Tabasco: Che Reyes out as skipper, Marco Antonio Guzman in

As has been chronicled here numerous times, baseball managers are "hired to be fired" is an axiom that seems to be taken to another level in the Mexican League.  Less than three weeks into the 2017 season, there's already been a dismissal as veteran pilot Enrique "Che" Reyes was let go Monday by the Tabasco Olmecas after a slow start after the team stumbled out the gate with a 3-11 record.  A press release from the front office announcing the firing was accompanied by the almost obligatory thanks to Reyes for service, professionalism, etc.  Another veteran of Mexico's managerial recycling program, Marco Antonio Guzman, will take over the Villahermosa club.

This is not unfamiliar territory for Reyes (pictured), who was canned in Oaxaca last April 28 after the Guerreros got off to a 4-18 start.  He was picked up a little over a week later by Tabasco, who had fired another veteran of the revolving door, Francisco "Paquin" Estrada (currently managing the Leon Bravos this season and presumably safe for the time being by leading the new team to a 7-8 mark playing exclusively on the road).  Here is a list of Reyes' previous stops as helmsman in the LMB since 1998: Aguascalientes, Puebla, Dos Laredos, Cancun, Puebla (again), Angelopolis/Quintana Roo, Veracruz, Tabasco, Monterrey, Aguascalientes (again), Tabasco (again), Oaxaca and Tabasco for his third tour of duty with the Olmecas.  The 54-year-old has a career Liga managerial record of 982-984, copping one pennant with the Angelopolis Tigres in 2005.  One suspects he'll resurface elsewhere.  Again.  Perhaps in May.

As well, Guzman has done this dance before.  According to Baseball-Reference, the former catcher whose nickname is El Buzo ("The Dude") has managed in Campeche, Cancun, Puebla, Tabasco, Laguna, Campeche (again) and now Tabasco (again).  Clearly, he has some catching up to do.  The Olmecas lost Guzman's debut at the helm, 6-4, Tuesday night in Aguascalientes.

As with the Union Laguna Vaqueros, who were profiled Monday on BBM, the Olmecas have traditionally been among the LMB's have-nots.  Since entering the Liga in 1975, Tabasco has won only one title (when Salon de la Fama member Juan Navarette led the Olmecas to the pennant in 1993) and they haven't appeared in the postseason since 2012.  Fan support in Villahermosa has been tepid as well, with only 22,629 attendees through eight home games thus far in 2017 at the 53-year-old Estadio Centenario 27 de Febrero, which has 10,500 seats but only fills an average of 2,829 of them per game.  The team is among those in the Mexican League that are dependent upon government largesse to meet their budgets, thus putting them squarely in the so-called Old Guard camp.

One recognizable name on the Tabasco roster for North American fans is relief pitcher Tony Pena Junior, whose father was an All-Star catcher in Major League Baseball.  Other prominent players include volatile first baseman Sandy Madera, infielder Abel Martinez (who turned 40 last Saturday) and outfielder Rogelio Noris.  Madera and catcher Sergio Burruel are tied for the team lead with .300 averages while Martinez is right behind at .298.  Although pitcher Salvador Valdez has lost both decisions on his current record, his 2.65 ERA is quite good for the bat-friendly Liga.  However, the Olmecas are last in the 16-team league with a .243 batting average and have scored just 37 runs over 15 games, not nearly enough for a club whose pitching staff has a collective ERA of 4.08 (fifth in the LMB).  While Tabasco has also added former MLB infielders Ronny Cedeno and Carlos Triunfel to the roster to try bolstering their anemic offense, Guzman has his work cut out for him.

While he's there.

Monterrey takes LMB North lead, Yucatan chasing Puebla in South

The Monterrey Sultanes overtook fading Monclova as the Mexican League's North Division leaders while Yucatan closed the gap on South leaders Puebla during the first week following the LMB All-Star Break.

Monterrey won two of three games in Puebla and copped two wins at Oaxaca before Sunday's contest with the Guerreros was suspended by rain with the score at 6-6 after five innings.  In the meantime, Monclova won two games at Tabasco before dropping the third game in that set and moving on to Veracruz, where they were swept by the last-place Rojos Aguilas.  The Sultanes ended the weekend with a 38-21 record, two games up on the 36-23 Acereros.  Aguascalientes is third in the LMB North at 36-26 while Laguna holds fourth with a 32-27 mark, a half-game ahead of 32-28 Tijuana.

