LAGUNA P DE LA CRUZ DIES AT 37 OF HEART ATTACK

De la Cruz in his 2019 All-Star form

    A former Major League Baseball pitcher who represented the Union Laguna Algodoneros in the 2019 Mexican League All-Star game died Sunday, March 14 of an apparent heart attach at home in his native Santo Domingo, Domincan Republic. Eulogio “Frankie” de la Cruz had turned 37 years old two days earlier.

    De la Cruz was signed as an 18-year-old by Detroit in 2002 and assigned to the Tigers' Gulf Coast League affiliate in Lakeland, Florida that summer. He was a reliever his first three years in the Detroit system (saving 17 games for West Michigan of the Midwest League in 2004) before splitting time between the starting rotation and bullpen by the time he made his MLB debut for the Tigers in 2007, making six relief appearances. According to de la Cruz, that was when he got his nickname because Detroit manager Jim Leyland couldn't pronounce “Eulogio” and started calling him “Frankie” instead.

    De la Cruz was one of six players traded to the Marlins the following offseason for Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis. He made his lone big league start for Florida against San Francisco at home on May 25, 2008, giving up two runs on two hits in three innings during a 5-4 Marlins win. He was sent down to AAA Albuquerque shortly after that and was named the Pacific Coast League's Pitcher of the Week as a starter in June.

    The 5'11” righty went on to appear with San Diego in 2009, pitched in Japan with the NPB Yakult Swallows in 2010 and was a reliever for Milwaukee in 2011. In 26 MLB games, de la Cruz had a 0-0 record and an 8.16 ERA over 32 innings.

    De la Cruz resumed his globetrotting ways by playing in Asia again in 2012 (going 3-1 for the Uni-President Lions of Taiwan's CPBL), made his LMB debut with Monterrey in 2014 and turned in a 4-3 record in 12 starts for the Sultanes and then went to Italy in 2016 to pitch for Nettuno (3-4, 2.65 ERA).

   De la Cruz then spent the next three summers in the Mexican League, posting an aggregate 20-18 record for Saltillo, Mexico City and Union Laguna while appearing in the 2017 and 2019 All-Star Games. In the latter year, he won the Algodoneros' pitching triple crown by leading the team with six wins, 92 strikeouts and a 4.91 ERA on a team that allowed 8.05 earned runs per game and finished 37-79.

    Although he usually spent his winters pitching in the Liga Dominicana, de la Cruz did pitch one Mexican Pacific League game for Jalisco in 2014-15 and started seven games for Mexicali (3-1, 4.65) in 2018-19. He spent the last two seasons with the LiDom's Este Toros, turning in an 0-1 record and 2.35 last winter in seven appearances (with one start). The Toros won the pennant in 2019-20 but de la Cruz did not pitch in the Caribbean Series in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

    The Algodoneros had hoped to bring de la Cruz back to Torreon this summer but there were reportedly “some immigration procedures” to hurdle before he could return to the Estadio Revolucion mound in 2021 after missing all of last year's canceled season. He would've been reunited with Union Laguna manager Omar Malave, who was de la Cruz' winterball skipper in Venezuela with Magallenes during the 2017-18 season.

THIRD LMB PRESEASON TOURNAMENT SET FOR YUCATAN

    A third Mexican League preseason tournament has been scheduled on the heels of similar four-team events in San Luis Potosi and Puebla. The Copa Maya is slated to be played between May 13 and 16 at Merida's Parque Kukulcan, home of the Yucatan Leones. The Leones will be joined by the Quintana Roo Tigres, Campeche Piratas and Tabasco Olmecas in the four-day tournament.

    The Copa Maya will be the culmination of a larger effort during which the four clubs will form what they're calling the Southeast League (or Liga Sureste). The LMB South rivals will play each other in an 11-game miniseason with single evening contests between April 29 and May 12 at each other's home ballparks.

    The Copa Maya will feature day/night doubleheaders between Thursday, May 13 and Saturday, May 15, with games scheduled for 12PM and 7PM. The event will wrap up with two games on Sunday, May 16: A 12PM contest for third place followed by a 7PM title for the championship. Seeding for the final day will be determined by team record compiled during all Liga Sureste and Copa Maya matches up until then.

    Games will include typical training camp rosters of established players, foreigners and prospects. Two of the four teams will be playing under new managers. Former pitching great Francisco “Pancho Ponches” Campos will be Campeche's dugout boss, replacing Jesus Sommers, while Tabasco has brought in veteran skipper Pedro Mere filling out the lineup cards to take Ramon Orantes' place. Adan Munoz will be back for his first full season running the Tigres (he took the place of the fired Jesus Sommers in early 2019, with Sommers sliding over to take the Campeche job later that season) and Geronimo Gil will likewise be opening his first preseason with Yucatan after replacing Luis Carlos Rivera in June 2019.

