{"id":620092,"date":"2026-03-12T13:03:23","date_gmt":"2026-03-12T13:03:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/620092\/"},"modified":"2026-03-12T13:03:23","modified_gmt":"2026-03-12T13:03:23","slug":"my-olympic-inspired-and-skubal-approved-plan-to-make-the-wbc-the-greatest-show-on-earth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/620092\/","title":{"rendered":"My Olympic-inspired (and Skubal-approved) plan to make the WBC the greatest show on earth"},"content":{"rendered":"

LAKELAND, Fla. \u2014 Timing is everything. You\u2019ve heard that somewhere before, right? But that isn\u2019t just true for apartment renters, flight catchers and your Aunt Millie, that time she won the lottery. It\u2019s also true for the World Baseball Classic<\/a>.<\/p>\n

So ask yourself this: Is March the right time for such a cool event?<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s my vote: No!<\/p>\n

But nobody cares how I vote. So let\u2019s listen to the thoughts of a man who has worn the Team USA uniform \u2014 and wishes he was still wearing it<\/a>.<\/p>\n

That would be Tarik Skubal, two-time Cy Young Award winner, ace of the Detroit Tigers, impending free agent and a fellow who is scheduled to start on Opening Day just two weeks from now.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think what needs to change is the timing of the tournament,\u201d Skubal said Wednesday morning, \u201cbecause it\u2019s tough on all the starters \u2014 not just myself included.\u201d<\/p>\n

So what would be a better time?<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you want the best players playing and not risking health,\u201d Skubal said, \u201cI think it\u2019s midseason.\u201d<\/p>\n

Is anyone out there listening? Well, I was. So, as always, I\u2019m here to help. There\u2019s a perfect way to turn the WBC into the greatest show on the sporting earth. So, of course, I laid out my hair-brained idea to Skubal on Wednesday, on his first day back in Tigers spring training camp. Here it comes:<\/p>\n

POOL PLAY:\u00a0Let\u2019s handle the first round of the WBC exactly how it\u2019s done now. In the first half of March, send 20 teams to four sites around the world and play until just eight teams survive and advance. So nothing has changed \u2014 yet.<\/p>\n

FINAL THREE ROUNDS:\u00a0Here\u2019s where this gets fun. We\u2019re about to create the most amazing week on the baseball calendar \u2014 by moving the WBC\u2019s Elite Eight, Final Four and Finals to July. In fact, let\u2019s move them to the site of the All-Star Game. Then \u201cBaseball Week in America\u201d would look like this, with all of it on the same field:<\/p>\n

Saturday \u2014 MLB Draft
Sunday \u2014 Futures Game
Monday \u2014 Home Run Derby
Tuesday \u2014 All-Star Game
Wednesday \u2014 Elite Eight doubleheader
Thursday \u2014 Elite Eight doubleheader
Friday \u2014 Semifinal doubleheader
Saturday or Sunday \u2014 WBC championship game<\/p>\n

I\u2019d watch!<\/p>\n

\u201cBrilliant,\u201d an official of one WBC team told me Wednesday, when I laid out that schedule for him. \u201cThat\u2019s the best idea I\u2019ve heard all year.\u201d<\/p>\n

Great. So that\u2019s two of us who like it. But what about Skubal, the man who led me into presenting this brainstorm in the first place? He had many thoughts!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\n The WBC is great. Moving the final three rounds to July would make it even better. (Sam Navarro \/ Imagn Images)<\/p>\n

HOW LONG WOULD THE BREAK BE?\u00a0That was his biggest question, and it\u2019s a good one. I think that, under my plan, we\u2019d be looking at an eight-day All-Star break, with the season halting after Sunday\u2019s games, as it does now, and then resuming on the Tuesday after the All-Star Game.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut then,\u201d Skubal said, \u201cyou\u2019re impacting all the guys that aren\u2019t playing (in the WBC). So that\u2019s a whole different discussion. How long is the break going to be? Can we get the games done in six days? Can we get the games done in seven days? But then it\u2019s like, OK, if you\u2019re taking a starter, they can only make one start, right? So I don\u2019t know how to make it right.\u201d<\/p>\n

