The Venezuelan Summer League (VSL) was a

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professional ...

sports league A sports league is a group of sports teams or individual athletes that compete against each other and gain points in a specific sport. At its simplest, it may be a local group of amateur athletes who form teams among themselves and compete on wee ...

that operated in

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

from 1997 to 2015, primarily in the state of Carabobo. Teams in the league served as academies for

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB) organizations, and were classified at the Rookie League level within Minor League Baseball.

History

The VSL was created in 1997 as an alternative to the

Dominican Summer League The Dominican Summer League (DSL) is a branch of affiliated Minor League Baseball which is played in the Dominican Republic. The league was founded in 1985. After the demise of the Venezuelan Summer League after the 2015 season, it is the only ...

(DSL) to improve the development of young prospects from Venezuela in their early years in organized baseball. Besides Carabobo, the states of

Aragua Aragua State ( es, Estado Aragua, ) is one of the 23 states of Venezuela. It is located in the north-central region of Venezuela. It has plains and jungles and Caribbean beaches. The most popular are Cata and Choroni. It has Venezuela's first n ...

Lara Lara may refer to: Places * Lara (state), a state in Venezuela *Electoral district of Lara, an electoral district in Victoria, Australia * Lara, Antalya, an urban district in Turkey * Lara, Victoria, a township in Australia * Lara de los In ...

and

Yaracuy Yaracuy State ( es, link=no, Estado Yaracuy, ;) is one of the 23 states of Venezuela. It is bordered by Falcón in the north, in the west by Lara, in the south by Portuguesa and Cojedes and in the east by Cojedes and Carabobo. Its geograp ...

were represented in the league. Each team had a roster limit of 35 active players, at least 10 of which had to be

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

s. No player on the active list could have more than four years of minor league service. There were no age limits. The league was closed to all

MLB Draft The first-year player draft is the primary mechanism of Major League Baseball (MLB) for assigning amateur baseball players from high schools, colleges, and other amateur baseball clubs to its teams. The draft order is determined based on a lo ...

eligible players; that is, players from the

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and

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. Exceptions were made for two players from Puerto Rico. In addition to

, players in the league came from

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

, Colombia, Curaçao,

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares with ...

, El Salvador,

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

Nicaragua Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the countr ...

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Co ...

, and

Sint Maarten Sint Maarten () is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in the Caribbean. With a population of 41,486 as of January 2019 on an area of , it encompasses the southern 44% of the divided island of Saint Martin, while the nort ...

. The regular season champion and runner-up played a best-of-three-games playoff series for the league championship. The league had six squads in its first season, 1997, via three teams fielding split-squads. By 1999, the league had grown to 10 individual teams, and had nine teams as late as 2007. The league reduced to four teams in 2012, played the next two seasons with five teams, and was again reduced to four teams in 2015. Political instability in the region led to more teams opting out before the 2016 season, resulting in the league shutting down.

Teams

1997–2004

Teams during this period were named for the city they operated in.

Single-squad teams

Source:

Split-squad teams

These clubs operated as split-squads, fielding two teams denoted by numbers (e.g. VSL Venoco 1 and VSL Venoco 2). Source:

2005–2015

Teams during this period were named for their affiliated MLB team(s).

Single-affiliate teams

Source:

Cooperative teams

Note that cooperative teams are linked to their respective teams (e.g. VSL Cubs/Twins links to VSL Cubs and VSL Twins). Source:

League champions

* 1997 – VSL Maracay 2 * 1998 – VSL Guacara 1 * 1999 – VSL Chino Canónico * 2000 – VSL San Felipe * 2001 – VSL Venoco * 2002 – VSL Aguirre * 2003 – VSL San Felipe * 2004 – VSL Tronconero 2 * 2005 – VSL Astros * 2006 – VSL Phillies * 2007 – VSL Astros * 2008 – VSL Pirates * 2009 – VSL Rays * 2010 – VSL Pirates * 2011 – VSL Rays * 2012 – VSL Phillies * 2013 – VSL Mariners * 2014 – VSL Tigers * 2015 – VSL Tigers Source:

MLB alumni

VSL players who have gone on to make MLB appearances include: *

José Altuve José Carlos Altuve (; born May 6, 1990) is a Venezuelan professional baseball second baseman for the Houston Astros of Major League Baseball (MLB). The Astros signed Altuve as an amateur free agent in 2007, and he made his major league debut ...

(HOU) * José Alvarado (TBR) *

Wladimir Balentien Wladimir Ramon Balentien (; born July 2, 1984), nicknamed "Coco", is a Curaçaoan-Dutch professional baseball outfielder who is currently a free agent. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Seattle Mariners and Cincinnati Reds, and in ...

(SEA) *

Asdrúbal Cabrera Asdrúbal José Cabrera (; born November 13, 1985) is a Venezuelan-American professional baseball infielder who is currently a free agent. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Cleveland Indians, Washington Nationals, Tampa Bay Ra ...

(SEA) * Ramón Cabrera (PIT) * Ezequiel Carrera (TOR) *

Yonny Chirinos Yonny Enrique Chirinos Mejias (born December 26, 1993) is a Venezuelan professional baseball pitcher for the Tampa Bay Rays of Major League Baseball (MLB). Career Minor league career Chirinos signed with the Tampa Bay Rays for $10,000 as an in ...

