On the same day he was introduced as the Cubs’ new third baseman, Alex Bregman announced Thursday that he will be playing for a second team in 2026: Team USA in the World Baseball Classic.
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Bregman will return to WBC play after going 2-for-4 with a walk as a bench player for Team USA during the 2017 tournament. At 23 years old, he was the youngest member of that squad, which beat Puerto Rico in the finals. Since then, all Bregman has done in the big leagues is win two World Series titles, make three All-Star teams, earn a Gold Glove and a Silver Slugger, and record a 41.0 bWAR, ninth most among position players over the past nine seasons.
Bregman joins a stacked roster for Team USA, which also announced Thursday that Dodgers legend Clayton Kershaw, who retired from MLB following the 2025 season, will play in the WBC as well.
During Bregman's introductory news conference, Cubs president of baseball Jed Hoyer said the star third baseman let him know about his decision to play in the Classic on Wednesday.
"He came into my office yesterday," said Hoyer, "and said, 'Hey, I hope you’re OK [that] I committed to the WBC to play. I hope you’re OK with that.' I said, 'Sure, of course.' He’s like, 'Don't worry, I'll come in in the morning before we have workouts and make sure I’m with the guys.'"
Team USA will begin its tournament run in Pool B play at 8 p.m. ET/7 p.m. CT on March 6, when it will face Brazil inside Houston’s Daikin Park -- a stadium that Bregman called home while with the Astros for his first nine seasons in the Majors.
Here is what Team USA looks like so far, with final rosters set to be released in early February:
C: Cal Raleigh, Will Smith
1B: Bryce Harper
2B: Brice Turang
SS: Bobby Witt Jr., Gunnar Henderson
3B: Alex Bregman, Ernie Clement
OF: Byron Buxton, Corbin Carroll, Pete Crow-Armstrong, Aaron Judge
DH: Kyle Schwarber
P: David Bednar, Clay Holmes, Griffin Jax, Clayton Kershaw, Nolan McLean, Mason Miller, Joe Ryan, Paul Skenes, Tarik Skubal, Gabe Speier, Logan Webb