Venezuelan Summer League

From BR Bullpen

The Venezuelan Summer League was a rookie-level league which operates in Estado Aragua and Estado Carabobo in northern Venezuela. The league consisted of the academy teams of Major League Baseball organizations. The number of teams in the league varied considerably over the years; teams may have players from any Latin American country except for the Dominican Republic, which has its own league the Dominican Summer League, and Puerto Rico, whose players are eligible to be drafted by MLB clubs.

The VSL was founded in 1997 following the success of the Dominican Summer League. However, its future became very clouded in 2012 when it was reduced to four teams, many major league clubs having pulled up stakes because of the deteriorating economic and safety situation in Venezuela. This was in spite of the fact that the country was producing more major league talent than ever. After the Chicago Cubs opted not to field a team in 2016, leaving the circuit with only 3 teams, the league was shut down [1].

Baseball in Venezuela goes back much further in winter league play with the Venezuelan League.

Cities Represented[edit]

(1997-2015)

Related Sites[edit]