MEX PAC TO OPEN 77TH WINTERBALL SEASON TUESDAY

Culiacan players readying for season

    The Mexican Pacific League is scheduled to begin its 2021-22 season with a trio pf games on Tuesday night. Jalisco will host Monterrey, Mazatlan will visit Culiacan and Hermosillo will be at home against Mexicali. In all, ten games will be played between Tuesday and Thursday as teams play home-and-away sets against league rivals, including Obregon against Navojoa as well as Los Mochis against Guasave. A full slate of five games is set for Saturday night.

    As in the past, the Mex Pac regular season will be split into two halves, with the 32-game first half closing on Thursday, November 11 and the 36-game second half commencing one day later and concluding Thursday, December 23, about a week earlier than in previous seasons. The top eight teams will advance to the playoffs, which open on Christmas Day. After three stages of the postseason, the playoff champions will take a heavily-reinforced team to Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic for the Caribbean Series between January 28 and February 3, 2022.

    The Culiacan Tomateros are shooting for a third consecutive pennant and trip to the Serie del Caribe under manager Benji Gil. Defending batting champion Yadiel Hernandez will be back in Hermosillo hoping to follow up on his .339 average while home run (15) and RBI (52) kingpin Japhet Amador will try to do the same with the Jalisco Charros, who were set to announce the sale of the team to the owners of the Mexican League's Guadalajara Mariachis after front office squabbles and legal threats decimated what has been one of the LMP's flagship franchises.

    Mexicali pitcher Miguel Pena has returned for another season in the border city after being awarded the LMP's ERA title last winter (2.08), as is veteran righty Javier Solano, who was second with a 2.60 figure. Strikeout champ Manny Barreda (64 K's) is expected back in Culiacan after making his MLB debut with Baltimore this summer while wins co-leaders Fernando Miranda and Juan Pablo Oramas (8 each) will both pitch another season of winterball in Guasave and Hermosillo, respectively.

    SKY Sports will stream all regular season and playoff games live for a second season in a row this winter. Full season packages through the LMP championship series are available for US$69.99 via the Extrabase.TV prompt in the top right corner of the league website.

    The following is a directory for the LMP and its ten member clubs in 2021-22, with most information taken from the Mex Pac website:

MEXICAN PACIFIC LEAGUE
Guadalajara, Jalisco
Website: www.lmp.com
Facebook: @LigaARCO
Twitter: @Liga_Arco
Email: medios@lmp.mx
Phone: (33) 38 17 07 68
President: Omar Canizales
Sports Director: Christian Veliz

CULIACAN TOMATEROS
Website: www.tomateros.com.mx
Facebook: @clubtomateros
Twitter: @clubtomateros
Email: redessociales@tomateros.com.mx
Phone: (667) 758-3400
Sports Manager: Mario Valdez
Manager: Benji Gil
Home Stadium: Estadio Tomateros de Culiacan (21,000)
Field Dimensions: LF-325, CF-410, RF-325
LMP Championships: Twelve

GUASAVE ALGODONEROS
Website: www.losalgodoneros.mx
Facebook: @AlgodonerosdeGuasavemx
Twitter: @AlgodonerosGsv
Email: contacto@losalgodoners.mx
Phone: (687) 138-4323
Sports Manager: Alejandro Ahumada
Manager: Oscar Robles
Home Stadium: Estadio Francisco Carranza Limon (10,000)
Field Dimensions: LF-320, CF-400 RF-325
LMP Championships: One

HERMOSILLO NARANJEROS
Website: www.naranjeros.com.mx
Facebook: @clubnaranjeros
Twitter: @clubnaranjeros
Email: contacto@naranjeros.com.mx
Phone: (662) 260-3932
Sports Director: Derek Bryant
Manager: Juan Navarrete
Home Stadium: Estadio Sonora (16,000)
Field Dimensions: LF-325, CF-400 RF-335
LMP Championships: Sixteen

JALISCO CHARROS
Website: www.charrosjalisco.com
Facebook: @CharrosBeisbolOficial
Twitter: @CharrosBeisbol
Email: comunicacion.charros@gmail.com
Phone: (331) 562-0485
Sports Manager: Raymundo Padilla
Manager: Roberto Vizcarra
Home Stadium: Estadio Panamericano (16,500)
Field Dimensions: LF-335, CF-415, RF-335
LMP Championships: One

LOS MOCHIS CANEROS
Website: www.caneros.net
Facebook: @verdesxsiempre
Twitter: @verdesxsiempre
Email: contacto@caneros.net
Phone: (668) 818-6323
Sports Manager: Carlos Soto
Manager: Robinson Cancel
Home Stadium: Estadio Emilio Ibarra Almada (12,000)
Field Dimensions: LF-320, CF-400, RF-320
LMP Championships: Three

MAZATLAN VENADOS
Website: www.venadosdemazatlan.com.mx
Facebook: @VenadosBaseball
Twitter: @Venadosbase
Email: club@venadosdemazatlan.com.mx
Phone: (669) 981-1710
Sports Manager: Jesus Valdez Rodriguez
Manager: Eddie Diaz
Home Stadium: Estadio Teodoro Mariscal (16,000)
Field Dimensions: LF-325, CF-400, RF-330
LMP Championships: Nine

MEXICALI AGUILAS
Website: www.aguilasdemexicali.mx
Facebook: @aguilasdemxli
Twitter: @aguilasdemxli
Email: info@aguilasdemexicali.mx
Phone: (686) 800-4000
Sports Manager: David Cardenas
Manager: Bronswell Patrick
Home Stadium: Estadio Aguilas de Mexicali (17,000)
Field Dimensions: LF-330, CF-400, RF-330
LMP Championships: Four

