Diamondbacks Defy MLB Trend With Santana's WBC Decision

The Diamondbacks are going against the grain here.

Aug 19, 2025; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Cleveland Guardians first baseman Carlos Santana against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

The Arizona Diamondbacks will allow first baseman Carlos Santana to participate in the 2026 World Baseball Classic this season despite being denied insurance for Santana's contract, according to The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal.

The company providing insurance to MLB will not offer insurance on players above the age of 37. Santana is entering his age-40 season this year.

How the insurance works is relatively simple: if a player suffers an injury in the WBC, the insurance company pays back the MLB club for that player's guaranteed salary. For position players, it's two years; for pitchers, it's four.

As a result, many players haven't been granted permission to play in the WBC this season. Names like Francisco Lindor, Elly De La Cruz and Jose Altuve have been affected, but that has also extended to non-stars. The Diamondbacks are going against that trend and allowing their new first baseman to participate.

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The D-backs, essentially, are willing to take the financial risk on Santana, Rosenthal wrote. Santana's contract is for just one year and $2 million this season. He will represent the Dominican Republic alongside Arizona teammates Ketel Marte and Geraldo Perdomo.

“If [Marte and Perdomo] weren’t playing, I’m not sure we would have seen this in the same light,” GM manager Mike Hazen told Rosenthal. “There’s a value there for us that those guys will be together. Part of the reason we signed him is that he’s such a great leader and influence. It made a lot of sense for us to absorb a little risk here.”

“I know it’s a big deal for him representing his country, maybe for the last time in something like this,” Hazen said. “I think that’s important. For a veteran player like that who has given what he’s given to the game, that’s part of this, too.

“All of those things sort of combined. If any of them was out of whack, maybe we wouldn’t have come to the same decision.”

The Diamondbacks have been among the most supportive clubs with regard to their stars' participation in the WBC.

In addition to Marte and Perdomo, they've also seen Corbin Carroll (who won't play for Team USA after breaking his hamate bone Tuesday) and Nolan Arenado — as well as some minor league players — commit to their countries' rosters.

"As I told Nolan Arenado today, everybody that asks to play in the WBC, I always encourage them to do that," manager Torey Lovullo told reporters at Salt River Fields on tuesday.

"Go and represent your country. Go and make us proud, and we're going to be watching some real intense baseball game. ... As Merrill [Kelly] said when he came back from the last WBC, he said it was 'Unlike any other thing that I've ever competed in, and it got me ready for this baseball season.'

"We feel like there's a positive to it. We'll miss time with those guys. It's going to create a little bit of a challenge for me to continue the team-building aspect of it, but these guys will figure it out," Lovullo said.