ADRIAN GONZALEZ TO PLAY IN GUADALAJARA IN 2021?

Adrian Gonzalez wants to play in Olympics

     Former MLB All-Star first baseman Adrian Gonzalez is reportedly interested in playing for the expansion Guadalajara Mariachis this summer after not appearing in a game since 2018. Puro Beisbol editor Fernando Ballesteros cites sources as saying that “El Titan” has reached a verbal agreement to suit up for the Mexican League team and is training for the upcoming season with hopes of appearing for Mexico in the Tokyo Olympics.

    Gonzales, who was born in San Diego to Mexican parents and grew up on both sides of the border, was the first overall pick of the 2001 MLB draft by the Marlins out of Eastlake High School in suburban Chula Vista and went on to play 15 seasons in the big leagues. He played in five All-Star Games (representing three teams in both leagues), won four Gold Gloves at the initial hassock and reached the playoffs five times after his 2004 debut with the Rangers.

    However, after four strong seasons with the Dodgers between 2013 and 2016, Gonzalez' 2017 campaign was cut short by back problems and he landed with the Mets as a free agent in 2018, when he hit .237 with six homers in 54 games before being released on June 11 of that year. He hasn't played in a game since. Gonzalez' career MLB totals include a .287 batting average with 2,050 hits, 317 homers and 1,202 RBIs.

    Although he is not a Mexican by birth certificate, Gonzalez (who turns 39 on May 8) has represented the county in every World Baseball Classic since its 2006 inception while playing in a number of Caribbean Series with the Mexican Pacific League champions. Although Gonzalez has never played in the Mexican League, he played winterball for Mazatlan alongside brother Edgar in the LMP for several seasons.

    His past flirtation with returning to the Mex Pac as a member of the Jalisco Charros and his preference for the Mariachis as an LMB landing spot are both logical, given that wife Betsy is a Guadalajara native. Earlier news stories stating that Gonzalez was a partner in the LMB's other expansion team, the Veracruz Aguilas, have been denied, since playing for the Mariachis would create an obvious conflict of interest.

El Titan as prep star

    Guadalajara team president Rafael Tejeda has said he'd be happy to have the ex-MLB star on his roster. The club has not yet named a manager for the upcoming season, although Charros skipper Benji Gil's name has been floated in several media outlets, and Gonzalez has been mentioned as a possible player-manager. The LMB office frowns on such arrangements, however, and forced respected veteran Saul Soto to step down as manager in Aguascalientes to concentrate on his playing duties in recent years.

    Even if/when Gonzalez suits up for the Mariachis this year, his pathway to a berth on Mexico's Olympic roster will be a harder one to follow. Verdes Grande manager Juan Castro, who coached under Dave Roberts in Los Angeles when Gonzalez was a Dodgers player, has publicly stated that he already has several good options for first basemen (arguably Mexico's deepest position), including the likes of Efren Navarro, Matt Clark, Japhet Amador and Jesse Castillo. Castro stressed that Gonzalez' two-plus years away from the diamond and the LMB's late start may make it tougher for him to regain his timing at the plate in time for the Olympics, which begin in late July, two months after the Liga season opens.

    On the other hand, Mexican president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, a baseball lover who handpicked Edgar Gonzalez to oversee the PROBEIS organization, directly intervened to keep four Mexican League teams from shutting down in 2019, forced the Mexican Pacific League to expand into Guasave and Monterrey that year and was behind the LMB's addition of both Veracruz and Guadalajara this season. As long as AMLO occupies the national palace in Mexico City, baseball and politics south of the border will never be far apart.

FOUR LMB TEAMS TO PLAY “BATTLE OF LEGENDS” IN PUEBLA

Pericos to host preseason tourney

    In a virtual press conference from Estadio Alfredo Harp Helú in Mexico City, the Mexican League's Puebla Pericos, Veracruz Aguilas, Oaxaca Guerreros and Mexico City Diablos Rojos announced a "Battle of Legends" preseason tournament scheduled take place from May 11-16 at Estadio Hermanos Serdán in Puebla. The event will consist of six doubleheaders among the LMB South rivals, although there will be no championship game. All contests will be broadcast live on social media for all four teams.

    The Battle of Legends will be carried out following sanitary measures prescribed by authorities in accordance with Mexico's “traffic light” system of dealing with the ongoing pandemic. The Mexico Daily News website on Saturday showed Puebla as one of eight states with “Orange Light” status, which means that limited activities with small or no public gatherings allowed. Conversely, Sonora joined Campeche and Chiapas as the three states with Green Light designations.

    Representatives of all four teams commented during the press conference. Pericos Sports VP Alfonso López said, “We're very proud of the work we've done. Hosting this tournament means that we've been doing things well in sports and administrative matters and we'll continue with the commitment to offer the fans the show they deserve.”

    Veracruz Sports Director Jesús “Chino” Valdez (who holds a similar role with the LMP's Mazatlan Venados) stated that “Without a doubt it will be a great test and very important for what we are doing in Veracruz...we hope to meet expectations and experience a competitive, joyful tournament and celebrate the return of the Mexican League.”

Estadio Hermanos Serdan, Puebla

    Mexico City GM Jorge Del Valle said, “The objective is to see these four great teams of our baseball heading towards the 2021 season. We are immensely grateful to all participants for making this a reality. You can be sure that the Diablos are going to take ourselves very seriously in this tournament.”