MONTERREY SULTANES
Website: www.sultanes.com.mx
Facebook: @SultanesOficial
Twitter: @SultanesOficial
Email: info@sultanes.com.mx
Phone: (812) 270-2000
Sports Manager: Jesus Valdez Diaz
Manager: Gerardo Alvarez
Home Stadium: Estadio be Beisbol Monterrey (21,906)
Field Dimensions: LF-320, CF-400, RF-320
LMP Championships: None

NAVOJOA MAYOS
Website: www.mayosbeisbol.com
Facebook: @OficialMayosBeisbol
Twitter: @OficialMayos
Email: clubmayos@hotmail.com
Phone: (642) 422-1433
Sports Manager: Lauro Villalobos
Manager: Lorenzo Bundy
Home Stadium: Estadio Manuel “Ciclon” Echeverria (11,500)
Field Dimensions: LF-318, CF-378, RF-318
LMP Championships: Two

OBREGON YAQUIS
Website: www.yaquis.com.mx
Facebook: @YaquisDeObregon
Twitter:@Yaquis_oficial
Email: oficina@yaquis.com.mx
Phone: (644) 413-7766
Sports Manager: Manuel Velez
Manager: Sergio Gastelum
Home Stadium: Estadio Yaquis (16,500)
Field Dimensions: LF-325, CF-400, RF-325
LMP Championships: Seven

VENEZUELA BOOTS MEXICO FOR U-23 BASEBALL WORLD CUP TITLE

Mexican team takes field in Obregon

    Venezuela downed host Mexico, 4-0, on Saturday night at Estadio Sonora in Hermosillo to capture a U-23 World Championship in Hermosillo. Venezuelan starter Wikelman Ramirez tossed a complete game shutout, allowing just three hits on the night. The 21-year-old right-hander struck out four and baffled Mexico’s hitters all night long.

    Two runs in bottom of the first inning gave Venezuela an early lead. With two out and Carlos Rodriguez (whose leadoff single to center barely eluded a diving Fabricio Macias) standing on second base, a high pop fly to the right side of the infield by Romer Cuadrado ate Mexico second baseman Reivaj Garcia alive, clanking off Garcia's mitt into shallow right and allowing Rodriguez to score as Cuadrado carried his gift safely to second. Juan Fernandez then sliced a ground ball that handcuffed third baseman Keven Lamas to put runners at the corners for Justin Lopez, whose 3-and-2 single to right on the ninth pitch of his at-bat against Mexico's Saul Castellanos brought Cuadrado in with the second unearned run of the inning.

    Venezuela's next two runs came in more straightforward fashion in the bottom of the third. Jesus Lujano led off with a double down the left-field line, moved to third on a Robert Perez groundout to Mexican shortstop Javier Salazar and scored on Cuadrado's sacrifice fly to Macias in center to bring the score to 3-0. The next batter, Fernandez, drilled Castellanos' second pitch for a homer that barely stayed fair as it passed the foul pole in left. A Lopez double ended the night for Castellanos but for all intent and purposes, the game was pretty much over by then. Ramirez only needed 86 pitches (60 of them strikes) to complete the shutout, scattering a double to Eric Meza and singles by Tirso Ornelas and Roque Salinas.

    "The fact of playing in Mexico put too much pressure on these players," commented Mexico's manager Enrique “Che” Reyes after the loss. "It's a fact we didn't play well enough to beat Venezuela." Venezuela’s last international World Championship came in 2012 when its team finished first at the 15U Baseball World Championship. "It is really easy to work with these players," commented Venezuelan manager Carlos Garcia. "They came together, worked hard, stayed focused on our goal. And more than that, they enjoyed playing the game."

 

Lining up for Silver Medal presentation

   Mexico topped the first-round Group A standings with a 4-1 record after beating Germany, 3-1, last Monday to advance to the Super Round. Agustin Ruiz contributed a two-run double in the bottom of the first and starter Jorge Leo tossed four scoreless frames. After losing a 2-0 shutout to Panama and being thumped 7-1 by Venezuela, Mexico salvaged their Super Round stint with a 3-2 win over Colombia as Tirso Ornelas socked a homer in the bottom of the sixth and Robles Rabago tossed a scoreless seventh to seal the victory. Mexico advanced to the Gold Medal game by virtue of their aggregate 3-2 record against teams in the Super Round over the two stages of the tournament.

    In the first game of Saturday's medal-round doubleheader, Colombia topped Cuba, 5-3, for the Bronze as Angel Angulo belted two homers and drove in three runs. Saturday night’s game during the first U-23 World Cup with the new seven inning format was played in just one hour and forty minutes.

    One Mexican, shortstop Salazar, was named to the All-World team after batting .320 over eight games in the tournament. Colombia's leftfielder, Gustavo Camprero, was chosen as MVP for his .519 average and 11 runs scored during the event. Ornelas led Mexico by batting .370 (10-for-27) while hitting one of the host country's three World Cup homers (the other two were swatted by Macias and Lamas. Reliever Juan Robles won two of the five games Mexico won playing in Hermosillo and Obregon and was unscored upon in 6.1 innings over four appearances. Alejandro Chavez allowed no runs in two starts and 9.1 frames as the entire staff turned in a 1.92 ERA in nine games, but the batters (a collective .245) couldn't put anything together in the Gold Medal contest with Venezuela.