Yucatan is still in second place in the LMB South, but the Leones helped themselves with a 4-2 week capped by a three-game sweep of a road series in Tijuana.  Starter Jonathan Castellanos went six innings in a 5-0 one-hitter over the Toros Friday as Yucatan touched up 45-year-old Tijuana starter Rafael Diaz (pictured) for four runs in 4.1 frames.  Earlier this season, Diaz became the only pitcher in Mexican League history to record 100 wins, 100 saves and 1,000 strikeouts for his career.

While Yucatan was doing well away from home, Puebla was struggling at home, losing four of six games at Estadio Hermandos Serdan to Monterrey and Reynosa.  Losing two of three to the Broncos while allowing 18 runs was an especially hard pill for the Pericos to swallow.  Ex-MLB hurler Kyle Farnsworth got the win in Reynosa's 8-3 win on Friday.  Heading into Monday's travel day, Puebla was still atop the LMB South at 40-19 (best in the league), but Yucatan is now two-and-a-half games behind at 38-22.  Defending champion Quintana Roo is third at 36-34 while Campeche is in fourth at 30-29, ten games behind the leaders.

Puebla will be in Monclova for an important series beginning Tuesday, while Yucatan hosts Aguascalientes and Monterrey is at home for three against 23-37 Tabasco.


HERNANDEZ SOCKS 3 HOMERS IN GAME AGAINST CAMPECHE

Just when it looked like Aguascalientes shortstop Diory Hernandez' unexpected power output in the first half of the season was an illusion after all, the 32-year-old Dominican cranked three homers and drove in seven runs during the Rieleros' 10-2 win over the Campeche Piratas Friday at Estadio Alberto Romo Chavez.  Hernandez hadn't gone deep since May 14 against Saltillo and had lost his league leadership in homers until he sent deliveries from three different Campeche pitchers over the wall, including homers in both the seventh and eighth innings. He sliced an RBI double as well en route to a 4-for-4 night.

The explosion put the former Braves infielder back atop the LMB tables with 15 roundtrippers for the season, one ahead of Quintana Roo's Alex Liddi, Monclova's Jose Ruiz and Alex Valez of Monterrey.  Hernandez continues to lead the Liga with 69 RBI's (Felix Perez of Monterrey is second at 51) while batting .339.  Prior to 2016, Hernandez had hit 49 homers over 13 pro seasons and never more than seven in one campaign.  Now he's a legitimate MVP candidate.  Maybe it's the water...he DOES play in Aguascalientes.

Other Mexican League offensive leaders include Puebla catcher Cesar Tapia with a .379 batting average and Saltillo outfielder Justin Greene with 20 stolen bases.  Among pitchers, Tijuana's Hector Ambriz still leads the LMB with a 1.23 ERA, but the ex-MLBer hasn't appeared in a game for three weeks and is no longer on the Toros' active roster.  Don't ask me why...I've spent 15 minutes trying to find out and came up empty.  Among pitchers who are still pitching, Monclova's Josh Lowey leads all three Triple Crown categories with 10 wins, 99 strikeouts and a 1.51 ERA.  Acereros teammate Arcenio Leon tops the loop with 22 saves.  Another Monclova hurler, Jose Oyervides (7-1, 1.72), had formed a terrific 1-2 punch at the top of the rotation with Lowey before breaking his hand during a losing confrontation with a locker room door on May 18.


AMADOR WALKS OUT ON ACEREROS; MADERA CUT BY DIABLOS

It's a good thing for Monclova that their pitching has been near the top of the Mexican League because their All-Star Game MVP jumped ship shortly after the event was held last weekend in Monterrey.  According to La Aficion, infielder Jose Amador, who hit a key three-run homer in the North's 8-4 win over the South, failed to join teammates last Monday to travel to Tabasco for a road series and then turned in his "resignation" from the Acereros one day later, stating that he didn't "feel comfortable" with the club and wanted to be traded.  Instead, the team placed him on the reserve list.

Amador, who was chosen as BBM's Mexican Pacific League MVP last winter, had been playing with a broken middle finger which prevented him from taking the field defensively but allowed him to serve as designated hitter.  It was a strange move for the 16-year veteran, who was not having one of his best seasons despite his All-Star selection (.281/12/29 numbers over 53 games), but the 36-year-old was still a key member of a team battling for first place.  Rumors are that someone from another LMB team talked to Amador last weekend in Monterrey and offered a better deal, but that has yet to be proven.

Then there's the case of Sandy Madera.

Longtime readers of Baseball Mexico will recognize Madera as one of the better hitters in the LMB for the past several seasons after bouncing around the minors for a decade.  Madera led the league in batting with a .403 average for Puebla in 2014, finished second in 2010 and 2013 and has never hit below .320 over seven summers in Mexico.  While the 35-year-old Dominican was not picked for the All-Star Game last weekend, he was hitting .362 with 10 homers and 31 RBI's over 46 games for the Mexico City Diablos Rojos until he was released last Monday.

