The Liga de Béisbol Profesional Roberto Clemente (LBPRC) will retire the No. 15 of former center fielder Carlos Beltrán, from Manatí, during the 2026-27 season, the league announced Saturday at a press conference detailing the campaign that starts November 4. The unanimous decision by the board of directors makes Beltrán part of a group of legends whose numbers the league has retired: Roberto Clemente, Orlando "Peruchín" Cepeda, Roberto Alomar, Edgar Martínez, Iván Rodríguez and Tany Pérez.
The retirement applies to the league’s six franchises and to Puerto Rico teams in the Caribbean Series, the Serie de las Américas and other internationally sanctioned competitions. The official ceremony will take place Wednesday, November 4, at Hiram Bithorn Stadium, before the opener between defending champions Cangrejeros de Santurce and runners-up Leones de Ponce. League president Juan A. Flores Galarza also announced that the season will be dedicated to Cándido "Candy" Maldonado, Rookie of the Year in 1978-79, with 92 home runs locally (eighth all time), 15 major league seasons and a 1992 World Series title with Toronto, inducted into the Puerto Rican Professional Baseball Hall of Fame in 2023.
The league also agreed to a three-year TelevisaUnivision deal streaming all 145 games per season on ViX for the US market, kept WAPA Deportes (39 games) and YouTube locally, honored CBPC commissioner Juan Francisco Puello Herrera ahead of his July 2027 retirement, and listed 32 Hall of Fame candidates, including 19 natives, for its December 12 ceremony. The season features 40 games per team among six clubs, with the top four reaching the playoffs starting January 2.