Young Cadejos cheer as their team plays Mexico at Bowman Field. Los Cadejos won 5-3. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

Heading into 2026, it was clear the MLB Draft League could use some fresh ideas.

Into Year 6 of the League’s history, while the quality of the league has skied upwards, little differences have been made in terms of the marketability of the organization as a whole. Very little differences have be made from the 2022 season to the 2025 season with the exception of the champions, stats and players that partake in the league.

Which was why, heading into the 2026 season, the major difference in the scheduling was only expected to be the inclusion of “ABE” (for the Aberdeen Ironbids, the newest team in the league,) instead of “FRE” (for the Frederick Keys, the organization being replaced after its inclusion in the Baltimore Oriole minor league system.)

But in addition to a new trip south, the acronyms of “CAN” and “MEX” also impacted team schedules.

As it turns out, it would become in my view one of the biggest marketing successes the league has ever had.

For the first time, MLB announced the “MLB Draft League International Series” where two international teams from Canada and Mexico barnstorm across the five organizations in the League. For Team Mexico, the club that traveled to Williamsport in the past weekend, the team consisted of minor leaguers and reserve athletes from the Mexican Baseball League. Of the 30 man roster for Mexico, 17 were still in their teens with a handful of athletes in their early to mid 20’s picked up as part of the LMB’s reserve list.

The Crosscutters, in their pragmatic marketing prowess, took advantage by fully leaning into their neighboring opponents. Rebranding as “Los Cadejos de Williamsport,” with a Cadejo being a supernatural spirit that roams forested rural roads at night, Williamsport went full on with its Mexican culture. Mexican music in between innings, special food and drinks, and giveaway LED Cheer sticks were among the promotions.

The result? A resounding success.

Friday’s contest would be a past-capacity crowd for Williamsport, with the announced attendance of 2,509 placing higher than any other game that took place last year. The number was the first time Williamsport crossed the 2,000 threshold all season, with the previous 2026 high of Opening Day’s 1,887 mark being easily lapped.

Not hurting matters was the contest itself, with the Crosscutters overcoming a 0-3 deficit after the first inning to take a decisive 5-3 mark over Team Mexico.

Saturday’s contest was just as dramatic, with a crowd of 1,671 overseeing a 7-3 Crosscutter win to take their first home series win of the year.

The Aberdeen Ironbirds, who took part in the second half of the International Series weekend against Team Canada, saw a similar level of excitement. With the exception of an opening day crowd of 2,138, Aberdeen’s next five home games saw the newly minted Draft League team cross the four figure mark just once, with none of their three mid week contests against the State College Spikes seeing 600 in the building.

But when Canada came to town, the Ironbirds became a hot ticket again. Aberdeen would more than triple their attendance in the midweek, as 2,037 fans watched Aberdeen defeat Canada 5-1 on Friday night.

When it comes to the MLB Draft League, the development of talent intentions as a summer league for former and current college ballplayers will always take precedence over any sort of money making endeavor by the teams in the league.

However, with the hype and gravitas of international teams coming in to play, it provides teams an opportunity for ballclubs to stand out and draw more eyes on a league with quality deserving of such a stage.