Nolan Arenado chooses Puerto Rico for 2026 World Baseball Classic
nolan arenado will play for Puerto Rico in the 2026 World Baseball Classic after not receiving a roster spot from Team USA, a switch that immediately increases his responsibility for a squad missing several marquee names.
Nolan Arenado switches loyalties after Team USA call went elsewhere
The third baseman, who played for Team USA in the 2017 championship and again in 2023, said he didn’t get the call from the Americans this time and accepted an invitation from Puerto Rico manager Yadier Molina. Arenado’s mother is Puerto Rican and his father is Cuban, and Molina’s recruitment convinced him to make the change while he was still recovering from shoulder surgery. He acknowledged the move was partly pragmatic: “I wanted to play for USA again, but I didn’t get the call, ” he said, and later added, “I didn’t get asked by USA, so I don’t feel guilt there. ”
Roster holes widen Arenado’s role for Puerto Rico
With Carlos Correa unable to obtain insurance for the tournament and other contributors sidelined, Puerto Rico will lean on Arenado at third base. The team has also been affected by injury-related roster shifts: Francisco Lindor has been working back from a broken hamate and was removed from the roster after elbow surgery, and Javier Baez is out for the tournament. Those absences leave Arenado as one of the most accomplished players on a roster otherwise dotted with part-time major leaguers such as Emmanuel Rivera and Darell Hernaiz.
What Arenado brings and what’s at stake in Puerto Rico’s pool
At 34, Arenado arrives with a recent track record that includes an exceptional 2022 season—he finished third in NL MVP voting after hitting 30 homers and driving in 103 runs for the St. Louis Cardinals—and an 8th All-Star selection in 2023. His on-field production has shifted since then: his WAR fell from 7. 9 in 2022 to 1. 3 in 2025. Those numbers, combined with his offseason shoulder surgery, framed his thinking about returning to the WBC; he called the event a way to sharpen for the season, saying, “It gets you mentally ready for the season. ” With Correa out, Arenado will occupy his familiar third base spot and will be expected to shoulder an increased offensive load while testing his offseason adjustments.
Puerto Rico will host its pool play, giving Arenado the chance to play on the island for the first time and to represent his Latin heritage in front of local fans. The squad’s pool includes Canada, Panama, Cuba and Colombia, and Puerto Rico still fields top bullpen talent in Edwin Diaz, the closer who returned after tearing his patellar tendon in the last WBC.
nolan arenado framed the decision as possibly his last WBC: “This is going to be the last time I ever get to do it since I don’t know if I’m going to keep playing baseball by the time the next one comes, ” he said, and added, “I have an opportunity to do it, so I gotta do it. ” He also noted that his family urged him to take the chance.
Puerto Rico opens pool play at home against Canada, Panama, Cuba and Colombia, and Arenado will head into those games both as a veteran presence and as a player trying to tune his game before starting the season with his third big-league team, the Arizona Diamondbacks.
