Manager Armando Johnson of Team Cuba looks on during pregame ceremonies before the 2023 World Baseball Classic Semifinal game between Team Cuba and Team USA at loanDepot Park on Sunday, March 19, 2023 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Daniel Shirey/WBCI/MLB Photos via Getty Images)
Federacion Cubana De Beisbol President Juan Reinaldo Perez announced in Havana last Thursday that Armando Johnson will be the manager for the national team at the 2023 Central American and Caribbean games in El Salvador and the 2023 Pan American Games in Chile.
Johnson managed the last two main tournaments for Cuba with the World Baseball Classic in March and the 2022 Caribbean Cup in the Bahamas during December.
The baseball tournament of the 2023 San Salvador Central American and Caribbean Games will be held at Parque De Pelota Saturnino Bengoa from June 24 to July 1. The other seven nations that will be participating in the eight field tournament are World No. 32 Curacao, No. 11 Puerto Rico, No. 3 Mexico, the host nation, 59th ranked El Salvador, No. 17 Nicaragua, the 10th ranked Dominican Republic, and No. 6 Venezuela.
Cuba will draw most of their players from the Serie Nacional and their new winter Elite League for the Central American and Caribbean Games.
German Mesa will be the bench coach for the Central American and Caribbean Games as well as the 2023 Pan American Games, and will continue to be on the coaching staff of the Cuban senior national teams through the end of the 2024 international baseball calendar cycle.
The Pan American Games baseball tournament will be held from October 21 to October 27 at the Baseball and Softball Center in Cerrillos, Chile. The three nations that have already qualified are host nation Chile, Colombia, which won the 2021 Junior Pan American Games in Barranquilla, Colombia, and Brazil, by winning the 2022 South American Championships in Lima.
The top three nations in the Central American and Caribbean Games will qualify for the 2023 Pan American Games in Chile, along with the winner of the 2023 Pan American Qualifier tournament in Buenos Aires, Argentina from June 16-21. The six nation tournament field will have host nation No. 29 Argentina, No. 13 Canada, No. 43 Honduras, No. 14 Panama, and 40th-ranked Peru.
Cuba did not meet their expectations at the 2022 Caribbean Cup in the Bahamas, losing to Puerto Rico in the championship game. Cuba is No. 7 in the World Baseball Rankings after placing third at the 2023 World Baseball Classic.
Cuba recently finished seventh the U-18 Baseball World Qualifier last November, 10th at tthe U-23 World Cup last October, and fifth in the Haarlem Honkbalweek in Rotterdam, Netherlands.