CANEROS WIN 5 OF 6, TAKE EARLY SECOND HALF LEAD

Los Mochis OF Yasmany Tomas

    Following a decent first half in which they went 19-16 to tie for third in the Mexican Pacific League standings (and collecting 7.0 playoff points), the Los Mochis Caneros have had a strong start in the Mex Pac's second half by winning five of their first six games to take a one-game lead over Obregon and first-half champs Hermosillo in the standings.

    New Caneros manager Jose Moreno, who replaced Victor Bojorquez in the offseason after a disastrous 2021-22 campaign during which Los Mochis won just 23 of 68 games, has gotten solid performances from a number of players thus far. Outfielder Yasmany Tomas tops Los Mochis hitters with a .335 average, five homers and 28 RBIs and has been among the LMP's batting leaders all season. Veteran third baseman Rudy Amador has given the team a .314 average and his usual solid defense at the hot corner, Braves farmhand Justin Dean is batting .299 and is second in the league with 11 steals while eighth-year infielder Isaac Rodriguez has a .294 average and ranks among Caneros leaders in several offensive categories.

    Luis Miranda has led a good Los Mochis pitching staff with a 4-0 record and a league-leading 0.20 ERA, allowing just one earned run in 44 innings over eight starts. Former Mariners minor leaguer Rafael Pineda is 4-2 with a 2.52 ERA, Fabian Cota is 2-2 and 3.09 and former Mexican League Pitcher of the Year Yoanner Negrin is 1-2 and 3.30. Moreno also has a solid bullpen with relievers Tomas Solis, Fredy Quintero, Juan Gamez and one-time Baltimore hurler Connor Greene, who leads the Caneros with six saves.

    The Caneros helped themselves greatly over the weekend by sweeping a three-game series in Mazatlan. They host Navojoa in a midweek series before defending champs Jalisco visits Los Mochis for three games starting Friday. Both the Mayos and Charros have overall losing records thus far and give the Caneros a prime opportunity to pad their 5-1 record.

    Monterrey's Roberto Valenzuela continues pacing Mex Pac batsmen with a .380 average, well ahead of Tomas' .335 mark and Jalisco's Fernando Villegas at .321. Venerable Jesse Castillo of Guasave belted six homers in as many games earlier this month to take over the LMP longball lead at 10, one more than Mexicali's Anthony Giansanti and three up on both Jesus Espinoza (Navojoa) and Sebastian Valle (Obregon). Valle's Yaquis teammate, Victor Mendoza, has 34 RBIs for a comfortable lead over yet another Obregon batter, Yadir Drake (29) and Tomas' 28 ribbies for the Caneros. Mazatlan's Randy Romero has 17 steals in 21 tries to lead the circuit, with Jose Carmona of Hermosillo right behind with 16 swipes while Pirates minor leaguer Jared Oliva has had 13 steals for both Obregon and Monterrey.

    Two pitchers have finally won their fifth games of the season, Hermosillo's Wilmer Rios and Cristian Castillo of Monterrey. After serving mainly as a reliever over his first six winters for the Naranjeros, Rios has become one of the Mex Pac's most reliable starters the past two seasons. Nine other pitchers have four wins, including ERA leader Miranda (0.20) of Los Mochis and strikeouts leader Matt Pobereyko of Guasave, who's tied with Culiacan vet Manny Barreda at 44 K's apiece. Miranda's 0.727 is also tops among starters. Guasave's Brandon Koch still leads the LMP with 10 while former big leaguer Josh Lueke of Jalisco is tied with Monterrey's Joe Riley at nine salvados apiece.

    Among managers, Mexicali fired Gil Velazquez a week ago (see below) and while in most baseball leagues the skipper of a defending champion usually has breathing room during a slow start to the subsequent season. However, this being Mexican baseball, Jalisco helmsman Roberto Vizcarra's seat may be getting hot in Guadalajara, where the Charros are following up a ninth-place finish and a 15-20 record in the first half with five losses in their first six contests in the second half.

MEXICAN PACIFIC LEAGUE Second Half Standings
Los Mochis 5-1, Hermosillo 4-2, Obregon 4-2, Guasave 3-3, Mexicali 3-3, Monterrey 3-3, Navojoa 3-3, Culiacan 2-4, Mazatlan 2-4, Jalisco 1-5.


VELAZQUEZ FIRED, CANCEL NEW MEXICALI SKIPPER

    Puerto Rican Robinson Cancel has been named as interim manager of the Mexicali Aguilas after the Mexican Pacfic League team fired Gil Velazquez during the season for a second time after the Eagles finished tied for sixth in the first half standings with a 16-19 record. Velazquez was canned by the Aguilas during the 2016-17 season and took the reigns of the squad a second time after Bronswell Patrick was canned midway through the schedule last winter. The “interim” label isn't usually applied when a new manager is hired but in Mexican baseball, all managers seem to end up working on a interim basis.

    The 46-year-old Cancel took over from temporary dugout boss Jesus Arredondo this past Saturday after the Aguilas had dropped their series opener in Guasave, 7-0, on Friday night. Mexicali split the two remaining games of the weekend set, including Sunday's 3-0 shutout over the Algodoneros as David Reyes tossed five scoreless innings for the win.

    As a player, Cancel spent eight years as a catcher in the Milwaukee organization and appeared in the majors with the Brewers, New York Mets and Houston between 1999 and 2011, batting .200 with one homers and 10 RBIs over 45 games. He wrapped up his playing career in the Mexican League with Monterrey in 2012 and Minatitlan in 2013, hitting a combined .316 with 14 homers in 97 contests.

    Cancel has since managed six years in the minors in the Braves and Rockies system, taking Fresno to a first-place finish in the Class A California League's North Division last summer with an 83-49 record before falling to Lake Elsinore in the loop's championship series. He's had previous stints managing in the Mex Pac with Los Mochis and Mazatlan.

    Arredondo returned to coaching third base after filling in as manager after the ouster of Velazquez, bench coach Pedro Mere and pitching coach Eleazar Mora on November 22 (with the usual “We thank Gil Velázquez, Pedró Meré and Eleazar Mora for their dedication and professionalism towards our organization, wishing in advance the best of successes in their future projects” press release from the front office). A pair of ex-MLBers have been added to the coaching staff: Pitching coach Vicente Palacios and bullpen coach Jailen Peguero.


