LOS ANGELES: Miami slugger Giancarlo Stanton and Baltimore star Adam Jones are among the returnees on the 28-man US World Baseball Classic roster, which also includes Colorado’s Nolan Arenado, Arizona’s Paul Goldschmidt, San Francisco’s Buster Posey and Pittsburgh’s Andrew McCutchen.
Cleveland reliever Andrew Miller is part of a 13-man pitching staff that also has Tampa Bay’s Chris Archer, Kansas City’s Danny Duffy, Detroit’s Michael Fulmer, Oakland’s Sonny Gray, Toronto’s J.A. Happ and Marcus Stroman and Seattle’s Drew Smyly.
The roster announced Wednesday by USA Baseball includes 18 All-Stars, two MVPs and nine Gold Glove winners.
Jim Leyland will manage the US team and Joe Torre is the general manager.
Miami has the most players on the roster with three, while eight teams have two players each.
Brett Cecil, Fulmer, Gray, Happ, Smyly and Alex Wilson comprise the designated pitcher pool. For the first time, teams will be able to select up to two pitchers to join the roster following each round.
Houston’s Luke Gregerson, Eric Hosmer of Kansas City, Jonathan Lucroy of Texas and Stanton return from the 2013 WBC squad.
The US will play its first-round games as part of Pool C at Marlins Park in Miami. The Americans open against Colombia on March 10. They take on defending champion Dominican Republic on March 11 and play Canada on March 12.
The Dominican roster includes 43-year-old pitcher Bartolo Colón of Atlanta, Robinson Cano of Seattle and Manny Machado of Baltimore.
Puerto Rico has 13 players returning from its runner-up squad four years ago, including Carlos Beltran of Houston, free agent Angel Pagan and Giovanni Soto of the White Sox.
Canada’s roster includes Freddie Freeman of Atlanta, reliever John Axford of Oakland and Dalton Pompey of Toronto. Left off the roster was Blue Jays catcher Russell Martin, who had minor offseason knee surgery, and outfielder Michael Saunders, who just signed a deal with the Phillies.
Mexico’s roster includes Dodgers first baseman Adrian Gonzalez and free agent reliever Sergio Romo. The team will be managed by Gonzalez’s brother Edgar, a former major leaguer, and Fernando Valenzuela will serve as a coach.
Kansas City Royals free agent pitcher Peter Moylan and Oakland reliever Liam Hendriks are among the players on Australia’s roster.
Played every four years, the WBC will be held March 6-22 in Japan, South Korea, Mexico and the United States, with the semifinals and championship game set for Dodger Stadium. The Dominican Republic won the 2013 tournament, beating Puerto Rico in the final.
Stanton, Jones headline US roster for World Baseball Classic
Stanton, Jones headline US roster for World Baseball Classic
Canada’s Lee sets pace, Kim in the hunt for LIV Golf wild card spots
- LIV Golf Promotions in Florida offers top 3 finishers a chance to play in 2026 regular season
LECANTO: Canada’s Richard T. Lee has proved the player to watch during the first three days at LIV Golf Promotions and is now well-placed for a wild-card spot in the 2026 LIV Golf season.
Anthony Kim, meanwhile, found another gear on the back nine on Saturday, putting him in a better position to return to full-time status in the league.
The final 18 holes of the 36-hole shootout at Black Diamond Ranch take place on Sunday with a potentially career-changing reward for the top three finishers — guaranteed LIV Golf wild-card status for 2026. In addition, the top 10 and ties earn exemptions into the Asian Tour’s International Series.
For the second time this week, Lee led the field with a bogey-free 6-under 64. The 35-year-old will take a two-shot lead over his closest pursuers going into Sunday, giving him a significant advantage. However, he does not plan to take his foot off the gas.
“Honestly, I don’t think it would be comfortable for any player to have a two-shot lead on the last day,” said Lee, who has two eagles, 13 birdies and just one bogey in his 54 competitive holes this week. “I’ll just put my hat on and just play my golf.”
Kim is among three players who are tied for second after shooting a bogey-free 4-under 66, along with South Africa’s Oliver Bekker and Thailand’s Jazz Janewattananond. Denmark’s Lucas Bjerregaard is solo fifth after his 3-under 67, with five other players lurking at 1 under.
Kim, who played as a wild card in the past two seasons following his return to competitive golf after a 12-year retirement, was just 1 under through 12 holes on Saturday. But he made consecutive lengthy birdie putts at the 13th and 14th holes, birdied the par-5 16th, then saved par with a 15-footer at the par-4 18th that circled the cup before dropping.
“I have an opportunity to get one of those spots,” said the 40-year-old, the only American to advance to the weekend. “That’s what I asked for coming into this week and put myself in a good position. Now I’ve just got to go finish.”
Kim would not be in this position had he not made an 8-foot birdie putt on the 18th on Friday to make the cut on the number.
“I knew that if I didn’t make birdie on 18 [Friday] that my chances of playing on LIV next year were gone, and to me that’s a big deal,” Kim said. “I’d like to play at the highest level against the best players. It meant a lot to me.”
Bekker was part of LIV Golf’s inaugural field at the 2022 London tournament. Four seasons later, he’s excited about the opportunity to return to the league as a full-time member.
“Thinking back on it now, I had the opportunity to play a few more events, and now I’m like, well, maybe I should have played them,” he said. “The water was a bit rough at that stage and didn’t know what was going to happen, so I played it a bit safe. Luckily, I’ve been given another opportunity this week, and hopefully I can take it.”
Janewattananond won four tournaments in 2019 when he became a top 50 world player and, aged 30, still has years left in his competitive career. After shooting a second-round 67 to advance to the weekend, he shot a 66 on Saturday that included four birdies in a six-hole stretch to end his front nine.
“It’s a very big prize at the end of the day,” he said. “Those three spots up for grabs, it would give me freedom to play wherever I want and security for my family.”
The 34-year-old Bjerregaard, a two-time winner on the DP World Tour, said earning full-time LIV Golf status would be career-changing.
“Where I am in my career right now, it’s probably that or retirement,” he said. “Yeah, that would mean a lot for sure.”
Although nothing is guaranteed, Lee has played so well this week that there may be just two spots available for the remainder of the field.
“We’re not playing for one spot,” said Janewattananond. “I don’t have to worry about him. I just have to worry about myself.”
“He played great today,” added Bjerregaard, playing in the same group as Lee on Saturday. “But I would be happy with any of the other two spots, so that’s fine. I can finish third. I wouldn’t mind.”
