CLEVELAND, Ohio — Bo Naylor will represent Canada and former No. 1 overall draft pick Travis Bazzana will suit up for Team Australia among the nine players from the Guardians organization participating in the upcoming World Baseball Classic tournament, which is set for March 5-16.
Matt Festa (Italy), Logan Allen (Panama) and non-roster invitee Stuart Fairchild (Chinese Taipei) will also leave training camp to play for their countries in the 20-team field.
Other Guardians minor leaguers participating include right-hander Dylan DeLucia (Italy), infielder Dayan Frias (Colombia) and lefty Matt “Tugboat” Wiklinson (Canada).
Three Guardians coaches will also participate in the tournament, including Sandy Alomar Jr. (Puerto Rico), Brad Goldberg (Israel) and Rouglas Odor (Venezuela).
Notable Guardians major leaguers who did not appear on WBC rosters released Thursday include José Ramírez from the Dominican Republic, Cade Smith and Erik Sabrowski from Canada and Brayan Rocchio and Gabriel Arias from Venezuela.
Ex-Guardians infielders Carlos Santana and Amed Rosario were announced as members of the Dominican Republic roster. Ramírez, who angered some Dominican fans with his absence from the 2025 All-Star Game after being elected a starter in fan voting, refused to answer when asked last week about participating in the tournament. Manny Machado was announced as the starting third baseman for the Dominican squad, despite Ramírez recently being named the No. 1 third baseman in the game by MLB Network, and the No. 5 overall player in the network’s top 100 players countdown.
Naylor will reunite with his brother Josh on the Canadian roster. The two played parts of three seasons together in Cleveland after Josh was acquired in a 2020 trade with San Diego. The Guardians traded Josh to Arizona in December 2024 before the Diamondbacks sent the All-Star first baseman to the Mariners at last season’s trade deadline.
Guardians pitchers and catchers participating in the WBC are set to report to the club’s Goodyear, Ariz., training facility on Monday with their first workouts taking place Wednesday. Position players who will participate in the WBC report on Thursday with workouts beginning Feb. 14.