Puerto Rico considers the idea of withdrawing its team from the World Baseball Classic.
January 31, 2026
Puerto Rico considers the idea of withdrawing its team from the World Baseball Classic.
27 comments
Many players from Puerto Rico are unable to participate in the WBC due to insurance issues. The president of the baseball federation said, “I understand that there is interference from owners. If we are unable to assemble a sufficient team, the Puerto Rico national team will withdraw from the WBC.”
edit
Since Pool A of the WBC is scheduled to be held in Puerto Rico, any withdrawal by Puerto Rico would have a major impact on the tournament itself.
That would be so stupid PR is one of the mainstays, if they’re not in it what’s the point
Didn’t even know you could do that
How the fuck can Aaron Judge get insured and not Lindor?
That would suck so bad.
But wouldn’t another team have to join their pool?
Puerto Rico and Venezuela sent their preliminary list of 35 players on December 1, before the Winter Meetings.
In Lindor and Altuve’s case, the federations of Puerto Rico and Venezuela received official confirmation yesterday.
Yet somehow, Japan and the United States have 29 players officially confirmed.
This would ruin the WBC for 2026. It would be a huge shame if this happened.
How about renaming the team “Lloyd’s of London” just to get them on the field?
This insurance fuckery sure is feeling like a way for MLB teams to circumvent the fact that they can’t “officially” ban players from the WBC.
The WBC without PR isn’t the WBC. This would suck beyond measure
This sucks so bad. Puerto Rico and Dominican Rep have such a good rivalry. I would be sad if my country dosent play them.
Please no Please no Please no
Seriously? The WBC is drawing some real numbers and building serious momentum. This would be devastating.
The insurance issue definitely seems heavy handed. Not even in the Olympics or World Cup do you ever hear about players not getting insurance.
Meanwhile Miguel Rojas can’t get insured and he has to be making a pittance compared to what’s considered a high end contract these days.
I understand PR’s want for potentially doing this, it just sucks. sucks for PR baseball, sucks for international baseball. it sucks.
I hope this threat gets a real reaction. There’s no reason Lindor shouldn’t be allowed to play.
Do European football league teams demand insurance for all the continental (Euro, Copa America, etc) and FIFA World Cup tournaments? No, they don’t. There is infinite more money in football in Europe than in MLB. The Classic will never be big with this insurance fiasco.
They aren’t going to withdraw, but they absolutely need to raise up some stink. According to the article, about half of their ideal roster is being blocked by some vague issue. (Correa, Lindor, Berrios, Caratini, Cruz, both Diaz brothers, Pagan). They are going to field a Premier12 or Olympics caliber roster at this rate.
They are also one of the hosts. MLB and WBCI are counting on high enthusiasm for the games in San Juan in terms of ticket and merchandise sales, but these late developments could threaten that.
Not sure what is going on, but NFP looks like a villain. I don’t know if the Edwin Diaz injury spooked them, or if the WBC rejections are just a downstream effect of greater financial considerations for them.
It’s not just Puerto Rico though. Jose Altuve got rejected despite being one of the faces of Venezuelan baseball. Elly De La Cruz can’t play for the Dominican despite playing 150 games last year. Jose Ramirez, a future Hall of Famer, mysteriously dropped out. Brazil has zero notable players now without Bo Bichette.
It also seems arbitrary. Ronald Acuña, with two ACL teams, and Byron Buxton, with everything at some point in his career, have been confirmed so have been presumably insured.
Suffice to say, we are in major scandal territory. Latam fans think there is a conspiracy to force a US-Japan final. Teams aren’t able to send in their best healthy players. The WBC won’t grow without that happening.
It seems, at least, whoever is paying the premiums will need to pony up for higher premiums in the future, and more protections need to be put in place due to prevent teams from blocking players and blaming insurance.
A VERY spicy quote from the interview:
“If the United States wants the gold medal, they should play a three-game series against Japan and not waste our time.”
Wow that would suck
This is so lame. Really wish baseball would do everything in their power to promote this tournament. It is so good for the game. Edwin Diaz got injured on that one freak celebration. There is no additional risk from this tourney.
That would be a huge shame.
I’m flying to PR and have tickets for the two games on March 6. Totally overpaid for PR Colombia game but wanted to take my dad to the game. Beyond frustrated with players now not playing.
Between this and the impending lock out, it seems like MLB is dedicated to fumbling the bag.
I’m glad that the PR federation is showing some backbone.
The WBC is too important to ruin. I feel awful for PR. This tournament has similar value as winning a world series honestly
They should withdraw, here’s a list of the players that can’t play because of “insurance”:
– Carlos Correa
– Francisco Lindor
– Yacksel Ríos
– José Berrios
– Jovani Morán
– Luis Quiñones
Two of the relief pitchers don’t even have guaranteed contracts, AND THEY STILL CAN’T PLAY.
Edit: Other players that aren’t playing for other reasons:
– Victor Caratini (because the Twins didn’t allow him, but allowed BYRON BUXTON, honestly fuck the Twins)
– Kiké Hernández
– Alexis Díaz
– Emilio Pagán
27 comments
Many players from Puerto Rico are unable to participate in the WBC due to insurance issues. The president of the baseball federation said, “I understand that there is interference from owners. If we are unable to assemble a sufficient team, the Puerto Rico national team will withdraw from the WBC.”
edit
Since Pool A of the WBC is scheduled to be held in Puerto Rico, any withdrawal by Puerto Rico would have a major impact on the tournament itself.
