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Dodgers-Padres
series in Monterrey
sells out in two hours
If any question
remained as to whether the May series in
Monterrey between the National League champion Los Angeles Dodgers and
their NL
rivals from San Diego is a big deal, those doubts should be dispelled
by the
fact that only two hours were required to sell out 22,000-seat Estadio
Monterrey for all three games.
According to Puro
Beisbol's Hector Bencomo in his Imparable
column on Saturday, ducats went on sale Friday via Ticketmaster and
were
quickly snapped up, with a few seats to be offered to Padres VIPs
reportedly
the only tickets remaining. Although
ticketbuyers were required to purchase a three-game package, there's no
doubt
that a large number of single-game tickets will be made available
through
secondary sellers like StubHub (at a premium, of course).
Bencomo says that while ticket sales at the
offices of the host Monterrey Sultanes was fully staffed, only about
800
walk-up fans were able to buy tickets before the series was sold out,
with
another frustrated 700 would-be ticketbuyers still standing in a line
that
stretched through the parking lot.
The so-called
Mexico Series will mark the first regular
season appearance of Major League Baseball teams south of the border in
19
years, when the Padres and Colorado Rockies opened the 1999 campaign
with a
single game in Monterrey on April 4.
Three years earlier, San Diego and the New York Mets competed in
the
first-ever MLB series in Mexico, also at Estadio Monterrey in August
1996. The ballpark, which opened in July
1990, is
currently undergoing a retrofit that will lower the capacity from
27,000 to
22,000 seats but make the facility (Mexico's largest baseball stadium)
more
user-friendly.
The series will
feature a number of marquee names among the
playing ranks, mostly among the Dodgers, who'll bring Clayton Kershaw,
Cody
Bellinger, Justin Turner, Corey Seager, Chase Utley and Yasiel Puig. San Diego will have notable performers Wil
Myers, Hunter Renfroe, Clayton Richard and likely Christian Villanueva,
a third
baseman from Guadalajara who impressed the Padres during a September
callup
last year by batting .344 with four homers in 32 at-bats over 12 games.
Heras fails to
reach terms on loan to
Monclova, returns to Yucatan
Close observers
of Mexican baseball
have no doubt noticed the practice of teams "loaning" players to each
other. It's a decades-old system in
which one franchise facing a surplus of players at one position will
loan a
player to another league club with a need at that position for the
season, with
the loaning team holding the player's rights while the receiving team
often
picks up the salary of the player being transferred.
Sometimes such
deals can reach ridiculous proportions when
the two teams involved are under the same ownership, creating a
situation where
clubs like Union Laguna and Puebla serve roles with Yucatan and
Monclova
(respectively) similar to how the old Kansas City Athletics were
considered a
de facto "farm team" for the New York Yankees in the late
1950's. Players usually have no
recourse, but there are exceptions to the rule and outfielder Leo Heras
is the
latest to buck the system.
Heras is a
27-year-old Tijuana native who will be entering
his twelfth year of pro ball after debuting with his hometown Tijuana
Potros in
2007 at age 16. The 5'9" lefty
hitter has built a reputation as a reliable batsman with gap power,
some speed
and good enough with a glove to be able to play all three outfield
slots and
fill in at second in a pinch. He's a
career .313 batter over eleven Liga seasons and collecting 67 homers
and 115
stolen bases in 741 LMB games, appearing on four All-Star Games along
the
way.
Last summer, the
one-time Astros farmhand hit .293 with three
homers in 95 games for Yucatan after a March trade from Mexico City to
the
Merida club before turning in a .253/0/19 winterball campaign for
Obregon. While he was toiling for the
Yaquis last
December, the Leones shipped him on loan to Monclova and the status quo
appeared to be undisturbed (with Heras even appearing at an Acereros
press
conference announcing his arrival) until Heras did the unusual: He
balked at
the deal.
