The Caribbean series | MLB
The 2025-2026 winter leagues took place from November to January in the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Panama, Puerto Rico and Venezuela. Each country held playoffs to determine their league’s championship and these teams qualified to battle for the Caribbean Series.
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Venezuela was scheduled to host the series, but it was moved to Mexico due to concerns over political issues and player safety. As a result, Venezuela withdrew their team from the series and the host nation had two teams in the tournament.
The teams
Leones del Escogido, the Dominican champions, had several former Padres playing for the league championship. Catcher Martin Maldonado, outfielder Franchy Cordero and infielder Eguy Rosario all played during their season. Cordero was the only one of three players in the series. RHP Francis Pena, one of the Padres’ top prospects and an invited player to major league camp, closed out the championship game for Escogido. Albert Pujols was their manager.
Canorejeros de Santurce, the Puerto Rican representative, won his championship by three games. They struggled offensively throughout the series and finished third after being eliminated in the semifinals.
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Federales de Chiriqui, the Panama representative, had former Padre Christian Bethancourt as catcher. They went 0-4 throughout the tournament and finished last.
Mexico had two teams in the tournament, with Charros de Jalisco being the league winner and Tomateros de Culiacan coming second and named Venezuela’s substitute. Charros was Mexico Red and Tomateros was Mexico Green. Padres prospect Tirso Ornelas and his older brother, Julian, both played for Charros, but Tirso Ornelas was not with the team for the championship or series. His brother Julian, also an outfielder, was their second hitter and finished with a .308 average and an .857 OPS.
Former World Series-winning major leaguer Benji Gil is the manager of Mexico Red and coached his own son Mateo Gil for the tournament. He will also manage the Mexican WBC team next month.
The Mexico Green team featured former Padre Allan Cordoba in center field and new Padre minor leaguer Luis Verdugo as shortstop and sometimes DH. Verdugo is the older brother of Padres prospect Rosman Verdugo, 20, who is an infielder in the system and played for Fort Wayne last season. Verdugo finished with a .381/.409/.476 line. Catcher Ali Solis played for the Padres in 2012 and continues to catch in Mexico.
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The series
THE Caribbean Series is a round-robin tournament in which teams with the best records advance and featuring the Dominican, Puerto Rican and Mexican teams in the semifinals on Friday. Escogido’s team emerged as the favorite, as the defending champions and with several MLB prospects playing on the team. They started 3-0, then lost twice in a row, including the semifinal against Mexico Green. The Red Mexico team beat Puerto Rico in the other semifinal.
As a result, the two Mexican teams played a championship game that lasted more than four hours and 10 innings before Mexico Red won on two wild pitches in the bottom of the 10th inning. The tournament took place in Jalisco, Mexico, at over 5,000 feet above sea level, so the entire series featured many hits and many runs.
The final ended 12-11 and featured many tired pitchers who struggled to land strikes. Former Padre Odrisamer Despaigne pitched for Mexico Green, but also struggled to get strikes despite playing very well for six innings in his start four days earlier. He only went 0.2 innings and allowed four earned runs.
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During his time with Charros de Jalisco, Tirso Ornelas hit .236/.300/.292 in 21 games and 80 appearances with seven RBIs. His inability to hit for power is what mainly sidelined his attempt to break into the Padres’ 26-man roster and he had no homers and four doubles for Mexico.
Many of these players will also play in the WBC, and then there will be a Summer League that most of the players will participate in as well. It’s not uncommon for many of these players to play most of the year.
