Dodgers and Padres could play in Monterrey, Mexico, next year
The Dodgers and San Diego Padres could play a series in Monterrey, Mexico, in May.
As part of a dramatic expansion in international play, Major League Baseball tentatively had scheduled the Dodgers and Padres to play in Mexico City in April. But issues in the development of a new stadium there compelled MLB to look elsewhere, even before the powerful earthquake that struck Mexico City on Tuesday.
Commissioner Rob Manfred told The Times this week that the league had started to look at Mexican ballparks that previously hosted major league games. The Monterrey ballpark is the only one that has hosted regular-season MLB games, most recently when the Padres played the Colorado Rockies there in 1999.
The Dodgers and Padres would be natural participants in a series in Mexico.
The Dodgers could feature first baseman Adrian Gonzalez and outfield prospect Alex Verdugo, who played for Mexico in the World Baseball Classic, and pitcher Julio Urias, who the team hopes can return from shoulder surgery next season.
The Dodgers last played internationally in 2014, when they opened the regular season in Australia, against the Arizona Diamondbacks.
The Padres market extensively in nearby Mexico. Their international history includes a 1996 regular-season series in Monterrey against the New York Mets, made famous when dehydrated third baseman Ken Caminiti arose after receiving intravenous fluids, grabbed a Snickers bar and then hit two home runs.
Mexican news reports on Saturday said the games were set for May 4-6, which would replace a three-game Dodgers-Padres series scheduled that weekend in San Diego. MLB has not finalized any series in Mexico but is “working on it,” a source told The Times on Saturday.
The league’s original international schedule next season called for a series in Mexico in April and another in Puerto Rico or the Dominican Republic in May.
The Cleveland Indians and Minnesota Twins have been announced as the teams in a series in Puerto Rico in April, assuming that Hiram Bithorn Stadium can be rehabilitated from the extensive damage sustained from Hurricane Maria.
Follow Bill Shaikin on Twitter @BillShaikin
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