    Now that there are the San Luis Potosi Cup (Aguascalientes, Durango, Guadalajara, Leon and Monterrey), Battle of Legends (Mexico City, Oaxaca, Puebla and Veracruz) and the Copa Mayo (Campeche, Quintana Roo, Tabasco and Yucatan) on the docket, that leaves the defending champion Monclova Acereros, Saltillo Saraperos and Tijuana Toros as the only Liga teams without a preseason tournament of their own. Give them time.

Mayan Cup Schedule (Kukulcán Park, Merida)

Parque Kukulcan, Merida

Thursday, May 13th
Yucatan Lions vs Campeche Pirates, 12 pm
Tabasco Olmecs vs Quintana Roo Tigres, 7pm

Friday, May 14
Campeche Piratas vs Quintana Roo Tigres, 12 pm
Tabasco Olmecas vs Yucatán Leones, 7pm

Saturday, May 15
Tabasco Olmecas vs Campeche Piratas, 12 pm
Quintana Roo Tigres vs Yucatán Leones, 7pm

Sunday, May 16
4th place vs 3rd place, 12 pm
2nd place vs 1st place, 7pm

LMP MVP SEBASTIAN ELIZALDE SIGNS WITH METS

2020-21 Mex Pac MVP Sebastian Elizalde

   Culiacan Tomateros rightfielder Sebastian Elizalde has signed a minor league contract with the New York Mets for the second year in a row. The 29-year-old Guaymas native, who was named Most Valuable Player for the Mexican Pacific League this winter, has been assigned to Class AA Binghamton and expects to report to the Mets' spring training complex in Port St. Lucie, Florida next month. He'd been slated to open the 2020 season with Binghamton before the pandemic led to all affiliated minor league baseball to cancel their seasons.

    That the Mets have assigned the veteran flychaser to their AA affiliate is somewhat curious because Elizalde had previously spent all or part of two seasons at AAA Louisville during his five-year stint in the Reds organization. After being an organizational All-Star in 2014 and playing in the 2015 Florida State League All-Star Game, Elizalde hit .297 with five homers for AA Pensacola in 2016 before putting up a .277 average and swatting eight longballs for Louisville in his AAA debut season of 2017. He then hit .254 with a pair of roundtrippers in 21 games in 2018 before the Bats loaned him to Monterrey for the rest of the year.

    Elizalde was no stranger to the Sultanes, for whom he made his professional debut in 2010 at age 18. He went 1-for-3 over 11 games with Monterrey while playing mostly as a defensive substitute in left field. After playing sparingly for the Sultanes the next two summers, Elizalde's contract was sold to Cincinnati early in the 2013 season and he was assigned to the Reds' Arizona Rookie League affiliate and placed on the 60-day disabled list twice, ending the campaign for him. He began his career north of the border with Class A Dayton in 2014 and worked his way up to Louisville over the next four years.

Elizalde as a Reds farmhand

   More polished when he returned to Monterrey, Elizalde hit. 297 and .333 with a combined 12 homers and 46 RBIs in 75 games over the two shortened 2018 seasons as the Sultanes defeated Oaxaca in the Serie del Rey to cop the Fall 2018 pennant under manager Roberto Kelly after falling to Yucatan in the Spring championship series. The six-foot, 190-pounder saw limited action with Monterrey in 2019, batting .319 with one homer and eight RBIs over 39 games. His LMB rights remain with the Sultanes.

    “El Predator” has experienced more stability playing winterball, where he has played ten seasons in the Mex Pac (five for Hermosillo, five for Culiacan). He's done well since becoming a regular for the Naranjeros in 2014-15 and gone on to bat .293 with 39 homers in 404 LMP regular season games. During his recently-concluded MVP season for the Tomateros, he batted .282 and was among the league leaders in doubles (13), homers (11), stolen bases (12) and RBIs (45). He's also represented Mexico in the last two Caribbean Series and gone 9-for-37 (.243) at the plate with a homer and five RBIs over 10 games.

MEXICAN LEAGUE: AUGUST 7 OPENER, 12-TEAM PLAYOFF

Baseball to return to Uni-Trade Stadium, Laredo

The Mexican League announced last week that they will play a shortened season of 48 games per team beginning Friday, August 7, followed by a postseason in October and November that will include a record 12 teams. Unlike other leagues, LMB teams will not play behind closed doors.

