The 2017 World Baseball Classic has been a huge success, breaking attendance records while the players have brought passion, energy and excitement to the games. After homering in the WBC, Nelson Cruz called it the biggest home run of his career. Jerry Weinstein, the 73-year-old manager of Team Israel, said, “It's our World Series, but it feels bigger than a World Series... The World Series has only two teams. We’ve got 16.”
For the first time, people in MLB clubhouses spent more time watching the Classic than on putting together their March Madness brackets. Players who weren’t participating were already letting everyone know they wanted in next time. If you measure it strictly by fan volume and intensity, some of the games -- particularly the U.S.-Dominican Republic game at Marlins Park -- were almost as exciting as Game 7 of the World Series between the Chicago Cubs and Cleveland Indians.
As we wait to see who wins the Classic, we should take a look at the tournament’s other winners and losers:
Winners
Dominican fans: The Dominican Republic team’s fans put on a show, highlighted during the D.R.’s 7-5 victory over the U.S. on March 11 in front of a Marlins Park record crowd of 37,446. Approximately 80 percent of the fans were rooting for Team Dominicana, and the noise level was the loudest I’ve ever heard on U.S. soil for a baseball game, even louder than the Metrodome during the 1991 World Series between the Atlanta Braves and Minnesota Twins. The volume was incredibly loud from first pitch, with drums, noisemakers, music, singing and fans dancing, and it truly never stopped until the final out.
Witnessing that turnout and excitement had to be serious food for thought to the Miami Marlins’ front office -- or prospective buyers -- as far as their potential for attracting more Latin American fans in the future. Perhaps the Marlins should hire high-profile former players such as David Ortiz and Pedro Martinez, who not only could help them recruit players, but more important, help them build a stronger long-term fan base. This type of fan enthusiasm is normal for winter ball in several Latin countries, but it has yet to translate stateside. If there is any U.S. city that could eventually adapt a version of it, it’s Miami.
The 11th-inning rule: There was a lot of criticism in the industry when it was announced that, starting in the 11th inning, WBC teams would start the frame with runners on first and second. Most people immediately fought the concept, but accepted it once they understood the concern over innings and pitch limits on pitchers in the tournament. Even so, there was so much skepticism and concern that baseball wanted to eventually implement it at the major league level that everyone started backtracking and making sure everyone knew this was just an experiment for the tournament.
Well, it worked. It was exciting and fun for the fans, and Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic and Japan all earned victories with it. The best part was that the games actually ended after the 11th, which was the intent. However, what also happened was that it kept everyone in the ballpark. It’s hard to leave, even when you have young children in tow, when the score is tied and the new rule gives you the sense the game will end after 11 innings, without much concern of the game going several more innings. I am such a fan of the rule that I will be a proponent of it being implemented at the major league level down the road.
Hair bleach: Puerto Rico is going through an economic crisis, so the undefeated run by the Puerto Rico team has really brought the island together. Carlos Beltran said it best: “We’re going through a tough time as a country, so the fact we are uniting our people and everybody is rooting for us is special.”
The Puerto Rican players also created a pop-culture phenomenon by bleaching their hair blond in celebration of their success. Puerto Rico is now seeing lines of men at the salons, and bleach inventory is starting to run low.
Noah Syndergaard and Mike Trout: Syndergaard and Trout decided not to participate in the World Baseball Classic. Asked why he didn’t want to play, Syndergaard said, “Because I am a Met. Nobody made it to the Hall of Fame or won a World Series playing in the WBC.” After watching the Classic, he has changed his tune, telling me during my MLB Network Radio spring tour that he would like to play in the next Classic. Trout was also won over, saying, “The games have been good, fun to watch. It’s good for baseball. If I get the opportunity to do it again, I’ll probably do it.”
That Syndergaard and Trout watched the Classic with an open mind and changed their views about the tournament and their own potential participation in the future is good for the game. They are not just two of baseball’s best talents, they’re key faces of the game. Good for them for changing their minds for the right reasons.
Jim Leyland: Leyland is a borderline Hall of Fame manager, and this World Baseball Classic might just be what he needed to push him over the top. Leyland won a world championship and brought his teams to three World Series, was named National League Manager of the Year twice (1990 and 1992) and American League Manager of the Year once (2006). His overall record of 1,769-1,728 doesn’t help his chances, but with today’s analytics and metrics, everyone finally understands wins and losses are not a key barometer for measuring managers. Leyland’s keen ability to run a team is special. He tells his players their roles and lets them know when and if those roles change. He reads players quickly and accurately, and all you have to do is watch how he adjusted the use of his lineups and bullpens throughout the tournament. He also never complained when MLB teams added more restrictions on his pitching usage, something no other country’s skipper had to deal with. He showed his best quality, loyalty, when he announced that Tanner Roark would start over Chris Archer because Roark stayed with the team for Round 2 whereas Archer did not. Whether Team USA wins it all or not, Leyland deserves additional Hall of Fame consideration for his role in its performance.
