The Cuban Elite League ( es, 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.
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).
International competition
In 2023, the winner of the 2022-23 Elite League (
Agricultores) represented Cuba at the
2023 Caribbean Series
The 2023 Caribbean Series was the 65th edition of the Caribbean Series, played at La Rinconada Baseball Stadium in Caracas and Jorge Luis García Carneiro Stadium in La Guaira, Venezuela from February 2 to February 10, 2023.
The series brought ...
in
Venezuela. However, in part due to fallout from the
Cuban national team's appearance at the
2023 World Baseball Classic
The 2023 World Baseball Classic (WBC), an international professional baseball tournament, is set to be the fifth iteration of the World Baseball Classic. It was originally set for 2021 (as per tradition to hold the event every four years), but wa ...
, the 2023-24 league champion was not invited to the
2024 Caribbean Series
The 2024 Caribbean Series was the 66th edition of the Caribbean Series club baseball tournament, played from February 1-9, 2024, at LoanDepot Park in Miami, Florida, United States. This was the first time since the 1991 Caribbean Series, 1991 ser ...
in Miami.
The 2023-24 LEB champion was invited to the prospective
Intercontinental Series, to be held in
Barranquilla
Barranquilla () is the capital district of Atlántico Department in Colombia. It is located near the Caribbean Sea and is the largest city and third port in the Caribbean Coast region; as of 2018 it had a population of 1,206,319, making it Col ...
in 2024, but the league declined the invitation, in part due to the inclusion of
FEPCUBE, a team comprised of
Cuban expatriate and defected players. Pressure from the Cuban government eventually saw that tournament cancelled. Instead, LEB announced that it would take part a tournament labeled the "Copa Antillana" in Puerto Rico; however that tournament never materialized.
Teams
2023–24 season
Six clubs are competing in the 2023–24 season. These six occupied the top spots in the
2023 Cuban National Series
The 2023 Cuban National Series was the 62nd season of the league. No longer playing a winter league schedule, the regular season began on 29 March and ended on 3 July. In the series' final playoff round, contested in August, Las Tunas defeated In ...
.
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.
Champions
References
External links
{{Professional Baseball
Baseball in the Caribbean
Baseball in Cuba
Sports leagues established in 2022