The Los Angeles Dodgers may boast the deepest roster in baseball, but that star power is barely translating to the international stage for the 2026 World Baseball Classic. As insurance restrictions continue to reshape rosters across the tournament, veteran infielder Miguel Rojas has become one of the most vocal—and affected—casualties of a system that increasingly feels uneven.
Rojas, who was expected to represent Venezuela, will not participate in the 2026 WBC after failing to secure the necessary insurance coverage. The decision marks the second straight Classic he will miss, and this time it cuts far deeper. At 37, Rojas has openly acknowledged that 2026 represented his final realistic opportunity to wear his country’s jersey on the global stage.
A Dodgers Roster That Won’t Carry Over to the WBC
The irony is hard to ignore. The Dodgers enter 2026 with one of the sport’s most loaded rosters, yet only a handful of players will appear in the World Baseball Classic. Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto will represent Japan, Hyeseong Kim will play for Korea, and Will Smith will suit up for Team USA. Clayton Kershaw will also join the United States team despite having retired.
Meanwhile, stars like Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman, Teoscar Hernández, and Andy Pages have withdrawn for various reasons, while the Dodgers blocked Roki Sasaki from participating due to last season’s shoulder impingement. Rojas’ situation stands apart—not because of injury, but because of insurance.
Under WBC rules, a player deemed uninsurable risks losing contractual guarantees if injured during the tournament unless the MLB club agrees to waive that protection. For Rojas, that clause effectively ended his WBC hopes.
“Why Is It Just With Our Countries?”
Rojas did not hide his disappointment while speaking at DodgerFest, framing the issue as larger than his own absence. He questioned why insurance complications appear to disproportionately affect Latin American teams while sparing others.
“If I can still play in the big leagues for the Dodgers, why not go play for my team in Venezuela and represent my country?” Rojas said. He pointed directly to Puerto Rico, Venezuela, and the Dominican Republic as nations repeatedly impacted by insurance denials, while noting he does not see similar barriers applied to Team USA or Japan.
Those comments landed at a sensitive moment for the tournament. Puerto Rico, one of the WBC’s most iconic participants, has openly threatened to withdraw from the 2026 event altogether. The president of the Puerto Rico Baseball Federation has warned that the team will not participate if it cannot compete under equal conditions—a stance fueled by the same insurance restrictions that sidelined Rojas.
For the Dodgers infielder, the frustration is deeply personal. He already withdrew from the 2023 WBC after Gavin Lux’s season-ending knee injury forced Rojas into a full-time shortstop role. The 2026 tournament was supposed to be his final chance. Instead, insurance language closed the door.
Rojas stressed that his criticism is not an attack on any one organization, but rather a plea for accountability and transparency. From his perspective, the system has failed players who want to honor both their MLB commitments and their national pride.
As the World Baseball Classic markets itself as a global celebration of the sport, stories like Rojas’ raise uncomfortable questions. For the Dodgers, it is another reminder that even the deepest roster in baseball cannot shield its players from a process that many now view as fundamentally flawed.
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