{"id":405542,"date":"2026-01-11T04:49:06","date_gmt":"2026-01-11T04:49:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/405542\/"},"modified":"2026-01-11T04:49:06","modified_gmt":"2026-01-11T04:49:06","slug":"canadas-freddie-freeman-pulls-out-of-world-baseball-classic-for-personal-reasons","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/405542\/","title":{"rendered":"Canada&#8217;s Freddie Freeman pulls out of World Baseball Classic for personal reasons"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Team Canada will enter the 2026 World Baseball Classic without its biggest bat.<\/p>\n<p>Los Angeles Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman has withdrawn from the Canadian roster due to personal reasons, according to <a data-i13n=\"cpos:1;pos:1\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/ShiDavidi\/status\/2010124041290485931?\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Sportsnet&#039;s Shi Davidi;cpos:1;pos:1;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Sportsnet&#8217;s Shi Davidi<\/a>. Los Angeles Angels reliever Jordan Romano has also reportedly pulled out, while Chicago Cubs starting pitcher Jameson Taillon has joined the roster.<\/p>\n<p>Advertisement<\/p>\n<p>Freeman, a California native whose parents are Canadian, has played for Canada in the past two World Baseball Classics in 2017 and 2023. On the MLB side, the nine-time All-Star has been one of the most consistent hitters in baseball and is coming off two straight World Series titles with the Dodgers, the second at the expense of Canada&#8217;s Toronto Blue Jays.<\/p>\n<p>The good news for Canada is that first base is a position where it has another great option in Josh Naylor, <a data-i13n=\"cpos:2;pos:1\" href=\"https:\/\/sports.yahoo.com\/mlb\/breaking-news\/article\/josh-naylor-reportedly-returning-to-mariners-on-5-year-925m-deal-as-mlbs-first-major-free-agent-signing-012825998.html\" data-ylk=\"slk:who signed a five-year, $92.5 million deal with the Seattle Mariners in free agency this offseason;cpos:2;pos:1;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;outcm:mb_qualified_link;_E:mb_qualified_link;ct:story;\" class=\"link  yahoo-link\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">who signed a five-year, $92.5 million deal with the Seattle Mariners in free agency this offseason<\/a>. However, the designated hitter spot would have allowed Canada to use both him and Freeman.<\/p>\n<p>Among the other notable MLB players projected for Canada&#8217;s lineup are Cleveland Guardians catcher Bo Naylor, Baltimore Orioles outfielder Tyler O&#8217;Neill, Athletics outfielder Denzel Clarke and Miami Marlins prospect Owen Caissie.<\/p>\n<p>Advertisement<\/p>\n<p>The 2026 WBC is scheduled to begin March 5. At BetMGM, Canada has the seventh-best odds in the field to take the title at +4000, while Team USA is the favorite at +110. Defending champion Japan (+350) and 2013 champ Dominican Republic (+350) are the field&#8217;s other heavy hitters.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Team Canada will enter the 2026 World Baseball Classic without its biggest bat. Los Angeles Dodgers first baseman&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":405543,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[558],"tags":[215035,64,63,1186,102026,2065,5158,5258,15922,12215,528,16076,16056,16824,1187,1188,591,54244,12419,5162,85,26830,5161,143382],"class_list":{"0":"post-405542","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mlb","8":"tag-2026-world-baseball-classic","9":"tag-au","10":"tag-australia","11":"tag-baltimore-orioles","12":"tag-bo-naylor","13":"tag-canada","14":"tag-chicago-cubs","15":"tag-cleveland-guardians","16":"tag-denzel-clarke","17":"tag-freddie-freeman","18":"tag-getty-images","19":"tag-jameson-taillon","20":"tag-jordan-romano","21":"tag-josh-naylor","22":"tag-los-angeles-dodgers","23":"tag-miami-marlins","24":"tag-mlb","25":"tag-owen-caissie","26":"tag-robert-gauthier","27":"tag-seattle-mariners","28":"tag-sports","29":"tag-team-canada","30":"tag-toronto-blue-jays","31":"tag-world-baseball-classic"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/405542","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=405542"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/405542\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/405543"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=405542"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=405542"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=405542"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}