Thursday, February 05

Welcome to the International Beat newsletter. I'm MLB.com's Michael Clair and I'm glad you're here. 

With 2025 nearly behind us and the next World Baseball Classic just a few months ahead, I thought it would be a good time to look back and assemble our 2025 All-World roster. 

The rules, as like last year, are simple: 

• The player must have been born outside the United States (as Puerto Rico has its own World Baseball Classic team, we are counting P.R., too).

• Each country/territory can only be represented once. So, if Shohei Ohtani is our DH (spoiler alert: He is) then Yoshinobu Yamamoto – no matter how spectacular his postseason – is out. 

Here’s my team. 

C: Alejandro Kirk - Mexico

A standout season from Kirk, who helped lead the Blue Jays to the American League pennant. He seemed to discover his power stroke in the postseason, smashing five home runs in October after hitting a career-high 15 in the regular season. 

This season was also a particularly good one for Mexican ballplayers, with Kirk, Mariners reliever Andrés Muñoz, Rays first baseman Jonathan Aranda, and 2023 World Baseball Classic star Randy Arozarena all being selected to the All-Star Game. (Though Arozarena was born in Cuba, he became a Mexican citizen and played for them in the 2023 World Baseball Classic.)

It was the first time in All-Star Game history that three Mexican-born players were on the roster. 

Alejandro Kirk, Andrés Muñoz, Jonathan Aranda and Randy Arozarena pose together at the 2025 MLB All-Star Game. Click photo to view post. 

1B:  Josh Naylor - Canada

Talk about a ballplayer simply willing himself to greatness. Josh Naylor’s calling card was always his bat, coming off a 31-home run campaign for Cleveland in 2024. But despite lacking great speed, or frankly any speed – his sprint speed ranked 565th in the big leagues and tied him with Wilmer Flores, who has stolen six bases in a 13-year career  – Naylor became a stolen base machine. The Canadian first baseman robbed 30 bags and was caught just twice. 

Should Naylor –  a veteran of three Canadian U-18 World Cup teams and a member of the 2017 World Baseball Classic team – and his brother Bo join Canada for the WBC, the nation could certainly surprise. 

2B: Jazz Chisholm Jr. - Bahamas 

Chisholm certainly loved his first full season in New York, going 30/30 and smashing a career-high 31 home runs. We should have known he would love hitting balls into the short porch when he arrived in New York in 2024 with a T-shirt referencing its 314-foot distance from home plate. 

Chisholm is also eligible to play for Great Britain at this year’s World Baseball Classic. He represented the country at the 2016 Qualifiers and was 4-for-16 with a double and two stolen bases as a 20-year-old. It also means that, should Rangers prospect Sebastien Walcott (No. 6 prospect in the game) also join the team, we could have an all-Bahamas double-play combo. 

SS: Geraldo Perdomo - DR 

After three productive big league seasons as a glove-first shortstop who could slash a few doubles and take his walks, Perdomo broke out in a big way in 2025. The 25-year-old shortstop set career highs in home runs (20), RBIs (100), stolen bases (27), and OPS (.851). In fact, according to FanGraphs, he was the fifth-most valuable batter in the game last year by WAR.

It was also reported during Winter Meetings that Perdomo had spoken with Dominican Republic manager Albert Pujols and that he intends to play for the nation at the upcoming World Baseball Classic.  

Click to view 15 minutes of Geraldo Perdomo's best plays in 2025. 

3B: Eugenio Suárez - Venezuela

It was a showdown between two Venezuelan third basemen, but in the end I had to give Suarez and his 49 home runs an edge over freshly-extended Royals third baseman Maikel Garcia. Suarez’s 49 dingers placed him fifth in the Majors and he became just the 19th player to have a four-homer game when he accomplished the feat against the Braves in April. 

OF: Andy Pages - Cuba

Pages took a big step forward in his second big league season, improving his offensive numbers across the board and finishing with 27 home runs, a .774 OPS and, oh yeah, a World Series ring with the Dodgers. The unbelievable catch he made against Toronto in Game 7 shouldn’t have been too much of a surprise, either: He had a Fielding Run Value of +12, tied for 13th in the Majors. 

OF: Ceddanne Rafaela - Curacao

Of course, if Pages’ defense was good, Rafaela’s was otherworldly. The Red Sox center fielder, who intends to play in the World Baseball Classic for Netherlands manager Andruw Jones, was the best non-catcher with a Fielding Run Value of +22. He earned a Gold Glove Award for his efforts. 

Rafaela also proved he could be counted on in the clutch, coming up with a walk-off home run in July and a walk-off triple in September to clinch a playoff spot for Boston. 

Ceddanne Rafaela hits a walk-off triple to clinch a playoff spot for the Red Sox. Click to view video. 

