MEXICO CITY.- Prospects Alejandro Osuna and Samuel Natera had an outstanding participation in the Arizona Fall League that has already lowered the curtain, thus closing a successful cycle in branches of the Texas Rangers and Anaheim Angels, respectively.
Osuna from Sinaloa hit .306 with 2 home runs and 16 RBIs in 25 games in the circuit in which the best rookies are trained, after a production of .292, 18 home runs and 61 RBIs in strong class A and AA.
Natera, a native of Ciudad Juárez, was the ERA leader in the “Arizona Fall League” with 0.75 in 5 games and 3 starts, 17 hits and 4 walks in 12 innings. In the summer, in advanced A, he went 2-0 with a 0.60 ERA with 24 strikeouts and 6 walks in 15 innings.
Osuna has played in the Mexican Pacific League with the Charros de Jalisco, while Natera has no ties to Mexican baseball because he is a graduate of American college baseball.
Another well-known young man assigned to that instructional league is Milan Tolentino (.182, 0, 7), an infielder who is the son of former major leaguer José Tolentino, as Osuna’s teammate on the Surprise Saguaros. He belongs to the Cleveland Guardians and in 2024 he performed at the AA branch, Akron (.241, 9, 43).
In 2023-2024, Tolentino debuted in the LMP with Águilas de Mexicali (.357, 0, 1), playing as a Mexican despite being a native of Misión Viejo, California, thanks to a courtesy for US-born descendants of Aztec major leaguers .
This prerogative also allowed Fernando Valenzuela Jr. and currently Mateo Gil (.327, 4, 10) with the Charros de Jalisco, to enter Arco territory without showing their passport.
ON this day, in 1992, Major League Baseball holds the expansion draft to supply the rosters of the two new National League teams, the Florida Marlins and the Colorado Rockies. A total of 72 players are chosen
Pitcher David Nied is the Rockies’ first pick, while outfielder Nigel Wilson is selected first by the Marlins. Then they choose José Martínez (Florida) and veteran third baseman Charlie Hayes (Colorado).
Top picks for Florida are Trevor Hoffman (fourth), eventually replaced by Gary Sheffield; Jeff Conine (11th), who will hit 81 home runs in four years; and Cris Carpenter (18th), later traded to Texas for Robb Nen. For Colorado, they will find gold with Eric Young (6th), Joe Girardi (10th), Vinicio Castilla (16th) and Armando Reynoso (18th).
**“One of the best moments of my career was when they told me I was going to the best baseball in the world.”- Vinicio Castilla.
IN a row.- The Cuban Diosbel Arias, who celebrated the championship with the Diablos Rojos (.328, 5, 23), battles in the LMP as a reinforcement of the Tomateros de Culiacán (.225, 0, 9)… By the way , the Cañeros de Los Mochis are slowly recovering Yasmany Tomás (.244, 4, 20), inactive since November 5 due to a tear in a leg… In the Dominican Republic, the relatives of the young Ismael Ureña who died after being injected with horse steroids, report death threats after bringing what happened to the public… It turned out that the authorities opened an investigation to determine whether to call pitcher Yordy Cabrera, owner of the academy where the unfortunate events occurred, to account.