MEX PAC ROAD TRIP: Mexicali, Baja California Norte

Mexicali's Chinatown is Mexico's largest

    Heading northwest from Monterrey, we’ll make the second stop on our Mexican Pacific League Road Trip in the the border city of Mexicali, home of the LMP Aguilas and 936,826 metropolitan residents on Mexico’s northwestern border with California.

    Historically, Mexicali is a fairly “recent” city, developed as a center for area farmers just over 100 years ago. After becoming the capital of Baja California Norte in 1915, it grew (like many Mexican border towns) as a place for North Americans to engage in illicit activity over the course of the 20th Century. The economy expanded in more legitimate directions as foreign companies established maquiladora factories in and around Mexicali. 

    Maquiladoras are common in Mexican cities along the USA border, built primarily by North American companies who seek to take advantage of Mexico’s lower labor costs while having close access to the USA market. Maquiladoras have accounted for much of Mexicali’s burgeoning population. Across the border lies the twin city of Calexico, California. Both share a 24-hour border crossing.

    While Mexicali is not the tourist draw Tijuana has become to the west, there are still some local points of interest. It has the Mexico’s largest Chinatown (La Chinesca) and there are a large number of shops and restaurants in a triangular area near the border. In the former state governor’s mansion (on Avenida Alvaro Obregon) lies the Galeria de la Ciudad, which displays works by many leading Mexican artists. Mexicali is also home to the University of Baja California, where a regional museum features exhibits of paleontology, archaeology, ethnography, landscape photography and missions of Baja California. The annual Fiesta del Sol in October is one of the year’s highlights.

Estadio Aguilas de Mexicali

    Still, Mexicali is not a textbook example of a traveler’s paradise. It is very hot during the summer, gets temperatures below freezing level during the night in winter and in general is not tourist-oriented despite being one of the most prominent border crossings between the USA and Mexico. Millions of people have passed through Calexico to Mexicali, but few of them stay overnight.

    Mexicali’s baseball team is called the Aguilas, or “Eagles.” The Aguilas were formed in 1976 and are in their 45th winter in the MexPac, having won four LMP pennants and a Caribbean Series championship in 1986 under legendary manager Ben “Cananea” Reyes. Their home stadium, known officially as Estadio Aguilas de Mexicali (and informally as El Nido, or “The Nest”), seats 17,000 fans around a symmetrical field measuring 330 feet down the foul lines and 400 feet to straightaway center. Mexicali hosted the 2009 Caribbean Series, becoming the northernmost city in which the tournament has ever been held.

YASIEL PUIG SIGNS WITH VERACRUZ AGUILAS

Yasiel Puig comes to Veracruz

     One-time major league All-Star outfielder Yasiel Puig has signed a one-year contract with the Veracruz Aguilas of the Mexican League for the 2021 season. Puig verified the signing via Twitter last week and has already reported to the Aguilas' spring training camp. Terms were not disclosed, although it's believed the Cuban product had been seeking $25,000 per month in talks with LMB teams in Veracruz, Guadalajara, Tijuana and Monclova. The maximum salary for Liga players is said to be $10,000 per month.

    On his Twitter account, Puig's translated statement read, “Thank you Mexico for being here once more in my life. Thank you Aguilas of Veracruz for this opportunity and for opening your arms to me. This wild horse is grateful and happy to play the field once again!” Puig was nicknamed Wild Horse by longtime Dodgers radio announcer Vin Scully during his time with the Los Angeles team.

    Puig did not play in 2020 but had a productive MLB season in 2019, when he swatted 24 homers and drove in 84 runs while batting a combined .267 for Cincinnati and Cleveland (where he landed in a midseason three-way trade that netted the Reds future Cy Young Award winner Trevor Bauer). He was ready to sign a free agent deal with Atlanta last year, but a positive test for the Wuhan virus scuttled his 2020 season.

    The 6'2” 240-pounder from Cienfuegos has hit 132 homers and hit .277 over 861 MLB games in a career dating to his 2013 debut with the Dodgers. He finished second to the late Jose Fernandez of the Marlins in Rookie of the Year balloting that season and appeared in the All-Star game in 2014. 

    Puig burst on the baseball scene as a 17-year-old member of Cuba's bronze medal team at the 2008 World Junior Championships. After a couple winters playing with his hometown Elefantes in the Cuban National Series, he attempted to defect in the Netherlands while playing in the 2011 World Port Tournament. Instead, he was caught and forced to sit out the 2011-12 CNS season.

"Tastes great!"..."Less filling!"

    According to Wikipedia, Puig attempted to defect to Mexico no fewer than 13 times between 2009 and 2012 in order to become a legal resident and sign with an MLB organization. That journey included an arrest at a Cuban safe house, interception by a U.S. Coast Guard cutter near Haiti and one “successful” defection to Mexico that resulted in his detention there by the Zetas drug cartel. Puig was finally able to stay in Mexico long enough to be signed by the Dodgers as a free agent for seven years and $42 million in 2012.

    The volatile 30-year-old has been as controversial as he is talented since his arrival in the big leagues. While most involve actions on the playing field, his latest controversy is of the off-field variety. He's been accused of sexually assaulting a woman during a 2018 Lakers basketball game in a Staples Center bathroom in Los Angeles. Although the alleged incident (after which the Dodgers traded Puig to the Reds) has been investigated by MLB, no police report was ever filed. The woman in question has subsequently filed a lawsuit against him in civil court but Puig is seeking to have the case thrown out. His attorneys claim she'd sent him text messages with heart emojis days after the encounter occurred, in which Puig says the two had a consensual sexual encounter.

