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Mexico’s Two Pro Baseball Leagues: The LMP and LMB Explained
Mexico’s Two Pro Baseball Leagues: The LMP and LMB Explained
Mexico is one of the few countries where high-level professional baseball is played year-round. Two leagues share the calendar: the Mexican League (Liga Mexicana de Béisbol, or LMB), which plays in the spring and summer, and the Mexican Pacific League (Liga Mexicana del Pacífico, or LMP), which plays in the fall and winter. They are independent organizations with different histories, footprints, and roles in the wider baseball world, even though many of the same players suit up for both.
The two leagues at a glance
| Mexican Pacific League (LMP) | Mexican League (LMB) | |
|---|---|---|
| Season | October to January | April to August |
| Teams | 10 | 20, split into North and South zones |
| Founded | 1945 | 1925 |
| Footprint | Northwest Mexico | Nationwide |
| Championship | LMP final; the champion represents Mexico in the Caribbean Series | Serie del Rey |
The Mexican League (LMB)
Founded in 1925, the LMB is the older of the two leagues and the highest level of professional baseball in Mexico. Its 20 teams are divided into North and South zones, and the season runs from spring into late summer, ending with the league championship, known as the Serie del Rey. For decades, the LMB held Triple-A classification within affiliated Minor League Baseball, but since Major League Baseball restructured its minor leagues in 2021, it has operated independently.
LMB rosters are built mostly around Mexican players, along with a limited number of foreign players, many of them former major leaguers and veteran minor leaguers. Robinson Canó and Trevor Bauer are two prominent former MLB players who recently played in the LMB.
The Diablos Rojos del México, who play at Mexico City’s Estadio Alfredo Harp Helú, are the league’s most decorated franchise. Benji Gil, the former MLB infielder who has managed Team Mexico in the last two World Baseball Classics, was named the team’s manager ahead of the 2027 season.
The Mexican Pacific League (LMP)
The LMP, founded in 1945, is Mexico’s winter league and plays a role similar to the winter leagues in the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, and Puerto Rico. Mexican players affiliated with MLB teams play at home during the offseason alongside major league prospects, LMB players, and a limited number of foreign players.
The LMP champion represents Mexico in the Caribbean Series against the winners of the winter leagues from the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Puerto Rico, Cuba, and more.
Naranjeros de Hermosillo has won the most league championships, with 17, followed by Tomateros de Culiacán with 13. Charros de Jalisco won the 2026 Caribbean Series in Guadalajara, rallying past Tomateros de Culiacán in an all-Mexican final.
Where the leagues play
Geography is the biggest difference between the two leagues. The LMP is a tight regional circuit, with eight of its ten clubs along the Pacific corridor of Sonora, Sinaloa, and Baja California, from Mexicali on the U.S. border through Hermosillo, Ciudad Obregón, Navojoa, Los Mochis, Guasave, and Culiacán to Mazatlán. The Jaguares de Nayarit in Tepic and the Charros de Jalisco in Guadalajara extend the league a short way further south.
The location is no accident. The northwest’s mild, dry winters make it one of the few places in North America where baseball thrives from October through January, while its summers are brutally hot.
The LMB covers almost the entire country instead, with 20 teams spread from Tijuana and Chihuahua in the north, through Mexico City, Puebla, and Oaxaca, to Mérida and Cancún on the Yucatán Peninsula.
Where the leagues overlap
Many Mexican players spend their summers in the LMB and their winters in the LMP, so fans who follow both will see plenty of familiar names. One club currently plays in both leagues: the Charros de Jalisco, based in Zapopan in the Guadalajara metro area.
Sultanes de Monterrey also fielded teams in both leagues until 2025, when the club stopped playing winter ball. The Jaguares de Nayarit joined the LMP for the 2025-26 season, replacing the Sultanes.
Mexican Pacific League teams (winter)
| Logo | Team | City | State |
|---|---|---|---|
| Águilas de Mexicali | Mexicali | Baja California |
| Naranjeros de Hermosillo | Hermosillo | Sonora |
| Yaquis de Obregón | Ciudad Obregón | Sonora |
| Mayos de Navojoa | Navojoa | Sonora |
| Cañeros de Los Mochis | Los Mochis | Sinaloa |
| Algodoneros de Guasave | Guasave | Sinaloa |
| Tomateros de Culiacán | Culiacán | Sinaloa |
| Venados de Mazatlán | Mazatlán | Sinaloa |
| Jaguares de Nayarit | Tepic | Nayarit |
| Charros de Jalisco | Zapopan | Jalisco |
Mexican League teams (summer)
| Logo | Team | City | State | Zone |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Toros de Tijuana | Tijuana | Baja California | North |
 | Dorados de Chihuahua | Chihuahua | Chihuahua | North |
| Tecolotes de los Dos Laredos | Nuevo Laredo | Tamaulipas | North |
 | Acereros del Norte | Monclova | Coahuila | North |
 | Sultanes de Monterrey | Monterrey | Nuevo León | North |
 | Algodoneros Unión Laguna | Torreón | Coahuila | North |
| Saraperos de Saltillo | Saltillo | Coahuila | North |
| Caliente de Durango | Durango | Durango | North |
 | Rieleros de Aguascalientes | Aguascalientes | Aguascalientes | North |
 | Charros de Jalisco | Zapopan | Jalisco | North |
 | Bravos de León | León | Guanajuato | South |
 | Conspiradores de Querétaro | Querétaro | Querétaro | South |
 | Diablos Rojos del México | Mexico City | Mexico City | South |
 | Pericos de Puebla | Puebla | Puebla | South |
 | El Águila de Veracruz | Veracruz | Veracruz | South |
 | Guerreros de Oaxaca | Oaxaca | Oaxaca | South |
 | Olmecas de Tabasco | Villahermosa | Tabasco | South |
 | Piratas de Campeche | Campeche | Campeche | South |
| Leones de Yucatán | Mérida | Yucatán | South |
| Tigres de Quintana Roo | Cancún | Quintana Roo | South |