noon.


OPPORTUNISTIC TOMATEROS IN LMP LEAD

Culiacan outfielder Sebastian Elizalde

Culiacan has won nine of their first 13 games in the 2019-20 Mexican Pacific League seasons and it's certainly been a collaborative effort to put the Tomateros in first place, primarily among their potent stable of batters.  The eleven-time Mex Pac champions are the only team in the loop batting above .300 with a .309 average and while manager Benji Gil's squad only has a combined seven homers to rank fifth in the LMP in that category, Culiacan has made up for it with speed on the basepaths (their 31 stolen bases are 19 more than anyone else) while their bullpen-by-committee has seen four relievers combine for a Mex Pac-best five saves, with former Pirates minor leaguer Ryan Kelly turning in two of them.

Six Culiacan regulars are batting above .300 thus far, led by the .396 average of one-time Cincinnati farmhand Sebastian Elizalde leading the way.  The Guaymas-born outfielder spent four years in the Reds system between 2014 and 2017, being named an organization All-Star his first campaign and playing in the Florida State League's 2015 All-Star Game, but never rose above AAA Louisville before being shipped back to Monterrey of the Mexican League early last year.  Shortstop Ramiro Pena (.347 with 8 runs), catcher Ali Solis (.324 and 8 RBIs) and second baseman Jose Guadalupe Chavez (.311 and a team-high 11 ribbies) have also been key to the Tomateros' fast start, but the real catalyst may be one of the guys hitting UNDER .300, outfielder  Rico Noel.

Tomateros speedster Rico Noel

Noel and manager Gil have had their past difference and nearly came to blows in the dugout during one game in Gil's first stint running the team, but the 2010 San Diego draft pick (who played in California and Texas League All-Star Games during his stint in the Padres system) has given the volatile Gil little reason to don the Everlasts.  Noel's .277 average is little to write home about, but he's made the most of  his opportunities when he's reached base, scoring ten runs, driving in eight, cracking a pair of homers and stealing nine bases in ten attempts.  Considering that the former Coastal Carolina speedster's career high in single-season homers is three, his two longballs for Culiacan are an unexpected bonus.

None of the Tomateros pitchers have really stood out, although Aldo Montes is 3-0 as both a middleman and starter.  A 10-year Mexican League veteran from Tijuana who pitched for Mexico in last March's Samurai Series against Japan in Kobe, Montes made three scoreless appearances for Culiacan  (winning two of them) before Gil picked him to start Saturday night at home against Navajoa. He tossed another five shutout innings, allowing just two hits and striking out seven in the Tomateros' 7-0 whitewashing of the Mayos.  Although Montes is not a "staff linchpin" type of pitcher, his early success has greatly helped a Tomateros team still hoping for the likes of slow-starters Romario Gil (2018 Mexican League Rookie of the Year), Manny Barreda (no-hitters in both leagues in 2017 and 2018) to round into shape.  Fortunately, Culiacan hasn't really needed them.  Yet.


FANS SELECT MEXICAN LEAGUE'S 2019 "DREAM TEAM"

Monclova Acereros slugger Chris Carter

The Mexican League is going through the unusual process of allowing its fans to pick the circuit's All-Star Team for the recently-concluded 2019 season.  People cast votes on the LMB's website on a daily position-by-position basis, starting with catchers on Monday, October 14 and concluding with relief pitchers last Thursday.  Each of the 16 Liga teams had one player per position on the ballot and fans around the world were allowed to vote three times a day during the eleven-day process.

According to the Septima Entrada site, here is the Mexican League "Dream Team" for 2019:

CATCHER: Bruce Maxwell, Monclova
A former Oakland catcher who was the first MLBer to take a knee during the National Anthem, Maxwell was signed by the Acereros as a free agent shortly after the season opened and went on to reach career highs by hitting .325 with 24 homers and 112 RBIs while being selected to represent the LMB North in the midseason All-Star Game.

FIRST BASE: Chris Carter, Monclova
Carter led the LMB in homers (49), RBIs (119), slugging percentage (.709) and OPS (1.158).  The hulking former National League's 2016 homer co-champ went stone cold in the postseason, batting .130 without a ribbie in the Serie del Rey against Yucatan, but the 2009 Texas League Player of the Year was a huge factor in Monclova's 75-45 regular season.

SECOND BASE: Michael Wing, Aguascalientes
A Californian who knocked around the Angels system and indy leagues for nine seasons and out of baseball for a year before signing with the Rieleros in 2017, Wing put together a great season in Aguascalientes, hitting .355 with 28 homers and 110 RBIs. Previously a utilityman, the 31-year-old All-Star played second base exclusively this year.

THIRD BASE: Emmanuel Avila, Mexico City
The only Dream Teamer to finish in the top ten in batting, Avila finished eighth with a .367 average while socking 16 homers and driving in 76 runs for the Diablos Rojos.  The 30-year-old Los Mochis product spent four summers in the White Sox system before coming to Mexico City in 2010.  He's hit .322 and been selected to four All-Star Games since.

SHORTSTOP: Amadeo Zazueta, Monterrey
Barred from playing in the LMB until 2016 because he'd signed directly with Houston twelve years earlier at age 18, Zazueta hit .326 and provided steady defense for the Sultanes (his fourth Liga team in the last three years) to earn his second All-Star Game appearance.  He then hit .308 with two homers against eventual champ Monclova in seven playoff games.

Oaxaca's MVP candidate Alonzo Harris

LEFT FIELD: Alonzo Harris, Oaxaca
An MVP favorite along with Monclova's Carter, the ex-Mets farmhand rebounded from an awful Fall 2018 season (.165 average for Quintana Roo) for a halcyon year in Oaxaca, hitting .343 with 39 homers, scoring an LMB-high 131 runs, driving in 117 and stealing 45 to narrowly miss becoming the Liga's first 40/40 man. Someone not a midseason All-Star.

CENTER FIELD: Juan Perez, Saltillo
A major reason for the Saraperos' second-half title and playoff berth, Perez quietly put together a .322 season at the plate with 23 homers and 30 steals, scoring 99 runs along the way.  A former Reds minor leaguer (where he was a 2014 organizational All-Star while playing for Class A Bakersfield), Perez also threw out 12 runners from center field.

RIGHT FIELD: Danny Ortiz, Puebla
Ortiz finished second to Monclova's Carter in homers (42), was fourth in RBIs (114) and just missed the top ten in runs scored (96), posting a solid .312 average.  The 2017 Puerto Rican League MVP, Ortiz was a midseason All-Star in both the Midwest (2011) and Eastern (2013) leagues before his LMB ASG appearance in Mexico City this July.

DESIGNATED HITTER: Japhet Amador, Mexico City
Back in the LMB after a three-year stint in Japan that ended controversially, Amador matched his 2015 batting average (.346), falling from 41 to 28 homers while his RBI totals dropped slightly from 117 to 115. Still, the 6'4" Mulege Giant, listed conservatively at 310 pounds, quickly regained his reputation as one of Mexico's most feared batsmen.

STARTING PITCHER: Cesar Valdez, Yucatan
As easy a choice as there was on this list. Valdez pitched in the Liga's 2015 All-Star Game amid four cups of MLB coffee between 2010 and 2017, but nobody predicted a 2019 campaign in which the Leones righty dominated LMB batters and went 15-2 with a 2.26 ERA in a hitter's year. Valdez struck out 122 batters and walked just 17 over 147.2 innings.

RELIEF PITCHER: Casey Coleman, Tijuana
Son of one former MLB All-Star pitcher and grandson of another, Coleman had success as the Toros closer with a 2.03 ERA.  Still, the ex-Cub's choice was puzzling at best after only 14 appearances out of the bullpen with six save for Tijuana over 13 innings.  Monterrey's Wirfin Obispo (6 wins, 30 saves, 2.62 ERA) might've been a more sensible pick for fans.

135,000+ ATTEND NINE LMP WEEKEND HOME OPENERS

Two presidents: Canizales and AMLO

The Mexican Pacific League opened its 75th season over the weekend, including the Mex Pac debut of Monterrey and the return of Guasave to the LMP.