PROCESO: ESPIONAGE IN MEXICAN BASEBALL

Beatriz Pereyra of Proceso

    According to Mexico City's Proceso magazine writer Beatriz Pereyra, “The scandal over manipulation of television cameras in Games One and Two of the Mexican League South Division championship series between Mexico City and Yucatan is not the first in which Miguel 'El Negro' Ojeda (once a major league catcher and now a director of the Diablos Rojos) has been involved.”

    In an interview with Pereyra, entrepreneur Alredo Aramburo, a former owner of the Durango Generales, talks about the problems he had with Ojeda when he was the sole owner of that team. “ He did not transfer or steal from me,” referring to the hiring of the players, “he did more delicate things than that...”

    The following is a translated Pereyra column in which Ojeda's alleged transgressions are discussed and first appeared in Proceso in September. It's as fascinating as it is long and worth reading all the way through:

    The Yucatan Leones will appeal the fine and sanction that the Mexican League imposed on the Mexico City Red Devils and its sports director, Miguel Ojeda. One of the Leones owners believes the entire technical body of the Diablos should also be punished for manipulating the television broadcast of Games One and Two of the LMB South finals.

    Yucatan team president Juan José Arellano tells Proceso that they do not agree with the resolution made by LMB president Horacio de la Vega, who determined that Ojeda must comply with a one-year suspension and the Red Devils must pay a fine of 1.5 million pesos (approximately US$77,000). According to the Manual for the use of electronic and video devices in stadiums, Arellano argues, there are others involved who deserve to be penalized.

    As of this edition, the directors of the Leones had not yet presented their appeal. Or had the Red Devils, whose owner, businessman Alfredo Harp Helú, announced that they would file the appeal after the LMB released the punishment on September 4. “The Diablos Rojos support Miguel Ojeda Siqueiros, sports director, and Marco Antonio Ávila, television producer. We are in the process of appealing to the accusation made to the team,” Harp posted on his Twitter account September 5.

    Likewise, through a statement, the Mexico City club emphasized that if the LMB concludes that “there is no evidence of signal theft” derived from the investigations requested by the Yucatan Leones, these unsubstantiated allegations have caused them moral harm.

    The conflict originates from the fact that on September 1, Leones executive president Érick Arellano asked the LMB to open an investigation folder against the Red Devils “for manipulating the television shots” during the first two games of the LMB South title series held at Estadio Alfredo Harp Helú in Mexico City.

    “The television broadcast was done fraudulently and with all the intent to benefit the Mexico City Diablos Rojos and harm the Yucatan Leones” Erick Arellano states, ”since the shots showed the signs of the catcher (Sebastián Valle) when the Leones were on defense and deliberately there was never the same shot when the Diablos were on defense (with catcher Julián León), this is clearly a theft of signals...”, accused the plaintiff, who accompanied his complaint with the videos that demonstrate “the willful manipulation.”

Diablos sports manager Miguel Ojeda

    Before the formal request, during play of Game Two, Érick Arellano denounced what was happening to LMB executives who were at the stadium. Two of them, Alberto Guadarrama and Diego Patricio Pérez, went to the broadcast booth where they spoke with producer Marco Antonio Ávila, an employee of the Red Devils, who informed them that he was doing the switches and frames that way at the request of Miguel Ojeda.

    In response to the accusations from Merida, team directors in Mexico City replied: “We can say categorically that in no way and at no time was it intended to commit any breach of the regulations, especially on the subject of sign theft. In this sense, the only intention was to take care of any situation with the Diablos Rojos catcher. In such a way that there was a difference between the shots during the turns to the Diablos Rojos batters and the shots during the shifts to the Yucatan Leones batters which, at that time, the league was asked to equalize and it was immediately done.

    “Within the analysis we carried out, in any case, the only thing the Yucatan Leones team could have been affected by was not allowing them to see the signs for the Diablos catcher but since sign theft is not allowed, it cannot be considered that there was such.”

    Based on the above, although the LMB emphasized that it could not be verified that the Diablos stole the signals, both the team and the sports manager deserve sanctions because what was done violates the Manual for the use of electronic and video devices in stadiums, specifically regarding the theft of signals established therein.

    “The above, together with the fact that manipulating the production and transmission of games has other effects, such as generating a reasonable and genuine doubt about the delivery of replays for review in case of game challenges during the matches, during the regular and postseason season of the LMB, which would update a manipulation in the television broadcast that could lead to damages for the defendant's rival teams, as well as favorable benefits for Diablos,” explained the LMB in its resolution.

    In accordance with the LMB regulations, both appeals will be presented to the council that is made up of the following owners: Alejandro Uribe (Tijuana), Gerardo Benavides (Monclova), Eustacio Álvarez (Aguascalientes) and José Antonio Mansur (Dos Laredos).

    If the parties do not agree with the ruling issued by these presidents, they may appeal to the LMB assembly where the owners of the 18 clubs will decide by majority. If that other resolution does not satisfy them either, they will have the option of resorting to ordinary courts. The LMB does not rule out forming a Dispute Commission to vent this case.

Alfredo Aramburo and the Durango case

    This is not the first time that Miguel Ojeda has questionable behavior. In 2019, the LMB, then led by Javier Salinas, did not dare to sanction him for posing as the owner of the Durango Generals and even brought before the assembly a certain Fernando Espinosa del Campo, a logging businessman who was supposedly his partner.

    But the reality is that the owner was businessman Alfredo Arámburo, who owned a modest batmaking company, that Ojeda had to accept in a corporation that lasted just a year due to the abuses that the now-director of the Red Devils committed. When other owners were upset, the businessman appeared before the LMB to say that he was the sole owner, having gone from having 90% to 100% of the shares. This upset the owners of the other clubs and he was forced to sell the team for getting into the league through the back door (via Process 2284). Unlike the businessman who was punished in this way, Ojeda did not suffer any retaliation.

    This reporter interviewed in February 2020 the former owner of the Generals of Durango, who recounted on tape recorder the abuses that Miguel Ojeda committed with that team, then requested that information not be published due to the damage it could cause.

    Following the events involving manipulating the transmission of games during the South Division championship series in which producer Marco Antonio Ávila (who works for the Diablos Rojos) pointed to Ojeda as the person who asked him to alter the signal, this reporter asked Aramburo again for his authorization to publish the full interview.

