Two years removed from its last appearance at the Caribbean Series, Panama’s ProBeis league has confirmed that its 2025-26 champion will go to Caracas for the 2026 Caribbean Series in Caracas, Venezuela.
The announcement was made via the league’s Instagram account and comes a week after Colombia’s professional league, the Liga Beisbol Profesional Colombiano, announced it was declining an invitation to play in the 2026 Caribbean Series, citing the expense of participation and leaving the event with six teams.
With Panama traveling to Caracas, the 2026 Caribbean Series will include teams from the four member leagues of the Confederacion de Beisbol Profesional del Caribe — the Dominican Republic’s LIDOM, Puerto Rico’s LBPRC, Venezuela’s Liga Venezolana de Beisbol Profesional, and Mexico’s Liga ARCO Mexicana del Pacifico — as well as the ProBeis champion and the champion of Cuba’s Serie Nacional.
Panama last appeared in the Caribbean Series in 2024 when the event was held at loanDepot Park in Miami, when the Federales de Chiriqui won the ProBeis championship and finished third at the Caribbean Series, beating Curacao 5-4 in the third place game. The Toros de Herrera won the 2019 Caribbean Series, which was hosted in Panama City and marked Panama’s first appearance at the Caribbean Series since 1960, when the event was last held in Panama City and the isthmus nation’s Marlboro Smokers finished second.
The 2024 Federales de Chiriqui were managed by Jose Mayorga, who has won two titles in ProBeis, both with the Federales, and managed Panama at the 2024 WBSC Premier12. Mayorga has been named the manager for Panama’s 2025 Copa America de Beisbol team and the team for the 2026 World Baseball Classic, which will play in Pool A in San Juan, Puerto Rico, at Hiram Bithorn Stadium.
The Caribbean Series is one of two postseason tournaments the ProBeis champion is expected to play, along with the 2026 Serie de Las Americas, which will be played Jan. 24-30, 2026 in Panama at Estadio Rod Carew in Panama City and Estadio Mariano Rivera in La Chorrera. Organized by the Asociation de Ligas Profesionales de Beisbol de Las Americas, Argentina, Colombia, Cuba, Curacao, Nicaragua, and Panama are expected to play in the Serie de Las Americas. The first Serie de Las Americas was held in Nicaragua in January 2025, with Panama’s Aguilas Metropolitanas winning the inaugural tournament.
Photo: Jose Mayorga manager of Federales de Chiriquí of Panama reacts in the third inning, during a semi final game between Dominican Republic and Panama at loanDepot park as part of Serie del Caribe 2024 on February 8, 2024 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Luis Gutierrez /Norte Photo/Getty Images)
