VSL Cubs Limp to Finish Line

The Venezuelan Summer League (VSL) regular season concludes tomorrow, and it hasn't been a good year for the VSL Cubs, as they are tied with the VSL Phillies for last place in the four-team VSL and (obviously) will not be qualifying for the playoffs. (The VSL playoff is simply the first & second place teams playing each other in a best two-out-of-three "VSL Championship Series").


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Since the VSL season starts and ends two weeks before the DSL season, it would not be surprising if one or two of the better players and/or pitchers on the VSL Cubs are transferred to the DSL Cubs for the final two weeks of the DSL regular season (this happened in 2013, when 3B Roney Alcala and SS Bryant Flete were transferred from the VSL Cubs to the DSL Cubs after the conclusion of the VSL season). VSL Cubs RF Luis Ayala leads the league in walks, stolen bases, and triples, is 3rd in OBP, 4th in hits, 5th in doubles, and 6th in runs scored and SLG, 2B Jhonny Bethancourt leads the league in hitting and runs scored, is 2nd in OBP, 3rd in hits and stolen bases, and 6th in walks, CF Jose Gonzalez leads the league in RBI, is 5th in walks and stolen bases, and 6th in hits, LF Jose Rojas is 3rd in doubles and RBI, and RHRP Juan Rengifo is 2nd in the league in saves.

Unlike the VSL Cubs, the DSL Cubs are are having a fine season, and are in the thick of the playoff chase in the DSL.

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One thing to keep an eye on post-2015 is whether the Venezuelan Summer League will survive, or be disbanded. With the Mariners suddenly and unexpectedly pulling out of the league prior to Spring Training, there are now only four MLB organizations that field teams in tne VSL (Cubs, Tigers, Phillies, and Rays), down from nine teams as recently as 2007.

Venezuela is presently in a state of flux, with increased violence and government instability, so it's very possible that there will be no more VSL in 2016, with the four MLB clubs (including the Cubs) that have teams in the league moving their VSL affiliate to the DSL (and operating a second DSL squad in 2016). The Cubs fielded two teams in the DSL 2008-12, before moving their second DSL team to the VSL in 2013.

The Cubs operate a first-class state-of-the-art academy in the Dominican Republic that was completed in 2013, so it probably would not be much of an inconvenience for the Cubs to just move their VSL team back to the DSL (there is plenty of room at the new facility), but I think the Cubs really would prefer to keep a more-visible presence in Venezuela (it's now about 50-50 Dominican and Venezuelan players in the Cubs minor league system, with the Cubs placing a greater emphasis on signing players from Venezuela, Colombia, Panama, and Mexico since adding the VSL affiliate).

It's also possible that MLB could relocate the VSL to the island nation of Curacao (off the coast of Venezuela), where a new privately-funded baseball complex is under construction. It would probably be called the Curacao Summer League (CSL) rather than the Venezuelan Summer League, but the four clubs with affiliates in the VSL might have first-crack at fielding a team in the CSL (if it becomes a reality).