Monterrey's first game was on the road in front of a full house of 17,000 in Mexicali.  The Sultanes took an early three-run lead in the top of the first inning on a leadoff homer from minor league veteran Wynton Bernard and a two-run shot by former Angels farmhand Eric Aguilera and went on to hold off the Aguilas, 4-3.  Edgar Gonzalez, who also pitches for the Sultanes in the summer, got the win by tossing five innings of two-run ball while former LMP Pitcher of the Year Javier Solano (who allowed both first-inning homers) absorbed the loss for Mexicali.

Guasave's re-entry into the Mex Pac began well enough, with Mexican president Miguel Andres Lopez Obrador on hand to throw out the ceremonial first pitch at Estadio Francisco Carranza Limon accompanied by LMP president Omar Canizales.  However, the pregame ceremony may have been the evening's highlight as visiting Los Mochis converted six innings of one-run pitching by starter Yoanys Quirala into an 8-1 win. Carlos Soto was plunked by a Jake Paulson pitch in the top of the second to push the Caneros' first run across the plate and Jesus Arredondo scored on Andres Ayon's 4-6-3 double-play grounder to provide the Caneros with what proved to be the winning run.

Culiacan's season lidlifter went a little better as the home Tomateros topped rival Mazatlan, 9-4, as the hosts broke a 4-4 tie with five runs in the bottom of the eighth inning, thanks in no small part to a bases-loaded triple by Tomateros shortstop Jose Guadalupe Chavez, the number nine hitter in the Culiacan batting order. The game was played in front of a packed house of 20,000 fanaticos at Estadio Tomateros, the largest crowd of the nine home openers played over the weekend (Sunday's Jalisco at Obregon lidlifter was postponed due to rain).  In all, 135,621 patrons bought seats to inaugural games for the 2019-20 LMP season for an average of over 15,000 per opening. Only Monterrey, with 14,230 at their opener, had tickets remaining.

As is usually the case in Mexican baseball, there are a number of new managers in the Mex Pac this winter.  While most are the same names who've been recycled so often they'd earn an award from the Environmental Protection Agency, one less than familiar name is Mexicali skipper Bobby Dickerson.  Dickerson has, in fact, managed the Aguilas in the past (he took the Eagles to the playoffs in 2009-10 before losing to Obregon in the first round), but is better known as a former Baltimore Orioles third base coach who helped develop such players as Manny Machado after managing in the Cubs system for much of the 2000's. Dickerson and Machado were reunited when the former was hired as Philadelphia’s infield coach this year.

More familiar managerial figures to longtime observers of Mexican baseball are Benji Gil (Culiacan), Juan Jose Pacho (Mazatlan) and Homar Rojas (Monterrey).  Gil and Pacho have led their respective current LMP teams to pennants in the past while Rojas is perennially on short lists when teams are hiring. Vinny Castilla, arguably the most productive Mexican-born player in Major League history, has taken the reins in Hermosillo; Rigo Beltran, who bounced around the majors and Japan between 1997 and 2004, is the dugout boss in Guasave; and longtime catcher Adan Munoz, who took over for the Quintana Roo Tigres over the summer, has been picked to run the show in Navojoa.  Back in the saddle are Roberto Vizcarra (defending champion Jalisco), Victor Bojorquez in Los Mochis and Oaxaca's Sergio Gastelum.

The circuit was formed in 1945 as the Pacific Coast League (not to be confused with the 116-year-old American AAA league of the same name and underwent a pair of name changes over the subsequent 25 years before settling on its current moniker in 1970.  While the LMP did not become part of the Caribbean Series until that year and experienced little success and won only three CS championships over its first 32 years as a participant, Culiacan’s 2002 title began a stretch in which the Mex Pac won six crowns in a 14-year stretch (the last coming in when Mazatlan swept their way to the 2016 championship in Santo Domingo).  In addition, the LMP has undergone tremendous growth under Canizales over the past decade and now has a higher attendance average than any other minor league, summer or winter, on the continent, with nearly 10,000 clicking the turnstiles per game. Fans are attending games at new or modernized ballparks in every Mex Pac market except Navojoa, where there’s talk about renovating 49-year-old Estadio Manuel “Ciclon” Echeverria.  

