MLB

Mets preparing for big player exodus to World Baseball Classic

By
Mike Puma
Published Feb. 7, 2023
Updated Feb. 8, 2023, 9:51 a.m. ET

The Mets’ first official workout of spring training will be next Wednesday, but shortly thereafter will come the inevitable feel of the team’s complex in Port St. Lucie, Fla., turning into something of a ghost town. 

With as many as 12 Mets players headed to the World Baseball Classic, which will take place from March 8-21, manager Buck Showalter is bracing for a potentially abbreviated look at the team he plans to deploy on Opening Day. 

“We are excited and proud that they are going, but they can’t come back and be way behind,” Showalter said Tuesday in Manhattan at the 43rd annual Thurman Munson awards dinner, benefitting the AHRC New York City Foundation. 

“You worry when guys start their clock up that quickly, but [the WBC] is good for the game, I am told, and that is the bottom line. It enhances our game globally and I support it, but I am looking at it selfishly from what’s best for the New York Mets.” 

Buck Showalter waits for the team’s baseball game against the Phillies in 2022. He was named National League Manager of the Year in voting by a Baseball Writers’ Association of America panel. AP

Pete Alonso, Jeff McNeil, Brooks Raley and Adam Ottavino (USA); Francisco Lindor, Edwin Diaz and Michael Perez (Puerto Rico); Eduardo Escobar and Omar Narvaez (Venezuela); Jose Quintana (Colombia) and minor league pitchers Cameron Opp (Great Britain) and Claudio Scotti (Italy) all will be in the WBC mix. Rosters for the event will be announced Thursday. 

The defections to the WBC could leave an ample amount of playing time in the Grapefruit League for rookies such as worthiness for spots on the major league roster to begin the season. 

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“I told them to bring both [uniforms], gray and white, they are going to get a lot of playing time,” Showalter said. “We will get a good look at them. The good thing is they will come in and try not to rush the guys that are leaving. The worst thing would be for somebody to leave and go and not play [in the WBC] and I have voiced that to the managers.” 

Showalter will be paying attention to see whether the Mets are sending the most players of any MLB team to the event. 

“It would be interesting to go through all 30 teams and see what the number is for each one,” Showalter said. “Wouldn’t you think that to keep a competitive level for spring training you might have a limit so somebody wouldn’t gain an advantage over somebody else? 

“I know the guys really want to go. There’s nobody forced to go. I know talking to them they are all excited about it.” 

Health will be a paramount concern — part of the reason players such as Max Scherzer and Starling Marte won’t participate in the WBC. Scherzer spent two stints on the injured list last season with oblique strains and Marte underwent offseason core surgery. 

“For me it’s like when I had the great fortune of managing in the All-Star game [in 1995]. Obviously, you want to win the game and get everybody in the game,” Showalter said. “But my big thing was returning everybody healthy. When I talk to these guys the communication has got to be there.”

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