That would be so stupid PR is one of the mainstays, if they’re not in it what’s the point
Didn’t even know you could do that
How the fuck can Aaron Judge get insured and not Lindor?
That would suck so bad.
But wouldn’t another team have to join their pool?
Puerto Rico and Venezuela sent their preliminary list of 35 players on December 1, before the Winter Meetings.
In Lindor and Altuve’s case, the federations of Puerto Rico and Venezuela received official confirmation yesterday.
Yet somehow, Japan and the United States have 29 players officially confirmed.
This would ruin the WBC for 2026. It would be a huge shame if this happened.
How about renaming the team “Lloyd’s of London” just to get them on the field?
This insurance fuckery sure is feeling like a way for MLB teams to circumvent the fact that they can’t “officially” ban players from the WBC.
The WBC without PR isn’t the WBC. This would suck beyond measure
This sucks so bad. Puerto Rico and Dominican Rep have such a good rivalry. I would be sad if my country dosent play them.
Please no Please no Please no
Seriously? The WBC is drawing some real numbers and building serious momentum. This would be devastating.
The insurance issue definitely seems heavy handed. Not even in the Olympics or World Cup do you ever hear about players not getting insurance.
Meanwhile Miguel Rojas can’t get insured and he has to be making a pittance compared to what’s considered a high end contract these days.
I understand PR’s want for potentially doing this, it just sucks. sucks for PR baseball, sucks for international baseball. it sucks.
I hope this threat gets a real reaction. There’s no reason Lindor shouldn’t be allowed to play.
Do European football league teams demand insurance for all the continental (Euro, Copa America, etc) and FIFA World Cup tournaments? No, they don’t. There is infinite more money in football in Europe than in MLB. The Classic will never be big with this insurance fiasco.
They aren’t going to withdraw, but they absolutely need to raise up some stink. According to the article, about half of their ideal roster is being blocked by some vague issue. (Correa, Lindor, Berrios, Caratini, Cruz, both Diaz brothers, Pagan). They are going to field a Premier12 or Olympics caliber roster at this rate.
They are also one of the hosts. MLB and WBCI are counting on high enthusiasm for the games in San Juan in terms of ticket and merchandise sales, but these late developments could threaten that.
Based on what [I could find](https://www.latimes.com/sports/story/2023-02-18/why-major-league-players-need-insurance-world-baseball-classic) the insurance for MLB players is insured by NFP, and the policy is negotiated and paid for (I think?) by MLB and MLBPA. There’s not a whole lot of public information about the insurance policy for the WBC, so I could be wrong.
Not sure what is going on, but NFP looks like a villain. I don’t know if the Edwin Diaz injury spooked them, or if the WBC rejections are just a downstream effect of greater financial considerations for them.
It’s not just Puerto Rico though. Jose Altuve got rejected despite being one of the faces of Venezuelan baseball. Elly De La Cruz can’t play for the Dominican despite playing 150 games last year. Jose Ramirez, a future Hall of Famer, mysteriously dropped out. Brazil has zero notable players now without Bo Bichette.
It also seems arbitrary. Ronald Acuña, with two ACL teams, and Byron Buxton, with everything at some point in his career, have been confirmed so have been presumably insured.
Suffice to say, we are in major scandal territory. Latam fans think there is a conspiracy to force a US-Japan final. Teams aren’t able to send in their best healthy players. The WBC won’t grow without that happening.
It seems, at least, whoever is paying the premiums will need to pony up for higher premiums in the future, and more protections need to be put in place due to prevent teams from blocking players and blaming insurance.
A VERY spicy quote from the interview:
“If the United States wants the gold medal, they should play a three-game series against Japan and not waste our time.”
Wow that would suck
This is so lame. Really wish baseball would do everything in their power to promote this tournament. It is so good for the game. Edwin Diaz got injured on that one freak celebration. There is no additional risk from this tourney.
That would be a huge shame.
I’m flying to PR and have tickets for the two games on March 6. Totally overpaid for PR Colombia game but wanted to take my dad to the game. Beyond frustrated with players now not playing.
Between this and the impending lock out, it seems like MLB is dedicated to fumbling the bag.
I’m glad that the PR federation is showing some backbone.
The WBC is too important to ruin. I feel awful for PR. This tournament has similar value as winning a world series honestly
They should withdraw, here’s a list of the players that can’t play because of “insurance”:
– Carlos Correa
– Francisco Lindor
– Yacksel Ríos
– José Berrios
– Jovani Morán
– Luis Quiñones
Two of the relief pitchers don’t even have guaranteed contracts, AND THEY STILL CAN’T PLAY.
Edit: Other players that aren’t playing for other reasons:
– Victor Caratini (because the Twins didn’t allow him, but allowed BYRON BUXTON, honestly fuck the Twins)
– Kiké Hernández
– Alexis Díaz
– Emilio Pagán