    Puig's legal issues have made him radioactive among MLB teams and apparently no offer was made by any team in Asia, so now he's set to play with Veracruz as the latest in a number of relatively high-profile signings of former big leaguers by Mexican League teams. Prior to Puig, Monclova inked infielder Addison Russell and pitcher Bartolo Colon (for a second time), Tijuana agreed to terms with reliever Fernando Rodney and Guadalajara made a deal with first baseman Adrian Gonzalez. 

    El Rincon Beisbolero's Jose Carlos Campos notes that only a handful of the LMB's wealthier clubs are bringing in big names, highlighting the gap between rich teams and underfinanced ones, and speculated that they're able to do so by using money not spent on salaries during last year's canceled season during the abbreviated, 66-game schedule to be used this summer.

LMB TO USE “LUCKY LOSER” SYSTEM IN PLAYOFFS

Xorge Carrillo takes BP in Toros' camp

    The Mexican League announced its playoff format for 2021 last week and it'll be one very familiar to past winterball fans of the Mexican Pacific League. The LMP's old “Lucky Loser” system, which was discarded when the Mex Pac postseason field was expanded from six to eight teams in 2019-20, will be used for the first time in the summer circuit.

    With the LMB expanding to 18 teams due to the additions of Guadalajara and Veracruz to the Liga lineup, the number of playoff qualifiers has been likewise increased from four to six teams per division. Rather than giving the top two regular season finishers a first-round bye while the next four teams played for advancement to their division semifinals, all six clubs will take part in the opening stage. All three series winners will move on, as usual, and be joined by the team that won the most games in losing their opening-round series.

    The shortened regular season will open on May 20 when the defending champion Monclova Acereros host the Monterrey Sultanes in a single game, followed by a full slate of action on May 21. The 66-game schedule will conclude on August 6 with the post season commencing one night later. The playoff date parameters are as follows:

First Round: August 7-15
Division Semifinals: August 17-25
Division Championships: August 27-September 4
League Championship (Serie del Rey): September 6-14

    Playoff teams will be seeded according to their regular season won-lost percentage. In the case of a tie in the standings, records involving games between the teams involved will be the first tiebreaker, followed by runs differentials from their head-to-head matchups. The first round “Lucky Loser” will be determined by a similar criterion, with regular season records and run differentials used as tiebreakers.

Tigres player being tested for virus

    The LMB office has also announced pandemic-related health protocols to be used throughout the season by its 18 clubs. The so-called Diamond Plan will involve the usual edicts of constant handwashing, use of alcohol gels and safe distancing but also add a few wrinkles.

    Each franchise will be required to assign a “Covid-19 Officer” to ensure that the Diamond Plan is carried out. Players must have undergone related testing 48 hours prior to reporting to their respective teams, followed by isolation lasting 48-72 hours, after which they will undero another test.

    In addition, the Diamond Plan established three levels of ballpark access: Level 1 is for essential tasks on the field, Level 2 allows limited access to the playing field for managers and coaches while Level 3 allows media and staff members access to ballparks but not the playing surface.

    Players may not use showers, saunas or whirlpools without social distancing, two buses will be used on road trips instead of one and players will not be allowed to interact directly with fans, who will be required to wear masks at all times except while eating or drinking. At those times, fans will be asked not to speak, sing or shout (breathing is optional under those circumstances, with inhaling the preferred choice).

MEX PAC TO OPEN 2021-22 SEASON ON OCTOBER 5

 

Culiacan title defense begins October 5

   The Mexican Pacific League held a virtual Assembly of Presidents meeting last week and confirmed some dates for their upcoming 2021-22 schedule as well as the order of selection for July's drafts of non-reserved Mexican and import players.

    The regular season is slated to open on October 5 with the return of the popular reciprocal two-game series in which rival teams host each other on consecutive nights before the usual three-game series formats for the rest of the regular season, which will conclude on December 23.

    The eight-team playoffs will open for the first time on Christmas Day and be played in three stages until no later than January 22, 2022. The LMP's heavily-reinforced championship team will then head to Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic for the 2022 Caribbean Series.

    This summer's draft of players not on reserve lists of the LMP's ten teams will be held on July 8 in Hermosillo. The draft will be held in two parts: One for Mexican players and one for foreign players. Here is the order of both stages as verified last week by league president Omar Canizalez:

MEXICAN PLAYER DRAFT
1-Los Mochis Caneros
2-Obregon Yaquis
3-Hermosillo Naranjeros
4-Monterrey Sultanes
5-Jalisco Charros
6-Guasave Algodoneros
7-Culiacan Tomateros
8-Navojoa Mayos
9-Mazatlan Venados
10-Mexicali Aguilas

FOREIGN PLAYER DRAFT
1-Mexicali Aguilas
2-Los Mochis Caneros
3-Monterrey Sultanes
4-Obregon Yaquis
5-Navojoa Mayos
6-Jalisco Charros
7-Hermosillo Naranjeros
8-Culiacan Tomateros
9-Mazatlan Venados
10-Guasave Algodoneros

    Mexicali will have a new face overseeing their draft picks this summer. The Aguilas last week announced the return of David “Chile” Cardenas to the franchise as “sports advisor” to owner Dio Alberto Murillo. “It is with pride to have David back home,” Murillo is quoted as saying, “a connoisseur of baseball on and off the field...we are sure that he will support us at all times to seek that fifth championship for our fans.”

    Cardenas spent six winters as sports manager in Mexicali between 2010-16 after retiring as a pitcher in 2020 and will presumably assume duties previously held by Luis Alfonso Garcia, who was “separated from the position of Sports Manager” in February after two seasons (and two first-round playoff exits). Cardenas oversaw an Aguilas team that reached the second round of the playoffs all six seasons he worked for them while playing in two championship series.

