According a report from Cuban Baseball Digest, the Federacion Cubana de Beisbol plans to announce its manager for the 2026 World Baseball Classic within the next week.
Michel Enríquez, Noelvis González, Alfonso Urquiola, and Germán Mesa are the top candidates to replace Armando Johnson, the report said.
Johnson led Cuba to the semifinals in 2023 where they were pummeled by the United States 14-2 at loanDepot Park in a game marred by field incursions and protests of the Cuban regime both inside and outside the ballpark.
Enriquez, 45, won Olympic gold for Cuba at the 2004 Athens Summer Olympics, and twice won Pan American Games gold medals, in Winnipeg, Manitoba in 1999 and four years later in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. He played in the Serie Nacional from 1997 to 2019, mostly with Isla de Juventud, batting .359/.460/.531 in 1,411 games. In 2013, he appeared in seven games for the Piratas de Campeche of the Liga Mexicana de Beisbol, batting .240 with two RBIs.
Noelvis Gonzalez was a lawyer before managing Holguin in the Serie Nacional from 2015-20.
Urquiola managed Cuba’s 1999 Pan American Games team, which won gold with Enriquez on the roster, has managed national teams for Panama, and led Pinar del Rio to the Caribbean Series title in 2015.
German Mesa, 58, won Olympic gold as a player with Cuba at the 1992 Barcelona Summer Olympics and three Pan Am Games gold medals, and has managed the Industriales in the Serie Nacional and the Gigantes de Rivas in Nicaragua’s Liga Beisbol Profesional Nacional.
Tigres de Ciego de Avila Win Elite League Championship – The Tigres de Ciego de Avila won the championship for the third season of the Cuban Elite League, sweeping the Lenadores de Las Tunas in the best-of-seven championship series.
¡Tigres de Ciego de Ávila es el campeón de la III Liga Elite del Beisbol Cubano!
Completó hoy su barrida de 4-0 sobre Las Tunas como colofón de un resultado sustentado desde la entrega y la cohesión que realzaron el rendimiento deportivo.#Cuba #Beisbol #BeisbolCubano #IIILEBC pic.twitter.com/X9E7E1vEMN— JIT Deporte Cubano (@jit_digital) June 4, 2025
The Elite League moved to a spring schedule this year, and the Serie Nacional will return to its traditional winter league schedule when it returns to play in the fall.
Ciego de Avila won game one 11-1 and game three 9-5 at home at Estadio José Ramon Cepero, and took games two and four on the road at Estadio Julio Antonio Mella Stadium by the scores of 6-3 and 6-4 respectively. Dennis Laza homered in each game of the final, and Cuban baseball icon Frederich Cepeda was honoured as the series MVP.
Ciego de Ávila led the 40-game regular season and eliminated the Havana Industriales four games to one in the semifinals. Las Tunas finished second in the regular season, one game back of the Tigres, and eliminated Santiago de Cuba four games to two in the semifinals.
Photo: The Tigres de Ciego de Avila celebrate winning the 2025 Cuban Elite League title. (Photo: JITDeportivo.cu)