Marlins Park: There are several in the industry who think that all future WBC games played on U.S. soil should take place in Miami. The stadium was safe and fan-friendly, and concession-stand lines were reasonable, even during a sold-out game. There was plenty of parking, and, aside from some traffic jams around the stadium, Marlins Park got high grades from everyone.
Yadier Molina: Yadi is the best game-caller I’ve ever seen, and at age 34 he has proved at the WBC that he has years left on his odometer. He has hit over .350 with two home runs, and he has been his usual difference-making self on defense by blocking balls and shutting down the running game, not to mention his leadership and special ability in handling his pitchers. He’s in his free-agent year, and the Classic will help him get either a long-term deal with the Cardinals or one with any of the other teams that need a frontline catcher if he gets to free agency next November.
Gregory Polanco: Polanco had multi-hit games in three of his five WBC starts and finished the Classic 11-for-19, sending a clear message that he’s ready for a breakout season. Several high-level evaluators who watched all of his at-bats in the tournament told me they think he’ll have better numbers by season’s end than his two outfield teammates, former NL MVP Andrew McCutchen and center fielder Starling Marte.
Team Colombia: Team Colombia put itself on the map despite going 1-2 and being eliminated in the first round. It lost to Team USA and the Dominican Republic but played both teams tough, losing 3-2 in 10 innings to the U.S. and then 10-3 to the Dominican in 11. Colombia also defeated Canada 4-1.
Colombia got great pitching from the duo of White Sox left-hander Jose Quintana and Braves righty Julio Teheran. The Solano brothers, Donovan and Jhonathan, were scrappy, and top Phillies catching prospect Jorge Alfaro put on a power display, including a game-tying home run against the D.R. Colombia also rolled out some top pitching prospects, including hard-throwing Tayron Guerrero of the Marlins and strike-throwing Nabil Crismatt of the Mets. Chris Archer of the Rays said it best when he told me, “Colombia has put themselves on the baseball map for future Classics.”
Angel Pagan, free agent: Pagan is without a job, but that will soon change. He hit over .300 with six runs scored while starting every game, and he demonstrated he still has the bat speed to be an everyday player. He would be a huge upgrade for the Tigers in center field, an improvement for the Blue Jays or Giants in left, or he could provide depth and a future trade piece for the Padres.
Team Japan’s stars: Despite the disappointment of not having Shohei Otani available because of his ankle injury, the Japanese have shown off MLB-worthy talent, particularly infielder Tetsudo Yamada. Yoshitomo Tsutsugoh has shown big league power with three homers in the first two rounds, and despite his loss in the semi-final, right-hander Kodai Senga's forkball turned heads. Despite his struggles against Team Cuba, pitching ace Tomoyuki Sugano finished on a high note with an impressive start against Team USA in the semis, showing excellent late life on his pitches, pinpoint control and command and getting hitters to chase his breaking ball in and out of zone. He's a battler who certainly opened eyes, but may be more of a back-end starter in states. Could any of them be in the MLB mix soon? Yamada has indicated he’s willing to play in the U.S. at some point, and if he were posted by Yakult next winter, at 25 years old he would no longer count against MLB teams’ hard international signing cap.
Seattle Mariners players: The Mariners sent six members of their 40-man roster to the Classic, plus five minor leaguers. Noteworthy performances included Nelson Cruz’s three home runs and Robinson Cano’s .981 OPS. On the pitching side, Drew Smyly pitched 4⅔ scoreless innings with eight strikeouts in his only start for Team USA, Felix Hernandez posted a 1.17 ERA in two starts for Venezuela and Mexican closer Edwin Diaz saved two games while striking out six in 3⅓ innings.
Alex Cora: The new bench coach of the Houston Astros spent the past couple of years as an analyst for ESPN, but he also has been the GM for Puerto Rico. He worked very hard at designing this team, recruiting the players and figuring out how to put it all together to give Puerto Rico a legitimate chance of winning the tournament. He hired former Marlins manager Edwin Rodriguez to manage the club and set out to build a starting rotation led by Seth Lugo of the Mets and Jose De Leon of the Rays. He wasn’t afraid of using prospects or no-names, he just wanted players with talent and character. He knew his infield would be special with Javier Baez, Francisco Lindor and Carlos Correa, and it didn’t take him long to put all three at their best positions. Cora is a future big league manager, and his efforts in the Classic didn’t go unnoticed by GMs throughout the industry.
