Red Sox Make World Baseball Classic Announcement On Roman Anthony, Garrett Crochet

Everyone wants to see all the superstars participate in the World Baseball Classic, but those players have to prioritize the teams that are paying them.

The Boston Red Sox will be sending a handful of players to the WBC in March. Reliever Garrett Whitlock will play for Team USA, center fielder Ceddanne Rafaela is joining Team Netherlands, and there could be perhaps a half-dozen others.

However, Boston's two biggest stars at the moment, and the two players who got nine-figure extensions during the regular season, appear to be smartly prioritizing the regular season.

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Crochet, Anthony expected to sit out WBC

On Monday, Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow announced that he "doesn't expect" outfielder Roman Anthony and starting pitcher to participate in the WBC, according to Chris Cotillo of MassLive.

Per Gabrielle Starr of the Boston Herald, it remains possible that outfielder/designated hitter Masataka Yoshida could play for Team Japan, as he did in 2023.

The 21-year-old Anthony would have been eligible to play for Team USA and Team Italy, and he even attended the Italian-American Baseball Foundation's gala in New York last week, which some may have taken as a hint that he was considering or planning on participating.

However, coming off a rookie season in which he signed a $130 million extension, then injured his oblique and was sidelined for over a month, including the playoffs, it was best for the youngster not to push the envelope.

Meanwhile, Crochet stayed perfectly healthy for the entire season, but that meant he led the majors in innings pitched at 205 1/3, which was nearly 60 more than his previous career-high. So as much as Team USA might have loved to see him join the top of the rotation alongside Cy Young winner Paul Skenes, it was best for the 26-year-old workhorse to save his bullets.

The unfortunate truth of the WBC is that as long as it's held right before the regular season, getting the best pitchers to participate is going to be a challenge. Team USA announced last week that Matthew Boyd is joining the rotation alongside Skenes, and although the lefty was a surprise All-Star this season, he wouldn't have had a chance at an invitation if all eligible pitchers were itching to participate.

The decisions are not necessarily official, as players don't always announce that they aren't participating, and whether they came from Anthony and Crochet themselves or were handed down from the Red Sox is unknown at this point.

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