How MLB clubs will have to react to the US-Venezuela conflict

Jordan Shusterman is joined by Eric Longenhagen to discuss the how the recent US-Venezuela conflict is affecting MLB clubs, players and staff as the country is a major source of high-profile baseball talent. Many MLB players call Venezuela home and have family within the country, while many international scouts visit the country with frequency. With the MLB’s 2026 International signing period opening in just a few days, the future is unclear as to how clubs will proceed while so much is unclear about the diplomatic and economic relationships between the two nations.

Check out the full conversation on the “Baseball Bar-B-Cast” podcast – and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you listen.

Video Transcript

…

I’ll, I’ll throw it to you.

I think that, you know, the timing here in terms of a really pressing thing is, There are many elements to this.

There are a lot of different layers to it that we can get into.

Um, one of the ones that’s a little bit lower down, but I know it’s something that you’re working on and part of why you’ve been having a There are a lot of conversations about this, and that January 15th is the date.

The international signing period opened, right?

So the, The amateurs from, predominantly, you know, Latin America, Whether it’s Dominican and, of course, Venezuela are going to be signing their their first pro contracts in January.

And so, because of that, Eric, who covers prospects, has been on the phone and texting with a lot of people who are involved in the international space.

We know that it’s a lot bigger than that.

And we can get into that, but I know you’ve had some conversations with some folks around the game, just trying to kind of wrap your head around where this might be going and, And how Venezuela has been impacted, and what it, It means right now for baseball in that, in that country.

Yeah, even around winter meetings, just talking with folks who deal either in the international space or just, like, my friends who have to do logistical travel stuff for the orgs they work For, um, there was already smoke and anticipation among some of my sources that This was a volatile situation that they might have to face.

Uh, extract their, the empl- their young employees, uh.

From Venezuela in a rushed, potentially harrowing fashion.

Depending on how things transpired with, you know, our government and, And theirs.

And so, there were some teams who anticipated this and were already dealing with a lot of the red tape.

Um, that goes into immigration and, you know, work visas and how to… You know, just the logistics of getting Venezuelan players from there to the U.S. States or, you know, in the case of the kids who are going to sign in, Like, a week and a half to the Dominican Republic.

And this has been an issue independent of all of, You know, our recent events, it’s already been a challenging thing.

Of the time.

I mean, you know, I spoke with a person who They had a player whose father was a janitor at a school.

That is, like, a public school run by the government, and therefore, He was declared an employee of the Venezuelan government, and the player was struggling.

To get clearance to travel to the United States because his janitor father worked for the The Venezuelan government, and so, it is, It’s been stuff like that for a while to the point where, You know, Venezuelan players are often showcased in Colombia.

As a result of how difficult it is to get personnel from the United States in And out of Venezuela.

And you know what?

Scouting directors held at knife and gunpoint while being mugged.

Like, some of this stuff has gone on over the last, you know, Five to 10 years.

Um, in this case, you know, Some of the folks I’ve talked to the last couple of days feel more or less prepared than others.

There are…

I’ve… You know, people who work in international scouting, who have told me that they’re hoping Major League Baseball directs them as, You know what to do, or can step in somehow to help.

Uh, remove some of the players from harm’s way if, If they happen to be in it, there are some teams who feel very prepared.

And who have players who are going to sign for a lot of money in, In a week and a half, I’m already in the Dominican Republic.

And in the past, some players have already been in Arizona or Florida.

You know, at their team’s complex to do this sort of thing.

And then I spoke to someone… Well, I didn’t speak to them because they were Just like, “Hey, I’m absolutely slammed trying to work on this and figure this out.”

I don’t even have time to talk to you about what it is I’m going through.”

Uh, So, you know, the…

It runs the gamut right now how prepared any given team is for this, and I think the fact that it seems to be on each individual team at this moment to try to maneuver and navigate the situation is.

Uh, potentially concerning…

How MLB clubs will have to react to the US-Venezuela conflict

Tags: