The Venados de Mazatlan want to return to the Liga ARCO Mexicana del Pacifico championship series. They got there last year. It didn’t go well, with the Deer outscored 17-5 in the four-game sweep that sent the Naranjeros de Hermosillo to the Caribbean Series.
For a team looking to improve upon last season, the Venados were relatively quiet in the Foreign Player Draft, selecting just two players, but the two they selected — both pitchers — could shore up the staff in Mazatlan.
Former Major League Keone Kela, who spent 2024 with Dos Laredos in the Liga Mexicana de Beisbol, brings extensive experience in the late innings to the Venados. He posted a 2.70 ERA in 40 innings of work over 42 outings this past summer.
The other notable draftee is Japanese pitcher Tomohiro Anraku, who ended up with the Diablos Rojos del Mexico after being released by the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles in Nippon Professional Baseball. Anraku, a crafty righty, made 47 relief appearances for the Diablos, posting a 3.50 ERA in 46 1/3 innings on the way to winning the Serie del Rey.
The Venados had the second-best ERA in the LAMP last season with a 3.26 mark, and Anraku and Kela only strengthen the staff.
Offense is where the Venados might struggle. The Deer scored just 3.76 runs per game last year — ninth in the 10-team league — and haven’t added much in the way of bats. Infielder Alex Liddi is returning, and the former MLB player drove in 26 runs and hit seven homers in 52 games for Mazatlan last winter.
“Last year we were very close to winning the championship, and I think we now have all the pieces necessary to achieve our goal,” he said in a release in Spanish announcing his return on the team website.
“Everyone knows that Mazatlán is a tough place to play, but the most important thing here is team play. Individual performance is not as important as how we play together as a team,” Liddi said in the release. “That is my focus: helping on defense, running the bases well, hitting, and doing everything possible to win.”
But he can’t win alone.
Manager – Luis Rivera (Second Season, 36-32 career)
2023-24 Record – 36-34, T-3 in LAMP
2003-24 Playoff Results – Lost Championship Series 4-0 to Naranjeros de Hermosillo
First Game – Saturday, October 10 vs. Charros de Jalisco, 8 p.m. EDT
Mexican Player Draft Selections (Position – 2024 Team or MLB Organization/League)
Number indicates round in which player was selected
1. Moises Morales (C – Toros de Tijuana/LMB)
2. Emanuel Longoria (IF – Diablos Rojos del Mexico/LMB)
3. Juan Gamas (P – Free Agent)
4. Daniel Burciaga (P – Leones de Yucatan/LMB)
5. Luis Rabago (P – El Aguila de Veracruz/LMB)
6. Samuel Severa (P – Acereros de Monclova/LMB)
7. Jose Lavagnino (C – Diablos Rojos del Mexico/LMB)
8. Leonardo Vargas (P – Pericos de Puebla/LMB)
9. Salvador Ramirez (P – Saraperos de Saltillo/LMB)
10. Alejandro Trujillo (P – El Aguila de Veracruz/LMB)
11. Ernesto Borges (P – Piratas de Campeche/LMB)
12. Eduardo Leal (P – Free Agent)
Foreign Player Draft Selections (Position – 2024 Team or MLB Organization/League)
Number indicates round in which player was selected
1. Keone Kela (P – Tecolotes de los Dos Laredos/LMB)
2. Tomohiro Anraku (P – Diablos Rojos del Mexico/LMB)
Photo: Tomohiro Anraku of the Diablos Rojos del Mexico was selected by the Venados de Mazatlan in the Foreign Player Draft. (Photo by Carlos Santiago/Eyepix Group/LightRocket via Getty Images)
