The Kansas City Royals have remained in touch with multiple players who are currently in Venezuela following a U.S. military operation in the country.
On Monday, Royals general manager J.J. Picollo confirmed that those players are accounted for and that their families are safe. This offseason, the Royals had several players participating in the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League.
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“That was alarming in the sense that we knew we had a lot of players that were currently in Venezuela,” Picollo told reporters on a Zoom call. “Obviously, the reports were there were no casualties. So you felt good about that, but just the overall safety.
“(Infield coach) Jose Alguacil is in Venezuela right now. He managed in winter ball and he’s been in contact with players. Myself and others have been in contact, via text and some phone calls, and we’ve confirmed that everybody is fine. You know, everybody is healthy and unharmed and families are fine.”
The U.S. conducted what the AP called a “lightning military strike” in an overnight operation Jan. 3.
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“Explosions rang out and low-flying aircraft swept through Venezuela’s capital, Caracas, early Saturday,” the AP described. “At least seven blasts were heard in an attack that lasted less than 30 minutes. The targets appeared to include military infrastructure.
“… Venezuelan officials said people had been killed, but the scale of casualties was unclear.”
Picollo confirmed there were three major-league Royals players in the country. He also mentioned there were multiple minor-league players there. The club has reached out to them all and gotten positive news.
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“We have people that have been reaching out to the guys in the minor leagues as well,” Picollo said.
The Royals were well represented in the Venezuelan Winter League.
This offseason, KC stars Maikel Garcia and Salvador Perez were among several in the organization to play winter ball.
Perez played for Leones del Caracas this winter and was named the Venezuelan team captain ahead of the upcoming 2026 World Baseball Classic.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source ca.sports.yahoo.com ’
