There aren’t many competitions in professional baseball like the Baseball Champions League.
For third time in a little less than three years, teams from around the Americas – and this time, a team from Asia – will meet in Mexico, giving fans a chance to see just how good each league’s best are when competing against the best of other leagues.
At this year’s Baseball Champions League, the CTBC Brothers of Taiwan’s Chinese Professional Baseball League will join the party, facing the defending champion Diablos Rojos del Mexico of the Liga Mexicana de Beisbol, the Kane County Cougars of the American Association, the Dantos de Managua of Nicaragua’s Campeonato German Pomares, and the Cocodrilos de Matanzas of Cuba’s Serie Nacional.
Each of the leagues, like their home countries, is different, and while the Liga Mexicana de Beisbol likely has the highest overall quality of play, the American Association’s Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks claimed the title at the 2023 Baseball Champions League Americas, and the two leagues frequently have players go back and forth. Cuba’s Serie Nacional, the island’s winter league, saw the Lenadores de Las Tunas reach the final at the 2025 Baseball Champions League where they fell 6-1 to the LMB’s Diablos Rojos. Nicaragua’s Campeonato German Pomares is likely the weakest league at the event, but the Dantos de Managua have several members of the country’s World Baseball Classic team on the roster and won’t be a pushover.
The Diablos Rojos del Mexico romped to a win in last year’s BCL Americas, going 5-0 and outscoring their opponents 44-15 as they tuned up in preparation for the LMB season, and are loaded once again. Expect to see Lorenzo Bundy’s club, which has won the last two championships in the LMB, to be in the championship game on Sunday afternoon.
Who else will be there? It’s anybody’s guess, though the Kane County Cougars and Cocodrilos de Matanzas will both have strong teams in Mexico City. The CPBL’s CTBC Brothers, who are sending their minor league club, are a big question mark, as it’s not easy to find data on their roster, and the Dantos de Managua appear to have a stronger roster than Nicaragua’s Tigres de Chinandega brought last year, signaling a good week of competitive baseball ahead.
Expect the altitude of Mexico City to be a factor. At 7,300 feet above sea level, Estadio Alfredo Harp Helu is a hitter-friendly environment. Last year, every team had a batting average over .300, and 10 or more runs were scored by at least one team in nine of the 11 games.
Where to Watch – GameTime, the World Baseball Softball Confederation’s official streaming platform, will stream every game live. A full tournament pass is available for US$12.99, while a Championship Day pass is priced at US$9.99. Daily access for each round-robin day is available for US$7.99.
The 2026 Baseball Champions League will also be broadcast on television. ESPN will broadcast all 11 games in Mexico, while Canal 13 VIVA will carry the games in Nicaragua, Meridiano Televisión will televise the event in Venezuela, and Tele Rebelde will carry the games in Cuba.
Diablos Rojos del Mexico
League – Liga Mexicana de Beisbol
Manager – Lorenzo Bundy (Third Season)
2025 Regular Season Record – 63-25, First Place in Zona Norte
2025 Playoff Results – Swept Yucatan 4-0, Swept Puebla 4-0, Beat Campeche 4-2, Swept Jalisco 4-0 to win Serie del Rey.
Notable Players – 2B Robinson Cano, 1B Jose Marmolejos, OF Allen Cordoba, SS Carlos Sepulveda, P J.C. Mejia, P Nick Vespi, P Ricardo Pinto, P Tomohiro Anraku, P Jimmy Yacabonis
Outlook – Under Lorenzo Bundy, the Diablos Rojos have found their winning ways once again, capturing the last two Serie del Rey titles in the Liga Mexicana de Beisbol as well as last year’s 2025 Baseball Champions League Americas. Robinson Cano was the MVP at this event last year for the Diablos, and though he’s a little long in the tooth, he continues to be productive on offense for the Diablos. Expect him to feast on the pitching at the BCL, which will likely struggle with the 7,300-foot altitude of Mexico City. In addition, Bundy has four relievers in his bullpen that shut down the opposition in the late innings throughout last year’s playoffs, and this event will give them a chance to tune up before the regular season begins. If the Diablos aren’t playing in Sunday’s championship game, it’d be a shock.
CTBC Brothers (Minor League)
League – Chinese Professional Baseball League
Manager – Peng Cheng Min
2025 Regular Season Record – 35-30
Notable Players – P Mario Sanchez, 3B Huang Ting Shan, 1B Su Wei Ta
Outlook – It’s hard to project how good (or bad) the CTBC Brothers’ entry in the Baseball Champions League will be because the players are, by and large, unknown quantities on this side of the Pacific. If they have Venezuelan starter Mario Sanchez, who made a heroic start for Venezuela in the 2024 WBSC Premier12 just hours after enduring a flight from Caracas to Tokyo via Istanbul, he’d be a candidate to start against the Diablos Rojos. Huang Ting Shan and Su Wei Ta provided much of the offense for the Brothers minor league club last year. This is a team that could win the BCL or could finish fourth and miss the championship game. We’ll have to wait and see.
