18 MLB players are denied to play at WBC by their teams

The World Baseball Classic (WBC), which aims to achieve the globalization of baseball, is the only international baseball tournament in which a number of Major League Baseball (MLB) players participate. However, actions that go against globalization are still in place.

Nelson Cruz, the general manager of the Dominican Republic's national team, said on local TV on Sunday that 18 out of 50 preregistered players were denied to play at the WBC by their MLB teams.

The Dominican Republic, which won the third WBC in 2013, is one of the strongest candidates to win the 2023 WBC. Its national team is full of outstanding players, including Vladimir Guerrero Jr., a former American League homerun champion, Manny Machado, and Julio Rodríguez, who won the American League Rookie of the Year Award last year. While the list of players denied to play at the WBC was not revealed, the team’s performance will suffer. Guerrero Jr. wrote on his social media account that he is not one of the 18.

The WBC is led by the MLB secretariat. However, each of the 30 MLB teams has different ideas; some put more importance on the team’s season performance than the WBC. For the U.S. national team, superstars, such as Mike Trout, Mookie Betts, and Clayton Kershaw, are on the list to play. However, Dylan Cease, who received much praise, and Trevor Story, who was likely to be a key shortstop, decided not to play at the international tournament.

South Korean and Japanese national teams are also affected. Kim Ha-seong and Tommy Edman will later join the South Korean national team. “I was informed that MLB players won’t be able to play practice games,” said the coach of the South Korean national team Lee Kang-cheol. The WBC’s official schedule begins on March 4, and the big leaguers will be able to join the rest of the national team’s players after that. “The WBC’s value will go up if major leaguers will be able to join national teams more freely,” Hideki Kuriyama, the coach of the Japanese national team, which five big leagues will join, also said.


Heon-Jae Lee uni@donga.com