Losers
MLB teams that placed restrictions on players: The Classic had strict pitch limits in place for all teams to lessen the risk of injuries and put all countries on an even playing field. However, several major league clubs put it on themselves to place additional restrictions on their participating players. For example, in Round 1, Chris Archer had a no-hitter through four innings and had thrown just 41 pitches; the limit was 65 pitches, per WBC rules. However, the Rays had put an additional restriction on Archer’s usage -- 65 pitches or four innings, whichever came first. So U.S. manager Jim Leyland had to hook him after four. Meanwhile, he was facing Jose Quintana, who was also throwing a no-hitter, but he was able to pitch 5⅔ innings before he reached his 65 pitches, exiting after giving up his first hit. Other MLB teams told Leyland he couldn’t use their relievers on back-to-back days in the first round, putting further restrictions on the U.S. compared with their opponents.
For the next WBC, it’s going to be important to make sure that, whatever the limits on pitcher usage are going to be, they’re the same for all countries. MLB clubs should not be able to add limits if their players are going to participate.
MLB starters stuck on WBC benches: The Astros are excited about the future of third baseman Alex Bregman, who they think will develop into a .400 OBP, 20-homer bat at third base. Manager A.J. Hinch told me he is planning on hitting Bregman second this year. The Padres continue to get phone calls from teams trying to trade for Yangervis Solarte after his .341 OBP with 26 doubles and 15 home runs last year. In their rebuilding process, they need him to have a strong first half so they can trade him for prospects at the July trade deadline.
However, both players got stuck on their WBC benches during the Classic. Bregman has had just four at-bats and Solarte six. In the future, it would be smarter if baseball used regular-season bench players as bench players rather than everyday players, and then substitute from a pool if someone were to get injured or be in a slump. It’s just not a good system for players such as Bregman or Solarte, who need their at-bats to be ready on Opening Day.
Omar Vizquel: Vizquel was one of the best defensive shortstops in baseball history and deserves serious consideration for the Hall of Fame. However, his performance as manager of Venezuela’s team left a lot to be desired after it went 2-5 in the tournament. Vizquel broke a record for the most mound visits in any seven-game period during the Classic, often put players out of position and never had a clear bullpen plan.
Vizquel said afterward, “Other teams came very prepared. They executed their plan to perfection, and they pitched much better than us and batted better than us.” He’s correct -- they were better prepared, and he didn’t help his chances of becoming a major league manager.
Instant replay: In the first two rounds, instant replay was allowed only on plays involving home runs or potential home runs, and only the crew chief could review the plays. Everyone watching MLB games is so used to instant replay that it’s no longer acceptable to watch umpires blow calls and not correct them by use of video replay. With so many controversial calls and so much at stake during the tournament, this must be changed for the next Classic so that instant replay can be used to its fullest capability.
The commissioner’s office, over its handling of Jeurys Familia: Many in the baseball industry believe the Mets’ closer will be suspended for 30 days as soon as the tournament is over. Hopefully, this is a false rumor, because if true it was a huge mistake to let him participate in the Classic, if his fate was already known. Allowing Familia to be used in the Classic and then suspended would be unfair to the Mets, who are paying his salary but accepted his risk for injury during the WBC, all while dealing with the fear of playing the first month without their impact closer.
Mets GM Sandy Alderson told me he had not heard anything yet from the commissioner’s office. However, the rumblings are so loud in terms of an expected suspension that it’s hard to dismiss.
Tiebreaking rules: It’s hard to believe how they came up with the tiebreaker rules that went from fewest runs allowed divided by number of innings played on defense in games between the tied teams; then fewest earned runs allowed divided by number of defensive innings; then highest team batting average; and finally drawing of lots or the WBC-controlled coin flip. These rules came into play with Mexico, Italy and Venezuela all tied after Round 1 of Pool D with 1-2 records. Team Mexico was eliminated because of how WBC rules defined a "partial inning." In the tiebreaker, Italy had allowed 20 runs in 19 innings in the relevant games, so its rating was 1.05, while Venezuela’s rating was 1.11. Everyone thought Mexico had allowed 19 runs in 18 innings, which would have given it a better rating than Venezuela and allowed Mexico to move on. But it was later determined Mexico had allowed 19 runs in 17 defensive innings, because of its failure to record an out in a ninth-inning walk-off loss to Italy.
It was a ridiculous way for a team to get eliminated. This is definitely a rule that needs to be changed for the next Classic.
Team Canada: Put Canada among the losers, not just for its first-round elimination, but for its inability to recruit MLB players. Canada couldn’t get Joey Votto, Brett Lawrie, Michael Saunders, James Paxton or Jameson Taillon to participate, and their absences meant Canada couldn’t field a competitive team. Manager Ernie Whitt made it clear after Canada's elimination, “To be honest with you, for us to compete at this level at the WBC, we have to have all of our professional players participate. And, until they make a commitment that they’re going to do it, we’re going to struggle.”