Philadelphia Phillies reliever Jose Alvarado will not represent his native Venezuela in the upcoming World Baseball Classic because he is unable to obtain game insurance, according to reports.
El Extrabase’s Daniel Álvarez-Montes reported the news on Twitter/X on Saturday.
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Alvarado was announced as a member of Team Venezuela on February 5. Now, he’ll be forced to watch his WBC teammates at Phillies training camp in Florida when games begin in March.
Several star players were unable to obtain WBC insurance, including Puerto Ricans Francisco Lindor and Carlos Correa. Odanil Mosqueda, another left-handed reliever from Venezuela, will also reportedly miss the game because he was also denied coverage by his insurance company.
National Financial Partners, the official partner of Major League Baseball (MLB), brokers the insurance policies. NFP has not commented on the recent reports Competitor Why are so many players unable to obtain WBC insurance for 2026?
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However, according to Ken Rosenthal and Evan Drelic, the insurance concerns have been exacerbated by injuries suffered by Jose Altuve and Edwin Diaz in their last WBC fight in 2023.
Ostensibly, the NFP fear they will be in trouble for paying expensive wages to players after they were warned of an increased risk of injury.
The result: some teams, including Venezuela, have significantly less star power in the WBC than they did the last time the tournament was held.
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