Cocodrilos de Matanzas
League – Serie Nacional de Cuba
Manager – Armando Ferrer
2025 Regular Season Record – 46-29 (Second Place)
2025 Playoff Results – Beat Sancti Spiritus 4-0, Beat Industriales 4-2, Beat Las Tunas 4-0
Notable Players – OF Eduardo Blanco, OF Jose Norona, OF Brayan Pena, C Andrys Perez, P Silvio Iturralde, P Shael Cruz, P Yamichel Perez, P Yosney Garcia
Outlook – Last year, the Lenadores de Las Tunas managed to slug their way into the championship game with a 17-10 win over Kane County in the semifinals, and if the Cocodrilos want to chomp their way to the championship game, they’ll likely need to get a lot of offense. Matanzas ripped through the Serie Nacional playoffs last year, going 12-2 in the playoffs on their way to their second SN title in club history. Blanco, Norona, and Pena’s bats will likely drive the offense, and Andrys Perez is a stalwart catcher behind the plate who was on Cuba’s roster for the World Baseball Classic. They’ll live and die by their pitching staff, which will likely be crafty but not overpowering, though crafty pitching is going to be at a disadvantage in Mexico City’s thin air.
Kane County Cougars
League – American Association
Manager – George Tsamis
2025 Regular Season Record – 49-51 (Second Place, East Division)
2025 Playoff Results – Beat Milwaukee 2-1, Beat Chicago 3-2, Beat Sioux Falls 3-2
Notable Players – OF Dillon Thomas, 2B Josh Allen, DH/OF Todd Lott, IF Claudio Finol, P Charlie Hasty, P Vin Timpanelli, P Jordan Martinson
Outlook – Former Major Leaguer Dillon Thomas, who had 15 homers and drove in 50 runs with Fargo-Moorhead of the American Association last season, is the linchpin of Kane County’s offense, and along with Allen and Lott, the Cougars have a lot of offensive potential. Martinson is a pitcher with experience at Triple-A in the Los Angeles Dodgers organization, as well as in Australia and with the German national team, while Hasty pitched for Tucson in the Liga ARCO Mexicana del Pacifico and Timpanelli should make at least one start and would be a candidate to start the championship game should Kane County make it that far.
Dantos de Managua
League – Campeonato German Pomares
Manager – Ronald Garth
2025 Regular Season Record – 60-16 (First Stage), 15-5 (Second Stage)
2025 Playoff Results – Beat Tigres de Chontales 4-1 to win championship
Notable Players – P Carlos Teller, P Danilo Bermudez, P Angel Obando, P Dilmer Mejia, 2B Benjamin Alegria, OF/DH Omar Mendoza.
Outlook – The Dantos, based in Nicaragua’s capital of Managua, are likely a better team than last year’s Nicaraguan representative, the Tigres de Chinandega, who went 1-2 and lost in the semifinals to the Santa Maria Pirates of Curacao. Teller, Bermudez, Obando, and Mejia are high-level pitchers, with Bermudez having made a great start at the World Baseball Classic against Venezuela, holding the eventual champions to two runs on one hit and a walk over four innings. Mendoza has some offensive pop and will likely benefit from the hitter-friendly environment in Mexico City, and Alegria has a slick glove in the field and the ability to get on base. They probably won’t make the final, but could very well steal a game or two in the round robin.
2026 Baseball Champions League Schedule
All times Eastern Daylight Time
All games at Estadio Alfredo Harp Helu, Mexico City
March 24
Noon – Dantos de Managua vs. CTBC Brothers
7 p.m. – Kane County Cougars vs. Diablos Rojos del Mexico
March 25
Noon – CTBC Brothers vs. Cocodrilos de Matanzas
7 p.m. – Diablos Rojos del Mexico vs. Dantos de Managua
March 26
Noon – CTBC Brothers vs. Kane County Cougars
7 p.m. – Cocodrilos de Matanzas vs. Dantos de Managua
March 27
Noon – Kane County Cougars vs. Cocodrilos de Matanzas
7 p.m. – Diablos Rojos del Mexico vs. CTBC Brothers
March 28
Noon – Dantos de Managua vs. Kane County Cougars
6 p.m. – Cocodrilos de Matanzas vs. Diablos Rojos del Mexico
March 29
4 p.m. – Championship Game
Photo: Robinson Cano celebrates his 450-foot home run in the first inning of the 2025 Baseball Champions League Americas championship game. (Photo courtesy of the Diablos Rojos del Mexico)
