ORLANDO, Fla. -- For the first time since 2013, Team Puerto Rico will play in front of its fans at Hiram Bithorn Stadium in San Juan in the World Baseball Classic, during the first week of March of next year. The question is, will this be the last chance at a championship for the core of Francisco Lindor, Carlos Correa, Javier Báez and Edwin Díaz?
Managed once again by Yadier Molina, whose club bowed out in the second round against Mexico in Miami in 2023 after eliminating a powerful Dominican Republic squad in group play -- a moment remembered for Díaz’s right knee injury that cost him the entire MLB season with the Mets -- the Puerto Rican club will be a favorite to advance to the second round from Group A, which will also include Cuba, Panama, Colombia and Canada.
“We’re really happy to be playing in Puerto Rico. We’re going to be playing in front of our people,” said Carlos Beltrán, general manager of the squad for the 2026 tournament and a veteran of four Classics as a player. “I know the guys that are going to represent us are going to be really excited to have that experience.”
Who will those guys be, besides Lindor, Correa, Báez and Díaz, who according to sources has come to a three-year, $69 million agreement with the Dodgers as a free agent.
Seth Lugo is poised to lead the rotation, but two of the cornerstones of the club’s pitching staff in the past -- José Berríos and Joe Jiménez -- are coming off injuries, as is another staple of the club in recent Classics, Kiké Hernández. Yankees reliever Fernando Cruz is on board, as are likely catcher Christian Vázquez, reliever Emilio Pagán and outfielder Heliot Ramos.
Other notable names with family connections to Puerto Rico that could potentially be on the squad include George Springer, Riley Greene and Marcus Stroman.
However it shakes out, the core of Lindor (32), Correa (31), Báez (33) and Díaz (31) could be looking at its last real shot at a title, which narrowly eluded Puerto Rico in 2013 and 2017, when “Team Rubio” lost the championship games against the Dominican Republic and the United States, respectively.
“I think we know that,” said Joey Solá, the Puerto Rican Baseball Federation Coordinator. “We’re very aware of that point. They know it, too. That’s why there’s an extra commitment this year for the Classic. I think Puerto Rico deserves to play for a championship again and to win one now. We’ve been runners-up, but we haven’t been able to get over that hump.
“I think that’s extra motivation for us, for the island.”
A 2026 World Baseball Classic championship title would be a crowning achievement for this core, which had a hand in raising the profile of Puerto Rican baseball after some dark years for the island as a whole. Locally, the Winter League suffered to the point of having its 2007-08 season cancelled, something from which it finally recovered in 2017 and 2018, when the Criollos de Caguas won the first two Caribbean Series for the island since 2000.
And in MLB, Lindor, Correa and Báez helped revitalize the long tradition of Puerto Rican players shining on the biggest stages -- including the World Baseball Classic.
“They’ve represented the new era of baseball,” Solá said. “That was the beginning of the rebirth of stars. And I think that it’s raised expectations for the island.”
And Beltrán, a seemingly strong candidate for Hall of Fame election next month, will have a big hand in creating those expectations.
“Our responsibility is to put the best talent possible on the field,” Beltrán said. “When you play for Puerto Rico, it’s a different passion. It’s a different energy. And you feel that from the first pitch of the game to the last.”