Should Adrian Beltre play in the WBC?

What should be more important to a player? Should he value the opportunity to show pride in his country or turn it down due to a strong request by his employer? That’s the question that Seattle Mariners 3rd baseman Adrian Beltre is struggling with this spring. Should he participate for the Dominican Republic in the World Baseball Classic or should he adhere to management’s request that he skip the international tournament.

Beltre has been recovering from torn ligaments throughout the offseason. Even though the timetable for his return slated the 3rd baseman to be fully recovered 6 weeks ago, you never can tell with an injury until you get out there and test it in a game situation. This is where the concern comes from—on both sides. While it’s obvious that the Mariners don’t want him to rush the thumb back, Beltre has made it clear that he’s also conscience of the recovery process. He doesn’t want to participate, only to re-injure himself and cost himself part of the season.

“Since (the Mariners) told me they didn’t want me to play, I don’t want to go over there and get hurt and hear, ‘I told you so,’ ” Beltre said. “I don’t want to hear it. But I still probably have the same chance to get hurt here as I do there. It (would be) just a matter of bad luck. And I might play DH over there, so it might even be easier on my shoulder.” –Seattlepi.com

Last time he represented the Dominican Republic, he was the best 3rd baseman in the tournament

I have heard quite a few fans say that he shouldn’t be allowed to play because the Mariners told him not to. Their reasoning 99% of the time can be summed up like this: “they sign your paychecks, do what they say.”  But I ask you this, if this was an American born player that was trying to recover from an injury so he could represent his country, would they be singing the same song? Probably not. Instead, we’d hear things like, “What a stand up guy, risking his health in a contract year to represent his country. That guy has his priorities in order.”  Ah, I love a good double standard to keep me warm in the middle of winter.

Why aren’t people saying the same thing about Adrian Beltre? We always talk about how we want our athletes to be more than mercenaries. We want the players to care about more than just the money—to care more about the game. This is a guy that is putting his sport and his country over money, yet people aren’t racing to defend him. How is this any different than Yao Ming playing for the Chinese National team and in the Olympics last summer? Remember how he had surgery earlier than normal so he could participate in the Beijing Olympics? People said he was doing it because the Olympics were going to be such a big deal in China and he chose national pride over the Rockets. Who’s to say that Adrian Beltre isn’t afforded the same luxury?

To understand Adrian Beltre, you must first understand the kind of player Beltre is. You see, in 2004 with the Dodgers, Beltre had one of the greatest contract years of all time. He hit .334 with 48 home runs and was 2nd in the NL MVP voting that season. Just to give you a point of reference, he hasn’t been within 50 points of that average since and the closest he came to the home run mark was the 26 home runs he hit in 2007. Needless to say, he hasn’t been close to winning any AL MVP awards during his stint in Seattle.

But this season is a contract year: so if Seattle is ever going to get their money’s worth, this is it. He’s in the final year of his 5 year, $64 million contract he signed with the Mariners after his huge year in LA. Obviously, the $13.4 million that Seattle is paying this season alone should give them the right to weigh in on Beltre’s decision in regards to the WBC. The fact that he’s recovering from torn ligaments in his thumb only serves to complicate manners. In 2006, he managed to make the All-WBC team as the best 3rd baseman in the tournament. I’m sure he wants to perform on the same stage to help show the world that he’s still one of the best players to man the hot-corner.

This whole situation has made me wonder about the World Baseball Classic in general. If Major League Baseball teams are going to start to restrict their players’ involvement due to injury concerns, where will it stop? Of course there’s going to be a chance that their property could get hurt. (Don’t kid yourself; “property” is exactly how management thinks of their players when it comes to situations like this). Just like there’s a chance they could get hurt in spring training, the home run derby or even the All-Star game. Where do you draw the line? Is the All-Star game different because its makes money for Major League Baseball? If the owners are going to start down this path, then the WBC might as well make it an amateur event. Without all professionals being allowed to play, the event just doesn’t have the same luster. If you don’t believe me, then tell me why baseball isn’t an Olympic sport anymore. It’s because no one cared.

Isn't this what Major League Baseball envisioned?

Like it or not, the World Baseball Classic IS the Olympics for baseball players now. The organizers of the event desperately wanted to create an international spectacle along the same lines of the World Cup. Can you imagine Manchester United telling Cristiano Ronaldo that he couldn’t play for Portugal in the World Cup? After all, wasn’t the WBC created by both Major League Baseball and the MLBPA? Now all of a sudden they’re going to pick and choose who gets their blessing to participate? What would the fans reaction be if this was Derek Jeter who was told that he shouldn’t be playing for Team USA?

I can’t help but take Adrian Beltre’s side in this situation. National pride is more important than insuring what could happen. Major League Baseball wanted a tournament that would help promote their sport globally—this is one of the costs. This is a source of pride, especially with the Latin countries like Cuba and the Dominican Republic, that is hard for us to understand. We have a player that is putting his future earning potential at stake to represent his country. That’s the whole point, isn’t it?

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