Cuba's return to the Caribbean Series

The news has certainly caused much less stir than I expected, but it is still a very good one for the Cuban ball, with the possible return to a Caribbean Series.

The celebration of the regional baseball competition in Venezuela is the key to the rethink of a Cuban representation, and this shows that in the end everything goes through the political will of the organizers.

As they did in 2023, Venezuelans want a broader tournament than usual, and there is talk of eight teams: the traditional Venezuela, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic and Mexico, in addition to Cuba, the Japan Breeze that was this year, and representatives of the KBO League of South Korea and Italy as guests.

Two years ago the fair was hosted by the Simón Bolívar Monumental Stadium in Caracas and the Forum of La Guaira, and by 2026 we want to add the University Stadium of the Central University of Venezuela (UCV), the last usual headquarters of the emblematic Leones of Caracas.

It is very important that the commissioner of the Confederation of Professional Baseball of the Caribbean (CBPC), Dominican Juan Francisco Puello Herrera, recognized the possibility and endorsed this preliminary agreement, which hopefully will not find greater obstacles in the time remaining for the fair.

The Series has lived different formats in recent years, in accordance with the interests of each venue, but is played in a single group through the system of all against all, which must change if ultimately there are eight teams by 2026.

Who would go for Cuba? That is a great unknown, because with the swings of the domestic baseball calendar it is impossible to know for sure.

The most logical thing is that the strongest tournament, which is the Elite League, is the winter again, and so that we can have a more competitive team and that it arrives in shape, but that implies changing our entire baseball scheme.

If you ask me, of course it is better to make the modification in order to leave the best possible image in the fair, because the one that fans have in the retina is not good at all, with the Farmers of 2023, headlines of the I Elite League.

There is quite a while from here to there; the most important thing is that this return is realized, because a real Caribbean Series needs Cuba among the participants.