When the Liga ARCO Mexicana del Pacifico’s first U.S.-based team, aptly named the Tucson Baseball Team, plays its first regular season game on October 15, there will be some familiar faces for both long-time winter ball fans as well as local baseball fans.
After naming Venezuela’s Willie Romero as manager, the Team has signed several players with Major League Baseball experience, most notably Gulfport, Miss.-native Bobby Bradley, as well as players with experience in the LAMP, affiliated and independent minor league baseball in the U.S., and elsewhere in winter ball.
As a manager in winter ball, Romero led the Navegantes de Magallanes of the Liga Venezolana de Beisbol Profesional to the 2022 Caribbean Series, winning Manager of the Year honors, and then won the award again the next season with the LVBP’s Tigres de Aragua. He previously managed the club when it played in Navojoa, winning the LAMP title and Manager of the Year honors in the 2017-18 season
Bradley, 29, split last winter between the Sultanes de Monterrey and Mayos de Navojoa of the LAMP, appearing in 58 games with 10 homers and 31 RBIs. In the 2023-24 winter ball season, Bradley appeared in 36 games for Monterrey, batting .281 with three homers and 19 RBIs, and was selected as a reinforcement for the Naranjeros de Hermosillo at the 2024 Caribbean Series at loanDepot Park, where he went 6-for-24 and had a pair of RBIs for Mexico. He also appeared in eight games with the Leones de Caracas in Venezuela, driving in four runs.
This summer, Bradley had a career year with Saltillo in the Liga Mexicana de Beisbol, batting .305/.434/.552 with a .985 OPS, 12 homers and 56 RBIs in 63 games.
After a stellar season in the independent Atlantic League, Zachary, La.-native River Town will head to Tucson for the winter. A 15th round pick of the Kansas City Royals in 2021 who rose as high as Double-A, Town is batting .332/.439/.537 through 96 games with Long Island in the Atlantic League with 12 homers and 59 RBIs. Town can play all three outfield positions, and his .332 average is fourth-best in the Atlantic League.
Shutdown reliever Charlie Hasty is coming back to the organization for a third season, after playing for the Team the last two years in Navojoa. The Plattsmouth, Neb.-native has made 45 career appearances with the Mayos, throwing 47 2/3 innings and earning 17 saves with a 1.89 ERA.
Lefty Thomas Dorminy will head to Tucson for his third season in the LAMP after playing for the Algodoneros de Guasave in 2020-21 and the Venados de Mazatlan in 2023-24. The former San Diego Padres farmhand has also played for the Gigantes del Cibao in LIDOM and the LVBP’s Leones del Caracas, and has a 4.37 ERA in 103 innings of work over 33 winter ball appearances. He made 19 starts for the Sioux Falls Canaries of the American Association this summer,
An Offseason Trade With the Tomateros – The Team made a two-for-two offseason trade with the Tomateros de Culican, getting Catcher Alexis Wilson and outfielder Jesús Fabela in exchange for Francisco Haro and Luis Juárez.
Wilson, a veteran catcher from Los Mochis, Sinaloa, Mexico, has played 10 seasons of winter ball, all in the LAMP, batting .220/.298/.323 in 365 career games with 17 homers and 113 RBIs. He’s expected to provide a veteran presence and solid defense behind the plate for Tucson, while Fabela, 30, has played his entire career in Mexico, minding the outfield for the Diablos Rojos del Mexico and Piratas de Campeche in the summer and the Venados de Mazatlan and Tomateros de Culiacan in the winter. In 478 career LAMP games, Fabela has batted .244/.328/.325 with a .653 OPS and with nine homers and 90 RBIs.
Photo: Kino Veterans Memorial Stadium in Tucson, Arizona, will host the Tucson Baseball Team in the Liga ARCO Mexicana del Pacifico in the 2025-26 season. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
