Morning Briefing: Juan Soto to Officially Play in World Baseball Classic
Good morning, Mets fans! Happy Groundhog Day! No matter what the rodent saw, Opening Day is in seven weeks.
Juan Soto made it official. He will play in the World Baseball Classic for Team Dominican Republic. The tournament will run from March 5-17 at various locations. The championship game will be played at loanDepot park in Miami.
Francisco Lindor had planned to play for Team Puerto Rico, but was denied insurance because of a clean-up procedure he had on his elbow earlier in the offseason. He is expected to be ready for spring training.
Full rosters of all 20 teams will be revealed Thursday at 7 p.m. ET on MLB Network, although Puerto Rico is considering withdrawing because of the insurance issue that affected Lindor and about 10 other players on their team.
Ken Rosenthal and Evan Drellich of The Athletic reported that MLB and the players’ union are lobbying the insurer to change some of their decisions. Players denied coverage can participate if their team covers them.
Other Mets committed to the WBC are Mark Vientos (Nicaragua), Nolan McLean (USA) and Clay Holmes (USA).
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Shohei Ohtani will hit, but not pitch for Team Japan in the WBC, Dave Roberts said. Ohtani is confident he can pitch the whole regular season in the Dodgers’ rotation.
If you need a baseball fix, Day 2 of the Caribbean Series taking place in Guadalajara, Mexico, will be broadcast on MLB Network and Fubo at 3 p.m. ET and 8 p.m. ET on Monday. The five-team tournament includes two teams from Mexico and one each from Puerto Rico, Panama and the Dominican Republic. Games will be broadcast all week, with the title game set for Saturday at 8 p.m. ET.
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On This Date in Mets History
2011: Carlos Baerga and Roberto Alomar, both second basemen born in Puerto Rico who came to the Mets in trades with Cleveland, earn nods to the Caribbean Baseball Hall of Fame.
Born on This Date: Adrian Houser (1993), Chin-lung Hu (1984), Ronny Cedeño (1983), Jason Vargas (1983), Melvin Mora (1972), Scott Erickson (1968), Pat Tabler (1958), Leo Foster (1951), Dale Murray (1950).
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