SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico \u2014 Jose Berrios\u2019 hopes of joining Puerto Rico in the World Baseball Classic quarterfinals were dashed late Tuesday when he didn\u2019t get approval from the tournament\u2019s insurers.<\/p>\n
Carlos Beltran, the team\u2019s general manager, made the announcement after his team wrapped up its pool play with a 3-2 loss to Canada. Earlier in the day, he spoke of how the Toronto Blue Jays right-hander was \u201csuper excited\u201d about participating while manager Yadier Molina shared initial plans for him to follow Seth Lugo in their next game.<\/p>\n
But the final word reached team decision-makers during the game, extending the frustrations Puerto Rico, among other countries, had with the insurers, who earlier ruled out Berrios, Francisco Lindor and Carlos Correa from pool play.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe feel bad because in some way or another, we know the intention that he had to be with us, of helping us out, that he worked really hard here in Puerto Rico, getting ready,\u201d Beltran said in Spanish comments translated into English. \u201cHe feels healthy. There’s no doubt that it would have helped us to have him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Berrios finished last season on the injured list with elbow inflammation, which led to his initial rejection, but he said earlier this spring it was possible he\u2019d get approved for the second round.\u00a0\u201cThey said they have to see me and evaluate me,\u201d he explained Feb. 23. \u201cIf I’m healthy, then they will insure me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ultimately, they did not, even though\u00a0Berrios has made three starts this spring, logging 10.2 innings while allowing four runs on eight hits and four walks with seven strikeouts.\u00a0He\u2019s earning $19 million this year and is due $24 million in each of 2027 and 2028 if he doesn\u2019t an exercise an opt-out after this season.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere’s no doubt the process has been frustrating,\u201d said Beltran, adding that process \u201cat some point in time should be re-evaluated. This kind of situation \u2026 we need to look at the significance, what that player means for each country that they represent.<\/p>\n
\u201cYadi had a chance of playing in four Classics, and so did I. He has been a coach in two Classics. To represent your country is something that is important,\u201d said Beltran. \u201cSo I think at some point in time WBC should re-evaluate this thing about the permissions, because in one way or another it doesn’t help.\u201d<\/p>\n
Puerto Rico had already clinched a spot in the quarterfinals before the loss to Canada, which can finish atop Pool A with a win Wednesday against Cuba. A Cuban win will put Puerto Rico in first, with the Cubans joining them in Houston.<\/p>\n
Earlier in the day Beltran said Berrios had called him, \u201csaying, \u2018I’m here for whatever you need me and in the way that you need me. All that I want is to wear Puerto Rico’s jersey.\u2019 That’s just fabulous.\u201d<\/p>\n
Berrios is scheduled to start for the Blue Jays on Thursday at the Phillies, while Puerto Rico will need to adjust its pitching plans.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe drafted a team counting on Jose Berrios, but when we received the unfortunate news today, we had to make a move,\u201d Joey Sola, operations manager for the Puerto Rican team. \u201cHe did not comply with the requirements of his insurance company. That’s what we were informed, so his permission was denied. \u2026<\/p>\n
\u201cThe team has faced all adversities that have been placed before us, and we keep on moving and doing what we can at the next stage.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico \u2014 Jose Berrios\u2019 hopes of joining Puerto Rico in the World Baseball Classic quarterfinals…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":533196,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[558],"tags":[64,63,591,85],"class_list":["post-533195","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-mlb","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/533195","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=533195"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/533195\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/533196"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=533195"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=533195"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=533195"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}