{"id":457086,"date":"2026-02-06T06:39:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-06T06:39:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/457086\/"},"modified":"2026-02-06T06:39:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-06T06:39:08","slug":"javier-baez-wont-play-in-world-baseball-classic-due-to-international-suspension","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/457086\/","title":{"rendered":"Javier B\u00e1ez Won\u2019t Play in World Baseball Classic Due to International Suspension"},"content":{"rendered":"<p id=\"inline-text-0\" class=\"mt-[18px] md:mt-0 mb-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6v\">If Puerto Rico wants to win the World Baseball Classic for the first time, it\u2019ll have to do so without one of the faces of baseball on the island.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-1\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6y\">Tigers infielder Javier B\u00e1ez cannot and will not play in the WBC due to a two-year suspension for cannabis, according to a Thursday evening report from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.freep.com\/story\/sports\/mlb\/tigers\/2026\/02\/05\/javier-baez-suspended-2026-world-baseball-classic-marijuana\/88536705007\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-2\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"71\">Per Petzold, B\u00e1ez tested positive for cannabis\u2014still strictly policed in international play\u2014during the 2023 tournament. The test carried a two-year international ban, which began in April 2024 and will end in April 2026.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-3\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"74\">B\u00e1ez, 33, played for the Puerto Rican squad in both the 2017 and \u201823 WBCs. At both tournaments, he was named to the All-WBC team. Puerto Rico, whose roster has been roiled by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/mlb\/news\/puerto-rico-2026-world-baseball-classic-insurance-issues\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">insurance-related issues<\/a> this WBC cycle, finished second in the \u201817 tournament and sixth in the \u201823 tournament.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-4\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"77\">The three-time All-Star and 2018 National League MVP runner-up is coming off his best season in several years. B\u00e1ez slashed .257\/.282\/.398 with 12 home runs and 57 RBIs for a Detroit team that came within a win of the ALCS.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-5\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7a\">The Puerto Ricans are scheduled to open the WBC on March 6 in San Juan against Colombia.<\/p>\n<p>More MLB on Sports Illustrated<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"If Puerto Rico wants to win the World Baseball Classic for the first time, it\u2019ll have to do&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":457087,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[435],"tags":[49,48,462,82],"class_list":["post-457086","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-mlb","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/457086","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=457086"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/457086\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/457087"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=457086"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=457086"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=457086"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}