The decision, which was unanimous among the LMB's 16 teams, was released by the Liga's Mexico City office last Thursday. After the August 8 openers, teams will play six games per week for eight weeks before concluding the regular season on Thursday, October 1. Games will be limited to teams within their respective eight-team divisions, meaning no LMB North teams will face their LMB South counterparts until the Serie del Rey. Since a 48-game schedule does not balance out among seven competitors, it may be assumed that each team will face one "rival" two extra series for a total of 12 games over four series, as opposed to six games over home-and-away series with the remaining divisional opponents. There will be no All-Star Game, which had originally been schedule for June 14 in Monclova.

The Mexican League playoffs will commence Saturday, October 3, two days after the regular season concludes with six of eight teams in each division being given a berth. The LMB has not announced a format for their postseason. There may be a possibility that the Liga could adopt the Mexican Pacific League's old "Lucky Loser" system, in which the first round loser with the most wins in their series advances to the second round along with the three winners. That system was discarded after several seasons by the LMP last winter after the loop expanded to ten teams with eight advancing to the playoffs. Another possibility is that the top two teams in each division earn a first-round bye with the remaining four teams playing for the two remaining slots in the division semifinals, but it's all speculation at this point.

Estadio Monterrey could be crowded in October

However the format turns out, the Serie del Rey is scheduled to begin on Monday, November 2, with Game Seven (if needed) slated for Tuesday, November 10 in what will be the latest season in LMB history. The Mexican Pacific League announced Saturday that if the LMB ends up canceling their season, which is still possible, they would go ahead with their planned season opener on Monday, October 13. If the LMB does play into November, however, the Mex Pac will delay their season opener several weeks for THEIR latest start ever. In announcing his league's options, LMP president Omar Canizales did not outline how their regular season and playoff schedules would be altered.

The situation could create an even tighter player crunch than had been anticipated due to the Wuhan virus. Concerns are that players in the United States might take the winter off instead of venture south of the border, where the virus is still very much a concern. A real scheduling logjam may occur in Monterrey, where the MLB Sultanes may still be playing in the postseason at the same time their LMP namesake begins their regular season, with only one ballpark between them.

The two leagues appear to be taking different courses as to whether they will play in empty ballparks. Canizales has said the Mex Pac is considering going that route in response to safety concerns, but the LMB announced they WILL open their stadia to fans. The latter decision is economically based, since many financially-struggling Liga teams are dependent on revenue from ticket sales, concessions, merchandise and ballpark display ads to survive because the LMB has no large media contracts to share among its member franchises. The league has developed a so-called "Diamond Plan," based on WBSC guidelines and administered by federal health authorities, to maximize safety among players, coaches, umpires and fans during games.

HERMOSILLO NATIVE RAMOS TEARING UP LOOP IN KBO DEBUT

Roberto Ramos is the talk of Korean baseball

After six years of slowly working his way up the ladder in the Colorado Rockies system, including a big season for Albuquerque during his AAA debut in 2019, Roberto Ramos is making the most of his first year playing ball in South Korea, where his bat has attracted more attention than usual due to the paucity of baseball outside Asia.

A 25-year-old native of Hermosillo, Sonora, Ramos has worn Korea Baseball Organization pitchers out to the tune of a .375 batting average with 10 homers and 21 RBIs over his first 23 games with the LG Twins of Seoul. He stroked two doubles and drawing a walk over four plate appearances in his May 5 KBO debut against their in-house rivals Doosan Bears (the two teams share the 25,553-seat Jamsil Stadium) to begin an eight-game-hitting streak. Ramos had a two-homer game May 10 against the NC Dinos and a walkoff grand slam May 24 to defeat the KT Wiz, drawing global attention as the KBO and Taiwan's Chinese Professional Baseball League are the only two circuits in the world currently playing regular season games. Through Sunday, Ramos led the KBO in homers by three longballs, was tied for fourth in RBIs and stood fourth in batting average.

The 6'3" 220-pounder was Colorado's 16th Round draft pick in 2014 out of College of the Canyons in Santa Clarita, California. He struggled that summer while splitting time with the Rockies' Class A Tri-Cities and Rookie Grand Junction farm teams, hitting a combined .213 with three homers in 39 games. However, he started regaining his stroke with Class A Asheville (.341 with 10 homers in 42 games) in 2015 and began climbing the organization's ladder. Ramos socked 32 homers playing for both Class A Lancaster and Class AA Hartford affiliates in 2018, but he really found his groove last summer with Albuquerque in the Pacific Coast League, abusing pitchers to the tune of a .309 average with 30 homers and 105 RBIs in 122 games for the Dukes.

