The World Baseball Classic (WBC) is the world’s best baseball tournament in name and reality.
The WBC, which was created under the leadership of Major League Baseball (MLB) and held its first tournament in 2006, will meet baseball fans around the world for the first time in six years next month after going through the corona pandemic after the 4th tournament in 2017.
Looking at the list of players from 20 participating teams announced by MLB on the 10th (hereinafter Korean time), it is not unreasonable to say that world-class baseball players are participating. There are 67 Major League All-Stars, 8 MVPs, and 186 registered players on the 40-man roster.
In an article titled ‘Ten Reasons Why the WBC Is Exciting’, MLB.com said, ‘Every WBC game is a revival that thrills the heart, waving flags and honking horns. The melody is different, the artists arrive and leave the stage, but the passion rhymes with them.”
For the first reason, MLB.com predicted, “It will be difficult for the United States, the winner of the last tournament, to defend its title.” He picked Japan as a strong candidate to challenge the United States, saying, “Japan, which has attracted superstars, has rich WBC experience.” This is the second reason why it can’t help but be exciting.
MLB.com went on to say, “The Dominican스포츠토토 Republic has formed the highest level of infield ever, Cuba has major leaguers included, and Mexico and Venezuela are also predicting a blast.” selected
Then, is it true that a large number of world-class baseball players participate in this WBC? Take a look at your salary this year.
There are a total of 17 major leaguers who earned more than $30 million this season. However, only six of them participate in the WBC. Mike Trout (LA Angels, USA, $37.16 million), Nolan Arenado (St. Louis, USA, $35 million), Francisco Lindor (New York Mets, Puerto Rico, $34.1 million), Miguel Cabrera (Detroit, Venezuela, $32 million) Russia), Manny Machado (San Diego, Dominican Republic, $32 million), and Shohei Ohtani (Angels, Japan, $30 million).
In order of annual salary, Max Scherzer (New York Mets, $43.33 million), Justin Verlander (Houston, $43.33 million), Aaron Judge (New York Yankees, $40 million), Anthony Rendon (LA Angels, $38.57 million), Gerrit Cole ( Yankees, $36 million), Corey Seager (Texas, $35.5 million), Stephen Strasburg (Washington, $35 million), Carlos Correa (Minnesota, $33.33 million), Giancarlo Stanton (Yankees, $32 million), Alex Bree Eleven players, including Geman (Houston, $30.16 million) and Jacob deGrom (Mets, $30 million), decided not to attend for one reason or another.
It is impressive that all 1st to 4th places in annual salary have been eliminated this year, and it is also noteworthy that 10 people except Correa from Puerto Rico are American-born and American nationals.
Among them, Strasburg is the only player who cannot participate in the opening game of the regular season as well as the WBC due to physical reasons such as surgery and injury. Strasburg, who underwent surgery for thoracic outlet syndrome in July 2021, returned after rehabilitation on June 10 last year and pitched against the Miami Marlins, but after being beaten with 8 hits and 7 runs in 4⅔ innings, he suffered a stress reaction to his ribs. of the ribs) was put on the injured list again.
The remaining 10 players are preparing for the start of the season normally. Of course, Scherzer, Verlander, Rendon, Stanton, and deGrom have had surgeries or serious injuries in the past year or two. It is clear that it is a situation where you can worry about the recurrence of injuries. However, it is questionable whether it is enough to turn away from the WBC. It should be seen that the club stopped them rather than making their own decision to not participate.
In particular, in the case of the Yankees, the home run king judge is being thoroughly protected. Judge, who hit 62 homers, the most in a season in the American League last year, became a free agent this offseason and signed a nine-year, $360 million contract with the Yankees, becoming the first hitter to receive an average annual salary of $40 million. For the Yankees, Judge, who played in 159 games last season and played the Division Series and the League Championship Series, decided it was unreasonable for the Yankees to participate in the WBC. It is true that getting injured from the first season of a long-term contract would be a fatal blow.
However, Trey Turner (Philadelphia, USA, 11 years, $300 million), Zander Bogatz (San Diego, Netherlands, 11 years, $280 million), and Masataka Yoshida (Mets, Japan, 5 years, 90 million) 10,000 dollars), he strongly expressed his will to participate in the WBC and received permission from his club.
Among the 40-man roster, there are four Yankees players participating in the WBC: Nestor Cortes (USA), Jonathan Roaiciga (Nicaragua), Kyle Higashioka (USA), and Gleiber Torres (Venezuela). The New York Post said the previous day, ‘Unlike the Mets, the Yankees will not lose major players due to the WBC. A total of 12 Mets, including Pete Alonso, Jeff McNeil, Francisco Lindor, and Eduardo Escobar, will participate in this WBC,’ he said, pointing out the Yankees’ selfish attitude.