Spend Your Pesos Wisely: The Economics of Building a Winner In The Liga Mexicana de Beisbol

For years, the Liga Mexicana de Beisbol, colloquially known as the LMB or the Mexican League, existed as a Triple-A league under the umbrella of the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues, the governing body of minor league baseball in North America.

But then, in 2020, when the National Agreement between the NAPBL and Major League Baseball expired, the minor leagues contracted and the LMB became an independent league.

In the years since, the LMB has thrived, expanding by two teams to build a 20-team league and becoming a landing spot for Triple-A and fringe MLB players who lost in the annual game of minor league contract musical chairs. It’s also been a place where former MLB regulars like Oliver Perez, Robinson Cano, Didi Gregorius, Jonathan Schoop, and others have been able to find jobs and keep playing when their time in the show has come to an end.

So how is a winning roster constructed in the LMB? It’s a mixture of both Mexican-born players as well as players from elsewhere, with the foreigners generally having significant experience at the MLB or Triple-A levels, though often you’ll see some younger foreign players with less professional experience on LMB rosters.

In 2023, in the wake of the revelation in a story by Mexican media outlet Proceso that LMB clubs were procuring false identification documents for foreign-born players to skirt roster limits, the league voted that each team must have 18 Mexican-born players on its 38-man roster, with that number increasing to 20 for 2026 and 2027. The LMB also instituted a luxury tax and a salary cap at the same September 2023 league meeting with the goal of developing Mexican talent in the LMB, though the salary cap threshold has not been disclosed.

Sources have told World Baseball Network that foreign players with MLB experience can command up to $20,000 a month in salary in the LMB, while players closer to the mean likely command around $10,000 per month. Thus, teams have multiple considerations when putting together a roster for the coming season: Which import players will best benefit the roster? Who are the best Mexican-born available to be signed at each position?

Obviously, a team’s ability to sign the best players available is going to be constrained by economic conditions, especially the wealth of the team’s owner and the team’s revenue.

Let’s take a look at the final roster for last year’s Serie del Rey champions, the Diablos Rojos del Mexico, who went 71-19 through the regular season. The Diablos carried four outfielders, seven infielders, four catchers, and 12 pitchers for a total of 27 active players.

Of the four outfielders, two, Julian Ornelas and Jesus Fabela, were Mexican-born, while the other two, Aristedes Aquino and Jose Pirela were foreign-born. Aquino, a Dominican, and Pirela, a Venezuelan, brought a combined 546 games of MLB experience to the Diablos outfield.

In the infield, three foreign-born former MLB players – Robinson Cano, Jose Marmolejos, and Jose Rondon – round out an infield corps with four Mexican-born players, two of whom – Carlos Sepulveda and Diosbel Arias – have Triple-A experience in affiliated baseball.

Behind the dish, the Diablos had three Mexican-born catchers augmented by American Patrick Mazeika, who appeared in 61 games with the New York Mets in 2021 and 2022, but saw limited time with the Diablos. Moises Gutierrez, a veteran of 12 professional seasons, all in Mexico, handled the bulk of the catching, appearing in 55 games.

On the mound, the Diablos Rojos boasted the most notable import player to appear in the LMB in years, the 2020 Cy Young Award winner and social media lightning rod Trevor Bauer. Along with Bauer was Nippon Professional Baseball vet Tomohiro Anraku, pitching in exile after his involvement in hazing younger players made him persona non grata with the NPB’s Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles. Nine of the 12 pitchers – Anraku, Bauer, Brooks Hall, Ronnie Williams, Justin Courtney, Jimmy Yacabonis, Jake Sanchez, Connor Menez, and Alex Claudio – were born outside Mexico, though Sanchez has Mexican citizenship, and thus doesn’t count as an import.

Essentially, foreign players coming to the LMB, regardless of their position on the field, are expected to bring experience, leadership, and value. Just look at what the import players on the Diablos Rojos accomplished this season: Trevor Bauer went 10-0 with the second-best ERA in the regular season and led the league in strikeouts. Robinson Cano won the batting title, led the league in hits and was second in RBIs.

Of the top 10 pitchers in ERA during the 2024 LMB season, nine were foreigners. The top 10 home run hitters in 2024? All foreign-born. Julian Ornelas, the league leader in RBIs, was the only Mexican-born player among the top 10 in that category.

The economics of building a winner in the LMB are, ultimately, not all that different than building a winner in MLB, save for the requirement of 18 Mexican players on the roster.

Ultimately, the name of the game is still signing the best players available, meeting the roster requirement for Mexican players, and staying under the salary cap — or if you’re over the salary cap, having an owner willing to pay the luxury tax.