It's WBC Time

By Mike Whiteman March 2, 2026 *** The change of the calendar to March finds the baseball season in Spring Training, time for players to shake off the rust and prepare for the upcoming season. It's time for us as fans to start shaking off the cold winter, and get excited about the upcoming season. Spring Training is always a fun time of the year for me, and I love the optimism - "Is Spencer Jones ready?" "Boy did Ryan Weathers look good", "Gerrit Cole looks healthy", etc. etc. Of course things can change greatly and get real fast, but I enjoy the "innocence" of early Spring and the cliche "everyone is in first place". This year we have a bonus - or a distraction, depending on how you look it. The World Baseball Classic will again be running, for roughly the next two weeks. The WBC is an international tournament with 20 teams participating, broken into four pools (divisions). This is the sixth Classic. Here are previous winners: 2006: Japan 2009: Japan 2013: Dominican Republic 2017: United States 2023: Japan

Here is criteria for a player to represent a country at the WBC: -The player is a citizen of the nation the team represents.

-The player is qualified for citizenship or to hold a passport under the laws of a nation represented by a team, but has not been granted citizenship or been issued a passport -The player is a permanent legal resident of the nation or territory the team represents.

-The player was born in the nation or territory the team represents.

-The player has one parent who is, or if deceased was, a citizen of the nation the team represents.

-The player has one parent who was born in the nation or territory the team represents There are 13 Yankees participating in the WBC:

United States: Aaron Judge, Paul Goldschmidt, David Bednar, Ryan Yarbrough Dominican Republic: Austin Wells, Camilo Dovall, Amed Rosario Puerto Rico: Elmer Rodriguez, Fernando Cruz Great Britain: Jazz Chisholm, Brendan Beck Panama: Jose Caballero Israel: Harrison Cohen Bench coach Brad Ausmus will be managing the Israel team. Catching coach Tanner Swanson will serve as bench coach for Great Britain. Yankee legends Andy Pettite (USA pitching coach) and Jorge Posada (Italy batting coach) will also suit up.

The Americans looks loaded, led by Judge and the Cy Young winners Paul Skenes and Tarik Skubal. Among the team USA players are Cal Raleigh, Bobby Witt and Bryce Harper. In fact, the whole Classic looks loaded, with the top nine 2025 MLB players - per WAR - participating in the tournament. https://www.mlb.com/world-baseball-classic/roster/united-states The US and Japan look to be the favorites, and seem destined to clash again like the 2023 classic, when Shohei Otani struck out his then-teammate Mike Trout to end a tense championship game and clinch the title for Japan.

Do the games count? Certainly not in the MLB standings, but Aaron Judge thinks so, saying "People are going to be talking about these games for years. There's a lot of pride involved. Baseball is a beautiful game, and we're going to have a chance to showcase it to the world." Judge also sees his Team USA participation as a reflection of his patriotism, saying "I think about the men and women who have sacrificed so much to preserve our freedom and way of life. That's what this jersey means to me. I'll wear it to honor those who've given their lives so I can play this kid's game. So I can have a beautiful family and live free." Judge is not alone in his enthusiasm for the Classic. Paul Goldschmidt, participating in his third WBC shared "Representing your country is the ultimate honor, and getting the opportunity to do that and try to win a gold medal that is becoming more and more coveted". Bryce Harper says "There's nothing like it...being able to put USA on your chest, your nation's colors." The WBC starts March 4th. Team USA's first game is March 6th against Brazil. Pool round robin play - four games per team - goes through March 11th. The quarterfinals are March 13th and 14th, the semifinals are March 15th and 16th, and the Classic concludes with the final on March 17th. Games are played in San Juan, Houston, Tokyo and Miami with the championship game being held at LoanDepot Park in Miami. Here's the website for all things WBC: https://www.mlb.com/world-baseball-classic I know many fans have reservations about this, and I get it . I'll be keeping my fingers crossed that no players get hurt. That being said, I'm very excited about WBC. There's a postseason feel to the games, and players care deeply. For the next two weeks, the Yankees will be my second favorite team. Go Team USA!