Major Possible Change to World Baseball Classic Seems Unnecessary

Less than 24 hours after Venezuela capped off a thrilling World Baseball Classic triumph with a victory over the United States, the conversation had already shifted over to perfecting the good. Nothing gold can stay.

The World Baseball Classic has evolved into a tremendous event. We have players across the globe plainly stating that the tournament rivals, or perhaps dwarfs, the World Series. Players want to participate and care deeply. Atmospheres are electric.

If there's a fly in the ointment it would be timing. Pitchers are not yet ramped up to their true form during March because that's why spring training exists. Then there is the labyrinth of team-mandated stipulations that Major League Baseball teams strongly suggest WBC managers follow as it pertains to their precious arms. This year all the top minds came together and failed to figure out a way for Tarik Skubal to throw a few more innings for his country. There are actual pitch restrictions and unwritten ones that conspire to keep the game's best from the biggest stage.

One perceived way to fix this problem—if it is actually a problem—is to move the WBC to the middle of summer.

Commissioner Rob Manfred was asked about this idea by the Associated Press and offered the following:

“Obviously we have commitments to Fox in terms of the All-Star Game in the middle of the season through ’28,” he said. “As the game continues to evolve, we have talked about midseason tournaments in general. And certainly if we decided to get serious about this, about a midseason tournament, this would be an ideal opportunity.”

Reading between the lines here, no decision is going to be made immediately. And the way things seem to work is that momentum for change by the public peters out once something else catches their attention. Like Opening Day coming up next week.

Now, with baseball returning to the Olympics in 2028 and those Games being held in Los Angeles, we may get a bit of a preview of what a mid-season break will look like should MLB players participate. Although that is a significantly different animal as it will be only a six-day tournament as opposed to the WBC, which spans more than twice that length. Throw in the fact that players from the Korean and Japanese professional leagues will be signing up for an even longer break from their seasons and the idea is not without hiccups.

So the question becomes if the juice is worth the squeeze. To me, it seems like an overreaction to a relatively navigable existing problem. Want better pitchers to pitch more? Just have them do it. Spend literally 15 minutes over the next few years before the next WBC and come up with plan to make it happen. It's not impossible.

Is Eduardo Rodriguez vs. Nolan McLean in the final some indictment of the system? Not really. Several months ago Max Scherzer started Game 7 of the World Series for the Toronto Blue Jays after putting together a 5-5 record and 5.19 ERA during the regular season. This was six years after he started the previous Game 7 as a member of the Washington Nationals against Zack Greinke. Jeremy Guthrie started the final game of the 2014 Fall Classic for the Royals after going 13-11 with a 4.32 ERA. Jaret Wright toed the rubber for Cleveland in Game 7 back in 1997. Are these names really so different than McLean and Rodriguez?

It takes everyone on the roster to win in baseball during the regular season, postseason and in these tournaments. Not having the ideal person throw the biggest game is something that happens. And dwelling on it is a convenient way to forget that Paul Skenes started the semifinal.

It's probably not worth it to radicaly shift the MLB schedule in order to make a slight improvement. The logistics of fitting 162 games around a prolonged break would be challenging. And probably not entirely necessary. Let's not mess with a really good thing by opening a new Pandora's box.

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