Mets to be well-represented at WBC; Yankees sending just 4 big leaguers
NEW YORK — The World Baseball Classic doesn’t officially kick off until March 8, but the final rosters for each of the 20 competing nations were released on Thursday.
Members of the Mets’ and Yankees’ organizations will represent nine different countries at the upcoming tournament, which is being held for the first time since 2017. The Mets have a whopping ten members of their projected Opening Day roster who will be participating in the WBC, meaning they will miss a healthy chunk of the Mets’ spring training games. Five players from their minor league system (Camrin Opp, Great Britain; Claudio Scotti, Italy; Jonathan Arauz and Humberto Mejia, Panama; Dominic Hamel, Puerto Rico) will be part of the festivities as well.
The Yankees will have just four MLB players in the mix. Big names Aaron Judge, Gerrit Cole, Giancarlo Stanton, Anthony Rizzo and latest addition Carlos Rodon have chosen not to suit up for the stars and stripes. Stanton was part of the American squad at the previous two tournaments, slamming a home run and driving in four runs for Team USA in 2017 en route to the gold medal. Judge, Cole, Rizzo and Rodon have never participated. Minor league pitcher Indigo Diaz — a Vancouver native who was traded from the Braves to the Yankees in the Lucas Luetge deal — is part of the Canadian roster.
Colombia Jose Quintana, Mets:
Quintana is among the 67 players who have made an MLB
All-star team and is on a 2023 WBC roster.
Nicaragua Jonathan Loaisiga, Yankees:
Loaisiga is one of only two players on the Nicaraguan roster with big league experience, joining veteran pitcher Erasmo Ramirez.
Puerto Rico Edwin Diaz and Francisco Lindor, Mets:
Two of the Mets’ biggest and brightest stars are going to play for their homeland again, just as they did in 2017. Puerto Rico has one of the most Mlb-heavy rosters in the field.
United States
Pete Alonso, Jeff Mcneil, Adam Ottavino, Brooks Raley, Mets; Nestor Cortes and Kyle Higashioka,
Yankees: Fans of Big Apple baseball will certainly recognize some names when watching Team USA. With four players on the team, the Mets are tied with the Cardinals for most players on the American roster. Alonso, Mcneil, Ottavino and Raley will all be participating for the first time.
On the Yankee side of things, Cortes and Higashioka occupy interesting places. Cortes could end up being used as either a starter or a reliever.
Venezuela Eduardo Escobar, Omar Narvaez, Elieser Hernandez, Mets; Gleyber Torres, Yankees:
The Venezuelans can definitely make some noise in this tournament. All three of the Met and Yankee position players may be blocked at their position by other players, though.