TEMPE — It took a little convincing for Arizona Diamondbacks third baseman Nolan Arenado to return to the World Baseball Classic for a third time.
Fortunately for Team Puerto Rico, manager Yadier Molina was persuasive in recruiting his former St. Louis Cardinals teammate.
Arenado, 34, played for Team USA in the previous two tournaments, winning the championship in 2017 and falling one run short in 2023. On MLB.com’s roster page for Puerto Rico, Arenado is wearing a U.S. cap.
He will represent his mother’s heritage this time, in what he presumes to be his final WBC.
“It’s a little weird, for sure,” Arenado said about switching teams. “I was a little on the fence about it, but Yadi called me, I had a great conversation with him and he made me really comfortable about it.
“I didn’t get asked by USA, so I don’t feel guilt there because I never was asked. But, 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. So, I have an opportunity to do it, so I got to do it.”
Nolan Arenado said a conversation with Yadier Molina helped convince him to play for Puerto Rico in the World Baseball Classic. He said his family is very excited.
“I have an opportunity to do it, so I gotta do it.” pic.twitter.com/F10KG6oaAB
— Alex Weiner (@alexjweiner) February 27, 2026
Puerto Rico is hosting its group in pool play, so Arenado will get to visit for the first time and experience for himself the island’s storied baseball culture. Organized baseball in Puerto Rico dates back to the late 1800s, and it was the birthplace of one of the game’s greatest icons, Roberto Clemente.
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“I’m looking forward to playing in Puerto Rico and obviously representing my Latin heritage,” Arenado said. “My family is very excited about it.”
Arenado is an important piece of Puerto Rico’s team this year, too, as no other squad has been impacted more by injuries and insurance complications leading up to the WBC.
Francisco Lindor, the face of Puerto Rican baseball, is working back from a broken hamate, although insurance constraints took him off the roster after he underwent surgery on his elbow this offseason. Carlos Correa and Javier Baez, two more contributors to Puerto Rico’s famously blonde 2017 runner-up team, are also out due to a lack of insurance.
Arenado has a greater responsibility to carry an offensive load, as he’ll put his offseason adjustments to the test.
“Lindor is the face of Puerto Rico,” Arenado said. “I think we’re all disappointed that he’s not playing, and all the other guys. But, you got to go out there and compete. Nobody feels bad for us, so we got to find a way. We still got some good arms, and we’re playing in Puerto Rico and representing them, so hopefully the fans can give us a little extra boost, which they probably will.”
Puerto Rico is in a pool with Canada, Panama, Cuba and Colombia, a group that a fully-loaded Puerto Rican team would have been favored to win with the aforementioned players. The squad still has the best closer in the tournament in Edwin Diaz, back after tearing his patellar tendon while celebrating a win in the last WBC.
According to his Instagram, Arenado already looks the part.
Nolan Arenado ya listo para el #TeamRubio y representar a Puerto Rico. pic.twitter.com/o4kr5ZCQ6A
— Antonio Puesán (@antoniopuesan) March 1, 2026
Druw Jones playing for his father at World Baseball Classic
It doesn’t sound like there was too long of a conversation between Netherlands manager Andruw Jones and Diamondbacks prospect Druw Jones about teaming up in the World Baseball Classic.
“We, obviously like our relationship, we just joke back and forth all the time. He’s like, ‘You got to come play for me, blah, blah, blah, blah.’ So I was like, ‘Yeah, I just got to wait on the team’s approval on everything.’ And I was super pumped up to get the opportunity,” Druw Jones told Arizona Sports.
The Jones’ make up the first father-son, manager-player duo in WBC history.
Druw Jones, 22, will represent the Netherlands for the first time in international play, as his father is from Curacao, a Dutch island off the coast of Venezuela.
The team is loaded with major leaguers to surround Jones with veteran leadership, a group that has competed in several WBCs. That includes Jurickson Profar, Xander Bogaerts, Didi Gregorius and Ozzie Albies.
“Really everybody, they’re all major leaguers and they’re all All-Stars at the end of the day,” Jones said when asked who he’s eager to learn from. “So being able to learn anything I can from them is an honor.”
Jones will provide speed and defense as the reigning Minor League Defensive Player of the Year in center field. Jones has claimed he is already a better outfielder than his father, who is a 10-time Gold Glove winner and was recently elected to the 2026 MLB Hall of Fame class.
His bat came around in the second half last season in the D-backs’ system after a poor first half, and he is off to a solid start this spring at 4-for-12 with two doubles.
The Netherlands failed to escape its group in 2023 after a heartbreaking extra-inning loss in the 2017 semifinal. They will take on a formidable group with the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Nicaragua and Israel.
E-Rod and Geno reunite
Like Arenado, D-backs pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez knows this could be his final WBC representing his home country of Venezuela.
Venezuela was a 2023 quarterfinalist continues to field a veteran roster filled with MLB talent, and Rodriguez is looking forward to reuniting with a joyful former Diamondbacks teammate.
“Geno (Eugenio Suarez) is going to be there, so I’m going to love to go back then and play with him again,” Rodriguez said. “Having him at third base probably one more time before we both retire. The next WBC, we don’t know when it’s going to be. But I feel so excited to go out there and do my best to help the team to win games.”
Rodriguez and Suarez both came to the Diamondbacks after the 2023 season, but Arizona traded Suarez at last summer’s deadline, and he has since signed with Cincinnati.
They will team up with MLB stars Salvador Perez, Ronald Acuña Jr., Jackson Chourio and Ranger Suarez on a team that has the talent to get out of the quarterfinal round for the first time in tournament history. That is, if it can survive its group with the D.R. and Netherlands.
Rodriguez, 32, will play a key role as the potential No. 2 starter on the roster after Pablo Lopez was lost to elbow surgery.
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