1 HR by J:Rod and a high strikeout rate pretty much confirm that his major league career is on the verge of going nowhere

Yeah. I've pretty much given up on J-Rod. He didn't make the Puerto Rican WBC Team. Even though he was the league's MVP this year, he still did not make the team. He did go to Puerto Rico this year to work on his strikeout totals. I think his power numbers suffered because he worked on his contact game. Another reason the Guardians should have gotten a right hand hitting outfielder this off season. Too bad. I really liked J-Rod.

<

Caimanes de Barranquilla 2026 Serie De Las Roster

Pitchers –

Jean Herrera, Elkin Alcala, Ezequiel Zabaleta, Emerson Martínez, Yoryi Simarra, Luis Pérez, Henderson Álvarez, Anthony Vizcaya, Moisés Díaz, Emilker Guzman, Jhon Romero, José Salvador, Julio Vivas, Pedro García, Yapson Gómez

Infielders –

Carlos Arroyo, Kelvin Melean, Jaider Morelos, Leandro Emiliani, Dario Borrero, Kevin Maitan

[ Looks like Dayan Frias was not invited to participate in this Classic despite putting up some decent numbers.

G 27, GS 27, AB 105, R 22, H 30, 2B 2, 3B 3, HR 1, RBI 16, TB 41, AVG 286, SLG 390, OBP 409, OPS 799, BB 19, HBP 3, SO 17, GDP 0, SF 0, SH 0, SB 8, CS 2

Dayan Frias participated in one World Baseball Classic, competing for Team Colombia in the 2023 tournament.
During the 2023 WBC, he served as a shortstop and infielder for Colombia, appearing in games against Mexico, Great Britain, Canada, and the United States. ]

Outfielders –

Andrés Angulo, Jesús Marriaga, Harold Ramírez, Derwin Pomare, Tito Polo

Catchers –

Carlos Martínez, Gabriel Lino

<

Dayan Frias played for Colombia in the 2023 World Baseball Classic, primarily as their starting shortstop, appearing in 4 games. He recorded a .231 batting average 3-13 with 2 RBI, with his best performance being a 2-for-4 game against Great Britain. 

Dayan Frias with a bases loaded base hit

https://x.com/i/status/1635380447445405696

<

2026 Caribbean Series: Charros de Jalisco Make It An All-Mexico Championship Game With 8-6 Win

Mexico Red joins Mexico Green in advancing to Caribbean Series final

Leif Skodnick

February 7, 2026

ZAPOPAN, Mexico – Five times wasn’t enough, so why not make it six?

In a battle of Caribbean baseball heavyweights, the Charros de Jalisco won a back-and-forth semifinal at the 2026 Caribbean Series Friday night 8-6 over Puerto Rico’s Cangrejeros de Santurce to earn a berth in the championship game at winter baseball’s biggest event for the second consecutive year.

With the win, the Charros and the Tomateros de Culiacan, who faced each other in the Liga ARCO Mexicana del Pacifico championship series, will face off for the sixth time in less than three weeks, this time for the Caribbean Series title. Benji Gil’s Charros have won all five meetings between the two teams going into tomorrow night’s championship game, sweeping the LAMP title series and winning the round robin game 4-2 on Wednesday night.

The matchup between the Charros and Tomateros on Saturday night means that Mexico is guaranteed to win its first Caribbean Series since the Venados de Mazatlan took the crown at Estadio Quisqueya Juan Marichal in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic in 2016.

“We haven’t won anything. Our goal is not to reach the final. Our goal is to win the championship. And if we play our baseball, it will be very clear who is the best team in the Caribbean. We have had that goal since last year,” Gil said in Spanish following the game. “It gives me an incredible peace of mind to have players with the talent they have and also with commitment and focus. So I’m very calm. For me, tomorrow is a normal game, right? We know what it means, but We know we are the best team in Mexico. We have shown it for a long time. Now we just need one more game.”

With the wind blowing out at Estadio Panamericano, both teams took advantage of the hitter-friendly environs, combining for 23 hits and four homers, trading punches back and forth through the first seven innings.

With two outs in the top of the first, Yohandy Morales hit Manny Banuelos’ 2-2 offering over the left field wall to give the Cangrejeros a 1-0 lead.

The Tomateros wasted no time, striking back in the bottom of the first. Leadoff man Connor Hollis lashed a hot grounder right at Cangrejeros third baseman Emmanuel Rivera, who attempted to Olé the ball and missed, and Hollis took two bases on the error. Mateo Gil drove Hollis in to tie the game with a two-out single up the middle.