The issue
appears to be money, as Heras and the Steelers were
unable to reach an agreement as to how much the outfielder would earn
for the
2018 season. Puro Beisbol's
Hector Bencomo weighed in on the subject,
speculating that Heras considered the move from Yucatan to Monclova a
sale and
not a loan, and that the veteran flychaser wanted a percentage of the
sale
price. The reason for the fallout and
Heras'
subsequent return to Merida has never been broached by either side, but
the
issue of a player seeking compensation when he's sold dates back to the
days of
legendary slugger Hector Espino.
Espino's
disputes over salaries and sales, mostly with the
Monterrey Sultanes, are legendary among Mexican baseball cognoscenti. A very quiet man by nature, Espino was also
every bit as proud and aware of his value as both a player and a man
and not
afraid to dig in his heels against ownership.
That's something almost unheard of among ballplayers south of
the border
even today, so Heras' stance ensured his return to Yucatan last week
and has
likely punched his ticket to another LMB franchise who'll be willing to
meet
his price.
Diablos GM
Minjarez suspended for
role in "Rookiegate"
Several months
after Quintana Roo Tigres owners Fernando and
Linda Valenzuela lodged a complaint with the Mexican League over the
suspicious
transfer of five Tigres prospects to the Mexico City Diablos Rojos
while the
Valenzuelas were purchasing the Cancun franchise, there has been a
response
from the LMB office. Diablos general
manager Francisco "Pollo" Minjarez has been suspended indefinitely by
the Liga office after having been employed in the Tigres front office
prior to
last February's sale before moving to Mexico City to serve as the Red
Devils
GM, and is believed to have played a pivotal role at both ends in the
prospect
transfer.
Minjarez was
working in the Cancun front office under
longtime Tigres GM Chito Rodriguez while owner Carlos Peralta was in
the
process of selling the franchise to the Valenzuelas in a deal finalized
a year
ago. Shortly after the Tigres changed
hands, Rodriguez retired and Minjares took the GM job in Mexico City
under
Diablos team president Roberto Mansur, who retired after last season,
stating
health concerns. During this timeframe,
five Tigres prospects on a master player roster the Valenzuelas claim
they had
in January 2017 became property of the Diablos in February in what
Minjarez
told Proceso reporter Beatriz Pereyra was a "gentleman's agreement"
between the two sides. He did not
specify whether the agreement was between Peralta and Red Devils owner
Alfredo
Harp Helu or between Rodriguez and Mansur, two decades-long powers
within the
LMB, or any combination thereof.
That deal
exploded in importance last June when the Diablos
sold two of the five former Tigres prospects, 15-year-old infielder
Fernando
Villalobos and 16-year-old pitcher Damien Mendoza, for US$1.5 million
and
US$1.2 million, respectively. The bone
of contention with the Tigres and the Valenzuelas is that since they
were not
informed of the transaction, the rights to the five prospects
(including
Villalobos and Mendoza) still belonged to them and that they should
receive
proceeds from the two sales. For his
part, Minjarez told Pereyra that the transfer of the prospects is
common among
some LMB teams and that the deal had already consummated before the
sale of the
Tigres was finalized.
There's
speculation that Minjarez may return to his former GM
position in Obregon, now that a five-year suspension he received from
the LMP
in 2013 after not paying players promised bonuses after winning their
third
straight pennant has ended. The Diablos
are not taking this quietly, however, as new team president Othon Diaz
wrote a
letter to Mexican League president Javier Salinas protesting Minjarez'
suspension and a formal protest is not being ruled out.
That would put Salinas in the difficult
position of a first-year league president going head-to-head with his
league's
richest owner and be a real test of his leadership and power.
As for the
Valenzuelas, they're still waiting to hear how
much of that US$2.7 million they'll be getting.
While Fernando may be a better known figure in both Mexico and
the USA
than Harp (he's no doubt more popular), baseball has always been a
tough sell
in Cancun, the once-proud franchise may face some difficult times ahead.