MEXICAN PACIFIC LEAGUE

Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico

Email: medios@lmp.mx

Website: www.lmp.mx

Facebook: @lmpbeisbol

PRESIDENT: Omar Canizales

SPORTS MANAGER: Christian Veliz

ADMINISTRATOR: Remigio Valencia

DIRECTOR OF UMPIRES: Oscar Marin

CULIACAN TOMATEROS

Email: comunicacion@tomateros.com

Website: www.tomateroscom.mx

Facebook: @clubtomateros

CEO: Hector Ley

Sports Manager: Mario Valdez

Manager: Benji Gil

Ballpark: Estadio Tomateros (20,000)

GUASAVE ALGODONEROS

Email: contacto@losalgodoneros.mx

Website: losalgodoneros.mx

Facebook: @AlgodonerosDeGuasavemx

President: Alfredo Aramburo

Sports Manager: Francisco Lizarraga

Manager: Rigo Beltran

Ballpark: Estadio Francisco Carranza Limon (10,000)

HERMOSILLO NARANJEROS

Email: contacto@naranjeros.com.mx

Website: www.naranjeros.com

Facebook: @ClubNaranjeros

CEO: Arturo Leon Lerma

Sports Director: Derek Bryant

Manager: Vinny Castilla

Ballpark: Estadio Sonora (16,000)

JALISCO CHARROS

Email: contacto@charrosjalisco.com

Website: www.charrosjalisco.com

Facebook: @CharrosBeisbolOficial

President: Salvador Quirarte

Sports Manager: Ray Padilla

Manager: Roberto Vizcarra

Ballpark: Estadio de Beisbol Charros (13,000)

LOS MOCHIS CANEROS

Email: prensa@caneros.net

Website: www.caneros.net

Facebook: @verdesxsiempre

President: Joaquin Vega

Sports Manager: Carlos Sosa

Manager: Victor Bojorquez

Ballpark: Estadio Emilio Ibarra Almada (12,000)

MAZATLAN VENADOS

Email: info@venadosdemazatlan.com

Website: www.venadosdemazatlan.com

Facebook: @VenadosdeMazatlan

President: Jose Antonio Toledo

Sports Manager: Jesus “Chino” Valdez

Manager: Juan Jose Pacho

Ballpark: Estadio Teodoro Mariscal (16,000)

MEXICALI AGUILAS

Email: prensa@aguilasdemexicali.mx

Website: www.aguilasdemexicali.mx

Facebook: @aguilasdemexicali

President: Dio Alberto Murillo

Sports Manager: Luis Alfonso Garcia

Manager: Bobby Dickerson

Ballpark: La Nida (17,000)

MONTERREY SULTANES

Email: sultanesoficial@gmail.com

Website: www.sultanes.com.mx

Facebook: @SultanesOficial

President: Jose Maiz

Sports Manager: Miguel Flores

Manager: Homar Rojas

Ballpark: Estadio Monterrey (22,061)

NAVOJOA MAYOS

Email: mayosbeisbol@mayosbeisbol.com

Website: www.mayosbeisbol.com

Facebook: @OficialMayosBeisbol

President: Victor Cuevas

Sports Manager: Lauro Villalobos

Manager: Adan Munoz

Ballpark:  Estadio Manuel “Ciclon” Echeverria (11,500)

OBREGON YAQUIS

Email: yaquis@yaquis.com.mx

Website: www.yaquis.com.mx

Facebook: @YaquisdeObregon

President: Rene Arturo Rodriguez

GM: Manuel Velez

Manager: Sergio Gastelum

Ballpark: Nuevo Estadio Yaquis (16,000)

SALINAS OUT, GABRIEL MEDINA PICKED AS INTERIM LMB PRESIDENT

To the surprise of nobody, Javier Salinas is no longer president of the Mexican League.  After two often-rocky years, the former Liga MX professional soccer marketing executive from Michoacan has been replaced by LMB Director of Planning and Strategy Gabriel Medina on an interim basis.