Unlike the Amador situation in Monclova, there was no explanation given when the Diablos cut Madera loose, but an independent source says the 6'2" designated hitter has been difficult to deal with during his time in Mexico and a look at his travel itinerary may bear that out:

During his first year in the LMB, Madera was traded by Saltillo to Yucatan with a month left in the 2010 season despite a .391 average for the Saraperos.  In 2011, Madera was realeased by the Leones in midseason after going .320/9/42 over 67 games in Merida.  He finished that year in Monterrey.  Then came three years in Puebla, with two very productive seasons and a so-so 2015 that ended with Pericos manager Matias Carillo so enamored of Madera that the latter was dealt to Reynosa last December for Paul Oseguera, a decent pitcher who'd gone 8-4 for the Broncos last year but yet to pitch an inning in 2016.  The Broncos only needed until February 22 to send Madera packing to Mexico City with no players moved to Reynosa in return.

This time, it took half a season for Diablos skipper Jose Luis Sandoval to get his fill of Madera, who was signed by Tabasco two days after his release from Mexico City.  Perhaps veteran Olmecas skipper Enrique "Che" Reyes (who was let go in May as manager in Oaxaca) will find a way to keep the talented Madera on the straight and narrow. History indicates otherwise.


Mexican League standings
North Division: Monterrey 38-21, Monclova 36-23, Aguascalientes 32-26, Laguna 32-27, Tijuana 32-38, Mexico City 30-29, Saltillo 27-31, Reynosa 17-42.
South Division: Puebla 40-19, Yucatan 38-22, Quintana Roo 36-24, Campeche 30-29, Oaxaca 23-35, Tabasco 23-37, Carmen 20-39, Veracruz 19-41.

MADERA ADAPTING WELL TO NEW SURROUNDINGS IN MONTERREY

Sandy Madera might be forgiven if he’s developing a complex. Since becoming one of the more dependable batters south of the border after debuting with Los Mochis of the Mexican Pacific League in 2009, the sweet-swinging Dominican has played baseball year-round in Mexico since then. However, for the second summer in a row, the ex-Red Sox farmhand has changed Mexican League teams in midseason. Last year, Madera was swapped from Saltillo to Yucatan for outfielder Willie Romero. This season, he was released outright by the Leones on June 10 despite hitting .320 with nine homers in Merida.

Now the 30-year-old Madera finds himself with the Monterrey Sultanes, who snapped him up as a free agent June 13 after losing sluggers Luis Alfonso Garcia and Karim Garcia to Asian teams within days of each other earlier in the month. While Madera won’t supply the home run threat either of the Garcias represented, he is expected to give Sultanes manager Che Reyes a higher batting average with gap power. So far, so good: In his first 11 games for Monterrey, Madera went 18-for-49 for a .367 average with two homers. The Sultanes will need that kind of production as they battle for a playoff slot.

Still, Madera must wonder if he needs to change his deodorant after being jettisoned by his summer team two straight years. On top of that, after leading the Mex Pac with a .413 average for Mochis in 2009-10 and still losing out in the MVP vote to Hermosillo’s Luis Alfonso Garcia, last winter Madera’s .362 average for the Caneros should have given him a second batting title, but the LMP gave it to Guasave’s Eduardo Arredondo (.401) although Arredondo lacked enough plate appearances to qualify after missing 25 of the Algodoneros’ 68 games. Maybe Sandy should ask which roll-on Eduardo uses.

BBM Awards NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR: Sandy Madera, Yucatan Leones

This award could just as easily have gone to Bobby Cramer of the Quintana Roo Tigres, who had a terrific season, but Sandy Madera had a daily impact on his team’s fortunes whether he was playing for Saltillo or Yucatan (to whom he was traded by the Saraperos in a midseason swap for outfielder Willie Romero after Romero was suspended two games for shoving an umpire).

Coming off a spectacular Mexican Pacific League season in which he led the Mex Pac with a .413 average for Los Mochis, Madera clobbered Mexican League pitching with a .383 average, second to Puebla's Willis Otanez) along with 18 homers and 86 runs scored. A first baseman who turned 30 in August, Madera even swiped 10 bases in the regular season.

Madera bounced around the minors for 12 years before debuting in Mexico last winter. If his first year south of the border is any indication, he may have found a permanent baseball home.

YUCATAN TRADES ROMERO TO SALTILLO FOR MADERA

Just two days after serving a two-game suspension for shoving an umpire, outfielder Willie Romero was traded by the Yucatan Leones to Saltillo for first baseman Sandy Madera (pictured) in the Mexican League’s first high-profile player swap of the 2010 season.