    The businessman confirmed something that was rumored for months when Miguel Ojeda appeared as the owner of the Generals of Durango: the LMB veteran did not have enough money to buy a baseball club. In 2018, the sale and purchase of this equipment amounted to around 28 million pesos (about US$1.5 million in 2018). Then he lied blatantly, knowing that he only owned 10% of the shares but pretended to be the sole owner.

Former Generales owner Alfredo Aramburo

    “The reality is that I was the owner from day one and Miguel was my partner,” Aramburo said. “I gave him shares. It was a project where he contributed the workforce and his relationships in baseball to develop the sports theme, but he did not contribute capital. ‘You are going to show your face...you are known,’ that was the agreement. But something happened on the way.

    “I think something that collided was my rigid training to manage weight over weight. I am risking my capital, he wanted more freedom (to handle money) and there was a disagreement. He said he was not comfortable and that he was leaving, and that's when I notified the LMB that I already had 100% of the equipment. When I was not accepted, I sold the team and thus ended my ephemeral passage through the LMB.”

Did Miguel Ojeda put his money in it? Did he have anything left, or you?

    “I did owe him money and I did not pay him of my own free will. I was left owing 300 thousand pesos that I wanted to give him as a decent departure from Generals. He said to me, 'The team cost so much, so my share is worth is so many millions,' and I said, 'No, Dad, it's not like that. These are the financial statements, I invested in this so don't be confused. I'm going to pay you because you don't have any support left. I 'll give it to you in payments.' And it was so because I wanted to take care of some situations and I wanted him to act correctly because I did have to pay him in a single exhibition.

    “The company brought millions in losses so I said, ‘Let's agree. You owe me and I can tell you that since you aren't going to contribute the money, I dilute your actions. But neither you nor me. I'll give you so much.’ I gave him 50% of what was agreed upon and the other 50% was to be paid in a year because my situation in the LMB was going to be defined there. Why did I default on those 300 thousand pesos? Because he spoke of me. I found out. I'm not stupid and I connected the dots. He threw dirt on me with the Diablos and with Mr. Harp and that did not make me look professional.

    “They played me a recording where he spoke ill of me with Harp and the LMB. He (Ojeda) sent me messages and I no longer answered him. I don't want to stain his career. He lives on it. If I tell what he did on my team, you'd run it. I don't think Don Alfredo Harp would see it well. He got into serious trouble. He did not transfer or steal,” referring to the hiring of the players,” he did more delicate things than that. For me it is a closed chapter.”

LMB president weighs in

    The president of the LMB, Horacio de la Vega, emphasizes that in the body he heads, “we are not going to allow any director of any team to get into an international transmission.”

    This was possible because the Mexico City Diablos Rojos are the only LMB club with its own television production. That of the other 17 teams is generated by LMB Media Company, a company that was born from a merger between the League and AYM Sports.

    “It is not a matter of having evidence of signal theft,” caims de la Vega, ”but unfortunately the conversations will go that way. The LMB is not sanctioning that. They are sanctioning a subject of unequal intervention, and call it what you want in terms of whether they (the Red Devils) have an advantage or not,. It is simply not equal and if it is not equal, it is not a fair game. That is what the league is not going to allow,” says De la Vega.

    So why is this issue serious if the Diablos insist, and you yourself have said, that it is impossible to steal signs in a transmission?

    “The fact that the LMB allows that with any of the teams is wrong because obviously, as you point it out, there is speculation or a possibility of doing it (to steal the) signs. The LMB is impartial in a difficult decision, but I think the evidence is clear about what we don't want to happen with franchises.'

    They insist that the signals are indecipherable on television. Don't you think it's strange that Miguel Ojeda, someone who was a catcher and who played baseball for many years, decides that to avoid sign theft, to removes Julián León of the Devils from the transmission if this is useless?

    “You will have to ask him.”

    Did YOU ask him?

    “No, we have a specific criterion of what happened, we are sanctioning based on that evidence and we consider that what was done is incorrect.”

    Horacio de la Vega anticipates that the owners of the LMB clubs are already analyzing the possibility of implementing the same electronic devices in Mexico that are already beginning to be used in the Major Leagues, through which the catchers ask the pitchers for the pitches.

    The LMB president also clarifies that if the Diablos Rojos television signal is the only independent in the entire league, it is because when Estadio Alfredo Harp Helú was built, the team made a huge investment in technology. But at the same time, there is the Manual for the use of electronic and video devices in ballparks that regulates the use of other cameras, radar and other equipment that clubs such as the Tijuana Toros have installed in order to generate data for scouting and advanced statistics, like the Bats and True Media System or even Trackman, which the LMB installed in stadiums this year.

    Obviously, the use of any technology that transmits information in real time directly to dugouts is prohibited.

    The LMB president also stressed that, although in the resolution of the LMB it was determined that it will be the personnel of the LMB who will be in charge of generating the transmission of the games of the Red Devils for a year – so that Marco Antonio Ávila no longer intervenes – “ it's something that the LMB is already going to do permanently.”

    De la Vega was questioned about a post that Monclova Acereros pitcher Héctor Velázquez made on the Instagram social network after one of the Toros players, Leandro Castro, celebrated his home runs in the playoffs. “Warned, even I batted,” the pitcher wrote to the batter, in clear reference to Tijuana stealing signals and knowing what pitches their rivals will throw.

    “As a result of sports scores, you can speculate many things and the joke is to demonstrate it. When you have strong evidence that something is wrong, you are co-responsible for the information you put on the table and if there is a player who is saying that, it is only fair that they prove it,” de la Vega says.

    “I am left with the task of investigating more on this subject. What we cannot do is that by mentioning any player, we have to open research folders. I urge any player to provide the information so the LMB can act accordingly,” the manager concludes.

LEYVA KEEPS LEONES ALIVE; OJEDA SUSPENDED

C Sebastian Valle and P Elian Leyva, Yucatan

The Mexican League South Division Championships are moving back to Mexico City for Game Six on Tuesday after pitcher Elian Leyva’s masterful outing Sunday in Merida kept his Yucatan Leones afloat in their battle with the Diablos Rojos, who lead the best-of-7 series, 3-games-to-2. 