After six years in the minors, Ramos accrued 98 roundtrippers and 349 ribbies to augment a .292 average in 496 outings, playing in All-Star Games in both the California League and PCL. Even so, he was released by the Rockies off the Albuquerque roster in January and sold his contract to the Twins, who gave him $300,000 (including a $50,000 signing bonus) for 2020. Thus far, he's been worth every won LG has paid him.

Ramos hits a grand slam for Hermosillo in 2016

Interestingly, while he's shown a potent bat in the American minor leagues and the KBO, Ramos has not enjoyed a lot of success at the plate playing winterball with his hometown Hermosillo Naranjeros. The lefty slugger, who plays both first base and the outfield, has batted just .220 in five Mexican Pacific League campaigns with the Orangemen, including a .230 average last winter under then-manager Vinny Castilla (himself a longtime Rockies star who still works in Colorado's front office). In fairness, Ramos has seen limited action in the Mex Pac (his 48 games in 2019-20 the most he's played in the circuit's 68-game regular season) and he has knocked out 14 homers over 145 contests in the pitching-dominated league.

Now Ramos is drawing notice for his bat work in South Korea, including among Rockies fans he left behind. One of them is Noah Yingling, who wrote on the Roxpile.com website, "While he was never a top prospect in the Colorado Rockies organization, they should have held on to Roberto Ramos." Yingling posted those now-prophetic words on May 6, the morning after Ramos' KBO debut.

MONCLOVA SIGNEE COLON WANTS BACK IN MLB, EVEN AS BATBOY

Bartolo Colon (c) at Monclova press conference

Although he is under contract to pitch for the Mexican League Monclova Acereros should their season start on August 7 as planned, Bartolo Colon told an ESPN reporter that he wants to return to Major League Baseball, even as a batboy. "If any major league team wants an old man," Colon told Marly Rivera in May, "I'm available." Colon turned 47 on May 24.

A native of the Dominican Republic, Colon posted a career 247-188 record over 21 MLB seasons, pitching in four All-Star Games and one World Series while winning the American League's Cy Young Award in 2005 after going 21-8 for the Los Angeles Angels, who copped the AL West title and reached the second round of the playoffs that year. Colon finished among the top six in CYA balloting three other seasons. His last year in MLB was in 2018, when he went 7-12 with a 5.78 ERA in 28 games (24 starts) for the Texas Rangers, who finished last in the AL West and granted Colon free agency after the season. He did not pitch in 2019.

Amid great fanfare, Colon signed a one-year deal in February with Monclova and was expected to be in the starting rotation for manager Pat Listach's defending LMB champions, who also signed former Cleveland outfielder Rajai Davis the same week. The man nicknamed "Big Sexy" by former New York Mets teammate Noah Syndergaard reported for training camp in early March, telling gathered media, "I feel very happy and thank the organization for calling me." At the same press conference, Listach (a former American League Rookie of the Year) remarked, "Bartolo brings a lot of experience and a lot of victories. He knows how to win and he'll bring more wins to the Acereros."

Instead, training camps were halted weeks later by the Mexican League, who postponed their regular season after the Wuhan virus landed in the country after it looked for a while that the LMB might be able to play as scheduled. Colon, like all ballplayers, has been in a state of limbo ever since. "This situation with the pandemic is very difficult for everyone," he told Rivera. "I left all my stuff in Monclova and I told them I wanted to come back to play this season. But we'll all see what happens with the virus because it doesn't seem like this is going to end anytime soon."

Colon poses in t-shirt as a Mets pitcher

Colon did allow as how he would love to return to MLB one more time, with one team in particular. "If it was up to me, I would retire with the Mets," he said. "I would like my career to end in New York. I've played with eleven teams but with the Mets, the way all those players treated me, how that entire franchise treated me, from the front office to the kitchen staff, was amazing. I felt like all the players were a family and the support that the team and the fans gave me was great."

Although it's fairly likely the Acereros would prefer that Colon fulfill his contract with him, the corpulent right-hander says he's hoping to be back in the majors, even if it means a role outside pitching.

"I just want to go back to the big leagues," he maintains, "even if I'm just picking up bats."

Ex-Met Wally Backman to manage Monclova in 2017

Perhaps seeking similar results to what his Puebla Pericos had under former major leaguer Von Hayes, new Monclova owner Gerardo Benadives has named former MLB second baseman Wally Backman as the Acereros' manager for the upcoming 2017 Mexican League season.  The sale of the LMB franchise to Benavides was finalized earlier this month.  Multiple team owenerships are allowed in the Liga.

