Granma will be Cuba’s representative in the first edition of the Baseball Champions League , according to what the WBSC announced this Monday, July 10. This will be the first tournament for world champion baseball league clubs, it will begin in the Americas and future editions are expected to include baseball clubs from America, Asia and Europe.
This first edition will be played in Yucatan, Mexico and the Leones de Yucatán organization and the Liga Mexicana de Béisbol will be in charge of hosting the tournament. The first participants for this unprecedented tournament will be teams from the United States, Mexico, Cuba and Colombia.
According to the words of the President of the LMB, Horacio de la Vega, the headquarters of the editions of the Baseball Champions League in 2023 and 2024 will be Mexico. “In the LMB we promote the fan experience more than baseball, that goes hand in hand with everything that happens in Yucatan. Mexico will host the Baseball Champions League in 2023 and in 2024 this year’s champion will be the host,” declared de la Vega.
Presentamos la Baseball Champions League (América) 🏆⚾️🌎
Es el primer torneo de clubes campeones de ligas de beisbol a nivel mundial organizado por la @WBSC #BCL #BaseballChampionsLeague pic.twitter.com/iCWDCwW0kz
— Liga Mexicana de Beisbol (@LigaMexBeis) July 10, 2023
The Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks team, champion of the American Association, an MLB partner league , will be present for the United States. The champion team of the Mexican Baseball League in 2022, the Leones de Yucatan , will be present for the host country. The Alazanes de Granma, 2022 Serie Nacional champions, will be the representatives for the largest of the Antilles. Yucatán’s roster could include Cubans Yadir Drake, Lázaro Alonso, Yoanner Negrín and Onelki García.
Representing Colombia will be the Caimanes de Barranquilla, the 2021 Colombian Winter League Champions and the monarchs of the Serie del Caribe in 2022. This event will take place from September 28 to October 1, 2023. The competition format will be round-robin. The four teams will face each other in a round robin. The top two teams will play the final while the two remaining teams will play for third place.
There is still no news on which team the Alazanes de Granma will be present in the tournament, whether it will be a reinforced team or a team made up entirely of Granma players. It is a little troublesome that Granma did not qualify for the Serie Nacional Play Offs in 2023 and this team will represents the island in this first edition of the tournament. Since Cuba will not be participating in the 2024 Serie del Caribe in Miami, the 2024 Liga Élite Champions will represent the country in next year’s edition of the competition.