Leyva, a two-time Mexican Pacific League Pitcher of the Year (including last winter), tossed seven shutout innings of one-hit ball Sunday as the Leones outlasted the Diablos, 2-0, in front of a third consecutive sellout crowd of 14,917 at venerable Parque Kukulkan. Leyva struck out eight Mexico City batters before leaving the scoreless tie after the top of the seventh. In the bottom of the frame, Art Charles lined a two-run homer to straightaway center field off Diablos reliever David Huff, who’d replaced starter Jeffry Nino after the latter had whitewashed Yucatan over the first six entradas. Charles’ blast was enough as three Yucatan relievers held Mexico City scoreless over the final two innings with Jorge Rondon striking out the dangerous Roberto Ramos looking to end the contest, after which fans in Merida danced and sang in the ballpark’s esplanade during a postgame concert by bands El Fresca and La Sentencia.

The series opened last Tuesday at Estadio Alfredo Harp Helu in the nation’s capital with an 11-10 Diablos win in eleven innings. The contest featured five homers among the 36 combined hits from the two combatants, but it was a bases-loaded walkoff single from Jesus Fabela off Rondon that scored pinch-runner Antonio Castaneda that ended the tilt in the bottom of the eleventh as 14,528 fanaticos looked on. Juan Carlos Gamboa socked two homers for the winners, including a grand slam in the bottom of the first inning, while Charles belted a roundtripper for the Leones in the top of the tenth.

After a Tuesday rainout, Game Two of the LMB South title set was played last Wednesday as the Leones triumphed, 15-8, and did something Puebla was unable to achieve in their division semis against Mexico City: Hold the Diablos to less than 10 runs. As 18,851 watched, Yucatan scored 12 times between the third and sixth innings to take a 12-6 lead and never looked back. Yadir Drake homered and drove in four runs for the Lions while Luis Juarez went 3-for-5 and two RBIs. Moises Gutierrez led the Red Devils with two hits (including a homer) and two ribbies as every starting batter for both teams had at least one of the game’s combined 31 hits except for Diablos catcher Julian Leon, the Puebla series hero who struck out three times. Sic transit gloria.

The series shifted to Merida for Game Three last Thursday, with the visiting Diablos taking an 8-3 win behind the bats of Julian Ornelas (who went 4-for-5 with two homers, scoring four runs and driving in three) and Gamboa, who had three hits, including an RBI single. Cristhian Adames hit a solo homer for the Leones while pinch-hitter Lazaro Alfonso socked a two-run bomb in the ninth to give the home crowd of 14,917 something to cheer about but it was too little, too late. Diablos reliever Huff got the win after going 2.1 scoreless innings and striking out four Yucatan batsmen while Leones starter Henderson Alvarez (5 innings, 4 runs) took the loss.

Another rainout delayed Game Four until Saturday, which saw another Mexico City road win in front of one more full house of 14,917 at Parque Kukulkan, albeit by a closer 6-5 score. The Leones led, 4-3, after one inning thanks to Josh Fuentes’ two-run single, but the Diablos tied the tilt in the fifth and a Fabela bunt scored Gutierrez with the go-ahead run one frame later. Ramos had a resourceful night for the Red Devils as the former KBO star drove in three runs and scored once on a double, a sacrifice fly and a plunking by Hunter Cervenka while Gamboa stroked a two-run single in the first. Francisco Haro came out of the bullpen to replace starter Humberto Sosa two outs into the first and pitched 6.1 scoreless innings (allowing two hits and striking out 11) for the win. Jake Thompson, normally a starter for Yucatan, took the loss in relief after giving up Fabela’s run-scoring sacrifice bunt during his two-inning stint as the Diablos found themselves one win away from the Serie del Rey going into Leyva’s season-saving heroics on Sunday. Game Six is set for 8PM Eastern on Tuesday in Mexico City.

Not all the drama in the series has been on the field. Former big league and Liga catcher Miguel Ojeda, who managed Mexico City to their last pennant in 2014 and is now the team’s sports manager, was suspended for a year by LMB president Horacio de la Vegas after it was discovered the Diablos used a television camera in center field to steal signs from Yucatan catcher Sebastian Valle during the first two games of the series at Estadio AHH. The Leones front office told de la Vega of their suspicions last week and after an investigation, Ojeda received his suspension Sunday, as did Diablos TV producer Marco Antonio Avila Toledo.

SULTANES SWEEP CHAMPS, ON TO SERIE DEL REY

Victor Mendoza, Monterrey Sultanes 1B

Given the sometimes-heated nature of the rivalry between the Monterrey Sultanes and the defending Mexican League champion Tijuana Toros over the past few years, there was much anticipation going into their LMB North Championship Series last week. As it turned out, the anticipation exceeded the event as the Sultanes swept the Toros in four straight games to advance to the pennant-deciding Serie del Rey later this week.

Monterrey took the first two games at Tijuana’s Estadio Nacional, opening the series last Monday with a 6-2 win over the Toros in front of 10,081 spectators. The Sultanes were paced offensively by homers from Sebastian Elizalde and Zoilo Almonte and Orlando Calixte’s 3-for-5 night at the plate as starter Yohander Mendez turned in a strong five innings for the winners. Mendez, who was 7-0 and led the LMB with a 2.78 ERA during the regular season, gave up just one run on a Nick Williams triple in the fifth while striking out eight to earn the win as Agustin Murillo’s RBI single in the eighth accounted for the Toros’ other run. TJ starter Nick Struck didn’t have a bad outing, going five innings and giving up 2 runs on 3 hits, but he couldn’t match Mendez’ mound mastery (no extra charge for the alliteration).

Game Two on Tuesday in Tijuana was more of the same as strong Monterrey pitching keyed a Sultanes road win, this time by a 4-1 count. It was mostly a pitcher’s duel except for one pitch: Toros starter Manny Barreda dished up a three-run homer to Calixte in the top of the fourth that decided the game for all intent and purposes. Leandro Castro broke up Monterrey’s shutout bid in the seventh with a solo homer off reliever Juan Gamez with 15,313 watching at Estadio Nacional, but the night belonged to the Sultanes pitching staff. Julio Teheran has had a great postseason thus far for manager Roberto Kelly’s troops as the former Braves starter threw six innings of two-hit baseball in blanking the potent Toros. Barreda went five frames and struck out eight while allowing five hits, but took the loss for Tijuana.