    And former second baseman Jaime Brena, Sports Manager of Oaxaca, said that, “We are very happy about participating in this tournament. It'll give us the opportunity to know which players we'll have in the regular season so we will take it as seriously as possible. We will bring a roster made up of 50 players.”

2021 BATTLE OF LEGENDS SCHEDULE
Tuesday, May 11: Oaxaca vs. Puebla, Veracruz vs. Mexico City
Wednesday, May 12: Mexico City vs. Veracruz, Puebla vs. Oaxaca
Thursday, May 13: Oaxaca vs. Puebla, Veracruz vs. Mexico City
Friday, May 14: Oaxaca vs. Veracruz, Mexico City vs. Puebla
Saturday, May 15: Puebla vs. Mexico City, Veracruz vs. Oaxaca
Sunday, May 16: Mexico City vs. Puebla, Oaxaca vs. Veracruz
GAME TIMES: First game 10:00AM, Second game 2:00PM

SEPTIMA ENTRADA REPORT: YEAR OF BASEBALL DURING PANDEMIC

    Ever since Mexico's first known positive case of the Wuhan virus was announced on February 27, 2020, the nation has been deeply affected by the subsequent pandemic, as have most of the world's countries. Baseball has been no exception, as Septima Entrada writer Irving Furlong details in this translated report noting the one-year mark of the virus:

Mexican Baseball League (LMB)

    The number of infections began to grow at the beginning of March, the same days that the teams of the Mexican League were starting the preseason, with some others beginning with their preparation games for the 2020 campaign.

    On March 14, the LMB office communicated its decision to postpone the start of the 2020 season to early May. As time passed and when conditions did not improve, league management decided to suspend the start of the campaign again until further notice. After several weeks of uncertainty, the Mexican League canceled its 2020 season on June 1.

    Now, the sights of the Mexican League are set on holding the 2021 season, with or without fans, and scheduled to start on May 20 with a schedule of 66 games per team.

Mexican Pacific League (LMP)

    Just a week after the summer league announced the cancellation of its season, the Mexican Pacific League confirmed its launch for the 2020-21 season, an edition that would be carried out "under the best possible conditions." Days before starting the regular season, the president of the circuit, Omar Canizales, announced a strategic alliance for five years with the gasoline company ARCO, thus transforming the name of the circuit to Liga ARCO Mexicana del Pacífico.

    Three cities in Sonora and Mexicali received the green light to open stadiums with limited attendance, yet the decision was reversed after the first weekend. Sinaloa was the only state that remained with its four stadiums open, and thus began the LMP's journey to determine a champion for the 2020-21 season.

    After just two weeks, different teams began experiencing COVID-19 outbreaks inside their locker rooms. Before conditions got even more complicated, the LMP decided to suspend the season for 11 days. The recess allowed all the organizations to finish the season with the coronation of the Culiacan Tomateros as the two-time champions of the league.

2021 Caribbean Series in Mazatlan

    The winter leagues made every effort to start their tournaments and crown their respective champions except for Panama, which decided to put together a squad with players from the rosters of the participating teams. After fighting several adversities, the Caribbean Series 2021 could be held in Mazatlán, a tournament in which the Dominican Republic won the championship for the second consecutive season, making the Cibaenas Águilas the first undefeated championship team with a 7-0 record.

Suspension of the 2020 Olympic Games

    After a historic qualification to the Tokyo Olympics in November 2019 by achieving third place after beating the United States for the second time during the Premier12, a tournament that brings together the twelve best baseball teams in the world, the appointment of the Mexican Baseball Team with the Olympic dream had to be postponed with the suspension of the tournament.

    A few months after Tokyo rescheduled the largest multi-sport event of the planet for 2021, the Mexican squad was surrounded by uncertainty as its general manager and manager both decried of lack of resources to put together the roster to send the national team to the Olympics for the first time.

    Despite that, Adrián González, the best Mexican hitter in MLB history, has said that he will seek a place on some LMB team while looking to get in shape to represent Mexico in the Olympics. Juan Castro, manager of the Mexican team, responded to the message by warning that four months before the trip to Japan, it is difficult to consider a player who has been out of professional activity for two years.

Mexico won 2018 WBSC U-23 World Cup

WBSC World Cups in Mexico

    The World Baseball and Softball Confederation (WBSC) was scheduled to hold five baseball world championships in Mexico during 2020, with the Women's Baseball World Cup and the U23 Baseball World Cup being the most important events of the world calendar.

    In the first, Mexico's women's team had qualified for the first time in history while in the men's tournament, Mexico is the defending champion after winning the title in Barranquilla, Colombia in 2018, the country's first world championship in the WBSC.

    Regarding the Baseball5 world championships, the WBSC did not even announce the dates on which they would be played. The U15 World Cup and the Women's World Cup were postponed to March 2021, but the two tournaments to be played in Tijuana were postponed indefinitely and the Confederation is still reviewing a final decision on rescheduling.

    The U23 World Cup, also delayed for a year, is expected to be held in Los Mochis, Sinaloa, and Ciudad Obregón, Sonora as announced in November 2021.

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.”