Move over spring training, the World Baseball Classic is here. Many of the best players in the world will be suiting up for their countries to compete in this two-week-long triennial tournament. Over the next few days, we’ll be previewing the teams in each of the four pools, starting with Pool A. There are five teams in each pool, and all will play a single game against each of the other four teams in their pool between March 6th and March 11th. The top two teams in each pool advance to the quarter finals, which begin on March 13th.
Today, we’ll take a look at Pool A — consisting of Puerto Rico, Canada, Cuba, Panama, and Colombia — whose games will be played at Hiram Bithorn Stadium in San Juan.
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Team Puerto Rico
One of the host nations of this year’s tournament, Puerto Rico will be without some serious firepower. Francisco Lindor, Carlos Correa, José Berríos, Emilio Pagán, and Alexis Díaz are all ineligible to participate after failing to secure insurance to participate, while Javier Báez was disqualified after testing positive for marijuana on a drug test at the end of the last tournament. That leaves newly minted Diamondback Nolan Arenado as the unquestioned leader on the position player side having switched allegiances after appearing for Team USA in 2017 and 2023. Martín Maldonado and Christian Vázquez will share catching duties while the outfield wasn’t left quite as bare as the infield by the insurance issues, with Willi Castro, MJ Melendez, Heliot Ramirez, and Eddie Rosario in the mix.
The bullpen is Puerto Rico’s undeniable strength, headlined by new Dodgers closer Edwin Díaz — whose patellar tendon injury suffered while celebrating a win in the 2023 tournament led to the more stringent insurance regulations. He’s joined by Yankees setup man Fernando Cruz as well as the likes of Rico Garcia and Jorge López. Their rotation has got some decent arms as well, led by 2024 AL Cy Young runner-up Seth Lugo as well as the Yankees’ top pitching prospect Elmer Rodríguez. Manager Yadier Molina should have enough talent at his disposal to emerge from the group stage.
Team Canada
They may be without team leader Freddie Freeman this year — sitting out due to personal reasons — but Team Canada’s offense still should have enough thump to advance to the knockout stages for the first time in their nation’s history. They’ll be led by the Naylor brothers, Josh having recently re-signed with the Mariners on a five year deal and Bo the starting catcher for the Guardians. In fact, they probably have the deepest roster on the position player side of any team in Pool A. Filling out the rest of the infield are Marlins shortstop Otto Lopez and utilitymen Abraham Toro and Edouard Julien of the Royals and Rockies, respectively. Their outfield is quite strong as well, with A’s defensive wizard Denzel Clark flanked by Tyler O’Neill of the Orioles and Owen Caissie — the headliner in the trade that netted the Cubs Edward Cabrera from the Marlins.
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Their starting rotation will be without its ace Nick Pivetta, but they’ve still got a pretty decent unit. Jameson Taillon, Mike Siroka, and Cal Quantrill will be joined by a pair of 37-year-olds coming out of retirement just for the tournament, “Big Maple” James Paxton having last pitched for the Red Sox in 2024 and Phillippe Aumont having last made a major league appearance for the Phillies in 2015. The bullpen is also affected by absences, foremost Guardians closer Cade Smith — the most valuable reliever in baseball in each of the last two seasons — as well as the Mariners’ Matt Brash. Their only reliever currently on an MLB team is the Brewers’ lefty specialist Rob Zastryzny.
Team Cuba
Team Cuba loosened their roster restrictions before the start of the previous tournament, extending invitations to certain MLB players whereas in the past they refused to roster those who had defected. However, the arbitrariness and lack of transparency behind that invitation process is the principal reason why new Met Luis Robert Jr. has declined to participate. Yoenis Céspedes isn’t coming out of retirement at age 40 to suit up, and Yordan Alvarez has not received an invitation this year or in 2023. In fact, things are so dire that the 44-year-old Alexei Ramirez, who last played for the Rays in 2016, will likely start at shortstop. The onus is on the Angels’ Yoán Moncada to lead the position players alongside four-time Japan Series champion Alfredo Despaigne.
Blue Jays pitcher Yariel Rodríguez is the only pitcher on Team Cuba with MLB experience. However, they do have two of the best pitchers from NPB on the roster. Livan Moinelo pitched to a 1.46 ERA with 172 strikeouts in 167 innings last season, while Raidel Martinez led NPB with 46 saves in 2025. Team Cuba may have surprised many when they advanced all the way to the semifinals in 2023, losing 14-2 to Team USA, but it will likely require a miracle for a similar performance in this year’s edition.
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Team Panama
Team Panama returned to the WBC in 2023 after failing to qualify for the previous two tournaments. Their speed will be one of the stories of the tournament, Yankees shortstop José Caballero having led the AL in steals in each of the last two seasons and Orioles center field prospect Enrique Bradfield Jr. assigned 80-grade speed by certain publications. Their infield is the undoubted strength of the team, Caballero joined by Phillies third baseman Edmundo Sosa, Blue Jays second baseman Leo Jiménez, Cubs catcher Miguel Amaya, and former Phillies first baseman Johan Camargo. Heck, even former Mets shortstop Rúben Tejada made the roster at age 36. They’ll definitely miss Cardinals DH Iván Herrera after he failed to secure insurance, but it’s still a deeper group in terms of MLB talent than many WBC rosters.
The pitching side is where things get a little shaky. Outside of Guardians starter Logan Allen, there isn’t much big league experience in the rotation or bullpen. Jaime Barria pitched for the Angels for six seasons while Poalo Espino bounced around various bullpens for seven seasons, both having most recently pitched in the Mexican League. Otherwise, their best option at starter is probably Ariel Jurado, who has been one of the best starters in KBO in the last few years.
Team Colombia
Colombia are likely to struggle the most of any of the teams in Pool A having won just two games in two WBC appearances. However, they also return the most players from their 2023 roster of any team in the pool. They are led by a pair of grizzled veterans in 37-year-old Jose Quintana — now playing for his ninth team with the Rockies — and 38-year-old free agent infielder Donovan Solano.
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There’s a sprinkling of big leaguers across the roster, but otherwise this is a team that’s light on big names. Julio Teherán is a two-time All-Star with the Braves now pitching in the Mexican League at age 35 — he’ll join Quintana in the rotation — though the loss of fellow starter Nabil Crismatt to injury is a blow. Jorge Alfaro has been a backup catcher for six different organizations and Gio Urshela is the Yankees’ former third baseman now playing for the Twins.
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