MLB Owners Are Killing the World Baseball Classic

The travesty unfolding with Team Puerto Rico in the upcoming World Baseball Classic originates from the same place as the impending work stoppage in Major League Baseball:

The cold hearts and fat wallets of MLB owners, who again choose hoarding cash in lieu of stimulating competition.

Officials from Puerto Rico said Saturday the national team might withdraw entirely from the WBC next month because as many as 10 of the players on the roster, which includes some of the biggest stars in the sport, have been denied insurance coverage due to injury risk.

New York Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor reportedly won't play, and neither will Houston Astros third baseman Carlos Correa, though Correa's case and others remain under review, The Athletic reports. Lindor had surgery on his elbow in October, but it was minor enough that he's healthy now and ready to report for Spring Training for the Mets. Correa's sordid health history is well known, but he also played 144 games in 2025. No matter: they're denied.

Additional Puerto Rican players who have been denied coverage include Los Angeles Dodgers infielder Enríque Hernández and Toronto Blue Jays right-hander José Berríos. Overall, more than a third of the entire roster is impacted. Perhaps it's just a coincidence that they've been hit so hard by the insurance premium bug, but Puerto Rico feels picked on.

Officials cite Puerto Rico's small population (about 3.3 million) as a difficulty for adding viable ballplayers. That's one issue. But the WBC is more, and should be more, than just finding bodies to fill out rosters. Puerto Rico typically has one of the best teams in the world. Lindor is one of the 10 best players in MLB, and Correa one of the two dozen best. Not only for their talent, but Puerto Rico's enthusiasm for baseball, along with their historical influence, are well documented.

The Puerto Rican team is always among the top reasons to watch the WBC, a tournament in which MLB invests heavily and takes earnestly. But only to a point. Ensuring that Puerto Rico remains whole enough to field a competitive team is against league policy, so to speak.

Puerto Rico is not the only country affected by insurance roadblocks; Venezuela is too, with José Altuve and Miguel Rojas among the disenfranchised. Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani won't pitch for Japan in the WBC in part because insurance won't cover that half of his game.

If only MLB could do something to defray the cost of insuring those who remain uncovered. It is apparent they don't want to, and neither do the individual teams. Mets owner Steve Cohen probably has WBC PTSD about 2023, when closer Edwin Díaz took a bad celebratory step and had his season ruined with an injury.

Freak injuries happen, but the WBC happening outside of the MLB season doesn't reduce its importance to Lindor and players like him, who take competing in it no less seriously than they would the World Series.

But what else should we expect from this league of owners? They contorted themselves to give the Dodgers, of all teams, a more favorable financial situation with local TV revenue following former owner Frank McCourt's bankrupting ways. And yet, while being cheap with revenue sharing, MLB owners still won't take steps to regulate minimum spending standards. Owners of smaller-market teams like the Cleveland Guardians and Pittsburgh Pirates take advantage by pocketing the money, and their fans lose. Congratulations — on your tremendous savings.

Instead of just encouraging the league to be competitive in the standings, MLB owners circle their Gucci wagons and talk about greedy players who need to be restrained with a salary cap. No matter that players already get a smaller share of the pie than the owners, and that salaries have been dragging, in relation to inflation, for 20 years. Ah, who else can't wait for the upcoming reports on collective bargaining talks? More fun than arguing over insurance claims.

MLB owners still have time to do the right thing by pooling some (some!) of their formidable resources for Puerto Rico and anyone else denied because of WBC insurance. The integrity of the entire tournament is at stake. The decimation of Puerto Rico's roster matters not only to one team and country, but to all who participate.

Hiram Bithorn Stadium in San Juan hosts pool play in the WBC from March 6–11. Cuba, Panama, Colombia and Canada also are scheduled in Puerto Rico. Fans have bought tickets to see P.R. play them all. Puerto Rico's best team should play if possible.

It is possible — if MLB does the right thing and shares.