Royals star’s cryptic comment may hint at unfortunate World Baseball Classic fate

While the focus of the baseball world is firmly focused on the 2025 MLB Playoffs at the moment, and rightfully so, it’s the biggest occasion on the MLB calendar.

However, when March roles around, baseball fans across the planet will shift their focus to the World Baseball Classic, when the best baseball nations on the planet battle it out for global baseball supremacy.

One of the nation’s that have a great shot at making some serious noise at the 2026 WBC is Venezuela, who saw their star studded roster put the eventual runners-up in the United States through the ringer in the 2023 quarterfinals. Although they lost 9-7, it would take a four-run eighth inning rally from the U.S. to topple the South American powerhouse.

One name not included on that 2023 roster was Royals star third baseman, Maikel Garcia. At the time he was coming of just a handful of major league games in his debut 2022 season and was not the star he broke out as in 2025.

After an All-Star campaign this year though, where he posted a glistening 121 wRC+ along with world class defense, it seemed like Garcia was all-but a shoo-in to join the likes of teammates Bobby Witt Jr. and Vinnie Pasquantino as a participants in 2026’s tournament with a key role for his nation.

However, some cryptic comments on Thursday suggest that perhaps a starting job for Team Venezuela may not be the lock we all thought it was.

Royals’ Maikel Garcia publicly criticizes Team Venezuela ahead of 2026 World Baseball Classic

After an X user by the name of Wilber Sánchez suggested that Venezuela’s coaching staff “don’t see him as Venezuela’s starting 3B for the 2026 WBC”, Garcia took to social media to share his thoughts, seemingly put weight to the claim.

“They don’t like me,” Garcia wrote on X.

Venezuela has not yet named an official roster, as they’ll have plenty of time do so until the tournament kicks off at the beginning of March.

It seems hard to think that Garcia won’t be included on the team’s roster after the year he just had. However, perhaps the Team Venezuela brain trust prefer the familiar veteran option in Eugenio Suárez as the starter at the hot corner.

Suárez was their guy at third in 2023’s tournament and is coming off quite the season himself in 2026.

If this is the case, it’s certainly a conundrum that will be a storyline to watch as the winter months unfold as both have unique cases to make for the role based on the season that just was.

If run production is the desire, it’s hard to look at 49 HR and 118 RBI and not give the nod to Suárez.

However, from an all-around hitting and plate discipline perspective, paired with speed capable of stealing 20+ bags per season along with Gold Glove-caliber defense, it’s hard not to give the nod to Garcia, making it understandable why he’s seemingly upset at the thought of playing second fiddle.

While Garcia does have the ability to appear at other positions like shortstop, second base and the outfield, the Royals star’s comments have put the eyes of many on the Venezuelan third base race.