(TBR) * Argenis Díaz (BOS) * Elías Díaz (PIT) * Félix Doubront (BOS) *

Luis Durango Luis A. Durango (born April 23, 1986) is a Panamanian former professional baseball outfielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the San Diego Padres and Houston Astros and was also a member of the Panama national baseball team. Durang ...

(SDP) * Sergio Escalona (PHI) * Eduardo Escobar (CWS) *

Víctor Gárate Víctor J. Gárate (born September 25, 1984) is a former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Washington Nationals, in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) for the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters and in Chine ...

(HOU) * Avisail García (DET) * Severino González (PHI) * Mayckol Guaipe (SEA) * Jesús Guzmán (SEA) * César Hernández (PHI) * Oscar Hernández (TBR) *

Dilson Herrera Dilson José Herrera García (born March 3, 1994) is a Colombian professional baseball second baseman for the Staten Island FerryHawks of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball. He previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the ...

(PIT) * Edgar Ibarra (MIN) * Gregory Infante (CWS) * Dixon Machado (DET) *

Jean Machi Jean Manuel Machi (born February 1, 1982) is a Venezuelan professional baseball pitcher who is a free agent. He previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the San Francisco Giants, Boston Red Sox and Seattle Mariners. He was with the Gia ...

(PHI) *

Germán Márquez Germán Andres Márquez (born February 22, 1995) is a Venezuelan professional baseball pitcher for the Colorado Rockies of Major League Baseball (MLB). He won a Silver Slugger Award in 2018. Career Tampa Bay Rays Márquez signed with the Tampa Ba ...

(TBR) * David Martínez (HOU) *

Yoervis Medina Yoervis José Medina (born July 27, 1988) is a Venezuelan professional baseball pitcher, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Seattle Mariners and Chicago Cubs. Career Seattle Mariners From 2006 to 2009, Medina played for the VSL M ...

(SEA) * Diego Moreno (PIT) * Omar Narváez (TBR) *

Ángel Nesbitt Ángel Ladimir Nesbitt (born December 4, 1990) is a Venezuelan professional baseball pitcher for the Sioux City Explorers of the American Association of Professional Baseball. He has previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Detroit ...

(DET) * Lester Oliveros (DET) * José Ortega (DET) * Hernán Pérez (DET) * Erasmo Ramírez (SEA) *

Wilking Rodríguez Wilking José Rodríguez Carrasco (born March 2, 1990) is a Venezuelan professional baseball pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals of Major League Baseball (MLB). In 2007, Rodríguez signed with the Tampa Bay Rays as an international free agent. He ...

(TBR) * Bruce Rondón (DET) * Josmil Pinto (MIN) *

José Quintana José Guillermo Quintana (born January 24, 1989) is a Colombian professional baseball pitcher for the New York Mets of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Chicago White Sox, Chicago Cubs, Los Angeles Angels, San ...

(NYM) * J. C. Ramírez (SEA) * Felipe Rivero (TBR) * Miguel Rojas (CIN) * Jorge Rondón (STL) *

Rómulo Sánchez Rómulo Ignacio Sánchez Oviedo (born April 28, 1984) is a Venezuelan former professional baseball pitcher. He pitched in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Pittsburgh Pirates and New York Yankees, in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) for the ...

(PIT) * Eduardo Sánchez (STL) *

Eugenio Suárez Eugenio Alejandro Suárez (born July 18, 1991) is a Venezuelan professional baseball infielder for the Seattle Mariners of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously played for the Detroit Tigers and Cincinnati Reds. Suárez was an All-Star in 2 ...

(DET) * Rubén Tejada (NYM) * Ronald Torreyes (CIN) * Wilfredo Tovar (NYM) * Luis Valbuena (SEA) *

Felipe Vázquez Felipe Javier Vázquez (né Rivero, born July 5, 1991), nicknamed "Nightmare", is a Venezuelan professional baseball pitcher and convicted sex offender who is currently on the restricted list for the Pittsburgh Pirates. He previously played for ...

(TBR) *

Brayan Villarreal Brayan Rene Villarreal (born May 10, 1987) is a Venezuelan former professional baseball pitcher. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Detroit Tigers and Boston Red Sox. He is 6'0" tall and weighs 170 pounds. Minor league career V ...

(DET) Note: team affiliations reflect a player's organization while in the VSL; the player may have reached MLB with a different franchise.

References

External links

Official website
archived March 2016 via

Wayback Machine The Wayback Machine is a digital archive of the World Wide Web founded by the Internet Archive, a nonprofit based in San Francisco, California. Created in 1996 and launched to the public in 2001, it allows the user to go "back in time" and see ...

VSL Encyclopedia and History
at

Baseball-Reference.com Baseball-Reference is a website providing baseball statistics for every player in Major League Baseball history. The site is often used by major media organizations and baseball broadcasters as a source for statistics. It offers a variety of advan ...

{{Professional Baseball Venezuelan Summer League Minor league baseball leagues Baseball leagues in Venezuela Sports leagues established in 1997 Sports leagues disestablished in 2015 1997 establishments in Venezuela 2015 disestablishments in Venezuela Defunct baseball leagues