After the United States military conducted a raid in Caracas that captured Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Celia Flores, the South American country had the third-largest number of players on Major League Baseball rosters in 2025 was plunged into an uncertain future.
Multiple MLB Players Are Currently In Venezuela – Many Venezuelan players return to the country during Major League Baseball’s offseason, and a lot of them make cameo appearances for their hometown teams in the Liga Venezolana de Beisbol Profesional, the country’s professional winter league. Generally, they start returning as the winter ball playoffs begin, as there’s generally about one week between the end of the Caribbean Series and the start of MLB spring training.
The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reported yesterday that the Milwaukee Brewers, who have five Venezuelan players on their 40-man roster, don’t know much about the status of their players who are in the country at the moment.
“We don’t have much info at the moment but are trying to follow up,” Brewers president of baseball operations Matt Arnold told the Journal Sentinel. “We know the airports have been shut down but not much beyond that.”
Among the Brewers known to be in Venezuela is budding superstar Jackson Chourio, who has played in eight games this winter for the Aguilas del Zulia in his hometown of Maracaibo, where he’s batted .400 in 30 at-bats with a homer and five RBIs. He drove in the game-winner for Zulia in Friday’s night’s 4-3 win over the Navegantes de Magallanes with a solo homer in the top of the 10th. Other Brewers from Venezuela include pitcher Angel Zerpa, catchers William Contreras and Jeferson Quero, and shortstop Andruw Monasterio.
A report in the San Francisco Chronicle by Susan Slusser indicated that two of the Giants Venezuelan players, outfielder Luis Matos and catcher Jesus Rodriguez, are in the country playing winter ball, while a third, reliever Jose Butto, is spending the winter in Florida.
Rodriguez told the Chronicle that he is safe, but can’t leave Venezuela for a few days, at minimum, as commercial aviation is mostly shut down in the country.
A review of flight tracking website FlightAware by World Baseball Network on Sunday morning showed little commercial air traffic over Venezuela, with one flight operated by LASER Airlines, a Venezuelan carrier, flying between Maiquetía Airport in Caracas and Maracaibo.
Copa Airlines, a Panamanian carrier, was one of the last foreign airlines flying in and out of Venezuela, but suspended service from Panama City to Maiquetía Airport in Caracas last month. The major U.S. airlines stopped flying to Venezuela before the 2020 Covid-19 Pandemic, with United and Delta discontinuing service in 2017 and American Airlines ceasing flights to Venezuela in 2019.
Keyvius Sampson, who pitched in Major League Baseball for the Cincinnati Reds in 2015 and 2016 and spent the past four winters pitching for the Cardenales de Lara of the LVBP, told World Baseball Network that travel to and from Venezuela isn’t easy.
“I had to go to Colombia first for a night to grab my visa, then I’d catch a flight to Venezuela. Coming back, I went through Panama,” Sampson told WBN.
Pitchers and catchers are expected to report to MLB spring training Feb. 9-12, with different teams having different reporting dates. Players who are participating in the 2026 World Baseball Classic often have earlier dates by which they must report to spring training.
Liga Venezolana de Beisbol Profesional Playoffs Suspended – On Sunday morning, Ignacio Serrano of El Emergente reported that the LVBP games scheduled for Sunday had been suspended.
Giuseppe Palmisano, the president of the LVBP, told El Emergente that the league would take a day-by-day approach towards the resumption of the postseason following Maduro’s capture, and said that the league would hold discussions on a possible resumption of the playoffs on Sunday afternoon, with games being played on Monday a possibility.
Writing for El Emergente, Serrano noted that the Águilas del Zulia, who were scheduled to play two games against the Bravos de Margarita in Porlamar, had returned to Maracaibo. They left Valencia, where they beat the Navegantes del Magallanes 4-3 in 10 innings, for Margarita at midnight on Friday, but never made it to the island. The approximately 700 km trip takes about 10 hours by bus and ferry.
While there has been no statement posted to the website of the Liga Venezolana de Beisbol Profesional, Venezuela’s top professional league, the two playoff games scheduled for Saturday night were both suspended.
The Caribes de Anzoategui were scheduled to be facing the Navegantes del Magallanes at 4:30 p.m. EST Saturday in Valencia and the Aguilas del Zulia were scheduled to play the Bravos de Margarita at 6 p.m. EST in Porlamar. On Sunday, the Caribes were scheduled to face the Cardenales de Lara at 4:30 p.m. EST in Barquisimeto, and the Aguilas del Zulia were again scheduled to face the Bravos at 6 p.m. EST.
On BeisbolPlay.com, the website through which the LVBP streams its games, a short story was posted quoting LVBP president Giuseppe Palmisano, who said in Spanish, “We must wait, but there is no definitive suspension yet. We have to protect our players, fans, and foreign players. We’ll also see if we have enough days to finish the tournament.”
The first two games of the LVBP’s five-team, 16-game round robin playoff were played Friday.
No Word on the Serie de Las Americas – The future of the Serie de Las Americas, which was moved from Panama City, Panama, to Caracas and La Guaira, Venezuela, in response to the Confederacion de Beisbol Profesional del Caribe’s removal of the 2026 Caribbean Series from Venezuela, remains uncertain.
Originally scheduled to be played Jan. 24-30, 2026, at Estadio Mariano Rivera in La Chorrera, Panama and Estadio Juan Demostrenes Arosamena in Panama City, the LVBP persuaded the organizers, the Asociation de Ligas Profesionales de Beisbol de Las Americas, to move the event to Venezuela and play on the same dates as the Caribbean Series.
Reached via WhatsApp, two sources with close ties to the event told World Baseball Network that, essentially, they’re playing wait and see.
“At this moment, we’re just glad that all our friends and acquaintances are doing well in Venezuela,” one source told WBN. “We will give them a chance to regroup before we check in and see how things will proceed with the Serie de Las Americas.”
“We’re waiting, just like the LVBP,” another source said. “The situation is complicated, but we have to wait a few days to find out what will happen.”
The Serie de Las Americas, now scheduled for Feb. 1-7, 2026, at Estadio Monumental Simon Bolivar in Caracas and Estadio Forum in La Guaira, will feature league champions from Argentina, Curacao, Colombia, and Nicaragua, with Cuba, Panama, and Brazil sending their national teams, and Venezuela providing a team as well.
Photo: Estadio Monumental Simon Bolivar in Caracas, Venezuela, is scheduled to host the 2026 Serie de Las Americas. (AP Photo)
