Every offseason, with decades-long regularity, dozens of professional baseball players in the United States flock south, like large, athletically-talented migratory birds, to the Caribbean Winter Leagues. They scatter to teams throughout Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Mexico, and Venezuela (Cuba runs winter leagues as well, and competes in the Serie del Caribe with the aforementioned four, but does not currently allow non-Cubans to play, nor do they allow defectors to return), based often on their connections with the managers or GMs of these respective organizations.
For many Latino MLB players returning to their native countries it’s about pride in their history, pride in where they come from.