Former Mexican League president Javier Salinas

Salinas was initially hired by the Liga on May 15, 2017 to replace the retiring Plinio Escalante after first serving as a de facto co-president with Escalante through the conclusion of the recently-begun season. He immediately inherited the Rookiegate scandal involving Quintana Roo Tigres prospects who found themselves on the Mexico City Diablos Rojos protected list after the February 2017 purchase of the Tigres by former Cy Young Award winner Fernando Valenzuela and wife Linda Burgos.  Salinas eventually ruled in favor of the Valenzuelas and ordered the Diablos to pay them money received from the Texas Rangers in exchange for two of the former Tigres prospects along with the return of the rights of the prospects (at last report, the Cancun team was still waiting for both their money and prospects).

Then there was the two-season format the Mexican League used in 2018.  While attendance and revenue levels were little changed from 2017 during the LMB's Spring season and playoffs, but interest plummeted during the Fall 2018 miniseason.  The experiment was abandoned and replaced with this year's two-half, 120-game regular season based on standings points (which, to Salinas' credit, was largely successful).  Another controversy ensued when the Rawlings ball that had been used in the Liga was replaced by one manufactured by Franklin that apparently had a rabbit at its core instead of cork, as home run totals skyrocketed in 2019 in a league already known as being hitter-friendly while causing unrest by pitchers.

The final nail in Salinas' coffin was probably the agreement he brokered between the LMB and Major League Baseball after the latter had frozen the signing of Mexican prospects owned by Liga franchise in the wake of misdeeds involving those teams and MLB scouts.  At first the deal was lauded for re-opening the path to the big leagues for young Mexican ballplayers, but it was subsequently discovered in the fine print that in order for MLB teams to collect a 35 percent commission from the sale of their players (who now receive signing bonuses directly instead of receiving a cut of what their LMB team was paid by Major League organizations, as was the case in the past), that player has to have been on the Mexican League roster for one year.

Interim LMB president Gabriel Medina

Since the vast majority of teenage Mexican ballplayers aren't ready for AAA baseball, the Liga teams who own their rights have largely been able to sign prospects south of the border without an LMB team collecting a commission.  Developing prospects to sell to MLB teams has developed into a cottage industry for some Mexican teams, and the loss of commissions under the new agreement has cost them tens of millions of pesos. Given that most of those teams had been Salinas supporters, including newly-crowned champion Monclova (whose owner, Gerardo Benavides, essentially handpicked Salinas), the loss of significant revenues from prospect sales meant lost backing for the beleaguered league president and it was a matter of time before a change was made.

In taking over for Salinas, Gabriel Medina has more baseball experience than his predecessor brought to the president's office.  Medina, who has also worked as a FOX Sports commentator, started with the Mexican League nine years ago in their communications and marketing department and eventually worked his way up to Director of Planning and Strategy.  He has been actively involved in behind the scenes LMB affairs and a constant presence at Assembly of Presidents meetings, including one last month in Monterrey at which Salinas was not present (considered a bad omen for Salinas' future).

Medina will fill the president's position while a permanent leader is sought.  Some Mexican baseball scribes have speculated that a new president will likely be announced at December's baseball winter meetings in San Diego.

VERDES GRANDE PREMIER12 TEAM CHOSEN; CASTRO TO MANAGE

Javier Salinas, Juan Castro and Edgar Gonzalez

The Mexican National Baseball Team has released its 28-man roster for the upcoming World Baseball Softball Confederation Premier12 tournament, which will be held in November with opening round action at venues in Mexico, Taiwan and South Korea.  Mexico will be in Group A with the United States, Dominican Republic and The Netherlands when the four teams congregate in Guadalajara between November 2nd through the 5th. The top two finishers in each group will advance to the Super Round in Japan for round-robin play, with the championship game slated for the Tokyo Dome on November 17.  This marks the second Premier12 tournament, with teams vying for berths in next summer's Olympic Games in Tokyo. Guadalajara will be the only city outside Asia to host games.

