The Los Angeles Angels have had some of the biggest superstars in Major League Baseball on their roster in recent years, with Albert Pujols, Shohei Ohtani, and Mike Trout all being future Hall of Famers to play for the Angels recently.
While Trout isn’t the player he once was, he’s still a solid player and can be a big help to any team. With the World Baseball Classic upon the baseball world, Trout’s inclusion on Team USA’s roster, like he was in 2023, seemed like a foregone conclusion.
But, he’s not on the roster this year. Why? Well, according to ESPN’s Alden Gonzalez, the Angels star is going to miss the 2026 WBC thanks to the same issue Francisco Lindor and Carlos Correa faced: insurance coverage.
Why Mike Trout isn’t on Team USA’s WBC roster
“Mike Trout, Team USA’s captain in 2023, was deemed unlikely to be insured early in the process, a source said,” Gonzalez reported.
Trout won’t partake in the 2026 World Baseball Classic due to not getting insurance coverage for his MLB contract for the tournament.
If he were to get hurt during the tournament, and he wasn’t insured, there would be a massive loss of money in his $426.5 million deal.
The future Hall of Famer has dealt with injuries over the last few years, and because of that, he wasn’t able to get insurance for the 2026 World Baseball Classic.
Compared to the 2023 tournament, where he was coming off a 119-game season where he put up 6.1 bWAR and finished as a top-10 MVP vote-getter, the last few years haven’t been kind to Trout.
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He’s played in 82 games, 29 games, and last year, 130 games. But his 1.3 bWAR in 2025 was a massive regression from Trout on a per-game productivity standpoint.
Even if he weren’t the starter, Trout might’ve still suited up for Team USA had his deal gotten covered by insurance. But his injury history means he’s not able to play for Team USA.
Lindor, Correa, Jose Altuve, and many others aren’t able to represent their home countries’ respective teams in the World Baseball Classic.
Even though Trout won’t suit up for Team USA, the roster is still incredible. Bryce Harper, Aaron Judge, Cal Raleigh, Bobby Witt Jr., Kyle Schwarber, Paul Skenes, Tarik Skubal, Mason Miller, and so many other stars make up the Team USA roster in 2026.
Trout will be missed, but this year’s team has a good chance to win the tournament thanks to their stacked lineup, and incredible rotation and bullpen.
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