In twelve Mexican League seasons, the 35-year-old Romero has hit .320 with 130 homers and 264 stolen bases while becoming an All-Star Game fixture. This will be the Venezuelan’s second go-round in Saltillo, where he played from 1999 to 2003. At the time of the trade, Romero was hitting .301.

The 29-year-old Madera was second among LMB batters with a .391 average in 67 games for Saltillo when he was swapped to Yucatan. The Dominican has played in the A’s, Yankees, Red Sox and Orioles organizations. Last winter, Madera led the Mexican Pacific League with a .413 batting average while playing for Los Mochis.

MADERA, GARCIA CARRYING OVER HOT WINTER SEASONS

Sandy Madera and Luis Alfonso Garcia (pictured)were arguably the two hottest hitters during last winter’s Mexican Pacific League season. Madera batted .413 to lead the LMP, 34 points ahead of Mexicali’s Brad Snyder, while Garcia led the Mex Pac with 23 homers for Hermosillo en route to being voted the MVP by the LMP’s team presidents. Both Madera and Garcia are thus far showing in Mexican League play that their respective winter performances were not flukes.

Madera has gone 20-for-40 over his past ten games for Saltillo to overtake Puebla’s Willis Otanez for the Liga lead with a .431 batting average. The right-handed first baseman is especially wearing out right-handed pitchers, hitting .466 against starboard siders. Although Garcia went homerless for Monterrey last week, the 6’4” Guadalajara native tops the Mexican League with 13 roundtrippers and 46 RBIs over 39 games while carrying a .359 batting average.

Garcia is one of the main reasons Monterrey has taken over first place in the LMB North with a 26-15 record, one game ahead of 25-16 Mexico City. Chihuahua has cooled off a bit, splitting their last ten games and beginning this week in third place with a 23-18 mark. In the LMB South, Puebla continues to cruise toward a first-half title with a 29-10 record. Otanez and his Pericos teammates have won 15 of 20 games on the road, by far the best in the Liga. Yucatan is six games back in second at 24-17, while Oaxaca survived a tumultuous week to hang on to third place with a 22-18 ledger.

MADERA FINISHES AT .413 TO COP LMP BATTING TITLE

Although Los Mochis finished with the fewest points in the Mexican Pacific League, their first baseman provided the Caneros with at least one saving grace. Sandy Madera (pictured) ended up batting .413 over 60 games to win the LMP batting title for the season. Madera becomes the first .400 hitter in the Mex Pac since Hector Espino batted .415 for Hermosillo in 1971-72. Espino, who won 13 LMP batting titles between 1960 and 1981, also hit .402 for the Naranjeros in 1962-63. Madera hit 14 homers, finishing tied for second with Obregon’s Carlos Valencia behind the 23 of Hermosillo’s Luis Alfonso Garcia (who won his third home run crown in five winters). Valencia’s 63 RBIs topped the circuit.

Pablo Ortega of Mazatlan had a regular season to remember. Ortega led the Mex Pac in wins with an 8-2 record and ended on top of the ERA table at 2.43. Obregon’s Luis Mendoza was second in both wins and earned-run average by going 7-4 with a 2.89 ERA, respectively, and led the LMP with 79 strikeouts in 90 innings, 25 Ks ahead of Guasave’s Jim McGrane.

VENADOS WIN FIVE STRAIGHT, TAKE MEX PAC LEAD

The Mazatlan Venados won five straight games last week to pass Hermosillo on the Mexican Pacific League leaderboard. The Venados came into the weekend with an 11-6-0 record, a half-game up on the 10-6-1 Naranjeros, who went 2-4 last week.
Los Mochis is in third place at 9-7-1, Mexicali and Navojoa are tied for fourth with 9-8-0 marks, followed by 8-9-1 Obregon, 6-9-1 Culiacan and 3-12-1 Guasave. It was a rough week for the Algodoneros, who were swept in consecutive road series in Mazatlan and Navojoa.
Mochis first baseman Sandy Madera (pictured) has taken the MexPac batting lead with a .413 average over 17 games. Madera’s Caneros teammate Sebastian Valle and Culiacan’s Refugio Cervantes are tied for the lead in homers at five apiece, while Cervantes and Hermosillo’s Darnell McDonald are knotted up at the top of the RBI list with 19 each.
Several pitchers have fared well early, perhaps none more so than Mazatlan’s Oscar Bustillos, who is 2-0 with a 1.06 ERA and seven hits allowed 17 innings over three starts.