Cuba will be invited to the next Serie del Caribe in Venezuela, the president of the Liga Venezolana de Béisbol Profesional Guiseppe Palmisano confirmed it yesterday in an interview with ESPN and Enrique Rojas. The next edition of the tournament will be played in three stadiums, the Simón Bolívar Monumental Stadium in Caracas, the University Stadium of the Central University of Venezuela (UCV) and the La Guaira Forum.
Cuba last saw action in the tournament during 2023, when the competition was held in Venezuela. The Cuba representative was the Agricultores, champions of the first Liga Élite (Granma, Las Tunas, reinforcements) and the team finished with a record of 1-6, placing dead last. Serie Nacional or Liga Élite teams have won 1-of-7 tournaments (Pinar del Río, 2015) and have also placed second once (Las Tunas, 2019)
It has not been revealed whether the champion of the Serie Nacional or Liga Élite will represent the island nation during the next edition. Cuba was a founding member of the Serie del Caribe along with Panamá, Puerto Rico and Venezuela before bowing out in 1961 when Fidel Castro outlawed professional baseball in Cuba.
Cuba has the best winning percentage in the history of the Serie del Caribe, winning 8-of-19 tournaments (42%) in which it has participated with its league champions. Due to the fact that Cuba will play in the World Baseball Classic in Puert Rico two weeks after Caribbean Series, the country might assist the competition with a team chock full of the players that will participate in the WBC or use the series as warmup for the following tournament.
Cuban championships in the Serie del Caribe:
(8) 1949, 1952, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 2015
By club:
Tigres de Mariano (1957,1958)
Alacranes del Almendares (1949,1959)
Elefantes de Cienfuegos (1956,1960)
Leones de La Habana (1952)
Vegueros de Pinar del Río (2015)
Notable Serie del Caribe Cuban players:
Frederich Cepeda (MVP, 2015)
Raúl Valdés (Tournament innings pitched leader, 85.0)
Camilo Pascual ( 6-0, 1.89 ERA, 52.1 IP)
Lázaro Blanco ( 4-1, 1.22 ERA, 37.1)