After a travel day, the series resumed at Estadio Monterrey as 17,241 were in the stands for a 2-1 knucklebiter win in 13 innings for the Sultanes last Thursday. The game was scoreless heading into the bottom of the seventh, when Elizalde scored from third after a Javy Guerra pitch eluded Tijuana catcher Xorge Carrillo. Guerra had relieved Toros starter Humberto Mejia after Elizalde opened the inning with a single, but promptly hit Zoilo Almonte with his first pitch, advancing Elizalde to second. Guerra gave himself a little breathing room by inducing Victor Mendoza to ground into a 3-6-1 double play as Elizalde moved to third on the play but Carrillo mishandled a pitch while he pitched to Calixte. Murillo tied the game in the top of the ninth by coming in from third on a bases-loaded forceout at second on a grounder from Nick Williams. The two teams battled for three more scoreless innings until Mendoza’s walkoff single off Kyle Lobstein in the bottom of the 13th brought in Gustavo Nunez with the game-winner, giving the Sultanes a 3-games-to-1 advantage.

The series (and Tijuana’s season) ended last Friday as Monterrey completed the sweep with a 12-11 home win with a sellout crowd of 21,000 fans in the stands. After allowing four runs over the first three games, the Sultanes pitching basically took the night off as a Junior Lake solo homer in the top of the ninth gave the Toros an 11-9 lead. Former MLB All-Star Fernando Rodney took the mound in the bottom of the inning and was one out away from the save after getting the first two Sultanes.

As anyone who’s followed Rodney’s career knows, however, two outs are never enough as the 45-year-old righty (second to Monterrey’s Neftali Feliz with 22 saves in the regular season) then gave up singles to Nunez and Jose Cardona and walked Elizalde to load the bases. Rodney then walked Almonte to score Nunez, making it an 11-10 Tijuana lead, then gave up a single to Mendoza to plate Cardona with the tying run and Elizalde with the game winner in what could well have been Fernando’s last pitch in Tijuana togs, given the capricious nature of Toros owner Alberto Uribe. Uribe may also be wondering why manager Homar Rojas left a struggling Rodney in to face Mendoza while leaving Struck, a successful long-time reliever in Mexico until last year who hadn’t pitched for four nights, in the bullpen. Managers have been fired for less in Tijuana.

With the win, the Sultanes will be well-rested when they seek the franchise’s eleventh pennant since 1943 and their second under Kelly, who took them to a title in 2018. The Serie del Rey is scheduled to open Friday night.

MEXICO CITY TO HOST TWO MLB GAMES IN 2023

The San Diego Padres and San Francisco Giants will meet in a two-game series at Mexico City’s Estadio Alfredo Harp Helu in Mexico City on April 29 and 30 next year. Major League Baseball and the Major League Baseball Players Association made the announcement last week. The games, which will serve as Padres home games, will represent the first-ever regular season series played in Mexico City. In 2016, the Padres hosted Houston in a two-game exhibition series at Fray Nano Stadium in Mexico City.  

The Mexican Series games next April mark the fourth time the Padres have traveled to Mexico for regular season games: They’ve also been a part of three MLB visits to Monterrey, including a three-games series against the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2018, the 1999 season-opener against the Colorado Rockies and a three-game series against the New York Mets in 1996.  These games will be the first games in Mexico for the San Francisco Giants in their long history. In 2004, they traveled to San Juan, Puerto Rico for a three-game regular season series against the Montreal Expos, who played part of their home schedule at Estadio Hiram Bithorn that season prior to moving to Washington a year later.

“The Padres are excited to return to Mexico and play in the first regular season series in Mexico City in MLB history,” said San Diego CEO Erik Greupner. “We are fortunate to have a loyal and passionate fan base in Mexico, and it will be an honor to showcase our team in Mexico’s capital city at the beautiful new ballpark built by and named after Padres minority owner Alfredo Harp Helú.”

“It will be an honor to represent Major League Baseball, as well as San Francisco, at historic Mexico City for the first time ever,” said Giants President and CEO Larry Baer. “We look forward to bringing the Giants and Padres rivalry to a passionate sports fan base and it will be a great opportunity to introduce the Giants to an international audience to further develop new fans across all of Mexico.”

MEXICO BLANKS COLOMBIA, 1-0 FOR FIRST CS WIN

  A standout start by Wilmer Rios and a solo homer from Felix Perez formed the keynotes in Mexico’s 1-0 shutout victory over Colombia Sunday in the 2022 Caribbean Series in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. The win was Mexico’s first after suffering losses in the first two days playing in the Crown Jewel of Latin Baseball at Estadio Quisqueya Juan Marichal.

Rios tossed 6.2 innings of scoreless ball, allowing just three hits and no walks while striking out five batsmen. He was followed on the mound by relievers Enrique Burgos (1.1 IP) and Roberto Osuna (1 IP) as the latter recorded the save with a one-hit ninth, striking out Mauricio Ramirez swinging to end a contest that took just two hours, 37 minutes to play.

The lone run of the ballgame came in the bottom of the second inning when Perez lined a 2-2 Porifirio Lopez pitch to right, as the ball cleared the fence by inches over the head of Colombian rightfielder Harold Ramirez. Neither team bothered the scorekeeper much as a combined nine hits were recorded. Besides Perez’ longball, Mexico received a pair of singles from leadoff batter Jose Juan Aguilar and one-baggers from Esteban Quiroz and Dario Alvarez. Quiroz and Alvarez also stole bases but Perez was the only Mexican batter to go beyond second base. Rios earned the win while Lopez was tagged with the loss for Colombia, who had won their first two games in their third appearance in the Serie del Caribe going into Sunday’s tilt.

Mexico’s opener was a 3-2 tripleheader nightcap loss against the hosts last Friday. The Dominicans were designated the “away” team and opened the scoring in the top of the first inning when Hanser Alberto stroked a triple and later came in on a Robinson Cano groundout. The Mexicans evened the score in the bottom of the first after Japhet Amador lined a two-out single to left and plated Joey Meneses. A sharply hit single by Meneses brought in Quiroz to give Mexico a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the third, but that would be the last run they’d record off starter Tyler Alexander and seven relievers. The Dominicans regained the advantage for good in the top of the seventh when Alberto’s Texas Leaguer to center field off reliever Tyler Wilson scored Moises Sierra and a Cano singleoff Samuel Zazueta brought Jose Siri in with the go-ahead run. Quiroz and Amador each singled and doubled for manager Roberto Vizcarra’s side but Mexico left nine runners on base as Brennan Bernardino’s good start (5.1 IP, 1 R, 4 H, 4K) went for naught.

