World Baseball Classic Powers Through Controversies

Interest in sports tends to spike when national pride is at stake and international talent can come together on a global stage.

The World Baseball Classic (WBC) hoped to take advantage of this, but it’s been met with mixed results.

One of the main issues the WBC has had to contend with is insurance. MLB franchises are logically concerned with the potential for serious injury to their players in what amounts to a glorified exhibition. They don’t want to be on the hook for a player’s salary if they get hurt in the WBC, and the logistics of that insurance coverage have become murky.

As reported by ESPN, one insurance company was willing to take on the risk during prior editions of the WBC. That company, NFP, changed their guidelines and insured fewer players heading into the 2026 WBC. Since there wasn’t a fallback provider in place, many prominent MLB players could not get insurance for the WBC and therefore could not suit up.

New York Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor is one of those stars who is sitting the WBC out. He suffered a hand injury early in spring training that likely would’ve kept him out regardless, but he was denied insurance because of a right elbow debridement he suffered in the 2025 MLB season.

Puerto Rican music star Bad Bunny reportedly offered to pay for Lindor’s insurance, before the Mets infielder picked up the hand injury.

Francisco Lindor confirms that Bad Bunny offered to pay for his WBC insurance premium. It didn’t ultimately come to pass, however, and now is a moot point given Lindor’s hamate injury.

— Anthony DiComo (@AnthonyDiComo) February 15, 2026

“There were definitely some conversations for sure. It’s a real thing,” Lindor said of his countryman’s offer. “We appreciate how much he cares for Puerto Rico. He wanted Team Puerto to be as strong as it can be. Obviously, it didn’t work out.”

Houston Astros star Jose Altuve is another big name who wasn’t able to participate in the WBC due to insurance concerns.

“I signed the paper that I’m willing to go and play like I did for (Venezuela) in the last two WBCs,” Altuve said in January. “It’s always an honor to represent my country. I played in the last one and the one before and I’m trying to do it in this one. I don’t know what’s going on behind the scenes, but it seems like this year it’s not up to me.”

Astros teammate Carlos Correa was similarly left on the sidelines for team Puerto Rico.

“That’s too big of a risk to take, to play with no insurance,” he said. “I’m definitely upset because I’ve been preparing really hard this offseason to get better this year and be ready early so I can be ready for the WBC.”

In addition to the insurance issues, players have also been nervous about devoting their full spring to the tournament with other considerations to think about.

Detroit Tigers ace pitcher Tarik Skubal has been front and center of that discussion. Skubal is an impending free agent, and stands to land an enormous contract this offseason. He didn’t want to pitch in high leverage situations so early in the calendar.

Team USA plans to have Tarik Skubal throw “about 55 pitches” against Great Britain in the WBC before returning to the Tigers

(via @BNightengale) pic.twitter.com/r8SZIfqiE4

— B/R Walk-Off (@BRWalkoff) March 2, 2026

“That’s kind of the only knock I got on it(the WBC),” Skubal said. “It’s just the timing for starting pitching doesn’t really work. You know, it doesn’t add up. It’s a very limited capacity of being able to go.”

Skubal, perhaps the best American pitcher currently, only made one appearance for Team USA. He threw 41 pitches on March 7 against Great Britain and gave up a leadoff home run.