GUASAVE ALGODONEROS TO PLAY IN SPAIN TOURNEY

    The Guasave Algodoneros are planning to make a trip across the Atlantic Ocean this fall to play in a tournament involving European teams and perhaps an Asian squad as well. The Cottoneers announced last week that they'll be taking part in the Barcelona Baseball Cup between September 26 and October 3, thus making them the first professional team from Mexico to play on the European continent.

    Taking part in the virtual press conference were three event organizers (Catalan Federation of Baseball and Softball president Jordi Valles Mestres, Barcelona Baseball Cup CEO Rafaael Llames Cabrera and Base Internacional SA managing director Miguel Pazcabrales) along with Guasave general director Luis Fernando Garcia and team sports manager Alejandro Ahumada. According to a press release from the Algodoneros, Valles explained that the inclusion of a Mexican team in the tournament will cause a huge impact, since there is “a large Latino population that likes baseball.”

    The Barcelona Baseball Cup will be played in two venues: The first is Estadio Carlos Perez de Rozas (home of the Division of Honor's BC Barcelona), while other games will take place at the C.B. Viladecans' ballpark, which was used for baseball during the 1992 Summer Olympics. Training will take place in Sant Boi, site of another Spanish League team.

    Besides the Algodoneros, teams from Italy, The Netherlands and host Spain will take part in the tournament, while efforts are being made to include at least one team from Asia. Depending on which (if any) team comes over from Asia, Guasave may be the tournament favorite going in due to both Mexico's fifth-ranked status in the latest World Baseball Softball Confederation ratings as well as the comparatively higher level of play in the Mexican Pacific League.

    The Netherlands (#9) and Italy (#17) are long established as Europe's premier baseball-playing nations (although the #16 Czech Republic has passed Italy in the rankings) and both have played in multiple World Baseball Classics, but neither the Dutch Major League nor Italian Serie A1 are regarded as competitive as the LMP. Spain (#20) is among the second tier of European baseball countries along with Germany (#19), France (#25) and Belgium (#26). The Division of Honor is one of the top leagues in Europe but professional players are in the minority and the only advantage any chosen host team will have in the Barcelona Baseball Cup is home-field advantage.

BORDER BOUNCE: GARCIA OUT IN MEXICALI, ROMERO FIRED IN TJ

Luis Alfonso Garcia at work in Mexicali

    For years, Baseball Mexico has chronicled the so-called “Mexican managerial merry-go-round,” in which field managers are hired, fired and recycled at a rate unseen in professional baseball north of the border. Case in point: The Quintana Roo Tigres last week parted ways with helmsman Adan Munoz and replaced him with another ex-catcher, Hector Paez. Munoz was hired to replace Jesus Sommers as skipper of the Cancun team on May 9, 2019 and led the Tigres to a 62-57 regular season record and a playoff berth. Paez had served as Munoz' bench coach.

    While the revolving door may not spin quite as fast in the front offices, being a general manager of a Mexican baseball franchise is still not the most stable way to warn a living. Two of the most difficult teams to work sit less that 100 miles from each other on the border with the United States in Baja California Norte and both are seeking to replace their respective GMs after departures of two respected former players last week.

    Luis Alfonso Garcia's “separation from the position of Sports Manager” was announced by the Mexicali Aguilas of the Mexican Pacific League. Garcia took over as GM in Mexicali in February 2019 and while the team did reach the playoffs each of the past two seasons, the Aguilas failed to make it past the first round both times and that was enough for owner Dio Alberto Murillo to make a change.

    Garcia, a 42-year-old Guadalajara native who spent a couple seasons as a first baseman in Japan during a 21-year career that saw him belt a combined 395 homers on both sides of the Pacific, released a statement thanking the Aguilas “for the opportunity they gave me to perform this role. It was a great experience where I was able to develop in a different and new facet for me, applying my knowledge within baseball.”

    In a press release, the team said they “appreciate the dedication and professionalism shown by Luis Alfonso García during the time he was in charge of this important position, wishing much success in his professional career and personal projects.” The Aguilas earlier announced that field manager Bronswell Patrick will be back for the 2021-22 season, or at least the start of it.

Ex-Toros' sports manager Oscar Romero

    Meanwhile, the Mexican League's Tijuana Toros announced last week “that as of this date, Óscar Romero will leave the position of sports manager in the organization,” adding that the move “is generated by mutual agreement.” Romero was hired by the Toros in September 2016, shortly after their loss to Puebla in the Serie del Rey championships, 4 games to 2. Replacing former MLB pitcher Jorge Campillo, Romero served as Tijuana's sports manager for the next four-plus years, during which the team has had a quartet of managers (Pedro Mere, Lino Rivera, Oscar Robles and now Omar Vizquel) while winning the 2017 LMB pennant under Mere.

    However, in the “What-have-you-done-for-me-lately?” environment under the Uribe family (who are every bit as expectant of titles as Murillo in Mexicali), the Toros have since failed to reach the Serie del Rey in either of two truncated 2018 seasons or in 2019, which could not have made the job easier for Romero, who spent 13 years in the Liga as an infielder for eight teams before retiring as a player in 2003. His son, Oscar Junior, is a 19-year-old third baseman in the Toros organization who led the National League of Prospects (LNP) in 2019 with a .434 batting average.

    The team released a standard statement about Romero similar to the one above regarding Garcia: “The board of the Club de Beisbol Toros de Tijuana appreciates the effort, work and professionalism of Óscar Romero Tirado throughout more than four years and wishes him the best of success in future projects.”

