The 2025–26 LVBP season is the 80th edition of the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League (LVBP), the top-level professional baseball league in Venezuela. The regular season started on October 15, and will run to December 27, 2025. Playoffs are scheduled to begin on December 28th, with the final series is expected to begin on January 23rd, 2026.
The season is the 80th edition of Venezuela's professional winter league, and will be played in honor of Dave Concepción, a former player and manager with the Tigres de Aragua. Cardenales de Lara are the defending champions, having won their seventh championship in the 2024 season.
The winners of the 2025–26 season was initially slated to represent Venezuela at the 2026 Caribbean Series, scheduled to be held on home soil in Caracas and La Guaira. However, the tournament was later moved to Mexico due to geopolitical tensions; the LVBP announced that Venezuela would instead host the 2026 Serie de las Américas. It was the first time since 2003 that the LVBP did not participate in the Caribbean Series.
On January 3, 2026, the playoff round robin was temporarily suspended due to the 2026 United States strikes in Venezuela. Play resumed four days later, but Major League Baseball recommended that its affiliated players leave the country due to fears of further unrest.
Competition format The regular season will feature 56 games for each team, with each team playing eight games series against the others. The top four teams in the standings will advance directly to the round robin playoffs, while the fifth and sixth-place teams will compete in a Wild Card Series for the 5th spot there. The top two teams in the round-robin tournament will move on to the final series, which is expected to begin on January 23.
Regular season The season opened with a game between the champion Cardenales de Lara and the Tigres de Aragua on October 15, with the rest of the league opening on October 16. Estadio Metropolitano in San Cristóbal, Táchira will host the "Serie Táchira" on Dec. 7-8, between the Navegantes del Magallanes and the Caribes de Anzoátegui. Observers have suggested the series may be a means to gauge interest in expanding the league to Táchira State.
Standings
Team 1 Cardenales de Lara56 30 26 — 16—12 14—14 352 307 +45 2 Bravos de Margarita56 29 27 1 15—12 14—15 308 295 +13 3 Navegantes del Magallanes56 29 27 1 18—10 11—17 309 277 +32 4 Águilas del Zulia56 29 27 1 16–12 13–15 261 337 -76 5 Caribes de Anzoátegui56 28 28 2 18—10 10—10 349 326 +23 6 Tigres de Aragua56 28 28 2 19—9 9—19 282 281 +1 7 Tiburones de La Guaira56 27 29 3 14—14 13—15 319 320 -1 8 Leones del Caracas56 24 32 6 14—14 10—18 319 356 -37
Classified to Round Robin Classified to Wild Card Series
Playoffs Wild Card Series
Round Robin
Team 1 Caribes de Anzoátegui16 10 6 – 5—3 5—3 109 82 +27 2 Navegantes del Magallanes16 10 6 – 4—4 6—2 98 93 +5 3 Cardenales de Lara16 9 7 1 5—3 4—4 123 86 +37 4 Águilas del Zulia16 7 9 3 3–5 4–4 78 99 -21 5 Bravos de Margarita16 4 12 6 1—7 3—5 83 131 -48
Final Series
Managerial changes Off season Team Former manager Reason for leaving New manager Ref. Tiburones de La Guaira Ozzie Guillén Reassigned Gregorio Petit Caribes de Anzoátegui Morgan Ensberg Reassigned Asdrúbal Cabrera Bravos de Margarita José Moreno Resigned Henry Blanco Cardenales de Lara Henry Blanco Reassigned César Izturis Tigres de Aragua Buddy Bailey Fired Ozzie Guillén
In season Team Former manager Reason for leaving New manager NotesNavegantes del Magallanes Eduardo Pérez Resigned Yadier Molina On November 5, 2025, Pérez stepped down as manager of Navegantes by "mutual agreement" with the club, to be replaced on an interim basis by bench coach Mario Lisson. At the time, Magallanes was 5-11 and last in the standings; Pérez's overall regular season record with the team was 34-38 over two seasons. The next day, the team announced that Molina, who previously served as manager in the 2021–22 season, would return as manager. Tiburones de La Guaira Gregorio Petit Fired Marco Davalillo On November 17, 2025, Tiburones announced they had fired Gregorio Petit; he finished with an 11-15 record, tied for last place.
Postseason Team Former manager Reason for leaving New manager NotesNavegantes del Magallanes Yadier Molina Reassigned César Izturis Regular season manager Yadier Molina was ineligible to pilot Magallanes to the 2026 Serie de las Américas, due to his affiliation with MLB and his commitment to the Puerto Rico national baseball team ahead of the 2026 World Baseball Classic. He was replaced by Cardenales manager César Izturis.
League leaders
+ Hitting leaders Stat Player Team Total AVG Gorkys Hernández Aragua .374 HR Balbino Fuenmayor Anzoátegui 17 RBI 3 tied with 52 R Gorkys Hernández Aragua 46 H 2 tied with 77 BB Rafael Ortega Lara 48 SB Herlis Rodríguez Anzoátegui 19 OBP Gorkys Hernández Aragua .480 SLG Jadher Areinamo La Guaira .692 OPS Jadher Areinamo La Guaira 1.112
+ Pitching leaders Stat Player Team Total W 4 tied with 5 L Luis Arejula La Guaira 7 ERA Ricardo Sánchez Magallanes 3.04 K Zac Grotz La Guaira 64 IP Ricardo Sánchez Magallanes 68.0 SV Silvino Bracho Zulia 11
Awards and honors Player of the Week Week Player Position Team Ref. 1 Aldrem Corredor 1B Caracas 2 Balbino Fuenmayor 1B Anzoátegui 3 Harold Castro 2B Caracas 4 Yonathan Daza CF Caracas 5 Balbino Fuenmayor 1B Anzoátegui 6 Jadher Areinamo 2B La Guaira 7 Wilson García 1B Margarita 8 Wilmer Font P Caracas 9 Balbino Fuenmayor 1B Anzoátegui 10 Antonio Piñero 3B Anzoátegui 11 Luis Sardiñas IF Magallanes Aldrem Corredor 1B Anzoátegui
Awards
Award Player Team Ref. Hitters of the Year Balbino Fuenmayor Hernán Pérez Anzoátegui Closer of the Year Silvino Bracho Zulia Setup Man of the Year Jesús Reyes Magallanes Rookie of the Year Jadher Areinamo La Guaira Comeback Player of the Year Hernán Pérez Anzoátegui Carrao Bracho Trophy Ricardo Sánchez Magallanes Manager of the Year Yadier Molina Magallanes Most Valuable Player Balbino Fuenmayor Anzoátegui
References
External links Official website Winter Leagues: Liga Venezolana de Béisbol Profesional at MLB.com