{"id":509981,"date":"2026-03-02T19:05:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-02T19:05:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/509981\/"},"modified":"2026-03-02T19:05:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-02T19:05:08","slug":"welcome-to-wbc-week-plus-the-wild-place-where-readers-want-a-game-played","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/509981\/","title":{"rendered":"Welcome to WBC week. Plus: The wild place where readers want a game played"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Windup Newsletter \u26be | This is The Athletic\u2019s MLB<\/a> newsletter. Sign up here<\/a> to receive The Windup directly in your inbox.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re back to five days a week; let\u2019s get this season started. Today: It\u2019s World Baseball Classic week, Ken tells us about Freddy Peralta\u2019s fit in New York and the rest of the newsletter came from, well, you! I\u2019m Levi Weaver, here with Ken Rosenthal. Welcome to The Windup!<\/p>\n

Play Ball: It\u2019s (finally) WBC week<\/p>\n

It\u2019s finally (almost) here. On Wednesday, the World Baseball Classic begins, with Chinese Taipei taking on Australia at the Tokyo Dome. Before that, we have two days of exhibition games between national squads and your favorite MLB teams.<\/p>\n

That means players like Jos\u00e9 Caballero of the Yankees will be facing \u2026 the Yankees (as a member of team Panama) and Mark Vientos will play against his Mets (with Nicaragua). On the flip side, when Venezuela squares off against the Astros, Jose Altuve will be wearing his Houston gear; he was one of an annoyingly large number of players who couldn\u2019t get insurance coverage to play in the tournament.<\/p>\n

And of course, Team Canada will be playing against \u201cCanada\u2019s team\u201d in \u2014 where else? \u2014 Dunedin, Fla. The Blue Jays will be the home team (which makes sense, if you haven\u2019t fully memory-holed 2020<\/a>).<\/p>\n

We\u2019ll have updates for you right here \u2014\u00a0from the exhibitions through the championship game on March 17.<\/p>\n

More WBC:\u00a0<\/p>\n

Back when they were playing on a 12-U team, Pete Crow-Armstrong and Masyn Winn pitched a combined no-hitter.\u00a0The catcher? Paul Skenes<\/a>.
\nIn January, the U.S. State Department gave assurance that it would be \u201c\u2026 facilitating the success of major American and international sporting events, including MLB\u2019s World Baseball Classic.\u201d On Thursday, three members of Team Cuba\u2019s traveling party \u2014 including its pitching coach \u2014 were\u00a0denied entry into the U.S.<\/a><\/p>\n

Now over to Ken for that check-in on Freddy Peralta.<\/p>\n

Ken\u2019s Notebook: Peralta\u2019s fit\u00a0\u2014\u00a0and future \u2014 in N.Y.\u00a0<\/p>\n

From\u00a0my latest column<\/a>:<\/p>\n

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. \u2014 If ever a player seemed destined to sign a contract extension with the Mets, it\u2019s Peralta.<\/p>\n

The only potential roadblock: Peralta, entering his age 30 season, said he doesn\u2019t want one of the high-dollar, short-term deals that suddenly are in fashion \u2014 and the kind that make Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns most comfortable.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would prefer to go long and make sure I\u2019m going to be in the place where I want to finish my career,\u201d Peralta said.<\/p>\n

Peralta, his agents at ACES and the Mets will get to the details in due course. When asked by reporters Friday if extension talks have occurred this spring, Peralta grinned and replied, \u201cNo comment.\u201d But according to a person familiar with the Mets\u2019 thinking, no serious discussions have taken place.<\/p>\n

Not to worry. Peralta has deep ties to Stearns and Mets vice president\/special assistant Eduardo Brizuela from their time together with the Brewers. And for Peralta and other players who are natives of the Dominican Republic, both the Mets and Yankees are always natural fits as Dominicans form the largest immigrant population<\/a>\u00a0in New York.<\/p>\n

When Peralta was 11, his Little League team from the Dominican spent a summer month in New York. Citi Field was the first major-league park he visited. He even threw a no-hitter against a team in the Bronx.<\/p>\n

Last Opening Day, when Peralta\u2019s Brewers visited Yankee Stadium, he reserved 40 tickets for friends and family to watch his start. Ask him if he has a lot of relatives in New York, and Peralta responds in the affirmative, saying they are in the Bronx, Queens, Manhattan, \u201ceverywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd when I say a lot,\u201d Peralta said, flashing his trademark smile, \u201cit\u2019s a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stearns and Brizuela aren\u2019t quite family, but by baseball standards, they\u2019re close to it. Peralta is the only player Stearns has traded for twice, first with the Brewers at the 2015 winter meetings, then with the Mets just over 10 years later.<\/p>\n

Matt Arnold, the Brewers\u2019 current president of baseball operations, was the first to inform Peralta of the more recent deal, on Jan. 21 \u2014 Peralta and righty Tobias Myers for infielder\/outfielder Jett Williams and righty Brandon Sproat. Peralta said when Stearns contacted him, \u201cI could feel his smile in the phone call.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stearns said, \u201cI could feel his smile, too.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reds third baseman Eugenio Su\u00e1rez is renowned for his \u201cgood vibes only\u201d catchphrase. Peralta is the pitching version of Su\u00e1rez, beloved by players from all cultures and backgrounds. If ever a player could help bridge whatever rift developed between Mets stars Juan Soto and Francisco Lindor last season, that would be Peralta, too.<\/p>\n