    Before he left, Romero did sign outfielder Johnny Davis as an import player for 2021. The 30-year-old speedster from California spent six years in the Brewers system before coming to the Mexican League for the Fall 2018 schedule. In two seasons, the Compton Comet hit over .300 and led the LMB in stolen bases both campaigns before he was signed by Tampa Bay and made his MLB debut later that year.

    It's not known what effect the ouster will have on current manager Vizquel, a Hall of Fame candidate who Romero brought in prior to the abandoned 2020 season but has since been charged with domestic violence by his second wife, which led to a drop in votes among baseball writers for enshrinement in Cooperstown this winter.

BEISBOL PURO INTERVIEWS MARIACHIS' TEAM PRESIDENT

Mariachis team president Rafael Tejeda

    They have a shortlist of possible managers but have never included names such as Benjamin Gil or Sergio Gastélum; Adrián “El Titán” González is someone they'd like to add as a player; they're looking for stellar players who enhance the arrival of the franchise to the Mexican League...these are some of the plans of the Mariachis de Guadalajara.

    In a telephone conversation with Beisbol Puro editor Roberto Espinosa, Mariachis president Rafael “Fayo” Tejeda points out that the management is on the right track to make the Pan American Stadium (aka Estadio Charros) their home, and reveals that the Mariachis already have a roster of more than 30 players. On the other hand, Tejeda says that neither he nor his partner Carlos "Calo" Valenzuela had in mind to have a baseball franchise in the summer, but was something that the LMB office offered them and that they did not hesitate to to accept.

    Here is Beisbol Puro's translated interview with Tejada:

Why has so little officially been known about the Mariachis?

    “It's that just last month we participated in the Assembly of Presidents with owners of the Mexican League. There we were officially accepted and from then on, we are already an expansion franchise in the league.

    “We have not done many official things for the same reason. We are very respectful of the times and had not wanted to give so many statements until we were authorized. It was one thing that the president of the republic (who loves baseball) had announced us, and another that the LMB would authorize us to enter, and that just happened last week in the Assembly.”

Pablo Lemus, mayor of Zapopan, where the Pan American Baseball Stadium is located, declared in early December that the Guadalajara Mariachis should look for a stadium to play in Guadalajara and made it clear that the Mariachis would not be able to play there in the summer. what do you think of that?

    “We are in a process so the Mariachis have everything legal so that we can use the Pan American Stadium. That is an issue that our legal team is already addressing...we are young businessmen who somehow did not know the whole process to be able to use the stadium, so we have already been talking with them and everything is on the right track. We are trying to do everything necessary to legally comply and be able to use the stadium.”

    How ambitious is the Mariachis project?

    “We have an important project not only for the city, but for the entire metropolitan area of Guadalajara, and this project will benefit the entire state because there will be jobs and everything that generates a show.

    “We come from an atypical year like 2020, and for young entrepreneurs to come to invest in this beautiful sport, I think it should be valued, and the government people have already told us that we have all their support, and they only asked us to do what pertinent on the legal issue so that everything works. We have really received a very kind treatment from all of them, always looking for a way to make everything possible.”

What can your fans expect?

    “We want Guadalajara to continue with the quality it deserves in all aspects, so we seek to have an office, a technical body and a team that is in accordance with what the city deserves.

    “We seek to have an experienced team, although we will also give young people the opportunity, but we want people who come to capitalize, to give us quality and experience.

    “We are thinking that any type of name can come to the Mariachis. We want great players, whatever their names are. We have foreign players on the table who have played in the Major Leagues and who want to play in the summer in Mexico, which we can probably hire. We are looking for a 'Ronaldinho' of baseball ”.

    Adrián 'El Titán' González has been mentioned as a probable contract to play with Mariachis. How likely can it be that this is achieved, especially considering that the Veracruz Aguilas have announced him as a partner?

    “What I can tell you is that in the part that we learned about, Adrián was not coming with Veracruz as a partner. We would all love to have a figure with the stature of Adrián. I looked for Adrián to tell him that we have not announced anything about him and that we were not misusing his image. He told me that the only thing he could tell me was that he had prepared to play the 2020 Olympic Games but now with this issue of the pandemic, he no longer knows what is going to happen.”

We learned that you already have people working in the front office like Francisco Minjárez and Luis Alonso Mendoza...

    “Yes, in the office the sports director is Francisco Minjárez and we have Luis Alonso Mendoza as sports manager, who is already retiring as a player and is now undertaking a new role with us. It was not easy to offer him the position and ask him to retire, but he discussed it with his family and decided that it was a good option to stop playing and start another facet.

    “As a hitting coach we will have Wilie Romero, who is a very well-known person in Mexican baseball. For now, they are the people we have defined.”

What about the manager? Much has been said about Benjamín Gil and Sergio Omar Gastélum as options to direct the Mariachis...

    “We haven't talked to Benji Gil at all. Sergio is not an option. He has to digest this moment first (his departure from Diablos Rojos del México), and later he will be able to see his work options, but with us for now he is not contemplated.

    "At the table we have Mexican and foreign managers, but neither Benji nor Sergio Omar is there."

Do you already have players contemplated for your roster?

    “We already have a base of more or less 30 players, but it will be announced when the moment is right.”

Has it been difficult to negotiate to get players from the other teams?

    “No, I would say that it is something normal in the market of purchases, sale and trades. It was just knocking on the doors of the other teams and talking to them. The owners have been very accessible and inclusive.”

By the way, how did the idea of having a baseball franchise in the LMB come up?

    “We did not seek the franchise, we did not see this panorama. This opportunity opened up for us and we did not think twice about it, but this was in early December when we knew we were going to enter it.

