Wednesday, February 12

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

Francisco Cervelli had suited up for the Italian national team at the World Baseball Classic twice before, taking the field in 2009 and 2017 for then-manager and new Federazione Italiana Baseball Softball (FIBS) president Marco Mazzieri. When the next World Baseball Classic rolls around in 2026, Cervelli will be back with the Azzurri, except now he'll be managing the team from the dugout rather than out on the field. 

If you thought that the former big league catcher was going to wait until next year to get started, you’d be wrong. Cervelli, who played in the bigs for 13 years and with four different teams, is planning to move to Italy in the next few weeks and spend the next year there, looking for the best Italian ballplayers the country has to offer. 

“I'm gonna drive more this year than anybody else, like a truck driver,” Cervelli said in a news conference hosted by FIBS. “I'm going to drive everywhere. I'm going to try to find where they are, how they do things. There is talent everywhere, we've been doing it. I deal with the academy, going to small places, and you always find one interesting player. So that's what you've got to do, create that hope that somebody's watching. I want to be that person.” 

Cervelli will be joined on that mission by former Dodgers GM Ned Colletti, a true baseball lifer who worked his way up from the Cubs’ public relations department to one of the most powerful roles in the game. 

“I love baseball, and I've seen baseball all over the world. I took the Dodgers to Sydney, Australia, to Taiwan, to Beijing, and I always wanted to develop the sport as best I could in the country of my ancestry, in Italy, and I think my goal is to continue to develop the sport in Italy,” Colletti said. “Perhaps in 15 years or so, we'll have more Italian kids playing baseball. Then a WBC team down the road may be comprised of a lot of players from the country. [I also hope] that Major League Baseball would start to sign and develop players who were born in Italy. These are my goals. This is why I'm doing this project. I want the people of Italy to see the game and to fall in love with the game, as we have in the States.” 

Cervelli doubles against Mexico in the World Baseball Classic. Click image to view highlight.

Criticism of the last World Baseball Classic team under Mike Piazza’s stewardship was that it leaned too heavily toward the use of American-born players with Italian heritage. (While the pitching staff featured a handful of Italian natives, there was only one position player – Alberto Mineo – who was born in the country.)   

It’s a delicate balance that must be struck to remain competitive on the global circuit, but the goal of developing homegrown talent is at the top of mind for everyone involved with the team: Mazzieri as President, Cervelli as manager and with his own academy in Castiglione della Pescaia, which he opened in partnership with the Italian-American Baseball Foundation, and Colletti, who will be doing much of the scouting and recruiting on the U.S. side. 

“I think the more of a combination that we have, the better,” Cervelli said. “We want to be able to have Italian players play, and have people in Italy watch the games and see somebody that is from their neighborhood, from their city, from their region. I think it's a combination of Major League Baseball players that are of Italian heritage, but you also have Italian players that can compete.” 

This was something Piazza was concerned with, as well, even beginning the 2023 WBC campaign with his “Mission Classic,” which aimed to introduce American-born ballplayers to their Italian roots while giving their new Italian teammates a chance to learn from their big league brethren. But following Italy’s ninth-place finish at the most recent European Championship in 2023, and a breakdown in communication between Mazzieri and Piazza, the FIBS president said the federation “had to decide something else.” When he looked at the candidates to lead the team, it was easy for him to choose Cervelli. 

“He has a big heart, and after watching him work with the kids, and the enthusiasm and his ferocious determination to share his knowledge and his hunger for being on the field, being in uniform, and helping those kids reach their dreams, it made it easy for me to make this decision,” Mazzieri said.

The Italian team’s first test will come when the next European Championship begins in September. Cervelli will be there, showing off his new approach and new squad. 

“The road is very long, but I’m going to put in my time," Cervelli said. "I'm going to put my passion and the knowledge to make those players understand: Italy can be a powerful nation in baseball, as well – especially in Europe.” 

Italy lines up inside the Tokyo Dome at the World Baseball Classic in 2023. 

The road to 2026 begins now! 16 teams have already clinched their spots at the 2026 tournament and now all that’s left is to determine who are the final four teams that will fill the bracket. 

Up first is the Taipei Qualifier, beginning at 12 p.m. local time on Feb. 21 (11:00 p.m. ET on Feb. 20 for those in the United States). The rosters were recently released and I broke down the pool here. 

At first glance, it certainly looks like it’s Chinese Taipei’s tournament to lose as its roster features veterans like former big leaguer Yu Chang, big league prospects like Po-Yu Chen and CPBL veterans like all-time saves leader Yun-Wen Chen and Premier12 MVP Chieh-Hsien Chen. 

Will Spain be able to follow-up on its 2023 European Championship gold medal by getting back into the main tournament for the first time since 2013? Will Nicaragua bounce back and return to the tourney they were relegated from? Can South Africa surprise and get back to the big show for the first time since 2009? 

The tournament will wrap up with a winner-take-all second-place vs. third-place final on Feb. 25 to determine the second team to advance. Anything can happen in a short tourney, so be sure to tune in. Streaming will be available on WorldBaseballClassic.com, MLB.TV, and the World Baseball Classic YouTube and Facebook pages.

ROUNDING THE GLOBE

Asher Wojciechowski throws a pitch for the Yankees in 2021. 

• Some breaking news in the International Beat newsletter: After finishing 10th at the 2023 European Championships, Croatia will have a new big league pitcher in the dugout: Asher Wojciechowski will be taking over as the team’s pitching coach. Wojciechowski, who suited up for four teams during a five-year big league career, has been active internationally since he retired. He’s coached in Egypt with Because Baseball and is active with Baseball For Good, an organization devoted to baseball diplomacy. He’ll now bring that international knowledge and pitching skill to the Croatian national team. 
• You might remember Adam Jones from his home run robbery for the United States in the 2017 World Baseball Classic. He’ll be back in action at the upcoming Qualifiers: This time as Spain’s hitting coach. 
• Mexico will face the Dominican Republic in the Caribbean Series final on Friday night. Everything you need to know about the upcoming game is here. (Page en español.) 
• The Canberra Cavalry are the 2025 ABL Champions. It’s the team’s first championship since 2013. They can thank starter Colten Davis for the Claxton Shield, after he pitched 8 2/3 shutout innings in the clinching contest. 

Canberra Cavalry celebrate as 2025 ABL champions. Image via @ABL on X/Twitter. 

PLAYER OF THE MONTH: JESÚS VARGAS

It took 52 years between the first Caribbean Series no-hitter and the second one. It took just one year for the next. After Angel Padrón tossed a no-hitter for Venezuela in last year's tournament, it was another Venezuelan pitcher -- Jesús Vargas -- who tossed one earlier this week, though it won’t officially go down as one in the record books because the game ended after eight innings due to the mercy rule.

The right-hander, who reached Triple-A with the Mets in 2022 and had most recently pitched for Venezuela at the Premier12 in November, threw eight shutout innings against the Japan Breeze in a 10-0 win. Vargas struck out seven and walked three in the victory. 

Because the game ended on a "walk-off" when Venezuela took the double-digit lead, Vargas wasn't on the mound to celebrate the accomplishment. That didn't mean there wasn't a raucous on-field party. 

Click photo to view highlights from Vargas' no-hitter. 

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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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