- MLB. Caribbean Series 2024 Countries: Which countries will not be participating this year?
- MLB. Caribbean Series 2024 Tickets: How much will it cost you to watch the tournament this year?
After more than three decades, the Caribbean Series returns to a U.S. city, starting this Thursday at LoanDepot Park, home of the Miami Marlins, where the Tigres de Licey, representatives of the Dominican Republic arrive as defending champions.
This edition, however, will not include representatives from Cuba and Colombia.
The rest of the participants are:
- Tigres de Licey (Dominican Republic).
- Tiburones de La Guaira (Venezuela),
- Criollos de Caguas (Puerto Rico),
- Federales de Chiriqu� (Panama)
- Gigantes de Rivas (Nicaragua),
- Curacao Suns (Curacao), and
- Naranjeros de Hermosillo (Mexico)
The last time this Latin American Baseball Classic was played in the United States was in 1991, when Tigres del Licey won, but that edition was held at the now defunct Bobby Maduro Stadium. For this edition, the tournament will be feature three games for each team in the first round.
The semifinals will be held on February 8 and the final is scheduled for February 9. The stadium, which will host the tournament, has a capacity for 37,000 fans.
The favorites to win the 2024 Caribbean Series
Tigres de Licey
The Tigres del Licey are the winningest club in the event, with 11 trophies in their trophy cabinet. Just over the weekend they won their 24th LIDOM title by defeating the Estrellas Orientales to win their second championship in their country.
They are also the defending champions of the Caribbean Series, after winning the 2023 edition held in Caracas. The team arrives as favorites for this edition, although they will be without one of their main stars, Jorge Alfaro. However, they will have the reinforcement of former major league player Robinson Can�, along with C�sar Valdez and Ra�l Vald�s, as the base of their starting lineup.
Tiburones de La Guaira
The LVBP champions return to the tournament for the first time since 1986 and their return comes with a renewed and reinforced squad with 10 players: Hern�n P�rez, Alexi Amarista, Wilfredo Tovar, Anthony Vizcaya, Silvino Bracho, among others, under the command of the experienced Ozzie Guill�n, in search of their first Caribbean title. However, they are also missing Maikel Garc�a.
Naranjeros de Hermosillo
The Mexican outfit is one of the teams with the longest tradition in the Series. In this edition they arrive with a balanced team to fight for the title, after booking their ticket by sweeping the Venados de Mazatl�n.
They have 14 new players on their roster, among them, their main star, Major League player Isaac Paredes. They also have Jasson Atondo, Alan Rangel and C�sar Salazar. The Naranjeros won back in 1976 and 2014, and a third title would make them the winningest Mexican team in the Series.
Criollos de Caguas
The Criollos de Caguas won the 21st title in their history, defeating the Carolina Giants. Their star player is Enmanuel Rivera, who leads a team with Ricardo G�mez, Alex Claudio and Christian Torres in their pitching backbone, as well as Vimael Mach�n and Jancarlos Cintr�n as their main hitters.