    “Neither I nor my partner (Carlos Valenzuela) had asked for a summer baseball franchise but when the opportunity arose, we entered it for the taste of baseball. The Liga looked for us. They told us that Guadalajara could not stay without summer baseball and, knowing that we are baseball people, they offered it to us and we joined them.”

AGUILAS GIVEN GREEN LIGHT FOR FANS IN STANDS

Mexicali's El Nido ballpark

     The number of Mexican Pacific League teams allowed to open their home ballparks to limited fans at home games is now up to five. Rafael Martinez Barraza of AlBat.com reports that Mexicali mayor Marina del Pilar Avila has authorized the Aguilas to admit up to 30 percent of El Nido's 17,000-seat capacity (or about 5,100 fans) during the 2020-21 season. The governor of Sinaloa gave the green light for four Mex Pac teams to open their stadiums for up to about 40 percent capacity this season. The league schedule will begin Thursday, October 15 while the Aguilas will host Monterrey in their home opener five nights later. Mexicali is the loop's lone team in Baja California.

     Martinez says league security protocols will be strictly adhered to during Aguilas home games this winter. In order to enter El Nido, fans will be required to have their temperature taken at the gate, use antibacterial gel and wear masks in the stands. Mayor del Pilar adds that if Mexicali experiences an outbreak of the Wuhan virus during the season, the stadium will be closed to the public and people who bought tickets in advance will “eventually” be given a refund.

     The partial opening in Mexicali leaves five LMP franchises still looking at playing behind closed doors this winter: Hermosillo, Navojoa and Obregon in Sonora, Monterrey in Nuevo Leon and Jalisco in that state. Martinez says the four Sinaloa teams allowed by Governor Quirino Ordaz Coppel have already begun to block off their ballpark seating to reflect social distancing requirements, including the Mazatlan Venados.

Seats in Mazatlan being blocked off

     At Estadio Teodoro Mariscal, where the 2021 Caribbean Series is scheduled to be held in late January and early February, Venados staff members are covering three seats in each row, with two seats being left open in alternating fashion for occupancy during games. The scheme is meant to provide a “cushion” of sorts in which pairs of fans will be surrounded by empty seats to the front, rear and sides in a zig-zag pattern.

     All ballparks allowing fans to attend games are expected to follow a similar format.

PLAYERS REPORTING AS ALL MEX PAC CAMPS GET UNDERWAY

     Ballplayers from across Mexico and points elsewhere have been reporting to the Mexican Pacific League teams as all ten LMP training camps are now in full swing. Opening night is a little over two weeks away, with five games slated for Thursday, October 15.

Johnny Davis rounding third for Rays

   Three players in particular are considered vital for the upcoming season by their respective Mex Pac squads, including incoming Culiacan outfielder Johnny Davis. The 30-year-old Davis had a very good year in the Mexican League in 2019, batting an even .300 and leading the LMB with 54 stolen bases for Dos Laredos and Oaxaca before his contract was sold to the Tampa Bay Rays in md-August. After spending a few days with the Rays' AA Montgomery affiliate, the Compton Comet was called up for his MLB debut September 11. He played eight games for the Rays and had a triple in four at-bats, scoring five runs while being used primarily as a pinch-runner.

     Davis, who did not play baseball in high school, signed a minor league deal with Tampa Bay for 2020 but has not played this season. He's being brought to the defending champion Tomateros to replace centerfielder Rico Noel, who refused to sign a contract with the team at a lower salary. Culiacan sport manager Mario Valdez says, “We're confident he can help us very well by covering center field and being the team's leadoff hitter. He has excellent speed and that fits very well with the type of game that we've been playing in recent years.” Davis is expected to report October 1. This will be the 5'10 switch-hitter's first season in the Mex Pac, although he has played winterball in Venezuela in the past.

Japhet Amador in Charros batting cage

     One player who needs no introduction to LMP fans is looking forward to his 13th season in the league. Hulking first baseman/designated hitter Japhet Amador has reported to the Jalisco Charros training camp in Guadalajara after missing all of last season to heal an Achilles tendon injury he'd suffered in late 2019 playing for Mexico City in the Mexican League. The 6'4” 310-pounder whose nickname is “The Mulege Giant” acknowledges that he has work to do after not playing baseball for over 13 months. “A year without playing is something difficult to come back from,” Amador says. “You have to be ready at the beginning of the season to do well all year long.”

     When healthy, Amador may be the most feared slugger in Mexican baseball. After his 2007 Mexican League debut with the Minatitlan Petroleros at age 20, Amador has hit .332 with 195 homers in 794 games over 10 LMB seasons while cracking another 96 roundtrippers to augment a .269 average in ten LMP winters. He also socked 56 homers over 242 games in three seasons in Japan with the Rakuten Eagles before being sent packing for PED use in 2018. Amador had a .336/28/115 season for Mexico City in 2019 and is expected to be one of the anchors of Jalisco's batting order this winter along with outfielder Dariel Alvarez and longtime third baseman Agustin Murillo. Alvarez and Murillo were expected to report to the team in Guadalajara last week and undergo testing for the Wuhan virus before integrating with their teammates.

Navojoa Mayos righty Hector Velazquez

     A top pitcher joined the Navojoa Mayos on Friday after a sometimes-trying summer during which he was a member of three MLB organizations without entering a single game after having spent parts of the previous three years with Boston. Hector Velazquez, a 31-year-old righty from Obregon who went 11-7 in 879 appearances (including 19 starts) between 2017 and 2019, opened the year in the Red Sox training camp hoping for a berth with a team rebuilding just two years after winning the World Series.

