Should MLB Stars Be a Part of the World Baseball Classic?
Detroit Tigers’ star Miguel Cabrera, who has been playing for Venezuela in the World Baseball Classic, left Thursday’s loss to the Dominican Republic in the sixth inning.
His early exit was apparently caused by a back injury. Now he is reportedly out for the rest of the World Baseball Classic tournament.
Supposedly, the injury isn’t serious and the 2011 Triple Crown winner should be ready for Opening Day with Detroit.
Miguel Cabrera expected to be fine for #Tigers opener but done in WBC
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) March 17, 2017
However, it should be somewhat concerning that the injury is serious enough that Cabrera is stopping his play at this point.
Detroit Tigers’ manager Brad Ausmus said he had already heard from Omar Vizquel, the Tiger’s third base coach and manager for Team Venezuela.
"“I just got a text from Omar this morning saying his back tightened up and he’s fine. Don’t think it’s anything more than that,” Ausmus said."
While the Tigers remain unconcerned about their star slugger, it begs the conversation as to whether or not Major League Baseball players should play in the tournament at all.
Detroit Tigers
It’s a question that has been asked since the first World Baseball Classic in 2006. It’s also a part of the reason that Team USA has yet to win the WBC tournament.
The two best players in the world today, Mike Trout and Clayton Kershaw, are not playing for Team USA and have stayed with their respective Southern California ball clubs during spring training.
Although Trout has said that he may be interested in playing for Team USA in 2021. When you think about it though, is it really the best idea for MLB’s best player?
Even the Los Angeles Dodgers’ first baseman Adrian Gonzalez, who publicly denounced the tournament after Mexico’s controversial early exit, said that players shouldn’t put their “careers on the line” to play in the tournament.
In a sense that is exactly what many of the world’s best baseball players are doing.
With Cabrera’s injury being the biggest injury news thus far in the tournament, it appears to be relatively harmless for players to go out and stand up for their countries.
However, these games are intense and the players play as though they were playing in a regular season game or even moreso like they are playing in the postseason, meaning they are going all-out to win this tournament.
Almost everyday during the regular season and even during spring training players get injured. It’s a part of the game.
What if Miguel Cabrera’s back injury turns out to be more serious than originally thought? The odds of which are unlikely according to Ausmus who told reporters,
"“Miggy knows himself … Miggy’s pretty good at self monitoring.”"
However, what if it was something that rendered him out for the season? The Tigers would be without their star player for 2017.
It has to make you think that same thing many players think when making the decision to play in the tournament and that is, “Is it worth it?”
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To be honest, it doesn’t appear to be.
Perhaps if the tournament was played at some other point in the year where a player injured severely might have time to recover before Opening Day, it might make sense.
Right now it seems like Gonzalez’s words ring true.
Maybe players shouldn’t be putting their careers on the line to play in the tournament.
The tournament is meant to generate more interest around the world in America’s pastime and many players love playing for their country, but is it really worth putting possibly doing what they love for the rest of their lives on the line?
It’s a tough decision to make but as noted players are injured often during the regular season while playing at their best possible level, they shouldn’t feel safe simply because this is the World Baseball Classic.
Next: It's Do or Die for Team USA in WBC on Saturday
Who is the best Detroit TIger of all-time? It could be Miguel Cabrera.