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LVBP: Schedule Will Be Released Wednesday; Young Prospect Working Out With Leones

Leif SkodnickOct 7, 20254 MIN READ
Title: Venezuela Baseball Caribbean Series Image ID: 23007807817690 Article: An aerial view of the La Rinconada baseball stadium in Caracas, Venezuela, Saturday, Jan. 7, 2023. The 65th edition of the Caribbean Series begins on Feb. 2, 2023 in Venezuela. Games will take place in Caracas at the La Rinconada and in La Guaira. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)

With one week to go until the winter ball season starts, the Liga Venezolana de Beisbol Profesional will release its schedule for the 2025-26 season on Wednesday prior to the league’s annual draft.

The LVBP is the last of the four major winter leagues to release its schedule, with LIDOM, Puerto Rico’s LPBRC, and Mexico’s Liga ARCO Mexicana del Pacifico having all released schedules for the 2025-26 season. League president Giuseppe Palmisano told Venezuelan journalist Jesus Ponte that the schedule would be released at a press event at the Hard Rock Caracas on Oct. 8.

So far, the LVBP has yet to release any information regarding the schedule for the upcoming season, and according to another post by Ponte on the social media network X, only the Navegantes de Magallanes have released their uniform design for the upcoming season, and added that the lack of a Winter League Agreement as well as the ongoing economic crisis in Venezuela likely played into delays regarding the league’s schedule and preseason marketing activities.

Top Young Prospect In Leones’ Camp – Luis Hernandez, a 16-year-old prospect who played this summer in the Liga Mayor de Beisbol Profesional, Venezuela’s summer league, is in camp with the Leones de Caracas, according to a report from El Emergente, a Venezuelan sports news site.

Playing for the Samanes de Aragua, Hernandez batted .346/.386/.452 in 104 at-bats this summer, hitting 16 home runs and recording 47 RBIs.

While Hernandez is in camp with the Leones, it is unlikely that he’ll see game action, as he is eligible to be signed by a Major League Baseball organization during the international signing period. According to El Emergente, the San Francisco Giants are favored to sign Hernandez, who could command a higher signing bonus than the $5.6 million the San Diego Padres gave to Ethan Salas, a catcher from Caracas, in 2023.

Born Dec. 13, 2008, Hernandez is unlikely to sign before the end of the International Free Agent signing period, as most teams have already spent the majority of their international bonus pool money. According to Spotrac, only the Padres and Toronto Blue Jays have more than $2 million in international bonus pool money remaining for the international free agent signing period that ends Dec. 15. Seven other teams have more than $1 million remaining in international bonus pool money, while 10 teams have less than $500,000 remaining, including the Giants, who have the least amount of international bonus pool remaining — just $21,200.

Former New York Yankee Jesus Montero Injured In Accident In Valencia – Jesus Montero, who once signed a deal with the New York Yankees that gave him the largest signing bonus by a Venezuelan, is fighting for his life in a hospital in Valencia, Venezuela, after a traffic accident this weekend.

Montero signed a deal with the Yankees that paid him a $2 million signing bonus in 2006. He later played in Major League Baseball with the Yankees and Seattle Mariners from 2011-15, and played six seasons of winter ball in the LVBP with the Navegantes de Magallanes, Aguilas del Zulia, and Cardenales de Lara.

According to a post on social media network X by Jhosmari Blanco, a Venezuelan baseball journalist, Montero suffered multiple traumatic injuries, including multiple broken ribs, a severe leg fracture, and internal injuries.

Photo: An aerial view of the La Rinconada baseball stadium in Caracas, Venezuela, Saturday, Jan. 7, 2023. The ballpark is the home of the Leones del Caracas, who play in the Liga Venezolana de Beisbol Profesional. The league delayed its schedule release until this week. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)

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