Baseball globalization’ through the World Baseball Classic (WBC) still seems to have a long way to go.
Nelson Cruz, who is in charge of the general manager of the Dominican Republic national team, the winner of the 3rd tournament, appeared on a local broadcast on the 29th and said, “18 out of 50 pre-registered players have been notified by the MLB club that they cannot participate in the tournament.”
Although the names of the 18 players who were rejected by the club were not disclosed, it is difficult to form the expected ‘dream team’ if more than a third of the players on the reserve list cannot play. You may not see the likes of Juan Soto (San Diego), Manny Machado (San Diego), Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (Toronto), and Rafael Devers (Boston, DH). 안전놀이터
When the news broke, Guerrero Jr., former American League home run king, posted on his SNS that day, “I hope my name is not among the 18.”
Korea and Japan are also bound to be affected by club decisions.
Kim Ha-seong (28, San Diego) and Tommy Edman (28, St. Louis) are expected to join the national team in early March due to their team’s spring camp schedule. Baseball team coach Lee Kang-cheol said, “It’s a pity that major leaguers won’t be able to participate in practice games.” Choi Ji-man, who strongly expressed his willingness to participate, underwent surgery to remove a bone fragment in his elbow last year, so the club is expected to take a more conservative approach to the recruitment decision. It is not a matter of timing, but joining itself may be difficult.
Head coach Hideki Kuriyama of the Japanese national baseball team, which has five big leaguers including Ohtani and Darvish, was dissatisfied with the MLB clubs’ attitude towards the WBC, saying, “The goal of starting the WBC can be achieved only when major leaguers are allowed to participate more freely in the national team.” talked about
The WBC, the only baseball international competition in which a large number of MLB players participate, is already in its 5th year, but it faces the inherent limitations of being held in March every time. This is because there are far more clubs that put more weight on season results than WBC competitions. There is a widespread perception that borrowing itself is a loss. You can’t blame only the attitude of the club.
There is even a limit on the number of starting pitchers, but clubs with the opening of the season in front are reluctant to hire players with high salaries. The team’s position is also acceptable. This is because if you run with enthusiasm as a national team member at a time when you need to prepare for the opening ceremony, the risk of injury increases, and there are often cases in which you collapse after the opening ceremony after overexerting your physical condition.
The timing of the WBC, which is controversial every time it is held, is expected to come to the fore once again as the issue of ‘refusal to borrow’ is raised.