The Latin American Baseball Hall of Fame has launched the election process for its 13th Class, with a ballot comprised of 55 contemporary former players from ten countries vying to become the newest immortals of Latin American baseball: Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Aruba, Colombia, Curaçao, Cuba, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, and Puerto Rico. The announcement, made this Thursday, August 6, by the International Induction Committee, officially confirmed the list after completing the nomination process, with statistical support from Baseball Reference as the official partner responsible for ensuring the transparency of the process.

Each member of the International Committee submitted a list of up to 25 candidates, adhering to the regulations that require including at least one player from each represented country, with a maximum of ten candidates per nation.

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Confirmed Candidates, by Country

Of the 55 names on the ballot, these are the ones that have been publicly announced so far:

• Dominican Republic (18)

Albert Pujols, Plácido Polanco, Edwin Encarnación, José Reyes, José Bautista, Francisco Cordero, Aramis Ramírez, Rafael Furcal, Fernando Rodney, Pedro Astacio, Ervin Santana, Fernando Tatís Sr., Armando Benítez, Antonio Alfonseca, Carlos Peña, José Valverde, José Mesa, and Octavio Dotel.

• Venezuela (12)

Magglio Ordóñez, Freddy García, Carlos Zambrano, Víctor Martínez, Melvin Mora, Asdrúbal Cabrera, Aníbal Sánchez, Jhoulys Chacín, Martín Prado, Carlos González, Carlos Guillén, and Kelvim Escobar.

• Puerto Rico (9)

Yadier Molina, Javy López, José Valentín, Mike Lowell, Rubén Sierra, Roberto Hernández, Alex Cora, Javier Vázquez, and José Vidro.

• Cuba (5)

Liván Hernández, Raúl Ibáñez, Gio González, Yunel Escobar, and José Contreras.

• Mexico (5)

Yovani Gallardo, Eric Chávez, Joakim Soria, Juan Gabriel Castro, and Jorge de la Rosa.

• Panama (2)

Carlos Lee and Carlos Ruiz.

• Aruba (1)

Sidney Ponson.

• Colombia (1)

Orlando Cabrera.

• Curaçao (1)

Wladimir Balentien.

• Nicaragua (1)

Vicente Padilla.

The Process Toward Induction

According to the regulations, the next phase will take place from August 15 to 22, when the Circle of Writers of the Latin American Baseball Hall of Fame will exercise its right to vote to select the new inductees. The four players with the most votes will be elected, with the condition that no country can have more than two representatives inducted in the same class—a rule that seeks to preserve the regional balance of each generation of immortals.

Heading to Caguas, Puerto Rico

The induction ceremony for this 13th Class will be held in Caguas, Puerto Rico, during a weekend in mid-December 2026, marking the first time in the history of the institution—founded in 2010 in Casa de Campo, Dominican Republic—that the main event will be held outside of the Dominican Republic.

What is the Latin American Baseball Hall of Fame?

The Latin American Baseball Hall of Fame is a non-profit organization founded in 2010 by Roberto Weill and Rafael Ávila, dedicated to honoring the careers and contributions of Latin American baseball players both within and outside of Major League Baseball. Through its International Induction Committee, it annually selects new members for each class, considered one of the highest honors for players from the region, with previous inductees including David Ortiz, Mariano Rivera, Pedro Martínez, and, more recently, Bartolo Colón and Miguel Tejada.