I think my schedule works. But I understand where he\u2019s coming from. So here\u2019s my response \u2026<\/p>\n

WHY\u00a0CAN\u2019T WE USE THE 2028 OLYMPICS AS OUR GUIDE?\u00a0In just two years, Olympic baseball is coming to Los Angeles, and it looks as if major-league players are going to be allowed to play<\/a>. How long will the season stop to accommodate that Olympic tournament? We don\u2019t know yet. But it will likely be negotiated as part of the next collective bargaining agreement. So I have a proposal:<\/p>\n

However long the All-Star\/Olympic break is in 2028, let\u2019s take that same break during WBC years. Let the Olympics provide the template. Then we\u2019ll all follow it any time there\u2019s a WBC to stage. Skubal\u2019s reaction to that: Two thumbs up.<\/p>\n

\u201cI kind of like that idea,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s interesting, for sure. Pool play early. You win your pool (or finish in the) top two, then it\u2019s only eight teams, and you can essentially get those games done in four days. If you want to, give a team an off day (after the) quarterfinals, because then bullpen guys are going to throw back-to-back-to-back.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you go quarterfinal, semifinal, off day, final, so everyone\u2019s ready for the final? Yeah, maybe. Maybe that\u2019s the answer. I don\u2019t know. I don\u2019t have the answer, nor do I want to try and figure it out.\u201d<\/p>\n

But he does know this:<\/p>\n

PLAYING THE WHOLE WBC IN MARCH IS A PROBLEM \u2014 So what\u2019s the big issue with playing this whole event in March? Skubal is the poster boy for that issue.<\/p>\n

The goal is to assemble a rotation full of the best starting pitchers on earth. But why does that create so many issues in March? Because if you have a rotation of aces, they all need to be on a schedule to start Opening Day. And that\u2019s not possible, because the baseball calendar is such a crazy, unyielding animal.<\/p>\n

Skubal knows this well. And not just because that calendar compelled him to leave Team USA. Because he tried to see if it was possible to invent a whole new calendar.\u00a0And no, we\u2019re not making that up.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been thinking about it,\u201d he said with a laugh. \u201cI tried to add a day from Opening Day. I\u2019m like, \u2018Can the 25th (of March) happen twice?\u2019 You know, I went: 24th, 24th, 25th, 25th, 26th. That\u2019s what I\u2019m trying to do. You know what they do with leap year, like can I add in that extra day?\u201d<\/p>\n

Turns out the Greek god of calendar-izing wouldn\u2019t sign off on that. But Skubal is still thinking, because he sees the problem with the WBC so clearly now.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe timing just needs to get better,\u201d he said, \u201cif we want to really run out our best arms and let them just play.\u201d<\/p>\n

So July is that time. The best pitchers in the game are in midseason form. They\u2019re on different schedules. The risk of injury is lower. The pitch counts would be higher. It\u2019s perfect. Except for one thing:<\/p>\n

HOW WOULD PITCH COUNTS WORK IN POOL PLAY \u2014 This was actually Skubal\u2019s first question after I presented my plan: \u201cWould you limit guys\u2019 starts in pool play (with) pitch counts?\u201d he asked, \u201cbecause that was a big deal.\u201d<\/p>\n

Why? Because starting pitchers on major-league rosters had a cap of 65 pitches in that round. Pitchers not on those rosters didn\u2019t face those limits. So if those same pitch caps and rules apply in my plan, he said, \u201cthen it\u2019s going to favor teams that don\u2019t have guys in affiliated ball, because they can be built up for six or seven innings.\u201d<\/p>\n

OK, good point. But the great thing about putting me in charge is, I\u2019m open to anything. Maybe we could move that first round back a week or so. Then pitchers are more built up and closer to the start of the season, so we could raise those pitch caps. Problem solved? Done.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\n \u201cThe timing just needs to get better,\u201d Tarik Skubal said, \u201cif we want to really run out our best arms and let them just play.\u201d (Alex Slitz \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n