Mexico dropped to 0-2 in the Caribbean Series on Saturday after a 5-0 shutout loss to Venezuela. Starter Manny Barreda gave up three runs in the third as Danry Vasquez doubled in Cade Gotta and Niuman Romero followed by an RBI single from Balbino Fuenmayor scored Vasquez. Barreda was replaced by Alemao Hernandez, who promptly plunked Pablo Sandoval but got the last two outs to end the frame. Venezuela scored once in the fifth when Sandoval scored on a Gabriel Noriega single and got a final run in the sixth when Sandoval homered down the right field line on a full-count pitch from David Gutierrez. Barreda took the loss for Mexico, who had just four hits, including a Fernando Perez double, and went 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position. Yohander Mendez tossed five innings of one-hit ball (a first-inning single by Meneses) to earn the win for the Venezuelans.

With two days of first-round tripleheaders left, the unbeaten Dominicans have clinched a berth in Wednesday’s semifinals while winless Puerto Rico will need to win their final two games to even have a shot at the Final Four. Mexico’s 1-2 record has them tied for fourth with Panama going into games against Puerto Rico on Monday and Panama on Tuesday.

CARIBBEAN SERIES FIRST ROUND STANDINGS

Dominican Republic 3-0, Colombia 2-1, Venezuela 2-1, MEXICO 1-2, Panama 1-2, Puerto Rico 0-3.
REMAINING SCHEDULE (ALL TIMES LOCAL)

MONDAY, Jan. 31: Venezuela at Panama (10:30AM), Mexico at Puerto Rico (3:00PM), Dominican Republic at Colombia (8:00PM).

TUESDAY, Feb. 1: Colombia at Puerto Rico (10:30AM), Panama at Mexico (3:00PM), Venezuela at Dominican Republic (8:00PM)

WEDNESDAY, Feb. 2: Semifinal A - 3rd place at 2nd place (3:30PM), Semifinal B - 4th place at 1st place (8:00PM).

THURSDAY, Feb. 3: Winner Semifinal A vs. Winner Semifinal B (7:00PM).

JUAN CASTRO TO MANAGE DIABLOS ROJOS IN 2022

The Mexico CIty Red Devils of Mexico have named Juan Gabriel Castro as manager for the upcoming Mexican League season.

In seeking their 17th title in team history, the Diablos are handing the reins to Castro, who appeared in 17 seasons as a player in the Major Leagues during a 21-year career as an infielder and later managed in both the LMB and the Mexican Pacific League He also led the Mexican National Team to a Premier12 tournament qualification for last summer’s Olympic Games before being unceremoniously dumped in favor of Benji Gil weeks before the team was due to fly to Tokyo after criticizing Mexico’s CONADE national sports commission and head Ana Guevara (a political ally of president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador) for lack of financial or logistical support. Mexico was winless in four games under Gil.

“I am grateful for coming to this organization,” Castro said at a press conference at Estadio Alfredo Harp Helu. “Yes, there were several proposals (from other teams) and in the end I came here to the Devils because it is a serious organization and has very good prestige and great principles, which are also in accordance with my principles. I really want to work, we come to add and we will do everything possible to bring the title to Mexico City.”

Castro comes from the Philadelphia Phillies organization, with whom he spent three years under manager Joe Girardi until his contract expired last October. The49-year-old Los Mochis native has been a coach in MLB with the Los Angeles Dodgers for skipper Dave Roberts before leaving that post for an ill-fated front office stint with the Tijuana Toros de Tijuana in 2018, where he was never given a clearly defined role (and was even going to manage the team at one point) before he parted company with the Uribe family and their team on less than amicable terms. He’s also managed winterball teams in Obregon, Mexicali and Hermosillo.

“The main message is 'we want to be champions,” added Castro. “The important thing is that we all work as a team to be able to achieve the goal we want, which is the title. One way of working with the players is to try to make everyone happy, but something that has worked for me and that I have done with the boys is respect: respect towards themselves, towards their teammates, towards baseball.”

With this appointment, work will begin on the construction of the Diablos coaching staff, where candidates will be interviewed while some current coaches will be kept on the staff. Similarly, it was confirmed that Miguel Ojeda, who managed the Diablos to first place in the South Division with a 41-23 record before losing to Yucatan in five games for the LMB South championship series, remains in the organization. 

Ojeda was named manager of the team after a front-office purge last year, replacing Sergio Gastelum (who was brought in from Oaxaca to run the team for the canceled 2020 season and let go last spring before ever managing a game in Mexico City). Gastelum was replacing Victor Bojorquez, who managed the Diablos to a 69-49 record and first place in the LMB South in 2019 before losing to Yucatan in four straight in the division finals. The more things change…

MAESTROS OF MEXICO: Houston Jimenez, SS (1974-2000)

Houston Jimenez was a top-notch shortstop in both the Mexican and Mexican Pacific Leagues who spent all or part of four seasons playing major league ball with three teams during a 25-year playing career before embarking on a managerial career that saw him manage seven clubs in twelve seasons.

Alfonso “Houston” Jimenez was born October 30, 1957 in Navojoa, Sonora.  Nicknamed as a child after a TV Western character, Jimenez broke into the Mexican League with the Puebla Angeles in 1974, batting .212 in 20 games as a 16-year-old. Despite his low average, he did well enough to be signed by the Chicago Cubs, who assigned the 5’8” 144-pounder to their Class A Key West affiliate in the Florida State League. After hitting just .212 for Key West, Jimenez returned to Puebla in 1976 and went on to play five seasons with the Angeles, topping the .300 mark in 1977 (.303) and 1979 (.305). He signed with Minnesota in 1981 and went on to play in the United States for the next twelve seasons.

Jimenez made his big league debut on June 13, 1983 with the Twins and ended that campaign with a .174 average in 36 games. In 1984, he had his best shot as a major leaguer, batting a career-high .201 in 108 games for the Twins. Jimenez later had cups of coffee with Pittsburgh and Cleveland and posted a career .185 average in 158 MLB games.

