SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico -- The Cangrejeros de Santurce, the host club for the 2020 Caribbean Series in San Juan, will look to give the island its third championship in the event in four years and secure the team’s first title since 2000.

Starting Saturday and running through Friday, the Caribbean Series will feature a five-game qualifying phase, two semifinal games and a championship winner-take-all contest. In addition to the Cangrejeros, champions of the 2019-20 Puerto Rican Winter League, the winners of the Dominican (Toros del Este), Mexican Pacific (Tomateros de Culiacán), Venezuelan (Cardenales de Lara), Panamanian (Astronautas de Chiquirí) and Colombian (Vaqueros de Montería) Leagues will vie for the 2020 title.

Cangrejeros look to recapture the spirit of 2000
Santurce, winners of the last two Puerto Rican Winter League crowns, is looking to win its first Caribbean Series since 2000, when José Cruz Jr. took MVP honors while leading the team to a 6-0 record at Santo Domingo’s Quisqueya Stadium.

• 5 things to know about 2020 Caribbean Series

Héctor Santiago, signed to a Minor League deal with the Detroit Tigers, will take the mound for Puerto Rico’s opener on Saturday against Panama. Other players with Major League experience either on the Cangrejeros roster or reinforcing the squad are Giovanny Soto, Iván De Jesús Jr. and Rey Fuentes.

Championships: Santurce has won five of the 16 championships captured by Puerto Rican teams in the Caribbean Series.

Fun Fact: Cangrejeros manager José Valentín, a veteran of 16 Major League seasons, is seeking his first Caribbean Series title as a manager. As a player, he was a key part of Santurce’s championship in 2000.

Colombia makes its Caribbean Series debut
Colombia will make its first appearance in the Caribbean Series. Vaqueros de Montería, champions of the local league, are managed by Ozney Guillén, son of former Major League skipper Ozzie Guillén. At 28, the younger Guillén is coming off his first year managing in the United States in the Astros' organization with the Tri-City ValleyCats (Class A Short-Season).

“My aspirations are to win the Caribbean Series,” Guillén said. “Every time I put on the uniform, I go out there to win. You’ve got to be professional and let everyone know why you go out there.”

Vaqueros players Jhonatan Solano, Luis Escobar, Sugar Ray Marimón and Alberto Callaspo have varying degrees of Major League experience.

Championships: None, team or country.

Fun Fact: For several years, Colombia has tried to enter the Caribbean Series. This time, it replaced Cuba when visas were not secured in time for the Cuban delegation, according to the Caribbean Confederation of Professional Baseball. Colombia will be a guest participant.

Toros try to bring title back to D.R.
The Dominican Republic has the most collective Caribbean Series championships with 19, but the country but hasn’t won one since 2012.

The Toros del Este will rely on a starting rotation led by former Major Leaguers Raúl Valdés, Yunesky Maya and Paolo Espino. Their offense lost Detroit Tigers infielder Jeimer Candelario after their D.R. Championship Series win over Tigres del Licey, but they still have key playes such as A’s Minor Leaguer Jorge Mateo (Oakland's No. 4 prospect per MLB Pipeline), former Major Leaguer Yordany Valdespín and four-year MLB veteran Peter O’Brien, MVP of the Dominican League this season and currently signed to the Braves on a Minor League deal.

Championships: The Toros have none, while as a country the Dominican Republic has won 19.

Fun Fact: Toros manager Lino Rivera, winner of two of the last three championships in the Dominican, is a Puerto Rico native managing another nation’s team in his homeland.

Can Panama win it all again?
After stepping in at the last minute to host last year’s tournament in place of Barquisimeto, Venezuela, Panama was represented by the Toros de Herrera, who proceeded to shock the Caribbean baseball world and win the tournament. It was their first participation in the event’s Second Stage (1970-present).

This year, Panama is represented by a first-year expansion team, Astronautas de Chiquirí, who defeated their neighbors of the same city, the Federales, in the local league’s championship series.

One intriguing name on the Panamanian squad is José Mesa Jr., son of the former big league closer and a former Yankees prospect. He finished 2019 in independent ball.

Championships: None for the club. Panama has won two.

Fun Fact: The Astronautas are part of an expansion of the professional league in Panama that had the financial backing of, among others, former Major Leaguer Luis Sojo, who will be inducted into the Caribbean Series Hall of Fame on Thursday.

Venezuela brings a different look
The Cardenales de Lara, champions of the abbreviated Venezuelan League season, will field a team with a different look from the one that won its country’s championship series just days ago.

Many of the team’s staples, including former Major Leaguer Luis Jiménez and Yordanys Linares, did not make the trip to Puerto Rico. But former big leaguers Adonis García, Francisley Bueno and Wil Ledezma are part of a group of 15 reinforcements that hope to help Venezuela win its first Caribbean Series title since 2009.

Championships: None for the Cardenales; Venezuelan teams have captured seven.

Fun Fact: The Cardenales’ 15 reinforcements for this tournament represent more than half of their total roster.

Tomateros have less than 48 hours to prepare
The Tomateros de Culiacán had to go to seven games to defeat the Venados de Mazatlán and win the Mexican Pacific League title on Thursday night, less than 48 hours before their first contest in the Caribbean Series on Saturday afternoon vs. the Dominican Republic’s Toros.

The Tomateros will bring with them former Major Leaguers such as Ramiro Peña, Manny Bañuelos and Dariel Álvarez.

Championships: The Tomateros have won two of Mexico’s nine total Caribbean Series championships.

Fun Fact: Former Major Leaguer and World Series champion Benji Gil, manager of the Culiacán club, has won three Mexican Pacific League titles with the Tomateros since 2015. As a player, he was part of two Caribbean Series championships with the Culiacán club (1996 and 2002), but he is still seeking his first title in the tournament as a manager.