See ya, Eddie.
The Navegantes de Magallanes of the Liga Venezolana de Beisbol Profesional dismissed manager Eddie Perez on Thursday, naming Yadier Molina as manager for the remainder of the 2025-26 season after the Sailors got off to a 5-11 start. Molina retained the coaching staff, including bench coach Mario Lisson, who will run the team until Molina arrives early next week.
“Our goal is obviously to lift the trophy,” Molina said on a conference call announcing his return to the Navegantes, where he began his winter ball managerial career in 2022-23, when the led the Sailors to a 29-27 record. “We know we have a long way to go and we have faith in what we have. I’m going to give 100% so that my message gets across to the players.”
On the same call, Molina asked the fans to be patient, given that the team is three games back of the teams tied for sixth place, the Cardenales de Lara and tiburones de La Guaira.
Molina has also managed LIDOM’s Aguilas Cibaenas and the LBPRC’s Criollos de Caguas, winning an LBPRC title in 2024 and leading the Criollos to a 3-3 record at the 2024 Caribbean Series at loanDepot Park in Miami. Notably, he managed Puerto Rico’s team at the 2023 World Baseball Classic which reached the quarterfinals, though his appointment as skipper was controversial. Shortly after Molina was named manager, Puerto Rico’s general manager, the same Eddie Perez he’s replacing with the Navegantes, resigned, as Perez wanted the then-bench coach of the Houston Astros, Joe Espada, to manage Puerto Rico.
“From the first time I put on the Magallanes jersey, I grew very fond of it,” Molina said during the conference call. “I know Eduardo Pérez did everything possible to win games, but this is baseball. Returning to Valencia and the institution means a lot to me. I couldn’t secure the championship last time, and that’s the most important thing for me right now.”
The Navegantes added Yasiel Puig and reliever Anthony Vizcaya in big offseason moves, and looked primed to compete for an LVBP title, but Puig has yet to appear for Magallanes and Vizcaya was dealt to the Leones del Caracas earlier this week after allowing six earned runs in three innings of work across five appearances.
Under the interim manager Lisson, the Navegantes fell to 5-12 on Thursday night hours after the announcement of Molina’s return, scoring two runs on five hits in a 7-2 loss to the second-place Aguilas del Zulia.
Photo: Yadier Molina of Puerto Rico looks on against team Dominican Republic during their World Baseball Classic Pool D game at loanDepot park on March 15, 2023 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images)
