Even though the Caribbean series 2024 to be held in Miami next year plans to expand to eight teams, Cuba is not among the candidates to be invited to an event of which it is the founder, according to Juan Francisco Puello, president of the Caribbean Professional Baseball Confederation. (CBPC).
Initially, the organization planned to carry out the next edition of the Caribbean classic with only six teams, the four permanent members (Dominican Republic, Mexico, Venezuela and Puerto Rico) plus two guests (Nicaragua and Curaçao), but this Friday they revealed that there were possibilities of expanding eight squads.
After the tremendous success of the Gran Caracas 2023 edition, the first with eight teams in the history of the tournament, the organizers of the Miami tournament are seriously considering applying the same formula and playing in two stadiums, the loanDepot park (the home of the Miami Marlins) and another yet to be defined.
Puello Herrera to ESPN minutes ago: “Colombia and Panama are very close to being added to the Miami Caribbean Series. Final details are being worked on.”
— Enrique Rojas/ESPN (@Enrique_Rojas1) May 19, 2023
“Miami Caribbean Series could be expanded to eight teams, Puella Herrera told ESPN,” prominent journalist Enrique Rojas said in a tweet, adding that Canada, Colombia, Panama and a squad from Asia were among the potential candidates for be invited
Shortly after, the reporter himself indicated that Colombians and Panamanians were very close to being added to the fight in South Florida. “The last details are being worked on,” Puello informed Enrique Rojas.
These notes completely rule out the Cuban presence in the upcoming edition of the Caribbean Series, a possibility that remained latent due to the island’s historical links with the competition and the interest that the Cuban presence in Miami would generate.
Surely, a team from the West Indies would be a resounding box office success, but their trip there would also imply a considerable logistical deployment – beginning with the visa process for a delegation – and security, judging by the incidents that occurred with the selection of the island in the semifinals of the past World Classic.
Although they have not made it clear if this was a weighty argument for not considering the inclusion of a Cuban team in the upcoming Caribbean Series in Miami, it is likely that the organizers prefer to avoid the climate of tension that will build up around the squad and exile. Cuban in South Florida.
On the other hand, the qualitative level of the Cuban teams in the Caribbean Series has plummeted. In the most recent edition of Gran Caracas 2023, the Farmers of Carlos Martí they heated the basement with a balance of one victory and six losses, which fell consecutively. The Antillean team defeated Curaçao 3-1 in its debut, but then fell to the Dominican Republic (3-1), Venezuela (20-3), Mexico (6-5), Colombia (5-4), Puerto Rico (4 -3) and Panama (10-4).
