Dantos and CTBC Brothers to open Baseball Champions League in Mexico City
The Baseball Champions League 2026 will open on Tuesday, March 24, at 10:00 (local time) at Alfredo Harp Helu Stadium in Mexico City when the Managua Dantos (Germán Pomares Ordóñez League) will face the CTBC Brothers (Chinese Professional Baseball League, CPBL).
Ronald Garth will manage the Dantos, while CPBL legend Cheng-Min Peng will manage the Brothers. Garth is a former professional player who represented Nicaragua at the 2005 Baseball World Cup. Peng, who spent 19 years playing for the Brothers, is the CPBL all-time leader in runs scored, sacrifice flies, walks, intentional walks, and a lifetime on-base percentage (OBP) of .431.
The Dantos are a mix of veterans - such as Benjamin Alegria, who represented Nicaragua at the 2023 and 2026 World Baseball Classic - and young talent.
The Brothers have a roster mostly of minor league players, which includes more experienced veterans. Pitchers Huei-Sheng Lin and Meng-Yang Lu have played three CPBL seasons, while infielder Wei-Da Su has 11. Venezuelan pitcher Angel Macuare is a recent Brothers signing and will be in the rotation.
The Mexico City Diablos Rojos (Mexican Baseball League, LMB) will take the field at 19:00 (local time) when they face the Kane County Cougars (American Association of Professional Baseball).
Lorenzo Bundy will manage the Diablos Rojos. The former Minor League Baseball (MiLB) and LMB player is a veteran coach with experience in organised baseball in the United States. He led the Diablos Rojos to back-to-back LMB titles and to the BCL Americas 2025 title. He can count on a talented roster, with veterans such as former Major League Baseball (MLB) catcher Carlos Perez and two-time LMB MVP Josè Marmolejos.
George Tsamis will manager the Cougars. A former MLB pitcher, he has managed the Cougars since 2021 and has led them to back-to-back American Association titles.
The Matanzas Cocodrilos (Cuban National League) will rest on March 24.
Veteran coach Armando Ferrer is the manager. He managed the Cuban National Team at the WBSC Americas Tokyo 2020 Qualifier and was on the WBSC Premier12 2024 coaching staff. His roster counts on seasoned veterans such as former MLB superstar Alexei Ramirez. The ace of the pitching staff is Yoennis Yera, who represented Cuba internationally at the World Baseball Classic and in all three editions of the WBSC Premier12.
The Leagues
The Diablos Rojos are the two-time LMB defending champions. They will host the Campeche Piratas on Thursday, April 16, for the 2026 LMB opening day. The other 18 teams will take the field on Friday, April 17. The 20 participants in the 2026 LMB will split into two Divisions (North and South) with the top six finishers advancing to the playoffs after a 93-game regular season. In the first playoff, starting on August 9, the three winners and the loser with the most wins (lucky loser) will advance to the Division Series. The eventual tie-breaker would be take place after the regular season. The Championship series (Serie del Rey) is scheduled from September 9 to 17.
The CTBC Brothers are the CPBL runners-up. They lost the final series against the Rakuten Monkeys. The 2026 CPBL season will feature six teams and will open on Saturday, March 28. The 120-game regular season includes first-half and second-half standings, with a total of three teams advancing to the playoffs. The first round of the playoffs is a best-of-five series, while the Final is a best-of-seven series.
The Kane County Cougars are the defending champions of the 12-team American Association, a Major League Baseball (MLB) partner league. The 2026 season will open on May 14, when the Cleburne Railroaders host the Fargo-Moorehead RedHawks. The other 10 teams will take the field on May 15. The 12 participants will split into two Divisions (East and West). After a 100-game regular season ending on September 7, the top four finishers of each Division will advance to the playoffs. The Division Series will be a best-of-three series. The Division Championship Series and the Miles Wolff Cup (League Championship Series) will be a best-of-five series.
The Matanzas Cocodrilos swept the Las Tunas Leñadores in the best-of-seven Final Series to win the 16-team 2025-26 Cuban National League (Serie Nacional) in February. Cuba's Serie Nacional is a 16-team league. After the 90-game regular season, Matanzas overcame Santi Spiritus in the quarterfinals and eliminated the legendary Havana Industriales in the semifinals.
The Managua Dantos won the 2026 Pomares League, a 20-team championship that includes teams representing all the regions (Departments) in Nicaragua. The Nicaraguan Commission for High Performance Baseball (CNBS, Comisión Nicaragüense de Béisbol Superior) manages the league. The 2026 campaign opened on February 28. Each team will compete in a 76-game regular season, with the top 12 advancing to a 20-game second round, promoting the top-eight finishers to the playoffs. The quarterfinals (August 21-26) will be a best-of-five series. The semifinals (August 19-September 6) and the final (September 8-16) will be a best-of-seven series
Past editions
Mexico hosted a test event for the Baseball Champions League project in Mérida (Yucatán) in late September 2023. The Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks (USA) won the four-team event.
Mexico City and the LMB successfully hosted the BCL Americas 2025, a six-team tournament won by Diablos Rojos del México, which also featured champion clubs from Cuba, Curaçao, Nicaragua, Puerto Rico and USA.
Baseball Champions League Europe
The WBSC will launch a two-stage Baseball Champions League Europe in 2026.
The first stage, from May 22 to 24, will include two four-team tournaments in Rotterdam (Netherlands) and Regensburg (Germany) and involve teams from the host Nations Germany (2) and the Netherlands (2), as well as from Italy (2), Czechia (1) and Spain (1).
The top two finishers of each tournament will advance to the championship round, scheduled for September 26 and 27. The WBSC will announce the host city after the completion of the first round.