Jimenez returned to the Mexican League in 1993 with Campeche and also played for Saltillo, Mexico City and Quintana Roo over seven seasons.  He was a much better hitter south of the border, topping .300 two more times in the Nineties (with a career-best .337 for the Saraperos in 1995).  In all, Houston had a lifetime average of .282 over 13 Liga seasons, including four .300+ campaigns. Never a power hitter, the 6’1” 185-pounder hit 41 career homers.

Jimenez was an effective hitter over 25 winters in the Mexican Pacific League between 1975 and 2000.  He batted .259 with 73 homers, and is third on the MexPac’s all-time list in both runs scored (754) and hits (1339).  He is second to Hector Espino with 230 career doubles, and his 209 stolen bases trail only Matias Carrillo.

During the 1999 Liga season, his last full year as a player, Jimenez was manager-shortstop for Saltillo. He hit .299 as the Seraperos finished first in the Northern Division with a 74-45 record before reaching the playoff semifinals. Jimenez has gone on to manage seven teams for all or part of 12 seasons, leading Puebla to the Serie del Rey in 2010 and 2014. His teams posted an aggregate 735-584 mark through his last year as a dugout boss in 2018 with Tabasco.

Houston Jimenez, who turned 74 last October 30, was elected to Mexico’s Salon de la Fama in 2007 and the Caribbean Baseball Hall of Fame in 2013.

OSUNA DOMINANT WITH DIABLOS, EYES RETURN TO MLB

Mexico City closer Roberto Osuna

    Former MLB All-Star relief pitcher Roberto Osuna has made the most of what he hopes will be a short stay in the Mexican League this year. Heading into the weekend, the 26-year-old righthander had yet to allow an earned run on seven hits over twelve appearances for the Mexico City Diablos Rojos, winning one game and saving six more while striking out twelve batters and walking none in 12.1 innings of work.

    While much of that was undone by one awful outing on Saturday night against Guadalajara, in which Osuna gave up three runs in one-third of one inning (including homers by Jesse Castillo and Anthony Garcia) and took the loss in a 6-3 defeat at the hands of the visiting Mariachis, the Sinaloa native appears to be back from an elbow injury that derailed his 2020 season with the Houston Astros and may be back in Major League Baseball sooner rather than later.

    Osuna has been a big part of the Diablos' strong start to the 2021 season as Mexico City leads the LMB South with a 22-15 record, although they've dropped five games in a row after being swept at home by the Mariachis over the weekend. Red Devils manager Miguel Ojeda, himself a former major league catcher, thinks it's just a matter of time before an MLB organization brings Osuna back across the border. “He's shown that he's healthy and ready to return,” says Ojeda. “It's just a matter of days and I think he's going to be back in the major leagues. We talk a lot and he tells me he has two real offers.”

    The 6'2” 217-pounder spent six seasons in the big leagues with Toronto and Houston, posting a 14-18 record with 155 saves to go along with a 2.74 ERA in 314 appearances. Osuna was chosen for the 2017 All-Star Game while with the Blue Jays and led the American League with 39 saves as the Astros closer, appearing with Houston in that season's World Series. While an alleged domestic violence incident that never went to trial resulted in a 75-game suspension to close the door on his time in Toronto before being traded in 2018, Osuna headed into the 2020 campaign as a 25-year-old star with one year left on his contract for $10 million and a strong future seemingly ahead of him.

    Instead, Osuna came down with pitching elbow miseries, appearing in only four games before being shut down for the campaign in August. The Astros recommended Tommy John surgery, but Osuna refused and the team placed him on waivers after the season, making him a free agent. When a showcase in the Dominican Republic drew no offers, he signed a one-year contract with the Diablos, the team he made his pro debut with in 2011 at age 16.

    Now that he's showing signs that his arm is recovered, Osuna says he's going to concentrate on getting the job done in Mexico City until an acceptable offer from an MLB organization is made. “I do have a couple of offers out there which I'm still analyzing to see which is the best one,” he said at a press conference last week. “My priority is to stay healthy because I know what I'm capable of when I'm healthy. I've been enjoying every day being with the Diablos and my goal is to help as much as I can.” He added that he'd enjoy pitching for Mexico and Benji Gil at the Summer Olympics in Tokyo if that opportunity arrives.

    The Diablos' recent tailspin has allowed Yucatan to pull to within a half-game at 21-15. The Leones have gone 7-4 since Geronimo Gil was fired last month and have yet to announce the ex-MLBer's replacement. It's assumed that bench coach Chico Rodriguez, a Salon de la Fama member hired the day Gil was canned, is calling the shots, but who knows? Puebla is one game behind the Diablos in third place with a 21-16 mark while Veracruz is right behind in fourth at 21-17. With six teams per division reaching the playoffs this year, there's a spirited three-way battle for the final two LMB South berths between Tabasco (18-20) and both Leon and Quintana Roo (18-21 each).

Bartolo Colon now tied for LMB wins lead

   The LMB North is a two-team race right now, with 26-9 Guadalajara one game ahead of 27-12 Tijuana. Saltillo has won eight of their last ten games to pull into a tie with defending champion Monclova, four games behind the Mariachis with identical 24-15 records. Dos Laredos (17-21) is in fifth place while Laguna (16-20) is sixth. Monterrey (15-21), where expectations are high, continues to struggle. The Sultanes have already brought back third baseman Augie Murillo from de facto farm team Leon (the two clubs are co-owned by Grupo Multimedios) and it would no be out of the question that Monterrey could engineer another player swap with the Bravos to bolster their roster.

    Bartolo Colon's comeback continued as the former Cy Young winner by picking up his fifth win for Monclova last week, tying him with Guadalajara's Masaru Nakamura for the LMB lead. The 48-year-old Colon has tossed a league-leading 50.1 innings over eight starts, striking out 34 while walking just nine batters. Former Mariners minor league reliever Rafael Pineda has been converted to a starter with Union Laguna and the former Texas A&M hurler has a 2.31 ERA after seven starts to lead all qualifying pitchers. Aguascalientes' Erick Leal (3-1, 4.22) ranks first with 43 strikeouts in 32 innings, or 12.1 per nine innings for the former Cubs farmhand. Tijuana closer Fernando Rodney, who saved 318 games in 17 MLB seasons (ranking 18^th all-time), now leads the Mexican League in salvados with 11. The 44-year-old Rodney has struck out 20 over 18 innings while lowering his ERA to 1.00 for the Toros.

