Numerous Guardians players poised to play in World Baseball Classic 

Earlier this week, we found out that Travis Bazzana is planning on playing for Australia in next spring’s World Baseball Classic after making his national team debut last season. 

It turns out that he’s not going to be the only Guardian who will have a chance to make his presence known at the biggest tournament in baseball. On Tuesday, Team Canada manager Ernie Whitt confirmed to Cleveland.com’s Paul Hoynes that Cade Smith, Bo Naylor and Erik Sabrowski had all been invited to play for Team Canada at the upcoming WBC. 

Additionally, Venezuela manager Omar Lopez confirmed to Hoynes that Gabriel Arias is part of the county’s player pool, while also confirmed that Brayan Rocchio won’t be playing. 

Even though the World Baseball Classic comes at an unfortunate time on the baseball calendar (right in the middle of spring training), getting a chance to see so many Guardians show their stuff on baseball’s biggest stage is an exciting development. 

There are going to be plenty of Guardians competing in the World Baseball Classic 

While the Guardians had nine players participate in the 2023 iteration of the Classic , Cal Quantrill (Canada), Bo Naylor (Canada), Andrés Giménez (Venezuela) and Richie Palacios (Netherlands) were the only players from the MLB roster who went. Smith also participated for Team Canada, but he was still a minor leaguer at the time. 

That will likely be the case again this year (Travis Bazzana will headline that group), but it also seems like there will be some legitimate impact players from Cleveland’s roster who could spend nearly a month competing for their country. 

Naylor hit .143 in three games for Canada with a home run in the 2023 Classic, while Smith allowed one run in two innings of work.  

There will also be a strong contingent of former Guardians in the tournament as well, as Hoynes wrote that Josh Naylor is also set to play for Team Canada after not playing in 2023, and Andrés Giménez will once again play for Venezuela, albeit at the keystone. 

Giménez also had a strong showing for Venezuela in the 2023 tournament (.294 batting average in five games). 

Ultimately, a player's decision to compete in the World Baseball Classic comes down to what they (and their club) think is the best decision for them. It’s a tough time in the baseball calendar, which limits some players who would be best off staying in camp with their team (which is the reason why Rocchio isn’t playing).

There’s also the injury risk, as we saw in 2023 when Edwin Díaz suffered a season-ending knee injury celebrating Puerto Rico’s win. 

But it’s a gamble that some players take to represent their country, and it looks like there are plenty of important Guardians who are ready to take it.