The World Baseball Classic Has An Insurance Problem

The World Baseball Classic, gearing up for its sixth iteration, is still trying to find its footing as a true, best-on-best international tournament. It wants to be the FIFA World Cup, but everything wants to be the World Cup and nothing is besides the World Cup. It would probably settle, right now, for being the Four Nations Face-Off: a respectable simulacrum of a tournament that makes a lot of money for its organizers and stumbles into some excellent late-stage games. Instead, the 2026 edition is starting to look a little more like the Pro Bowl: something that feels like an exhibition above all else, and is equally notable for who's not playing.

What's a Team Venezuela without Jose Altuve? What's the Dominican Republic without Elly De La Cruz? Puerto Rico without Francisco Lindor and Carlos Correa? Those are just some of the bigger names who won't be participating in the WBC because they were denied insurance coverage.

Team Puerto Rico has been particularly hard-hit, learning this weekend—a month before the tournament starts in San Juan—that at least eight of its players have been denied insurance and will be unable to play. Given the relatively late notice, Team PR is leaving open the possibility of withdrawing from the WBC altogether.