Puerto Rico weighing withdraw decision from WBC after Francisco Lindor, 5 other players deemed unavailable originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

The World Baseball Classic is looking at a potentially disastrous situation.

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Puerto Rico is considering withdrawing from the tournament after the negative roster news continues to trickle in from their desired selections.

The latest came overnight into Saturday as Francisco Lindor was deemed unable to play due to injury insurance reasons, but he’s not the only one.

Carlos Correa had already pulled out of the tournament for similar reasons.

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And now the president of the Puerto Rican Baseball Federation, Jose Quiles, has shared that at least four other players didn’t receive permission to play, either.

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El Nuevo Dia’s Carlos Rosa reports that Jose Berrios, Victor Caratini, Yacksel Rios and Jovani Moran are among the other players who were didn’t get the go-ahead to participate in the 2026 edition of the WBC.

Rosa adds that Puerto Rico is considering not playing in the event at all.

Moran, not a high-profile name, spoke to Rosa as well and expressed confusion at his inability to get insurance, given his low-level contract:

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It’s a brutal situation for the tournament, which clearly would want Puerto Rico participating but also surely would love to see Team PR at full strength.

It’s obviously a tough situation given the tournament’s timing in March, when MLB teams are just ramping up for the season in spring training.

Barring an extended break in the middle of the season when the All-Star Game takes place, there’s really no other time to put the tournament.

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And it’s fair on some level for MLB teams to be concerned about the health of their players.

But these are also guys who just want to represent their countries, and the more that aren’t allowed to play, the more watered down the tournament becomes.

If Puerto Rico withdraws, it could be a wake-up call for the entire event.

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