Yankees’ WBC footprint expands with 13th international duty release

TAMPA, Fla. — No team in baseball is feeling the pull of the World Baseball Classic quite like the Yankees. With spring training in full swing and Opening Day less than four weeks away, the Bronx Bombers have now sent 13 players to six different countries for the 2026 tournament.

That is the most of any American League club and among the highest totals across all 30 MLB organizations. The departures have left manager Aaron Boone working with a thinned roster in Tampa at a time when roster decisions are already complicated enough.

The Yankees’ global reach spans six countries

Before the latest addition, the Yankees already had a dozen players committed to WBC duty. Captain Aaron Judge leads Team USA alongside closer David Bednar, first baseman Paul Goldschmidt and now a fourth American in left-hander Ryan Yarbrough.

Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Brendan Beck are suiting up for Great Britain, with Chisholm serving as co-captain. Austin Wells and Amed Rosario will represent the Dominican Republic in Pool D in Miami, one of the deepest groups in the tournament. Nestor Cruz and Elmer Rodriguez are heading to San Juan with Team Puerto Rico. Jose Caballero, the Yankees’ expected Opening Day shortstop, is representing Panama in Pool A. And outfielder Brendan Cohen rounds out the Yankees’ contingent on Team Israel.

Two additional Yankees are involved through the Designated Pitcher Pool. Tim Hill was placed in the DPP for Team USA and Yerry De Los Santos for the Dominican Republic. DPP pitchers are not on active rosters during pool play but become eligible for a callup once their team advances past the first round.

Player Yankees Role/Position National Team (WBC)

Yarbrough steps in after Joe Ryan’s back injury

The 13th release came Sunday when MLB Network insider Joel Sherman reported that Yarbrough would join Team USA’s 30-man roster. He replaces Minnesota Twins ace Joe Ryan, who has been dealing with lower back inflammation since being scratched from his first spring training start on Feb. 22.

Ryan was moved to the Designated Pitcher Pool, meaning he remains eligible for a callup after each round if the U.S. advances. He threw a successful bullpen session over the weekend and is expected to face hitters this week. But for now, Yarbrough takes his spot on the active roster.

The 34-year-old lefty went 3-1 with a 4.36 ERA in 19 appearances last season, including eight starts, during his first year with the Yankees. He struck out 55 and walked 19 in 64 innings. His career numbers across eight seasons with five teams show a 56-41 record with a 4.22 ERA in 215 games. His 2.9 strikeout-to-walk ratio last season was a step up from a down 2024 split between the Dodgers and Blue Jays.

Yarbrough re-signed with the Yankees this offseason on a one-year deal worth $2.5 million. He was projected as part of the Opening Day bullpen while providing rotation depth behind Max Fried, Cam Schlittler, Will Warren, Luis Gil and Ryan Weathers.

He joins a Team USA pitching staff headlined by Paul Skenes of the Pirates and Tarik Skubal of the Tigers, widely considered the best 1-2 American-born pitching combo the WBC has ever assembled. Logan Webb, Clayton Kershaw, the Mets’ Clay Holmes and Nolan McLean are also on the staff.

Goldschmidt captures the WBC’s growing pull on top players

The first baseman, set to play in his third World Baseball Classic, offered perspective on how far the tournament has come. In the early days, convincing American stars to participate was not easy.

In previous tournaments, “some of the best didn’t want to be part” of the WBC, Goldschmidt said. Team USA “kind of played with a chip on our shoulder,” wanting to prove they could win “even though we didn’t have some of those best players.”

That has changed. Since his first WBC in 2017, it’s “maybe the most fun I’ve ever had playing baseball,” Goldschmidt said. “You’re playing with some of the best players on the planet, and against” them, too.

As for the event’s growth, Paul Goldschmidt was measured but optimistic. “It’s not like the World Cup or the Olympics,” he said. “But where it’s gone in 20 years, I think, is really impressive and hopefully will continue to grow.”

Boone manages a short-handed camp with big questions still open

The mass exodus creates real logistical challenges for the Yankees. Boone loses his captain in Judge, his projected everyday second baseman in Chisholm, his starting catcher in Wells and his likely Opening Day shortstop in Caballero, all at the same time.

If the U.S. reaches the final on March 17, Judge, Bednar, Goldschmidt and Yarbrough would return with less than a week before the regular season opener in San Francisco on March 25. The same compressed timeline applies to Chisholm, Wells and every other Yankee whose team makes a deep run.

The Yankees also sent Jason Zillo, vice president of communications and media relations, to serve in a similar role with Team Italy. And Andy Pettitte, the Yankees legend who has been in camp as a guest instructor, will serve as Team USA’s pitching coach under manager Mark DeRosa.

Pool play begins this week. The U.S. opens against Brazil on Friday at Minute Maid Park in Houston, with games against Mexico, Great Britain and Italy to follow. The semifinals and championship game will be held in Miami, with the final set for March 17.

For the Yankees, the next three weeks will be about making the most of what they have on the back fields in Tampa while tracking 13 of their own on stages from Houston to San Juan to Miami. No organization has more invested in this tournament. And that total keeps climbing.

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