The Elite League, Cuba’s winter baseball league operated by the Federacion Cubana de Beisbol, will play a 2024-25 season, the organization has announced.
While the 2024-25 Elite League season will begin after Cuba’s team returns from the 2024 World Baseball Softball Confederation’s Premier12 tournament in November, the dates and details of the season have yet to be announced, according to stories published by Allin1Deportes, a website covering sports in Cuba, and Radio COCO, a Cuban radio news outlet.
“The fundamental change is that we do not want to weaken the league; we want to give the opportunity to players who are in the Premier League to participate in the Elite League, so not develop an event parallel to another,” Juan Reynaldo Perez Pardo, the president of the FCB, said. “We do not have a planned start date; we are waiting for approval. The proposals have already been made, and the country is willing to develop the Elite League.”
Players began workouts at Estadio Latinoamericano in Havana this week in preparation for the Premier12, which will be played from November 9-24 at sites in Japan, Mexico, and Taiwan. The top 12 teams in the WBSC’s World Baseball Rankings compete in the event, and Cuba, ranked ninth, will begin pool play on November 13 against the Dominican Republic in Taipei City, Taiwan.
The 2024-25 Elite League season will be the third campaign for the league, which was formed by the FCB when the sport’s governing body on the island moved the Serie Nacional’s season to the summer.
In its first season, the Elite League champion Agricultores, a team of players from the provinces of Las Tunas and Granma in eastern Cuba, won the Elite League title and participated in the 2023 Caribbean Series in Caracas, Venezuela. The Agricultores went 1-6 in group play and failed to advance to the knockout stage.
Last year, the Elite League was comprised with the top six teams from the 2023 Serie Nacional standings, and the Cocodrilos de Matanzas won the championship. A team from Cuba was not invited to the 2024 Caribbean Series, which was held in Miami.
Cuba Announces Coaching Staff For Premier12 – The FCB named Armando Johnson, the manager of Cuba’s entry in the Premier12 and announced his staff for the event.
Johnson, a native of Isla de Juventud, Cuba, took over as manager of Cuba’s national team before the 2023 World Baseball Classic, where he led the island’s team to the semifinals, where they lost 14-2 to the United States at loanDepot Park in Miami.
The 66-year-old has extensive experience as a manager, having led Isla de Juventud’s entry in the Serie Nacional from 1990 to 2014 and various national teams, including U-15 and U-23 national teams. In his first event managing Cuba’s national team, his club took second place at the 2022 Caribbean Cup in Nassau, Bahamas.
Johnson’s staff will include German Mesa as bench coach, Rafael Munoz as third base coach, Armando Ferrer as first base coach, Orestes Kindelan as batting coach, Pedro Lazo and Jose Elosegui as pitching coaches, and Humberto Guevara as physical trainer.
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 in Miami. Johnson will manage Cuba at the 2024 WBSC Premier12. (Photo by Daniel Shirey/WBCI/MLB Photos via Getty Images)
