Serie de Las Americas Tournament – What is it?

The 2025 Serie de Las Americas (SDLA) Event will have six countries from their leagues participating. The 2025 Curacao Professional Baseball League champion winner, the Curacao Goats; the 2024 Liga Argentina de Béisbol season winner, the Club Daom; the 2024-25 Panamá Probeis winner, the Aguilas Metropolitanas, the 2024-25 Liga Profesional De Béisbol Colombia season champion, the Caimanes de Barranquilla, the 2024-25 Liga de Béisbol Profesional Nacional winner in Nicaragua, the Leonés de León and the 2024 Serie Nacional regular season winner in Cuba, the Lenadores de Las Tunas.

This tournament is important because it gives players from countries that will not be participating in the Caribbean Series the chance to play. Most of these guys won’t be on the MLB radar, although a few of these players have past MLB experience. It’s a good way for them to continue their baseball careers in a new environment. It was a six-year gap without the Latin American Series, which was previously what this tournament was.

Nicaragua —

Nicaragua has played in the Serie Interamericana, the Latin American Series and the Caribbean Series with their LBPN club teams.

Player to Watch:

Cole Cook, 27, is a left-handed American pitcher who also pitched in for Frontier League in 2024 for the Schaumburg Boomers. Cook threw 122 innings with 135 strikeouts and an ERA of 3.76 for the Schaumburg Boomers. Connor pitched 46.1 innings and struck out 38 batters, with an ERA of 3.69 this season for Lions of Leon.

Argentina —

Liga Argentina de Bèisbol was established in 2017, and the Club Doam qualified by beating the Patriots.

Player to Watch: 

Second baseman Jacinto Cipriota, 34, played four seasons with the Tampa Bay Rays and Toronto Blue Jays rookie ball affiliates from 2007-2011. He didn’t play during the 2010 season because he was unsigned after being released from the Rays. Cipriota had two home runs, 10 RBI, four doubles, and a .414 batting average for the Club Daom in the 2024 LAB playoffs.

Colombia –

Camiones de Barranquilla won the Caribbean Series in 2022, representing Colombia against the Gigantes del Cibao, who represented the Dominican Republic from LIDOM.

Player to Watch:

Dilson Herra, 30, made his MLB debut with the New York Mets in 2014 and played with them in 2015. He also played for the Cincinnati Reds in 2018 and made his last MLB appearance with the Baltimore Orioles in 2020. He had 11 home runs and 28 RBI in 241 career at-bats. Herra hit one home run with a team-leading 6 RBI in Caimanes de Barranquilla’s playoff run in the LPB.

Cuba –

Leñadores de Las Tunas also won it all in 2023 during the spring-summer league Serie Nacional season.

The 2014-15 Serie Nacional champions, the Vegueros de Pinar del Rio, won the 2015 Caribbean Series, becoming the only Cuban team to do so after 1960.

Player to Watch:

Danny Betancourt, 43, is a right-handed veteran pitcher who has played 23 seasons in the Cuban Serie Nacional. He also pitched for Cuba in the 2004 Olympics in Athens, Greece, and helped them win a gold medal. In 2005, he won another gold medal in the Baseball World Cup with Team Cuba in Rotterdam, Netherlands. Betancourt pitched in the World Baseball Classic for Team Cuba in 2009 and 2013.

His career stats in the Cuban Serie Nacional are 1,953 innings, 1178 strikeouts, 16 saves, and an ERA of 3.96.

Curaçao –

Last year at the 2024 Caribbean Series at loanDepot Park in Miami, Curacao finished in fourth place, losing in the third place game to the 2024 Panamá Probeis champion Federales de Chiriquí 5-4.

Player to watch:

Didi Gregorius, 34, played 11 MLB seasons, and the best part of his career was with the New York Yankees from 2015 to 2019. He had 97 home runs, 360 RBI, and an OPS of .759 in 2,449 at-bats. He made his MLB debut with the Cincinnati Reds in 2012 and played his final MLB season with the Philadelphia Phillies in 2022. Gregorius is an infielder who played in two WBCs with the Netherlands in 2017 and 2023. He suited up for Team Curaçao in the 2023-2024 Caribbean Series.

Panama –

Has only won one championship at the Caribbean Series in its six-year span. The Toros de Herrera won the 2019 event at Estadio Rod Carew in Panama City, Panama, over the 2018-19 Cuban Serie Nacional champion, the Leñadores de Las Tunas, 3-1 in the championship game.

Player to Watch:

Luis Castilo, 35, led the Panama Probeis league with six home runs and was second with 14 RBI. Castillo is an outfielder and was the biggest power threat for the Atlánticos de Bocas del Toro y Colón this past season and was added to the Águilias Metropolitans as a reinforcement. Castillo signed a minor league deal with the Detroit Tigers in 2007 and made it as high as their Double-A affiliate, the Erie SeaWolves, in 2013. He elected free agency after the 2013 season and never played for an MLB organization again.

His minor league career stats are 12 home runs, 179 RBI, 39 stolen bases, and an OPS of .634 in 1,879 at-bats.

All games at the 2025 SDLA event will be streamed on Youtube.com.

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Related Articles

Argentina’s Club Daom Serie De Las Americas Roster

Nicaragua’s Leones de León Finalized Roster For Serie De Las Américas 

WBN’s Matt Tallarini contributed to this article.