After a season wandering the desert as a road team following a failed move to Tucson, Ariz., the Mayos de Navojoa are returning to their original home city and a renovated Estadio Manuel "Ciclón" Echeverría this year.
The club has signed pitchers Collin Wiles and Elian Leyva and outfielder Carlos De La Cruz for the upcoming 2026-27 Liga ARCO Mexicana del Pacifico season, where the club will seek its first championship in 26 years.
After splitting last winter between Puerto Rico's Cangrejeros de Santurce and Venezuela's Tigres de Aragua, Collin Wiles will make his Mexican debut with the Mayos this coming winter. After being drafted by the Texas Rangers in 2012, Wiles pitched for the Rangers organization through 2021 before signing with the Oakland A's, for whom he appeared in four Major League games in 2022.
Wiles made four starts in the LBPRC regular season for Santurce last season, helping the team to the league title and the Caribbean Series with a 1.74 ERA over 20 2/3 innings. He made one start at the 2026 Caribbean Series, throwing one inning and allowing one run on four hits.
In total, Wiles has thrown 54 innings in winter ball, making 13 appearances, all starts, with a 4.17 ERA, 26 strikeouts and 13 walks.
Former Philadelphia Phillies farmhand Carlos De La Cruz will join the Mayos outfield after spending the summer with the Charleston Dirty Birds of the independent Atlantic League. A native of Yonkers, N.Y., De La Cruz rose as high as Triple-A in both the Phillies and Washington Nationals organizations, appearing in 57 games at the top level of the minor leagues, where he hit .191/.246/.278 with three homers and 20 RBIs. In 89 games with Charleston this year, the 6-foot-8 outfielder batted .322/.372/.647 with 30 homers and 96 RBIs in 395 plate appearances.
Cuban starter Elian Leyva will join the Mayos after pitching for the Yaquis de Obregon in the 2025-26 season. Leyva made three starts totaling 13 innings last season, posting a 3.46 ERA despite struggling with command, as he struck out two and walked 12 in that limited sample. He also threw one inning in one apperance for the Leones del Escogido in LIDOM last winter.
This summer, pitching for the Dorados de Chihuahua in the Liga Mexicana de Beisbol, Leyva had an ERA of 4.58 and a WHIP of 1.593 in 26 2/3 innings over six starts.
He has also appeared in the LAMP with Jalisco and Hermosillo, in LIDOM with the Leones del Escogido, and in the Liga Venezolana de Beisbol Profesional with La Guaira and Magallanes. In total, Leyva has thrown 331 1/3 innings in winter ball, posting a 3.31 ERA with 262 strikeouts, and 139 walks in 73 appearances, 67 of them starts.
Photo: Cuba pitcher Elián Leyva pitches to Taiwan during the first inning of a Pool A game for the World Baseball Classic (WBC) at Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium in Taichung, Taiwan, Sunday, March 12, 2023. (AP Photo/I-Hwa Cheng)