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M e x i c o
Monday,
November 28, 2022
CANEROS WIN 5 OF 6, TAKE EARLY LMP SECOND HALF LEAD
After a decent first half during
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 INTERIM 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 Mexicali's helmsman following 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
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 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 a long one 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.”
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.
“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.
