"According to baseball reporter Francys Romero, Andy Ibáñez also decided against playing for Team Cuba so he could focus on his first season with the Dodgers: Andy Ibáñez will not be with Cuba for the 2026 World Baseball Classic, according to sources. Although Ibáñez was included on Cuba's preliminary roster, he has chosen to focus on Spring Training and properly prepare with his new team, the Los Angeles Dodgers. - Francys Romero (@francysromeroFR) January 27, 2026"
"Ibáñez became a free agent this offseason as a result of getting non-tendered by the Detroit Tigers. He had spent the last three seasons with the Tigers, hitting a combined .251/.304/.392 with 20 home runs, 94 RBI and a 93 wRC+ in 304 games. Ibáñez's MLB career also includes spending parts of two seasons with the Texas Rangers in 2021 and 2022. While appearing in 420 games thus far, Ibáñez has hit .254/.305/.389 with 28 home runs, 140 runs, 128 RBI and a 92 wRC+."
Several Los Angeles Dodgers players will represent their countries at the 2026 World Baseball Classic, including Clayton Kershaw and Will Smith for Team USA and Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto for Team Japan. Roki Sasaki was considered for Samurai Japan but the Dodgers prevented his participation after a right shoulder injury sidelined him for much of the 2025 season. Freddie Freeman withdrew from Team Canada for personal reasons. Andy Pages and Teoscar Hernández declined international duty to focus on the 2026 season. Andy Ibáñez opted out of Cuba's preliminary roster to concentrate on Spring Training and preparing with the Dodgers. Ibáñez does not have any minor league options remaining and will need to make the Dodgers roster out of spring training.
Read at Dodger Blue
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