{"id":557827,"date":"2026-02-06T13:17:21","date_gmt":"2026-02-06T13:17:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/557827\/"},"modified":"2026-02-06T13:17:21","modified_gmt":"2026-02-06T13:17:21","slug":"2026-canada-world-baseball-classic-roster","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/557827\/","title":{"rendered":"2026 Canada World Baseball Classic Roster"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>With the 2026 World Baseball Classic set to begin in March, the preliminary roster for Canada is here. Initial rosters are subject to change. Read on below for our team summary and breakdown of top players and prospects to know.<\/p>\n<p>Find all of our WBC coverage <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseballamerica.com\/stories\/tag\/2026-world-baseball-classic\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Team Summary: Canada has shown flashes at the World Baseball Classic, including a stunning win over Team USA in 2006, but Team Canada\u2019s success has largely been limited so far to the sporadic upset. The team has never made it out of the first round. Twice before, Team Canada has been last in its pool and forced to play its way through the qualifiers to get back into the tournament. This year, they are coming off a better finish. Canada finished fourth in Pool C in 2023, earning an automatic spot in this year\u2019s tournament.<\/p>\n<p>Top Players: The Naylor name is synonymous with Canadian baseball, and both Josh and Bo are on the 2026 roster. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseballamerica.com\/players\/3268-josh-naylor\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Josh Naylor<\/a> inked a five-year, $92.5 million contract with Seattle this offseason after hitting .295\/.353\/.462 with 20 home runs and 92 RBIs between the Diamondbacks and the Mariners. He should be joined in the lineup by power-hitting outfielder <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseballamerica.com\/players\/2972-tyler-oneill\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Tyler O\u2019Neill<\/a>, who is hoping to use the WBC as a springboard to erase an injury-plagued first season in Baltimore and get back to 2024 form, when he hit 31 homers for the Red Sox. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseballamerica.com\/players\/7842-denzel-clarke\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Denzel Clarke<\/a> is one of the best defensive outfielders in baseball. <\/p>\n<p>On the mound, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseballamerica.com\/players\/6475-jameson-taillon\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Jameson Taillon<\/a> is the team\u2019s best pitcher and one of the most experienced players on the roster. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseballamerica.com\/players\/6115-james-paxton\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">James Paxton<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseballamerica.com\/players\/3287-michael-soroka\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Michael Soroka <\/a>also have plenty of big league starting experience. <\/p>\n<p>Best Prospects: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseballamerica.com\/players\/8769-owen-caissie\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Owen Caissie<\/a> debuted as one of the Cubs\u2019 top prospects in August 2025, but was traded to the Marlins this winter for Edward Cabrera. The 23-year-old ranks as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseballamerica.com\/teams\/2028-miami-marlins\/prospects\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Miami\u2019s No. 4 prospect<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseballamerica.com\/rankings\/2026-top-100-prospects\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Baseball America\u2019s No. 43 overall prospect<\/a>. He has plus-plus raw power that could show up if he can keep the strikeouts check. A one-time Top 100 Prospect, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseballamerica.com\/players\/8706-tyler-black\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Tyler Black\u2019s<\/a> stock has since cooled. He dealt with a broken hamate in 2025 and spent most of the year in Triple-A, slashing .243\/.369\/.360 with four home runs and 34 RBIs.<\/p>\n<p>Pool A<\/p>\n<p>Puerto Rico<\/p>\n<p>Cuba<\/p>\n<p>Canada<\/p>\n<p>Panama<\/p>\n<p>Colombia<\/p>\n<p>Dates\/Location: March 6-11, San Juan, Puerto Rico. <\/p>\n<p>Canada World Baseball Classic Roster<\/p>\n<p>playerposbatsthrowsheightweightagemlb orgclubAllen, LoganLHPRL6-0320028NC Dinos (KOR)Ashman, MicahLHPLL6-0719523BALChesapeake Baysox (AA)Aumont, PhillippeRHPLR6-0726537TORBuffalo Bisons (AAA)Balazovic, JordanRHPRR6-0521527\u2013Cerantola, EricRHPRR6-0522525KCKansas City RoyalsDiaz, IndigoRHPRR6-0525027AZAmarillo Sod Poodles (AA)Jean, AntoineLHPRL6-0219024COLACL Rockies (RK)Loewen, CarterRHPRR6-0424027SDEl Paso Chihuahuas (AAA)Macko, AdamLHPLL6-0017025TORToronto Blue JaysPaxton, JamesLHPLL6-0421537\u2013Quantrill, CalRHPLR6-0319530TEXRound Rock Express (AAA)Skirrow, NoahRHPRR6-0321527Lancaster Stormers (Ind.)Soroka, MichaelRHPRR6-0525028AZArizona DiamondbacksTaillon, JamesonRHPRR6-0523034CHCChicago CubsWilkinson, MattLHPRL6-0125023CLELake County Captains (A+)Zastryzny, RobLHPRL6-0320533MILMilwaukee BrewersHicks, LiamCLR5-0918526MIAMiami MarlinsNaylor, BoCLR6-0020525CLECleveland GuardiansBlack, TylerUTLLR6-0120025MILMilwaukee BrewersDavidson, Matt3BRR6-0323034NC Dinos (KOR)Hall, AdamSSRR5-1117026\u2013Julien, Edouard2BLR6-0019526COLColorado RockiesLopez, OttoSSRR5-1018527MIAMiami MarlinsNaylor, Josh1BLL5-1023528SEASeattle MarinersToro, Abraham3BSR6-0022529KCOmaha Storm Chasers (AAA)Young, JaredUTLLR6-0220030NYMNew York MetsCaissie, OwenOFLR6-0319023MIAMiami MarlinsClarke, DenzelOFRR6-0422025ATHAthleticsO\u2019Neill, TylerOFRR5-1020030BALBaltimore OriolesRobson, JacobOFLR5-1018231Winnipeg Goldeyes (Ind.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With the 2026 World Baseball Classic set to begin in March, the preliminary roster for Canada is here.&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":557828,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2276],"tags":[10264,5,2291,4,1586],"class_list":{"0":"post-557827","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mlb-draft","8":"tag-2026-world-baseball-classic","9":"tag-baseball","10":"tag-major-league-baseball-draft","11":"tag-mlb","12":"tag-mlb-draft"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116023882207732891","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/557827","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=557827"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/557827\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/557828"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=557827"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=557827"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=557827"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}