The Algodoneros de Union Laguna of the Liga Mexicana de Beisbol have announced a new staff for their sports operations division for the 2027 season.

Heading up the group is Jorge Marquez, who was named sports manager, the equivalent position to a general manager in Major League Baseball, and Jose Carlos Molina was named manager of baseball operations. Cesar Marquez has been named development manager, Gabriel Delgado will serve as coordinator of sports administration, and Jonathan Tiburcio will serve as coordinator of sports analysis. Miguel Amaurys was named special assistant for sports direction, Jorge Seoud was named sports assistant, Francisco Mendez will serve as assistant to the president, and Jorge Valenzuela will be the coordinator of softball for the Algodoneros entry in the Liga Mexicana de Softbol.

Union Laguna, based in Torreon, Coahuila, Mexico, finished the 2026 season with a 46-47 record, earning the sixth and final playoff position in the LMB's Zona Norte, before they were eliminated four games to one by the top-seeded Toros de Tijuana, who went on to win the Serie del Rey.

In addition to those nine, BeisbolPuro reported Tuesday that former Philadelphia Phillies and Houston Astros catcher and longtime Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks manager Chris Coste will be the Algodoneros quality control coach in 2027.

Coste, 53, managed the RedHawks from 2020 through the end of the 2026 season before resigning. With Fargo-Moorhead, he had a 365-294 record, a .554 winning percentage, and guided the club to six postseason appearances in seven seasons, winning the American Association in 2022 and the inaugural Baseball Champions League Americas title in 2023.

Coste took over as manager of the Caneros de Los Mochis of the Liga Mexicana del Pacifico, the country's professional winter league, midway through the 2025-26 season.  

Rising Stars Tournament Returning to Merida - The LMB announced Tuesday that the Rising Stars Tournament will run from Nov. 10 to Dec. 6 at Parque Kukulkan Alamo in Merida, Yucatan.

"It means a great responsibility because we are, as Lions, working hand in hand with MLB and LMB Banorte," said Erick Arellano Hernández, Executive President of the Leones de Yucatan. "The next Jonathan Aranda is going to come from here, it is in tournaments like these where baseball stars emerge and we are very excited to be part of this process. For us as a team, and for Yucatan, we have to take advantage of this opportunity to be part of the development of players."

The event will feature six teams: the Leones de Yucatan, the Acereros de Monclova, the Diablos Rojos del México, the Sultanes of Monterrey, and two cooperative teams, LMB Rojo, with prospects from the Charros de Jalisco, Saraperos de Saltillo, El Águila de Veracruz, and the Caliente de Durango, and LMB Verde, with prospects from the Pericos de Puebla, Algodoneros del Unión Laguna, Tigres de Quintana Roo, Dorados de Chihuahua, and Bravos de León.

Organized jointly by Major League Baseball, the Sports Institute of the State of Yucatan and the LMB, the event will feature top prospects between the ages of 15 and 20.

Each team will play 15 games, with the top four teams advancing to the playoffs. The first round will be best-of-three, with the winning teams advancing to a best-of-three final.

In 2025, Sherwin-Williams Beto Ávila Stadium in Cancun, Quintana Roo, hosted the inaugural Rising Stars. The Sultanes de Monterrey, with Ángel Resendez as manager, took the championship, beating the Diablos Rojos del México 2-0 in the final.