4 Takeaways From the World Baseball Classic Roster Announcements

Japan's the team to beat, but they'll have some stiff competition from the rest of the globe in the 2026 World Baseball Classic. Will the returning champs earn their fourth WBC title? Or will this be a Dream Team for the USA? Rosters were officially unveiled Thursday night for the World Baseball Classic, as the 20-team tournament will return in March with a record 78 MLB All-Stars taking part. Before Samurai Japan tries to defend its title, here are four takeaways following the roster announcement: 1. Team USA, with its best group ever assembled, should be the favorites Samurai Japan has dominated the international game, winning the WBC three times, and will be returning 10 players from its 2023 championship team. Japan’s roster is littered with both MLB talents — nine big-league players on the roster — and NPB standouts, including Sawamura Award winner Hiromi Itoh. Until proven otherwise, they’re the kings, even without Shohei Ohtani, Roki Sasaki, Shota Imanaga or Yu Darvish on the mound in this year’s competition. But the favorite for 2026? It has to be USA’s Dream Team. The success and joy of the 2023 WBC not only brought more eyeballs to international competition but also motivated some of the sport’s best players to get involved. Nowhere is that clearer than the pitching staff that USA manager Mark DeRosa will get to oversee. USA upgraded from a rotation of Merrill Kelly, Lance Lynn, Adam Wainwright and Nick Martinez in 2023 to American League Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal, National League Cy Young Award winner Paul Skenes and All-Stars Logan Webb and Joe Ryan for this year’s tournament. You could field another WBC-worthy rotation with the starting options behind them on USA’s bench (Matt Boyd, Michael Wacha, Nolan McLean, Clay Holmes and Clayton Kershaw), and both Mason Miller and David Bednar are there to shut the door on any opponent. The lineup, meanwhile, is seeing its own infusion of talent as AL MVP Aaron Judge enters the fold as USA’s captain. He’ll be joined by AL MVP runner-up Cal Raleigh, Bryce Harper, Corbin Carroll, Byron Buxton, Alex Bregman, Gunnar Henderson and more. Bobby Witt Jr., who led MLB in hits last year, is back to try to avenge USA's 2023 finals defeat. Kyle Schwarber, who led the NL with 56 home runs, is back, too. Pete Crow-Armstrong and Brice Turang add both speed and defense. The bench for Team USA could be its own All-Star team. However DeRosa wants to order it, it’s by far the most talented group USA has entered into competition. We won’t get another Ohtani vs. Mike Trout matchup to close out the finals — Ohtani will only be hitting for Japan, and Trout isn’t on USA’s squad this year — but the talent is so deep in this year’s tournament that new magical moments are sure to arise. Speaking of the talent in this year’s field… 2. Dominican Republic looks poised to bounce back after a disappointing 2023 showing The biggest surprise of the 2023 WBC wasn’t that Japan bested the United States but that the Dominican Republic, with a team chock-full of stars, including Juan Soto, Julio Rodriguez, Manny Machado, Ketel Marte, Rafael Devers and Jeremy Peña, didn’t even make it out of pool play. It’s hard to see that happening again, even in a pool that includes another championship contender in Venezuela and a Netherlands offense that will feature Xander Bogaerts, Jurickson Profar, Ceddanne Rafaela and Ozzie Albies. Not only is the Dominican Republic’s offense brimming with even more talent — Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Fernando Tatis Jr., Junior Caminero, Geraldo Perdomo and Oneil Cruz will be among the many standouts joining Soto, Rodriguez, Machado, Marte and Peña this go-around — but the rotation should also be much better now that Cristopher Sanchez, Luis Severino and Brayan Bello will be joining Sandy Alcantara. The team is stacked, and now it should be motivated, too. [WBC Power Rankings: Who Joins USA, Japan As Favorites?] 3. The "Big 3" should maybe be a "Big 4" In a pool that included heavyweights Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico in the 2023 WBC, Venezuela went 4-0. A quarterfinal battle with USA awaited, and it took an eighth-inning, go-ahead grand slam from Trea Turner for the U.S. team to emerge victorious. Three years later, Venezuela looks like an even more complete team, despite Jose Altuve being unable to get insured for the tournament. The Venezuela outfield of Ronald Acuña Jr., Jackson Chourio and Wilyer Abreu and the catching tandem of William Contreras and captain Salvador Perez will be among the best in the field. The infield is stacked with MLB talent. Maikel Garcia is coming off an All-Star and Gold Glove campaign in Kansas City, Willson Contreras adds more power to the group, and Eugenio Suárez, Andrés Gimenez, Gleyber Torres and Luis Arraez are all returning from a 2023 team that produced an .835 OPS in the last tournament. Now, Venezuela has the pitching staff to match with Pablo Lopez and Ranger Suarez forming a dynamic duo at the top of the rotation and Daniel Palencia and Jose Alvarado available for the late innings. Venezuela, Puerto Rico and Mexico, which made it to the semifinals in the last tournament, are the top contenders behind the fearsome threesome of USA, Japan and the Dominican Republic. [2026 WBC: Full Rosters For USA, Japan And All 20 Teams] 4. Canada and Italy are among sleepers with pieces to make a run The top teams in this tournament are just so stacked that it’s hard to imagine that teams such as Brazil, Nicaragua and the Czech Republic — as much fun as this group of amateurs was to watch in the last tourney — going all the way. The rosters of USA, Japan and Dominican Republic (and Venezuela, Mexico and Puerto Rico behind them) are just too stacked. Still, you could make the case for a number of teams to go on a surprise run, as Cuba and Mexico did in the last tournament all the way to the semifinals. This is Canada’s best chance to make it out of the first round, even with Freddie Freeman not playing in this year’s tournament. The team has a litany of big-league talents, from the Naylor brothers to Otto Lopez, Tyler O’Neill, Edouard Julien and Liam Hicks, a dynamic outfielder in Denzel Clarke, an up-and-coming talent in Owen Caissie and enough MLB pitchers to garner some belief, especially since the team gets to avoid USA and Mexico in pool play. The San Juan pool (Puerto Rico, Cuba, Canada, Panama, Colombia) looks as up-for-grabs as any group in the tournament. Speaking of that pool, don’t sleep on a Panama group with Ivan Herrera, Jose Caballero, Edmundo Sosa, Miguel Amaya and Guardians starter Logan Allen. Italy has a much tougher draw — the team would have to stun either USA or Mexico to advance — but after making it to the quarterfinals in the last tournament, it’s a young club on the rise led by captain Vinnie Pasquantino. Recent top prospects turned big leaguers are sprinkled throughout the roster, from Jac Caglianone to Kyle Teel to Jakob Marsee, and now Italy has its best ever frontline arm with Aaron Nola joining the group.