There have been great baseball seasons, but most, if not all, pale in comparison to what the Diablos Rojos del Mexico accomplished during the 2024 Liga Mexicana de Beisbol season.
They went 71-19 behind manager Lorenzo Bundy, who led the team to its 17th LMB title in his first season as skipper, hoisting the Copa Zaachila after sweeping the Sultanes de Monterrey in the Serie del Rey. With the Copa Zaachila back in Mexico City, the Diablos announced that Bundy, too, would return as manager for the next two seasons.
“You sit there and you kind of reflect over the season, you know, and you think about it and… as it was happening, the type of baseball that we were playing, the games that we were winning. You kind of feel like, ‘Wow, it’s pretty good,'” Bundy said on a call with the media Thursday.
Two big pieces of the Diablos’ success in 2024 were former Major League Baseball stars Trevor Bauer and Robinson Cano. Cano batted .431 and drove in 77 runs on his way to the LMB MVP award, while Bauer went 10-0 in the regular season with a 2.48 ERA, 1.077 WHIP, and led the league in strikeouts with 120.
Neither has yet to be resigned for 2025, but Diablos Rojos vice president of sports Jorge del Valle said the Reds would be happy to have either or both of them back.
“At the end of the day, our job is, as I said, to bring the best available [talent] in the market, and we will always be looking for what is the best that unites the organization,” del Valle said to reporters. “Before the arrival of Cano and Bauer, we talked with Lorenzo, we talked with the coaching staff, and first, we decided if they were the right people to arrive before making a decision. So, we will always look for a player who joins to cause a positive impact, mainly to the team, and second, to [make a big splash] in the market. But it’s useless to [make a splash] if it doesn’t work in your dressing room.”
With an MLB-quality facility in Estadio Alfredo Harp Helu, del Valle and Bundy have plenty of options as they build the roster for 2025.
“The truth is that the LMB and the Diablo Rojos del Mexico have become a first-tier option and opportunity,” del Valle said. “So we are being aggressive where we have to be. If something adds to the organization, obviously we will do it, and we will bring it.”
By bringing back Bundy for the next two seasons, the Diablos feel that they’ve solidified their position in a league that is growing stronger each season. For Bundy, who played four seasons with the Diablos Rojos in the 1980s, winning three titles when the club played at Estadio Seguro Social, the goal is to win title No. 18 in 2025.
He’s watching his players from 2024 who are competing in the winter leagues, especially the Liga ARCO Mexicana del Pacifico, and might hit the road to do some scouting if del Valle so desires. But he’s also able to take time and reflect on a magical season.
“It was such a complete team. [Julian] Ornelas had a tremendous year leading the league in RBIs. The bullpen stepped up when certain guys had their moments. And sometimes, there was a different guy that had to do the job, and so we were very fortunate, but we were so deep. Somebody like a Sepulveda or Gutierrez or whoever it may be, guys that hadn’t played for two or three days, and all of a sudden you put them in the lineup and they get three hits. …It was just such a complete group effort that made it so much fun.”
For now, Bundy is relaxing as much as possible at his offseason home in Arizona.
“I‘m fine right here in my home. I just got back from Mazatlan, where we were there visiting my wife’s family for eight days.,” Bundy said. “I’m in here in Oro Valley [Arizona], and so I would like to go back and visit with my family [in Virginia] a little bit during the Christmas and New Year’s break, and that would be kind of be my last Last hurrah before it’s time to get to Oaxaca in late February [for spring training.]”
At 66, Bundy knows he has more baseball behind him than he does ahead of him, but he appreciates where he is.
“To have a two-year contract with an organization like the Diablos Rojos Mexico and their confidence in me, to be a leader of his team, to be a leader of his team in the field, in the dressing room, in all of that,” Bundy said. “…It‘s a very big commitment, and I will not do less than 110% to achieve the goals that we have to achieve. I will give my maximum effort to do that. I am very happy to have the opportunity to continue working with the Diablos.”
This club, where he’s been a leader on the field and in the dugout, has his heart.
“Mi corazón es de Diablo, es de Rojo… Esta es la mejor posición para mí, y el mejor lugar para Lorenzo Bundy’s familia.”
Graphic: Lorenzo Bundy has signed a two-year extension with the Diablos Rojos del Mexico of the Liga Mexicana de Beisbol. (Graphic courtesy of the Diablos Rojos del Mexico.)
