A native of Ciudad Obregon, Alfredo Amezaga has experience in the Liga ARCO Mexicana del Pacifico as a player and, after last season, a manager, so he’s familiar with the league’s volatility, where rosters are always in flux, and managers are always on the hot seat.
In his first season as skipper, Amezaga got the Tomateros through to the semifinals, but they were no match for the Venados de Mazatlan.
Two big selections in the Foreign Player Draft could put Amezaga and the Tomateros over the hump this season. In the first round of the draft, Culiacan selected Cuban outfielder Yurisbel Gracial, who batted .382/.437/.670 with 24 homers and 83 RBIs over 387 plate appearances for the Conspiradores de Queretaro in the Liga Mexicana de Beisbol this year. Gracial finished second in the balloting for LMB MVP, getting 22 votes. At age 38, Gracial has played all of his career outside of Major League Baseball, playing in the Serie Nacional de Cuba, Nippon Professional Baseball, the Can-Am League, and the LMB, but remains an elite power hitter who can be an impact player in the LAMP.
The second notable foreign draft selection is former New York Yankees infielder Luke Voit, who hit 20 home runs in three different MLB seasons. Over the summer, he hit 23 homers and drove in 57 runs for the Olmecas de Tabasco of LMB, posting a .945 OPS in 81 games. If he shows up in Culiacan, it would be Voit’s second winter ball season after making a 12-game cameo for the Tiburones de Aguadilla in Puerto Rico’s Liga de Beisbol Profesional Roberto Clemente in 2016-17.
Will those two big bats be enough? If they both come to Culiacan, pitchers around the LAMP will wish they were throwing tomatoes to the Tomateros from the mound.
They don’t fly as far as baseballs.
Manager – Alfredo Amezaga (Second seasons, 34-32 career)
2023-24 Record – 34-32, Sixth in LAMP
2003-24 Playoff Results – Lost 4-1 in Semifinals to the Venados de Mazatlan
First Game – Saturday, October 12 vs. Algodoneros de Guasave, 7:30 p.m. EDT
Mexican Player Draft Selections (Position – 2024 Team or MLB Organization/League)
Number indicates round in which player was selected
1. Javier Alejandro Perez (P – Houston Astros/MLB)
2. Jeronimo Palmeros (P – Free Agent)
3. Juan Antonio Fraide (P – Houston Astros/MLB)
4. Juan Franco Alva Rebolledo (IF – Sultanes de Monterrey/LMB)
5. Pedro Gabriel Salas Muniz (IF – Leones de Yucatan/LMB)
6. Luis Carlos Ramirez Goody (P – Leones de Yucatan/LMB)
7. Jason Ideky Perez Pena (P – Leones de Yucatan/LMB)
8. Felipe de Jesus Hernandez (P – Diablos Rojos del Mexico/LMB)
Foreign Player Draft Selections (Position – 2024 Team or MLB Organization/League)
Number indicates round in which player was selected
1. Yurisbel Gracial (OF – Conspiradores de Queretaro/LMB)
2. Jhon Romero (P – Rieleros de Aguascalientes/LMB)
3. Luke Voit (IF – Olmecas de Tabasco/LMB)
Photo: Luke Voit of the Zona Sur Team bats during the annual Home Run Derby of the LMB at Beto Avila Stadium in Veracruz. (Photo by Carlos Santiago/Eyepix Group/LightRocket via Getty Images)
