Cuban Elite League

Cuban Elite League
Current season, competition or edition:; 2023–24 Cuban Elite League
Sport	Baseball
Founded	2022
President	Juan Reinaldo Pérez Pardo
Organising body	INDER
No. of teams	6
Country	Cuba
Most recent; champion(s)	Cocodrilos de Matanzas; (1st title)
TV partner(s)	Tele Rebelde; Cubavision International
Level on pyramid	1
Related; competitions	Caribbean Series
Official website	[1]

The Cuban Elite League (Spanish: Liga Élite del Beisbol Cubano, or LEB), is a winter baseball league in Cuba. It debuted in 2022 as the highest level of the Cuban baseball league system. Beginning with the 2023-24 season, the Elite League comprised the top six teams from the summer-time Cuban National Series.^[1]^[2]

The league was formed in an effort to increase the quality of Cuban baseball, to bring it closer to the other professional winter leagues of the Caribbean. Professional baseball was abolished in Cuba in 1961. A desire to bring together the best players from the National Series, as well as address the drain of Cuban talent from the island to more competitive foreign leagues, contributed to the change of format in the league's second season (2023-24).^[3]

International competition

In 2023, the winner of the 2022-23 Elite League (Agricultores) represented Cuba at the 2023 Caribbean Series in Venezuela. However, in part due to fallout from the Cuban national team's appearance at the 2023 World Baseball Classic, the 2023-24 league champion was not invited to the 2024 Caribbean Series in Miami.^[4]

The 2023-24 LEB champion was invited to the prospective Intercontinental Series, to be held in Barranquilla in 2024, but the league declined the invitation, in part due to the inclusion of FEPCUBE, a team composed of Cuban expatriate and defected players.^[5] Pressure from the Cuban government eventually saw that tournament cancelled.^[6] Instead, LEB announced that it would take part a tournament labeled the "Copa Antillana" in Puerto Rico; however that tournament never materialized.^[7]

Teams

2022–23 season

In the Elite League's inaugural 2022-23 LEB season, the 16 teams of the Cuban National Series were grouped into six regional teams. However, this format was considered unpopular, and for the league's second season, the decision was made to include National Series teams.^[3]

Team	SNB Grouping	City	Stadium	Capacity
Agricultores	Las Tunas Granma	Bayamo	Mártires de Barbados Stadium	10,000
Cafetaleros	Santiago de Cuba Holguín Guantánamo	Holguín	Calixto García Íñiguez Stadium	30,000
Centrales	Matanzas Cienfuegos Villa Clara	Matanzas	Victoria de Girón Stadium	22,000
Ganaderos	Sancti Spíritus Ciego de Ávila Camagüey	Sancti Spíritus	José Antonio Huelga Stadium	13,000
Portuarios	Industriales Mayabeque	Havana	Estadio Latinoamericano	55,000
Tabacaleros	Pinar del Río Isla de la Juventud Artemisa	Nueva Gerona	Estadio Cristóbal Labra	5,000

2023–24 season

Six clubs competed in the 2023–24 season.^[8] These six occupied the top spots in the 2023 Cuban National Series.^[9]^[10]

2023–24 Team	SNB Position	First season in LEB	No. of seasons of current spell in LEB	Top division titles	Most recent top division title
Cocodrilos de Matanzas	6th	2023–24	1	1	2019–20
Industriales de La Habana	5th	2023–24	1	12	2009–10
Avispas de Santiago de Cuba	2nd	2023–24	1	8	2007–08
Gallos de Sancti Spíritus	4th	2023–24	1	1	1978–79
Leñadores de Las Tunas	1st	2023–24	1	3	2018–19, 2023, 2024
Cazadores de Artemisa	3rd	2023–24	1	0	–

2025 season

In the Elite League's third season, out of the 16 teams that form part of the Cuban National Series, only six of them qualified into the new league. These six teams occupied the top spots in the 2024 Cuban National Series.


