ORLANDO, Fla. — The 2026 World Baseball Classic begins in less than three months.
Between now and then, the Dodgers will have to have some “delicate” conversations with their star trio of Japanese pitchers.
As of now, Dodgers front office officials said at this week’s Winter Meetings, no final decisions have been made about whether Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Roki Sasaki will participate in the tournament, nor if Shohei Ohtani (who has already confirmed his participation) will pitch in addition to hitting.
“We’re still working through that,” said president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman, who met with Team Japan manager Hirokazu Ibata at the Signia by Hilton Orlando this week.
“We’re very supportive of Samurai Japan and all that they’re trying to accomplish, and they’re very supportive of us,” Friedman added. “It was about just keeping open the lines of communication, the mutual respect and working together to help all sides.”
What would be most helpful to the Dodgers, of course, is if none of their three star Japanese stars pitch in next spring’s international tournament.
Each of them shouldered a heavy burden during last year’s postseason, from Sasaki’s nine appearances out of the bullpen to Ohtani’s four starts in a two-way role to Yamamoto’s playoff-leading 37 ⅓ innings (the final 8 ⅔ of which came on back-to-back days in Games 6 and 7 of the World Series) most of all.
Each of them could also benefit from extra rest going into the 2026 campaign. Sasaki will be returning to the starting rotation after missing most of last year’s regular season with a shoulder injury. Ohtani will be embarking on his first full season of two-way duties since 2023. Yamamoto is coming off what was already an unprecedented workload even before last year’s playoffs, having set a new career high (either in MLB or Japan) with 30 starts in the regular season.
Already, it appears several other Dodgers players will, or are likely, to skip the event. While Team Canada general manager Greg Hamilton said Freddie Freeman would like to participate, the first baseman is dealing with some lingering health issues after playing through an ankle injury for much of last year. Teoscar Hernández said in an interview that he will not play for the Dominican Republic in order to focus on next season. Tommy Edman, who previously represented Team Korea, is also not expected to play as he recovers from an offseason ankle surgery.
To this point, the only Dodgers player other than Ohtani to confirm their WBC participation is catcher Will Smith for Team USA.
More could follow, from Mookie Betts (who has yet to announce any WBC decision) to Hyeseong Kim (who told Korean media he has requested permission from the Dodgers to participate) to Alex Vesia (who is under consideration for a Team USA spot, according to American general manager Michael Hill).
In Japan, however, the WBC is held to a higher standard of importance than most other countries around the world (and, to its fans, an even more significant level than the World Series itself). The nation has won the event a record three times, including in the most recent 2023 edition. And having star players sit out, or even be restricted, in the tournament can threaten to become a culturally controversial development.
The Dodgers understand this.
Manager Dave Roberts this week described the dynamic with the Japanese players as “very delicate,” and said neither he nor the organization “want to be dismissive of what it means to them representing their country.”
“You can’t debate the emotion,” he added, “what a player might feel of this potential opportunity.”
That doesn’t mean, however, the Dodgers aren’t concerned about the cost the tournament can incur, especially for starting pitchers given its place on the calendar.
Next year’s event will take place from March 5-17, requiring pitchers to be built up for live-game action nearly a month earlier than they would otherwise. Team Japan will also have to travel from Tokyo (where they will play their group stage games) to Miami (where the knockout round will be held) during that two-week window, assuming they advance through the preliminary round as expected.
Because of that, Roberts acknowledged he was hoping Ohtani (who will still be managed carefully as a pitcher next season, potentially with a week or more of rest between outings) would only hit in the event — and seemed to hint that would be the likely outcome for the reigning MVP.
“The pitching side of things is challenging and gives us a little bit of pause,” general manager Brandon Gomes added. “But yeah, we’ll obviously continue to have those conversations and figure it out.”
The Dodgers will also face a decision with Sasaki, whom they can block from participating in the WBC since he missed the majority of last year on the 60-day injured list, though they haven’t given an indication yet on whether they would do so.
“We just need to sit down and talk through it as an organization,” Gomes said generally of the team’s process for WBC players. “Once we get more info on the players, we’ll have those conversations.”
While the Dodgers can’t prevent Yamamoto from participating, Roberts indicated they could lobby for Team Japan to keep him (and Ohtani or Sasaki, if they wind up on the Japanese staff, as well) on a more restricted workload for the tournament.
“I would like to think that it’s going to be a dialogue as far as restrictions and limitations,” Roberts said. “In the sense of just trying to give them the opportunity, but also understand they’ve come off some stuff, some long seasons.”
There should be more clarity in the coming month, with Team Japan hoping to have its roster finalized by the new year. Next week, Friedman said, clubs and national teams will also submit forms to MLB regarding players’ potential participation, which allows for a period of feedback between all parties.
“I do think that the conversations need to be had [and] will be had, as far as what each individual is taking on and whatever role that they might be taking on,” Roberts said. “And what potential costs there might be.”
For now, however, when it comes to one of the more delicate situations the Dodgers will have to navigate this offseason, “there’s no more clarity than we had before,” Roberts added.
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