“I think we’ve had so much success so far because everyone’s bought in. And we know that our team is very talented, and nobody tries to be a hero,” the younger Gil, who went 2-for-4 with two RBIs, said. “I just take pride when those guys are on base. I try to, I take a lot of pride and I think it’s my job to drive them in. And you know, today I was fortunate enough to be in that situation a couple of times.”

An inning later, with Leo Heras on first after drawing a walk, Hollis hit a fly ball to left field that carried over the outstretched glove of Cangrejeros left fielder Johneshwy Fargas and over the wall for a two-run homer that gave the Charros a 3-1 lead.

Gabriel Cancel’s solo homer in the top of the third, again to left field, got Santurce within a run.

In the third, Michael Wielansky reached on a single, his 11th hit of the series, and two batters later, Bligh Madris hit a long fly ball 410 feet down the right field line and over the berm behind the bleachers to make it 5-2 Charros.

A lead off single by Emmanuel Rivera and a one-out double from former Boston Red Sox Christian Vazquez gave the Cangrejeros runners at second and third with one out. A wild pitch by Banuelos to Johneshwy Fargas allowed Rivera to score, and then Fargas singled home Vazquez to make it 5-4. That ended Manny Banuelos’ night after 4 1/3 innings, having allowed four runs on seven hits, walking one and striking out three.

“They went up, we tied them,” Charros manager Benji Gil said following the game. “And then we took the lead, they got closer, we opened the gap a little, then they took the lead again and then we came back. I think the game had everything.”

Consecutive one-out singles in the top of the fifth by Morales, Nelson Velazquez, and Isan Diaz got Morales home to tie the game at five apiece and advance Velazquez to third. A sac fly to left by Emmanuel Rivera scored Velazquez to make it 6-5 gave the Cangrejeros their first lead since the top of the first.

But the Charros weren’t done. Wielansky singled to lead off the home half of the seventh, and Willie Calhoun followed with a single to give the Charros runners at the corners. Mateo Gil made it three singles in a row and drove in Wielansky to tie the game at six apiece and chase righty reliever Derek West from the mound for lefty Gabriel Rodriguez to face left-handed power threat Bligh Madris. Rodriguez fanned Madris and Reynaldo Rodriguez, but threw a wild pitch that allowed Christopher Gastelum, pinch running for Calhoun, to advance to third, and Gil stole second base on strike three to Rodriguez.

Rodriguez got ahead of Liga ARCO Mexicana del Pacifico regular season home run leader Leo Heras 0-2, but Heras worked the count to 2-2 before popping a single through the left side of the infield to score Gastelum and Gil for an 8-6 lead.

On came LAMP reliever of the year Matt Foster, who had allowed one hit and two walks in three innings over three appearances in the round robin to pitch the eighth for the Charros. He induced a fly out from Jack Lopez, then battled through an 11-pitch at-bat with Christian Vazquez that ended when the Santurce catcher hit a fly ball to the warning track in left field and Julian Ornelas made a leaping grab and collided with the wall, holding onto the ball and drawing a chant of “MVP!” from the crowd. Foster then fanned Johneshwy Fargas looking to end the eighth.

Trevor Clifton came on for the ninth for the Charros to face the top of the Cangrejeros order and retired them 1-2-3 to earn his second save of the series.

Tommorow, Benji Gil and his Charros will face a familiar rival in Lorenzo Bundy and the Tomateros. Bundy’s Diablos Rojos swept Gil and the Charros in the Serie del Rey, the championship series of the Liga Mexicana de Beisbol, the country’s summer league, in September, before Gil and the Charros returned the favor to Bundy with a sweep of the Tomateros in January.

Asked about his friendly rivalry with Bundy, Gil said, “He’s a good friend. He’s an accomplished manager.”

“The only thing is I got the better team. I got the better players. Maybe in the summer, maybe he has a better team. We have the best team. There ain’t no doubt about it. And there ain’t nothing anybody can do. If we play our baseball, there’s nothing that can be done. We will win tomorrow.”

NOTEBOOK – Charros third baseman Mateo Gil made three spectacular diving plays on hard hit ground balls, two of them consecutively against Ruben Castro and Gabriel Cancel at the top of the first, and another with one out in the bottom of the ninth, again nailing Cancel at first. … Saturday’s championship game will be televised live in the United States in English on MLB Network and in Spanish on ESPN Deportes.

<