Back to you, Levi.<\/p>\n

Answers: Your survey results were out of this world<\/p>\n

No, really.\u00a0It\u2019s always interesting to get a check-in with you, the reader. This year, we have a four-parter, based on your answers to the MLB fan survey.<\/p>\n

First up, you weighed in on\u00a0a few broad questions<\/a>. My favorite part, by far: The suggestions on where MLB should play a regular-season game. Finishing in third place, with 334 write-in votes: The moon. Outstanding work.<\/p>\n

Next, your\u00a0thoughts on the health of the game<\/a>. You\u2019re more optimistic this year than you were the last time there was a lockout. Boy, it sure would be dumb if owners did\u00a0that again, huh? On that note \u2026<\/p>\n

When discussing the\u00a0potential for a lockout<\/a>, a majority of you blame the owners for the labor strife \u2026 but a majority of you\u00a0also voted in favor of a salary cap, which would benefit owners immensely. You contain multitudes, dear reader.<\/p>\n

And lastly, you\u00a0sounded off on the fan experience<\/a>. No surprises here: Blackouts are still the bane of fandom, made worse when it has become so expensive to attend games in person.<\/p>\n

Updates: More (Windup) fan feedback<\/p>\n

Looking back at\u00a0our last edition<\/a>, I have one correction, and a few additions, thanks to all of you in the comment section.<\/p>\n

First, the correction: As a few of you pointed out, 477 + 13 is decidedly\u00a0not\u00a0500 doubles. Paul Goldschmidt would, in fact, need 23 doubles to cross that milestone.<\/p>\n

Now the updates:<\/p>\n

When I was looking at Starling Marte\u2019s unique position in the sport \u2014\u00a0he\u2019s the active leader in a few categories in which he doesn\u2019t crack the top 100 all-time \u2014 I was only looking at batting categories. David D. tipped me off to another one: outfield assists. Marte is the active leader with 107, good only for a tie for 265th all-time (well behind record-holder Tris Speaker at 449).
\nAnd yes, it\u2019s\u00a0active\u00a0leader for Marte; he\u00a0signed with the Royals on Saturday<\/a>.
\n\u201cSurface T.\u201d pointed out that Walter Johnson\u2019s strikeout record wasn\u2019t the only record to be later revised. When Pete Rose broke Ty Cobb\u2019s hit record on Sept. 11, 1985 in San Diego, he was\u00a0actually breaking his own record. Cobb\u2019s total was found to be erroneously inflated by two, so Rose would have broken the record three days earlier, at Wrigley Field. Cory Ritterbusch at SABR has the\u00a0fascinating story of that game<\/a>,\u00a0which ended in a tie\u00a0while then-Reds owner Marge Schott was frantically phoning the stadium, attempting to get Rose to take himself out of the game (she wanted the record to be broken in Cincinnati, to sell more tickets).
\nAnd lastly, while I mentioned that eight hitters are nearing 300 home runs this year, \u201cAnonymous U.\u201d brought up a valid point: Goldschmidt isn\u2019t the only hitter approaching 400. Manny Machado is at 369, Aaron Judge at 368, Freddie Freeman at 367 and Bryce Harper at 363. If I had to guess, I\u2019d say Judge gets it in 2026, Goldschmidt might never, and the other three do it \u2026 whenever it is that baseball returns in 2027.
\nHandshakes and High Fives<\/p>\n

Jayson Stark has a brilliant one this week, starting with the Blue Jays\u2019 soul-crushing Game 7 loss in the World Series, and asking: Can they\u00a0crest the summit this year<\/a>?<\/p>\n

Fully healthy again, Dodgers shortstop Mookie Betts (age 33) says he\u00a0expects to be back in MVP form<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Orioles minor-leaguer Vance Honeycutt has hit five home runs in 425 minor-league at-bats. This spring, he has three \u2014\u00a0in\u00a0three at-bats<\/a>.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not saying the letter by Max Scherzer\u2019s daughter<\/a>\u00a0is the reason he\u2019s back in Toronto, but it\u2019s still adorable.<\/p>\n

In 2022, Sandy Alcantara of the Marlins was the NL Cy Young winner. Then came Tommy John surgery.\u00a0What does his future hold<\/a>?<\/p>\n

The Dodgers may have built a baseball Death Star, but \u2014\u00a0given the slew of pitching injuries last year \u2014 they\u2019re being\u00a0delicate with their unique rotation<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Taking a break from everyone-on-the-Twins-is-injured news to tell you about three outfield prospects that\u00a0could be in Minneapolis soon<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Jose Lima was one of baseball\u2019s true characters. He also had a\u00a0unique perspective on failure<\/a>, says Jayson Jenks.<\/p>\n

When Astros prospects need a spring training haircut, they need look no further than \u2026 the team\u2019s\u00a0No. 2 position-player prospect<\/a>?<\/p>\n

Eno Sarris dug into the numbers to find the\u00a0breakout pitchers of 2026<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Do you have $12 million and a deep desire to live in Stillwater, Okla.? Matt Holliday\u2019s place \u2014 replete with a baseball field, of course \u2014\u00a0is for sale<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Bruce Froemming, an enduring umpire with decades of colorful confrontations, died last week.\u00a0He was 86<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Most-clicked in our last newsletter:\u00a0You were as curious as the rest of us about the\u00a0Braves\u2019 financial books<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udceb Love The Windup? Check out\u00a0The Athletic\u2019s other newsletters<\/a>.<\/p>\n