Team	Ranking (Cuban National Series)	City	Stadium
Las Tunas	1st	Las Tunas	Julio Antonio Mella Stadium
Pinar del Río	2nd	Pinar del Rio	Estadio Capitán San Luis
Granma	3rd	Bayamo	Mártires de Barbados Stadium
Industriales	4th	La Habana	Estadio Latinoamericano
Santiago de Cuba	5th	Santiago de Cuba	Estadio Guillermón Moncada
Ciego de Ávila	6th	Ciego de Avila	José Ramón Cepero Stadium

Champions

Season	Winning team	Manager	Record	Games	Losing team
2022–23	Agricultores (Las Tunas/Granma)	Carlos Martí	30–19	4–3	Portuarios (Industriales/Mayabeque)
2023–24	Matanzas	Armando Ferrer	25–15	4–2	Artemisa

References

^ "Sharp Direction Change: First Six Teams in Cuba's National Series Will Play the Elite Baseball League". Periodico 26. June 16, 2023.
^ "Clasificados los seis equipos para la II Liga Élite del Béisbol Cubano" (in Spanish). Diario del Cuba. July 16, 2023.
^ ^a ^b "La Liga Élite: Segundo capítulo en busca de fijador" (in Spanish). Cubadebate. November 12, 2023.
^ "RÉGIMEN CONFIRMA QUE CUBA NO ESTARÁ EN SERIE DEL CARIBE DE MIAMI". ADN Cuba. Nov 15, 2023.
^ "RÉGIMEN CONFIRMA QUE CUBA NO ESTARÁ EN SERIE DEL CARIBE DE MIAMI". ADN Cuba. Nov 15, 2023.
^ "Serie Intercontinental de Béisbol con equipo Cuba libre es cancelada" (in Spanish). ESPN Deportes.
^ "¿Por qué el régimen cubano necesitaba la suspensión del torneo en el que habría un equipo de peloteros del exilio?" (in Spanish). Diario de Cuba. January 17, 2023.
^ "II Liga Elite del Béisbol Cubano 2023-2024". BeisbolenCuba.com (in Spanish).
^ "Inicia hoy Liga Élite del Béisbol Cubano" (in Spanish). Radio Rebelde. November 7, 2023.
^ "Cuban Baseball Elite League begins". Radio Habana Cuba. November 7, 2023.

External links

[2]

[1] "Sharp Direction Change: First Six Teams in Cuba's National Series Will Play the Elite Baseball League". Periodico 26. June 16, 2023.

[2] "Clasificados los seis equipos para la II Liga Élite del Béisbol Cubano" (in Spanish). Diario del Cuba. July 16, 2023.

[cubadebate-3] "La Liga Élite: Segundo capítulo en busca de fijador" (in Spanish). Cubadebate. November 12, 2023.

[4] "RÉGIMEN CONFIRMA QUE CUBA NO ESTARÁ EN SERIE DEL CARIBE DE MIAMI". ADN Cuba. Nov 15, 2023.

[5] "RÉGIMEN CONFIRMA QUE CUBA NO ESTARÁ EN SERIE DEL CARIBE DE MIAMI". ADN Cuba. Nov 15, 2023.

[6] "Serie Intercontinental de Béisbol con equipo Cuba libre es cancelada" (in Spanish). ESPN Deportes.

[7] "¿Por qué el régimen cubano necesitaba la suspensión del torneo en el que habría un equipo de peloteros del exilio?" (in Spanish). Diario de Cuba. January 17, 2023.

[8] "II Liga Elite del Béisbol Cubano 2023-2024". BeisbolenCuba.com (in Spanish).

[9] "Inicia hoy Liga Élite del Béisbol Cubano" (in Spanish). Radio Rebelde. November 7, 2023.

[10] "Cuban Baseball Elite League begins". Radio Habana Cuba. November 7, 2023.

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