The Caribbean Baseball Confederation (CBPC) ruled Thursday in favor of the Tomateros de Culiacán, settling — at least for now — the dispute over Robinson Canó‘s rights. The verdict is straightforward: the 43-year-old second baseman must begin the 2026-27 winter season with the Sinaloa club before he can join the Estrellas Orientales of the Dominican Republic. A source confirmed to El Nuevo Diario that Canó is already planning to travel to Mexico.
The logic behind the ruling is simple: the contract registered first takes priority, and Culiacán’s agreement got there first.
Four months of back-and-forth
It all started on May 14, 2026, when the Tomateros signed Canó and registered the deal with the Confederation. Culiacán’s sports director Ray Padilla confirmed it personally to Listín Diario. The move carried real weight: for the first time in his 15 LIDOM seasons, Canó would be leaving the Estrellas Orientales — the only Dominican winter club he had ever suited up for — to wear a different uniform.
But weeks later, Canó himself pumped the brakes. He said only a pre-agreement existed and that he first needed to sort out his situation in the Dominican Republic. Then in July, Dominican journalist Mike Rodríguez reported that Canó had signed with the Estrellas for more than RD$3 million — citing an anonymous source, as the Estrellas never made it official — and that he would not be loaned to anyone. That’s when the formal dispute began.
The CBPC reviewed the records and applied the temporal-priority principle: Culiacán’s contract, registered in May, predates any subsequent agreement with the Estrellas. That’s the foundation of the September 11 ruling.
Why Culiacán went after Canó — and what his numbers say
The Tomateros’ interest is easy to understand. In the 2024 LMB season, Canó won the batting title and was named league MVP with a .431 average for the Diablos Rojos del México. In 2026, through mid-June he was slashing .318/.370/.569 with 13 home runs and 58 RBI in 211 at-bats. At 43, he is still a contact hitter with genuine power.
For Culiacán — who reached the 2026 Caribbean Series final, their first since 2015 — adding Canó to the winter roster is a bet on a player who still moves the needle on and off the field. For LIDOM and the Estrellas, losing him even temporarily stings: he has been their winter franchise cornerstone for more than a decade.
What happens next: 48 hours to appeal
The CBPC ruling is not necessarily the final word. According to ESPN_DO, which broke the news, both parties had 48 hours from the resolution to request reconsideration. The Estrellas Orientales can appeal, and if they do, the process continues.
There is also another wrinkle worth noting, as reported by El Nuevo Diario: even if Canó fulfills his commitment with the Tomateros, Culiacán could eventually release him to join the Estrellas later in the season. In other words, this story may not be over.
Beyond the Canó case itself, analysts consulted by Diario Libre noted that this ruling could set a precedent for how Caribbean clubs negotiate with high-profile players going forward: once a contract is registered, it holds — regardless of any verbal agreements or pre-deals that come after. That’s the rule that won today.
