Luis Carlos Rivera of the Olmecas de Tabasco has been voted the 2026 Manager of the Year in the Liga Mexicana de Beisbol.
Rivera's club started the year by going 1-8 in its first nine games before catching fire and going 53-30 over the remaining 83 games to finish in second place in the Zona Sur with a 54-38 record. The Olmecas then advanced through the playoffs to the Serie del Rey, making their first appearance in the LMB's championship series in 38 years, where they fell to the Toros de Tijuana.
Rivera, 48, is a native of Chihuahua, Mexico and joined the Olmecas for the 2026 season. He previously managed Leon from 2017-19, Yucatan in 2019, Aguascalientes from 2021-23, Tijuana in 2024, Oaxaca in 2024-25, and Chihuahua in 2025. He won the vote for the award over Oscar Robles of Durango, Roberto Kelly of Tijuana, Lloyd McClendon of Campeche, Lorenzo Bundy of Mexico, Ramón Orantes of Puebla, and Miguel Tejada of Leon.
He's the first Mexico-born manager to win the award since Roberto Vizcarra won it in 2022 with the Leones de Yucatán. In the intervening years, the award went to Dominicans Félix Fermín of the Tecolotes de los Dos Laredos in 2023 and José Offerman of the Conspiradores de Queretaro in 2024 and to American Daren Brown of the Piratas de Campeche in 2025.