WOULD PLAYERS LOSE INTEREST IF WE SPLIT THE WBC IN TWO?\u00a0One baseball official I surveyed had that fear: It would be harder to recruit players in March if it\u2019s just pool play and it isn\u2019t leading toward the big finale.<\/p>\n

Maybe. But an official of one WBC team had a solution: To be part of the final three rounds, a player would have to commit to the first round, with only limited roster changes allowed in later rounds, except in case of injury or other extenuating circumstances.<\/p>\n

Get the picture? If Aaron Judge and Bryce Harper want to celebrate in July, they have to buy into the March portion of the event, too. So does that mean another problem is solved? Done.<\/p>\n

WOULD FANS LOSE INTEREST IF WE SPLIT THE WBC IN TWO?\u00a0That\u2019s another question posed by the same baseball official. Would it dilute interest in the early round of the WBC if it wasn\u2019t the beginning of a continuous march toward the championship rounds the following week?<\/p>\n

That\u2019s possible. On the other hand, if Skubal and Paul Skenes are pitching, and Judge and Bobby Witt Jr. are playing, and there are literally world championship implications on the line, I\u2019d watch no matter when those games are played. But as long as we\u2019re going down this path, there\u2019s one more point I\u2019d like to make about \u201cinterest.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\n The WBC appeals to fans from all over the world. But why compete against March Madness when the WBC could own the sports spotlight in July? (Kenneth Richmond \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n

WHY DOES THIS EVENT KEEP COMPETING AGAINST MARCH MADNESS?\u00a0I\u2019ve been asking this question for years. If it\u2019s the biggest possible audience the WBC is after, why the heck is it being held in March?<\/p>\n

March is for Madness \u2014 and not baseball madness. So how much of the potential audience for this event is peeling off to watch basketball, even if it\u2019s just their favorite conference tournament? It might not peel off in a house like mine, but what about the houses of more casual fans \u2014 the ones who only care about crushing their NCAA hoops pool bracket? You know the answer.<\/p>\n

So I could easily rest my case there, except I have an even better question to ask: If we move the WBC to July and create \u201cBaseball Week in America,\u201d what other grand sporting spectacles is that competing against \u2014 in literally any other sport?<\/p>\n

Want a few moments to think about it? Heck, I\u2019ll give you a few hours. Even a few days. No matter how long you wrack your brain, the answer won\u2019t change:<\/p>\n

Do this in July,\u00a0and baseball will own the sporting stage every night for a week!\u00a0<\/p>\n

What else is going on in sports to compete with it that week? Not. One. Thing.<\/p>\n

So what\u2019s the downside to this idea? I\u2019ve thrown it out there before, and I\u2019ve never heard one. Sure, there will be complications and logistics issues. But guess what? We\u2019ll overcome all of them for the Olympics. So who\u2019s to say it can\u2019t be done to make the WBC the greatest sports show on earth?<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to play for Team USA in (the Olympics in) \u201928,\u201d Skubal said. \u201cHopefully, we get the Olympics right, and we\u2019re doing it in the middle of the season, because I would love the timing. You know, it all came back to timing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Timing. It\u2019s the magic word that makes everything in life more workable. So haven\u2019t we just fixed the WBC\u2019s timing problem? I think we have. You can send your thank you notes to me, to the Olympic Committee and, of course, to a guy named Tarik Skubal.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LAKELAND, Fla. \u2014 Timing is everything. You\u2019ve heard that somewhere before, right? But that isn\u2019t just true for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":620093,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2290],"tags":[5,53,4,165,4820],"class_list":{"0":"post-620092","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-baseball","8":"tag-baseball","9":"tag-detroit-tigers","10":"tag-mlb","11":"tag-sports-business","12":"tag-world-baseball-classic"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116216346109106012","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/620092","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=620092"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/620092\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/620093"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=620092"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=620092"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=620092"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}