Mexico's manager in the Premier12 tourney will be former MLB infielder Juan Castro, who was named in August to replace former catcher Dan Firova at the helm of the Verdes Grande, currently ranked sixth in the WBSC.  A 47-year-old Los Mochis native who spent 17 years in the majors, Castro has managed in both the Mexican and Mexican Pacific leagues while his eight coaches include veteran skippers Lorenzo Bundy, Mario Mendoza and Hector Estrada.  Castro played for Mexico's 2006 World Baseball Classic inaugural team and was a coach with the 2013 WBC entry.

While no current Major League Baseball players are on the Verdes Grande roster (including Sergio Romo, Oliver Perez, Alex Verdugo, Joakim Soria and Luis Urias), Mexico's roster has a mix of Mexican League players, minor league veterans and three players in Asian leagues, several with past big league experience. Tijuana will send five players to Guadalajara next month, many of whom spent time under Castro during his Quixotic 2017 stay in the Gateway to Mexico, while newly-crowned champion Monclova also will be represented by five players.  The most prominent members are second baseman Esteban Quiroz, first baseman Efren Navarro, Monclova closer Carlos Bustamante, Acereros outfielder (and Serie del Rey MVP) Noah Perio and a pair of third basemen, former MLBer Christian Villanueva of the NPB Yomiuri Giants and current Acereros cornerman Jose Vargas.

Matt Clark while playing for Brewers

An X-factor on the roster is designated hitter Matt Clark, whose mother is Mexican, has shown light-tower power at times over four LMB seasons since 2017, hitting .316 with 27 homers and 87 RBIs in 79 games this summer for the Bravos.  The 2008 NCAA home run champ as an LSU player was traded twice and loaned once en route to playing for four teams in 2018 before signing with Leon as a free agent in April. He suffered a fractured wrist after being struck by a Matt Gage pitch during a June 5 game in Mexico City, adding injury to insult as the Diablos Rojos went on to post a ridiculous 29-0 win over the Bravos.  Clark came back on July 31 and hit .351 with six homers over his last ten games and has had plenty of rest since, so the 6'5" 230-pounder could be a force in home run haven Guadalajara. However, he did struggle in 17 games for the hometown Jalisco Charros of the Mex Pac in 2017-18, batting .200 with two homers in 17 games. Before coming to Mexico, Clark was 5-for-27 (.185) in 16 games for Milwaukee in 2014, his lone MLB season and is one of just three players to belt three homers among five or fewer career big league hits (Keith McDonald and Ed Salicki are the other two, with McDonald dialing 9 on all three of his safeties).

Mexican National Team Premier12 roster

Pitchers (14): Manny Barreda (Tijuana LMB), Brendan Bernardino (Tijuana LMB), Carlos Bustamante (Monclova LMB), Humberto Castaneda (Houston A), Jesus Cruz (St. Louis AAA), Felipe Gonzalez (Monterrey LMB), Justin Kelly (Monclova LMB), Orlando Lara (Tijuana LMB), Adam Quintana (Monclova LMB), Horacio Ramirez (Tijuana LMB), Arturo Reyes (Rays AAA), Fernando Salas (Philadelphia AAA), Eduardo Vera (Nationals AAA), Ryan Verdugo (Uni-President CPBL).

Catchers (2): Armando Araiza (Mexico City LMB), Ali Solis (Monterrey LMB).

Infielders (7): Phillip Evans (Chicago Cubs AAA), Jorge Flores (Yucatan LMB), Efren Navarro (Hanshin NPB), Esteban Quiroz (San Diego AAA), Javier Salazar (Tijuana LMB), Jose Vargas (Monclova LMB), Christian Villanueva (Yomiuri NPB).

Outfielders (4): Jesus Fabela (Mexico City LMB), Jonathan Jones (Yucatan LMB), Juan Perez (Saltillo LMB), Noah Perio (Monclova (LMB).

Designated Hitter: Matt Clark (Leon LMB).

Manager: Juan Gabriel Castro.

Coaches (8): Martin Arzate (Monclova LMB), Lorenzo Bundy (Monclova LMB), Hector Estrada (Oaxaca LMB), Santos Hernandez, Mario Mendoza, Ruben Niebla (Cleveland), Humberto Sosa (Yucatan), Gil Velazquez (Arizona).