Noah Hiles: World Baseball Classic should be a bigger deal, and MLB can make it happen

Noah Hiles, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on Mar 6, 2026

Published in Baseball

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A few weekends back, we watched the best hockey players on the planet compete in an unforgettable showdown with an Olympic gold medal on the line. The contest will be remembered for years to come and will likely draw more fans to the game.

It’s a shame that baseball’s biggest international competition can’t produce similar results. While this year’s World Baseball Classic (WBC) certainly has some buzz, the sport’s realities have dulled the mood.

Over the past few weeks, the bulk of headlines surrounding the tournament have centered around participation. From player insurance denials to predetermined minimal workloads on the mound, it’s rather clear that many teams view the event to be a legitimate injury risk for their players.

Such a stance isn’t unreasonable, but it’s still a shame. Why? Because those involved truly want it to matter.

“I’ve seen the WBCs in the past,” Pirates ace Paul Skenes told MLB Network earlier this week. “There's no bigger stage or no greater honor than wearing USA across your chest.”

The players aren’t the only ones who are invested, either. The WBC is already a major deal for some countries. Need an example? Look no further than the atmosphere in the Dominican Republic on Tuesday evening — a game that was nothing more than a scrimmage against the Detroit Tigers.

Major League Baseball should be working to create more of those moments, especially on American soil. While the World Cup and Olympics will always serve as the primary stages for global competition, the WBC has potential to be so much more. A slight change of schedule might be all it takes for that to happen.

Most of the WBC’s current issues revolve around timing.

This year’s event began Wednesday and takes place through March 17, the thick of spring training. Right now, players are primarily focused on preparing for the approaching regular season. Why not have the event when they’re in midseason form?

The same logic applies to the American sports fan. Our baseball appetite is still there, but the month of March belongs to college basketball. Why let baseball’s best international tournament be an appetizer when it could instead be a main entree?

MLB should take a page out of the NHL’s playbook. Once every four years, it should shut down play for two weeks in the month of July, cancel its All-Star weekend festivities and make the WBC the biggest story in the sports world.

Again, think of the timing.

Starting pitchers will already be completely stretched out, lessening concerns about workload volume. Position players will have their timing down, thus creating more competitive at-bats. The mid-summer classic has always served as a platform to showcase the game’s first-half storylines. Imagine having that platform for two weeks, centered around a high-quality competition on a global stage.

MLB commissioner Rob Manfred has flirted with the idea of having big leaguers compete in the 2028 Summer Olympics, saying that the idea is feasible due to the games being hosted in Los Angeles.

“I think people have come to appreciate that the Olympics on U.S. soil is a unique marketing opportunity for the game,” Manfred said last month. “I think we had a lot of players interested in doing it and, you know, I feel pretty good about the idea [that] we’ll get there.”

The 2028 Olympic Games could be the blueprint. If league owners and the players union can figure out a way to make this work, there’s no reason a similar agreement can’t be reached for the next WBC, which is scheduled for 2030. MLB also has a say in where WBC contests are hosted, meaning there will be fewer logistical concerns.

All of this said, I still think the WBC is a solid event, one that has become notably more popular over time. But the fact that it takes place in the preseason limits the tournament’s potential.

The NHL struck gold last spring with the Four Nations tournament. It not only captured our attention during an overall slow time on the sports calendar, but set the stage for this year’s Winter Olympics — which delivered.

MLB can take this to the next level. Baseball has more international representation than ever before. Plenty will be discussed this winter when league owners and the MLBPA work to develop a new collective bargaining agreement.

While it obviously won’t be the top priority in mind for either side, let’s hope both parties recognize this unique opportunity to grow the game.