    Four players are still batting above .400, led by Saltillo's Henry Urrutia at .439. Xavier Batista, who came to Leon in the Murillo trade is tops with 13 homers (all hit during his 25 games for the Bravos after hitting none over 13 games with the Sultanes). Batista belted 62 homers over 261 games for Hiroshima in NPB between 2017 and 2019. Tijuana's Leandro Castro is ten RBIs ahead of his nearest competitor with 48 RBIs and Toros teammate Isaac Rodriguez (a .407 batter) leads with 15 stolen bases.

WRITER ACCUSES DE LA VEGA, CONADE OF CONFLICT OF INTEREST

Lopez Obrador, Pasquel and de la Vega

   Mexican League president Horacio de la Vega is finding himself embroiled in another controversy. According to Alejandra Crail of the EME/EQUIS digital news site, a fledgling company in which the former two-time Olympic pentathlete is majority owner was awarded a no-bid contract worth almost 11 million pesos by the federal Commission of Physical Culture and Sports. CONADE is headed by another ex-Olympian, Ana Guevara, who represented Mexico in the 2000 Sydney Summer Games as a track athlete along with de la Vega.

    De la Vega's company, Hype Fund, was formed in May 2019, six months after being replaced as director of Mexico City's Sports Institute (INDEPORTE), a job he'd held for six years, to succeed Javier Salinas as president of the LMB. Hype Fund received a contract of 10.994 million pesos to refurbish a pavilion at the National Center for Development of Talent and High Performance (CNAR) in which basketball, volleyball and team handball are played, including replacing vinyl flooring on a multisport playing surface and installing a portable wooden basketball court.

    The contract, which was the highest awarded by CONADE in 2020, was signed at approximately the same time it was announced that the Mexican League had awarded Veracruz an expansion team for this year at a ceremony in the National Palace overseen by Mexican president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and attended by de la Vega along with representatives of both new franchises in Veracruz and Guadalajara, including Aguilas owner Bernardo Pasquel (pictured above). A related story in Proceso says the Veracruz team fulfilled a campaign promise by AMLO to facilitate the return of the Mexican League to the port city.

    In her EME/EQUIS story, Crail says the contract “represents a conflict of interest given the closeness that exists between Horacio de la Vega and Ana Guevara, director of CONADE, as well as with President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, with whom de la Vega has close relationships.” Guevara was appointed by AMLO shortly after he took office in late 2018 to serve as CONADE's executive director, a position de la Vega had been considered for prior to his selection and LMB president.

    The CONADE contract represents the only such deal between Hype Fund and a federal or local governmental entity, although the company has also inked a pact to represent the MONDO sports flooring of Italy. MONDO presumably will play a role in replacing the playing surfaces at the CNAR facility in Mexico City, which was opened in 2006 by former Mexican president and houses over 500 young athletes in several sports.

Pavilion due for Hype Sports renovation

    In an interview with EME/EQUIS, de la Vega denied that his role as a supporter has opened doors for him to obtain contracts with the AMLO administration. “It has nothing to do with it, I openly tell you. The government people have no idea that I am the legal representative. There is a work team that does it...I do not influence it at all and there is no relationship. We are all trying to work on various things, to make our way.

    “I was fortunate that they hired me in some other places: the Pan American Games in Lima as general advisor, in Chile, and then I brought the representation of MONDO in Mexico, which is a most important sports equipment company, characterized by making the running tracks from Montreal 76. You scrub and work your best. There is no relationship between these situations.”

    De la Vega is also one of three people facing criminal complaint charges from the mayor in Mexico City borough Iztalcalco of “fraudulant administration” stemming from his leadership at the National Sports Institute between 2013 and 2018, including allegations that he awarded contracts far exceeding the value of work done on projects within the Sports City complex.

    Among those were construction of an artificial lake for 15 million pesos to be used for swimming, diving and water skiing. The lake, which displaced five soccer fields and four basketball courts, is currently inoperative. In all, de La Vega and former Mexico City mayor Miguel Angel Mancera are rumored to have privatized 70 percent of the Sports City complex with no appreciable benefit to the government that owns it.

RAMOS SUFFERS SPINAL INJURY, RELEASED BY KBO TEAM

Roberto Ramos is out in South Korea

    After last year's standout Korea Baseball Organization debut with the LG Twins, Roberto Ramos has seen his 2021 KBO season cut short after suffering an injury to fifth spinal nerve in his lower back. The Hermosillo native had been struggling in his second season with the Twins, but was still reportedly under consideration as a first baseman for the Mexican Olympic Team in Tokyo later this summer.

    Ramos was hurt on Tuesday, June 8 in Seoul during the eighth inning of a game against the NC Dinos. While fielding a grounder hit in the hole between first and second by the Dinos' Lee Myung-ki, according to South Korea's News1, Ramos wrenched his back when he attempted to throw the ball to first base to beat Lee to the bag.

    Ramos was pulled from the game and did not appear again in the Twins lineup up to his June 29 release by the Twins, who two days earlier signed former Marlins first sacker Justin Bour, who hit .213 with six homers in 33 games for AAA Sacramento this year before the parent San Francisco Giants released him from his contract so he could play in Korea.

    It was a frustrating end to a frustrating season for Ramos, who was batting .243 with eight roundtrippers and 25 RBIs in 51 games for the Twins this year. The former Rockies minor leaguer had gone 2-for-4 in the game against the Dinos before getting hurt and went 2-for-3 with a homer and three RBIs two nights before against the KIA Tigers to raise his average 13 points over his last two games.

    In 2020, Ramos burst on the KBO scene by swatting 38 longballs to shatter the Twins' previous single-season record of 30 homers by Lee Byung-kyu in 1999 while topping Karim Garcia's old standard for Mexicans playing in Korea of 30 homers. Garcia set the mark in 2008 with the Lotte Giants.

    Ramos' performance translated to a large raise from the Twins in 2021 after he'd explored playing in Japan, where salaries are higher. After being paid a reported $500,000 last year, Ramos came to terms with the Twins for a $600,000 salary plus a $200,000 signing bonus and performance incentives that would have paid up to another $200,000.

    Instead, the former College of the Canyons star (who hit 62 homers over his last two seasons in the Rockies system before heading overseas) is now a free agent. There's a chance Ramos will play an eighth Mexican Pacific League season for hometown Hermosillo Naranjeros this winter after some rehab time but for now, the 6'3” 220-pound free agent is weighing his options.