2026 World Baseball Classic: Why Trout, Correa, Altuve, more MLB stars aren’t playing

With the World Baseball Classic underway this week, so many of the world’s greatest players will share the field. And, unfortunately, many players will miss the tournament. Some declined invitations for personal reasons, including Cody Bellinger and Max Fried. Others had to withdraw due to injury, such as Corbin Carroll (hamate), Pablo López (elbow), and Edwin Uceta (shoulder).

There is another group of healthy, able-bodied players who want to play in the WBC, but can’t for insurance reasons. Among them are Jose Altuve, José Berríos, Carlos Correa, and Mike Trout. They’re all healthy and will play in spring training games while the WBC is going on, but are unable to represent their countries because they weren’t cleared by insurance provider. (Francisco Lindor was part of this group as well before breaking his hamate bone.)

“I did want to play in the WBC,” Trout, who captained USA in 2023, told The Athletic last month. “It was a few things. Obviously insurance was the biggest hurdle I was trying to get through. It’s disappointing, I wanted to run it back with all the guys.”

Every player on a 40-man roster must be covered by an insurance provider agreed to by MLB and the MLB Players Association to participate in the WBC. Players undergo physicals before and after the WBC to distinguish between new and preexisting injuries. The insurance policy covers up to two years of salary for position players and four years for pitchers.

MLB teams could waive the insurance requirement and pay the player’s salary even if he gets hurt during the WBC. The Tigers did this for franchise legend Miguel Cabrera in 2023. The Diamondbacks will let Carlos Santana play in the WBC without insurance this year, according to The Athletic. Letting a player play in the WBC without insurance is rare, but it does happen.

A new provision allows the insurance provider to deny coverage for players age 37 or older. That prevented Dodgers infielder Miguel Rojas, who turned 37 on Feb. 24, from playing in the WBC. Clayton Kershaw, who is 37 and has a lengthy injury history, is on USA’s roster and able to play in the WBC because he is not under contract with an MLB team. There is no salary to insure.

There were two major injuries in the 2023 WBC. Then-Mets closer Edwin Díaz suffered a season-ending knee injury celebrating Puerto Rico’s win over the Dominican Republic. It was a fluke injury — Díaz got hurt celebrating on the mound with his teammates — but it was an injury sustained during the WBC nonetheless. He missed the season and insurance paid his salary.

Altuve took a fastball to the hand in the 2023 WBC and missed the Astros’ first 43 games of the season. That injury is not the reason Altuve was denied coverage this year’s WBC. He had a minor foot procedure in October. Díaz secured insurance for the WBC and is again on Puerto Rico’s roster. He missed 15 days with a shoulder impingement in 2024 but has otherwise been healthy the last two years.

“It wasn’t in my mind,” Díaz told ESPN about playing in this year’s WBC despite his 2023 injury. “I have the chance to play in front of Puerto Rico. That was an easy decision. Playing (there) will be my first time playing for my people from Puerto Rico, so that was an easy yes, when I knew that the WBC was going to be there.”

Puerto Rico was hit hardest by insurance issues this year, with Berríos, Correa, Lindor, and Victor Caratini being denied coverage. At one point Puerto Rico, which will host Pool A in San Juan, threatened to withdraw from the WBC over insurance issues, though they will participate in the event, albeit with a thinned out roster.

Music superstar and fellow Puerto Rican Bad Bunny offered to pay for insurance for Correa and Lindor, though they were advised against taking it because the provider had not been approved by MLB and the MLBPA. “It means a lot that he’s that involved. He tried to do everything possible,” Correa said.