This Thursday, the Caribbean Professional Baseball Confederation (CBPC) announced that the new host city for the 2026 Caribbean Series will be Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico. With the change of venue Cuba will not play in the series.
Guadalajara will host the Caribbean Series again, following the successful organization of the 2018 tournament. In addition to the teams from the CBPC member leagues (Mexico, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, and Venezuela), Panama will participate as a guest team.
According to ESPN journalist Enrique Rojas: Mexico will have two representatives in the 2026 Caribbean Series: the two finalists of the Mexican Pacific League. The tournament will be played in a round-robin format, with four out of six teams advancing to the semifinals.
The invited teams depend on the host country and the league organizing the tournament. With the LVBP (Venezuelan Professional Baseball League) as the organizer, Cuba’s participation as an invited country is guaranteed, but this could change if another league or country takes over the organization of the tournament.
Venezuela held the series in 2024 with Cuba participating and the Dominican Republic’s Tigres del Licey claiming the title in and eight teams field that also included CPBC non-members Colombia, Panamá and Curaçao to go along with Cuban champion Agricultores (Las Tunas, Granma).
Cuban Champions by teams:
Tigres de Marianao: 1957, 1958
Alacranes del Almendares: 1949, 1959
Elefantes de Cienfuegos : 1956, 1960
Leones del Habana : 1952