     Instead, Velazquez was waived to Baltimore in early March shortly before the pandemic shut down baseball across the Western Hemisphere and then traded to Houston on July 29 for a player to be named later. A two-time LMP Pitcher of the Year with Navojoa, Velazquez went 1-1 with a 1.80 in ten innings over as many appearances last season for the Mayos. In nine Mex Pac seasons, the last ten with Navojoa, Velazquez has a 29-23 record with a 3.87 ERA. Over seven summers in the Mexican League, six of them for Campeche, he was 43-29 over 120 starts with a 3.76 ERA. His best year was in 2016-17, when he went a combined 15-4 for the Piratas and Mayos, turned in a 2.33 ERA and struck out 218 batters while walking only 35 overall in 227 innings.

BBM EDITORIAL: MEXICAN LEAGUE MUST CONTRACT TO SURVIVE

IN: Puebla Pericos

     When I wrote my first column on Mexican baseball for the OurSports Central website in March 2005, it was a temporary creative outlet between radio jobs. I'd cover the Mexican League until September, when I'd hopefully be back in radio, and that would be it. I eventually did land a radio job that summer but a funny thing happened by the time manager Che Reyes had piloted the Angelopolis Tigres to the LMB pennant: I'd come to care about the Mexican League and baseball south of the border in general, so I kept on writing and fifteen years later, I'm still here. Radio? Haven't earned a living in it since 2012. Who knew?

     In all this time, although I've thrown an occasional personal observation into a story, I've tried to maintain the role of objective reporter rather than biased commentator about baseball in Mexico. It hasn't always been easy but I think I've largely succeeded and can count the number of editorials I've written on this topic on one hand. Journalistic detachment aside, I truly want the Mexican League to not only survive but flourish and the things we've all seen the past few years suggest the opposite is happening. Things HAVE to change or the LMB may collapse under its own weight.

     The biggest threat to the survival of the Mexican League is that there are simply too many teams. While there are certainly a number of success stories among the LMB's 16 clubs (Tijuana, Monterrey, Monclova, Yucatan, etc.), there are far too many are underperforming franchises that are dragging the rest of the Liga down with them. For every team like the Tijuana Toros, who led all of Minor League Baseball by averaging 11,291 per night in attendance, there are two teams like the Leon Bravos (who averaged fewer than 3,500 a game) and the Campeche Piratas, whose 1,743 per opening ranked an embarrassing 146th among all Minor League Baseball teams, including every team in the short-season Class A Northwest League. What are Leon and Campeche doing in a AAA league in 2020?

     The Mexican League was going to contract to 12 teams in 2019 by giving Aguascalientes, Laguna, Leon and Puebla the year off (ostensibly to reorganize their finances), but then-new Mexican president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador overruled the move and ordered all four team reinstated. Puebla was somewhat resuscitated under wealthy new owner Jose “The King of Beans” Miguel and the Pericos averaging 4,693 per game, seventh in the LMB, but the other three continued continued to languish on and off the field.

     So what to do? As a longtime believer than any league, like a chain, is only as strong as its weakest league, the Mexican League needs to say adios to its weakest links by contracting. There were still too many poor franchises even after the first contraction attempt so rather than dropping four teams, the LMB would be best served by cutting itself in half to eight teams. My observation (admittedly from a distance) is that those eight remaining teams should be the Mexico City Diablos Rojos, Monclova Acereros, Monterrey Sultanes, Puebla Pericos, Saltillo Saraperos, Tijuana Toros, Yucatan Leones and Mexico City Tigres.

   Yes, the Tigres should return to the city of their birth to revive their 65-year rivalry with the Diablos, even though that guarantees that Fernando Valenzuela will sell the team rather than co-exist with a rival that has been the bane of his existence since buying the legacy franchise in early 2018. The smaller Mexican League would maintain balance, with four teams in the LMB North (Monclova, Monterrey, Saltillo, Tijuana) and four in the LMB South (Diablos, Tigres, Puebla and Yucatan). Assuming the Tigres are sold to qualified buyers who could co-exist with Alfredo Harp Helu and the Red Devils (perhaps even as tenants in Harp's namesake ballpark), all eight franchises would have financially solid ownerships in cities that have all proven past support for baseball.

OUT: Campeche Piratas

     This is not to say that the eight contracted franchises shouldn't have the chance to be part of future LMB expansions after the Liga stabilizes. They could even continue to serve as AA affiliates of remaining LMB teams for player development and call-ups, much as the Liga Norte has done in the past. A four-team Liga Centro could be formed with Aguascalientes, Dos Laredos, Durango and Laguna while a similar Liga Sur could be cobbled from Campeche, Leon, Oaxaca and Tabasco. Although salaries would be lower, such a move would save 200 playing jobs while teams operating on lower budgets would have a better chance of sustainability at the AA level.

     How likely is any of this? Frankly, Don Quixote's dream was more realistic. Even owners in a league in dire need of change to survive in the future would find it too difficult to do, even if it meant strengthening their product in the process, and let's not forget how AMLO killed a contraction half the size of this one. Just as Major League Baseball and Rob Manfred are using the bizarre 2020 season to reshape all of baseball north of the border (with rumblings that MLB even has an eye on a takeover of Little League Baseball), the Mexican League has a similar opportunity to take a hard and honest look at how it might best continue operating without drowning in a sea of red ink. Right now, the LMB has eight underfinanced and inadequately supported franchises dragging down the other eight that appear to be succeeding. They need to go, at least for now.

     What appears to be a most radical change also seems to be the most obvious one. Even the strongest trees need pruning to remain healthy.