The Acereros reached the Liga's championship series in 2015, losing to Quintana Roo.  Monclova finished second in the LMB North last year with a 69-43 record before being swept by Tijuana in the first round of playoffs last summer under then-manager Homar Rojas, who will be managing in Aguascalientes in 2017.  The team also finished fourth in the LMB attendance derby in 2016, drawing 353,252 fans to 11,000-seat Estadio Beisbol de Monclova for an average of 6,423 per opening.  In short, the Acereros could be reasonably considered one of the Mexican League's better franchises.

Bringing Backman to Monclova appears to be a coup of sorts for Benavides.  After his 1993 retirement as a scrappy second baseman, Backman been successful as a minor league manager over 18 seasons in both independent and affiliated leagues, with ten winning seasons and three pennants: 1999 with Tri-City of the indy Western League, 2002 with Birmingham of the AA Southern League and 2007 with South Georgia in the indy South Coast League.  He was named The Sporting News Minor League Manager of the Year in 2004 after leading Class A Lancaster of the California League to an 86-54 regular season record (Puebla skipper Hayes managed Modesto to a league-best 90-50 mark that year).  The Oregon native has managed the Mets' AAA Las Vegas affiliate the past four seasons, winning the Pacific Coast League Manager of the Year award in 2014 after leading the 51's to the PCL South regular season title with an 81-63 record, nine games ahead of second-place El Paso, before a first-round playoff loss.  He's got a solid resume.

On the other hand, Backman brings some baggage across the border.  After he was named manager of the Arizona Diamondbacks on November 1, 2004, the New York Times ran a story depicting the former second sacker's legal and financial problems, including a 1996 restraining order filed against him by his first wife, a 2001 DUI arrest, an incident that same year involving his second wife and a friend that resulted in a misdemeanor harrassment plea, and a personal bankruptcy filing in 2003.  The Diamondbacks fired him five days after hiring him.  Backman went back to indy ball before signing on to manage in the Mets system in 2010, but was let go by the Mets after last season.  He's since accused Mets GM Sandy Alderson of blackballing him among organized baseball organizations, a charge others have denied but Backman says he learned of from a friend in MLB commissioner Rob Manfred's office.

Although he's said he's grateful to be managing the Acereros, Backman may view working in Mexico as a temporary situation.  Writer Bob Klapisch with USA Today's NorthJersey.com site says Backman (who speaks little Spanish) has let it be known he'd jump at an offer from an MLB organization, even if it meant breaking his commitment to the Acereros.  "I would take it in a minute," Backman is quoted as saying.  "What I'm worried about is being out of sight, out of mind.  If I go to Mexico, I'll be out of sight from the people I'm trying to connect with."

PEREZ GETS OKAY FROM METS TO PITCH FOR CULIACAN

Major league pitcher Oliver Perez has received a “thumbs up” from the New York Mets to pitch this winter for the Culiacan Tomateros. Perez had requested to be allowed to pitch for his hometown team after a rocky season with the Mets in which he was injured much of the year, ineffective when he did pitch for New York, and at one time refused a rehab assignment to AAA Buffalo (although he did later relent).

In 2011, the 29-year-old Perez will be entering the final year of a three-year, $36 million contract with the Mets signed after winning 25 games for the team between 2007 and 2008. Since then, he has gone 3-9 and pitched 112 innings (including an 0-4 record and 6.80 ERA in 2010). Speaking to LMB.com’s Gabriel Medina, Perez said, “I feel well, I have a positive mentality…my goal is to give 100 percent to Culiacan, to give the most possible and be safe so that things will be very different next year in the United States.”

Perez made his debut for the Tomateros on November 4, pitching a scoreless inning with two strikeouts in Mazatlan. He got roughed up for two runs in one frame two nights later against Los Mochis.

METS’ PEREZ HOPES TO PITCH IN CULIACAN

New York Mets pitcher Oliver Perez is seeking to pitch this winter in his hometown Culiacan. According to Andy Martino of the New York Daily News, the 29-year-old Perez has asked the Mets for permission to going to Mexico after a disastrous season in New York in which he went 0-4 with a 6.65 ERA in 46 innings and refused a May assignment to the minors. The lefty eventually took a trip to Buffalo but has been hampered by a knee injury all season.

Perez will be entering the final season of a three-year, $36 million contract that will pay him $12 million in 2011. His fastball has reportedly failed to register above the mid-80’s and that, along with his contract, has made him virtually untradeable. The Mets have thus far refused to release Perez and eat the remainder of his contract.

Perez won 25 games for the Mets in 2007 and 2008, but is only 3-8 the past two years.