- The United States’ attack on Caracas and capture of Nicolás Maduro has so far had a minimal impact on Major League Baseball.
- Venezuela’s professional baseball league postponed its playoffs for four days but is scheduled to resume competition.
- Dozens of Venezuelan players, including top prospects and stars, are on MLB rosters or participating in winter leagues.
For now, the instability in Venezuela following the United States’ attack on Caracas has had minimal impact on Major League Baseball, thanks largely to the timing of president Nicolás Maduro’s capture and transfer to New York, where on Jan. 5 he pleaded not guilty to drug trafficking charges.
Still, there are immediate affects in Venezuela and bigger-picture concerns as the game’s calendar drifts toward February.
The Liga Venezolana de Béisbol Profesional postponed its playoffs following the raid in the early morning hours of Jan. 3, and announced competition is scheduled to resume Wednesday, Jan. 7 after a four-day delay.
Meanwhile, major league teams are aiming to keep connected to personnel there.
‘We created a player and staff chat making sure everyone is safe and to keep communication fluid,’ Chicago White Sox general manager Chris Getz told USA TODAY Sports. ‘It’s all been positive in regard to safety.
‘Obviously, there’s some anxiety with the unknowns, but people seem optimistic better days are ahead for their families.’
Venezuela’s winter ball playoffs – a five-team, 16-game round-robin tournament – run through January and several MLB players are participating, most notably Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Jackson Chourio, who hit a game-winning home run for his club, Aguilas del Zulia, just hours before the raid on Caracas began.
Like many MLB players participating in winter leagues throughout the Caribbean, Chourio was scheduled to play just a portion of the postseason for his club before preparing in earnest for the Brewers’ 2026 season. Major league spring training camps begin opening Feb. 9, though both domestic and international players often begin working out at or near their facilities far sooner.
Chourio was one of 63 Venezuelan players on major league opening-day rosters, the largest foreign-born contingent behind the Dominican Republic’s 100 players.
‘We don’t have much info at the moment but are trying to follow up,’ Brewers president of baseball operations Matt Arnold told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, part of the USA TODAY Network, via a team spokesperson. ‘We know the airports have been shut down but not much beyond that.’
Travel to and from Venezuela has grown more complex in the past quarter-century, beginning with greater scrutiny of passports and visas in the wake of 9/11. In 2002, a general strike and brief overthrow of then-president Hugo Chavez roiled Venezuela, and many veteran ballplayers and MLB personnel from Venezuela have opted to relocate to the USA.
Hall of Fame-caliber players such as Miguel Cabrera and Salvador Perez have become U.S. citizens, but for younger players, travel between the countries has grown increasingly difficult. The U.S. ended diplomatic relations with Venezuela – closing its embassy – in 2019, and players must seek visas from neighboring Colombia or other Latin American countries.
As a result of such complications, MLB franchises are accustomed to keeping close tabs on players and staff in Venezuela during the winter, a protocol that gained greater urgency this month. Venezuela is slated to compete in the World Baseball Classic beginning in March, with catcher Perez serving as team captain. National stars Ronald Acuña Jr. and Jose Altuve have expressed interest in returning to the squad, according to MLB.com. Venezuela is scheduled to begin its WBC slate with a March 6 game against the Netherlands in Pool D, at Miami’s LoanDepot Park.