The Minnesota Twins and Carlos Correa made a mutual decision that the shortstop will skip the 2023 World Baseball Classic for family reasons, with his wife expecting a baby during the tournament.
The Twins announced Monday that Correa will not participate with the Puerto Rico national team for the fifth edition of the event, which was last played in 2017. Correa’s wife, Daniella, is due with the couple’s second child on March 11, three days after the WBC is scheduled to begin.
“This was a challenging decision for Carlos. He takes so much pride in representing his country and truly considered ways to make this work,” Twins president of baseball operations Derek Falvey said. “We all acknowledged that the back and forth flying combined with multiple days off from baseball activity didn’t set Carlos up for jumping into meaningful games upon his return.”
Twins position players are scheduled to report for spring training by Feb. 19. Correa signed a six-year, $200 million contract with the club on Jan. 11. The deal is structured with the potential to pay Correa as much as $270 million over 10 seasons if he stays healthy.
The World Baseball Classic runs from March 8 through March 21 with a field of 20 teams, including a stacked United States squad led by captain Mike Trout. Puerto Rico remains a favorite even without Correa, with a roster headlined by MLB stars such as Javier Baez and Francisco Lindor.
All WBC games can be seen exclusively in the U.S. on the FOX family of networks and the FOX Sports App.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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