OF: Jung Hoo Lee - Korea

After missing most of his rookie season with injury, Lee showed off a little of everything in his sophomore season in San Francisco. Though he hit only eight home runs, Lee proved he could slash the ball all over the park with 31 doubles and 12 triples. He also inspired a fan group, the Hoo Lee Gans, to come out to the ballpark in support of the Giants’ No. 51. 

DH: Shohei Ohtani - Japan 

What more can we say about Ohtani? In a year where he returned to the mound midseason, having to balance his DH duties with his rehab schedule, the superstar didn’t miss a beat. He topped 50 home runs for the second straight season and led the league in slugging and OPS. I guess it was a disappointment since he only stole 20 bases. 

And then there was his moment of true superheroism as he pitched and hit three home runs in Game 4 of the NLCS. There is no one like Ohtani and there never will be again. Enjoy this spectacle while we have it. 

SP: Jose Quintana - Colombia

At 36 years old, Quintana shows little signs of slowing down. Signed by the Brewers late during Spring Training last year, the veteran posted a sub-4.00 ERA for the fourth-straight season and tacked on 11 more wins to his win total. His 113 wins are the most by a Colombian-born pitcher in Major League history. 

RP: Edwin Díaz - Puerto Rico

Fire up the trumpets! The newest Dodger was as dominant as ever last year, posting a 1.63 ERA and striking out 98 batters in just 66 1/3 innings. A little more of that next year and we could see the Dodgers holding the World Series trophy aloft once again at the end of October. 

WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC IS COMING

The 2023 World Baseball Classic trophy. Who will take it home in 2026? 

The World Baseball Classic doesn’t begin until March, but you could have been a little confused after seeing all the news coming out of the Winter Meetings last week. That’s because managers and team officials from every WBC team were in Orlando for World Baseball Classic media day, revealing a number of players who they expect to line up for their national teams in the spring. (Of course, we must caveat that rosters are not finalized until February.) 

• Here’s the full rundown of what we learned on media day. 
• The USA announced a group of stars with Kyle Schwarber, Will Smith, Brice Turang, and Gunnar Henderson expected to line up for the team. 
• Anthony Castrovince also talked to manager Mark DeRosa about the biggest change in USA’s approach next year: Their best pitchers are coming along. 
• Junior Caminero will be joining a D.R. team that will be absolutely stacked with talent. 
• Mark Vientos will play for Nicaragua, giving manager Dusty Baker his cleanup hitter. 
• Venezuela announced that Salvador Perez will captain the team. 
• And here's a handy primer for some of your most frequently asked World Baseball Classic questions. 

THE MOST IMPORTANT BOOK NEWS IN THE HISTORY OF PUBLISHING (at least according to this writer)

The cover of my book, "We Sacrifice Everything to Baseball," about the Czech Republic national baseball team.

I have some really exciting news that I wanted to share: My book, “We Sacrifice Everything to Baseball,” about the amateur Czech Republic national team shocking the world to become fan favorites at the 2023 World Baseball Classic, is now available for preorder (and will be available everywhere fine books are sold). It will officially be out on April 1, but preorders may arrive early. 

I’ve been fortunate enough to cover the Czech team since the 2022 World Baseball Classic qualifiers and I hope the story about a group of baseball fanatics and dreamers -- featuring firefighters, electrical workers, and neurologists -- making history on the baseball field will resonate with you. I’m really excited for you to read it. 

Of course, the Czechs will also return to play in the Tokyo pool in 2026.

Celwin Hurkmans signs with the Blue Jays. Screengrab via @honkbalhoofdklasse on IG. Click to view post. 

• The first Baseball United season concluded in Dubai with the Mideast Falcons -- featuring beloved former Major Leaguer Munenori Kawasaki and managed by former Poland skipper and big league pitcher Dennis Cook -- winning the league title. Jay Bell’s son, Brantley Bell, took home MVP honors. 
• Baseball United also gave European players a place to shine, as Jason Daniels reports in this great story for Mister-Baseball.
• Some big signing news out of the Netherlands over the weekend: Tijn Fredrikze signed with the New York Yankees and Celwin Hurkmans joined the Blue Jays. 
• The Oosterhout Twins, who play in the Dutch Honkbal Hoofdklasse, also brought in a World Baseball Classic veteran. The Twins signed NPB veteran and 2017 WBC pitcher Ayumu Ishikawa for next year. 
• The Philippines won another Southeast Asian Games gold medal in baseball, defeating the hosts Thailand in the final. 

With that, we are about to head into the holidays with plenty of winter league baseball to watch and Caribbean Series to prepare for. Hope you have a great holiday and happy new year. See you in 2026. 

To subscribe to International Beat, visit this page and mark "International Beat" from our newsletter list.

For tips, hints, or just to talk about international baseball, find me @michaelsclair on X/Twitter and IG or email me at Michael.Clair@MLB.com.

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