Yankees Dellin Betances Will Pitch for the Dominican in the WBC

New York Yankees closer Dellin Betances has announced he will play for the Dominican Republic in the upcoming 2017 World Baseball Classic tournament.

Although he was listed on the 50-man preliminary roster for Team USA that was released in early November, New York Yankees closer Dellin Betances recently told George King of the New York Post that he has elected to play for the defending champion Dominican Republic squad in the upcoming 2017 World Baseball Classic.

Betances grew up in New York city, but his parents came to the United States from the Dominican and he still has a strong connection to the country. He was eligible to play for either squad according to WBC rules. As he explained to King:

"Both teams want me to play [for them], but I made a commitment to the DR. That is where my family is from, and I want to make them proud."

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At the moment, that leaves Team USA without a representative of the Yankees, although that could always change because final rosters are not submitted until January.

Rumors suggest that rookie sensation Gary Sanchez could join his teammate in suiting up for the Dominican team, while New York’s ace Masahiro Tanaka was one of the stars of the Japanese squad during the last tournament and is expected to join his native national team once again.

If there were two members of the Yankees roster I could ban from participating in the WBC next year, it would almost certainly be Tanaka and Betances.

Although Tanaka put together a healthy and dominant 2016 campaign, the partial tear in his UCL remains a ticking time bomb. Throwing off his pre-season routine and adding to his workload seems like it’s asking for trouble.

Betances has not had any serious injury concerns since joining the big leagues, but he has thrown more innings than any other MLB reliever in the last three years and has worn down at each season because of that. Asking him to pitch competitive innings a month earlier seems like it could exacerbate the problem. He’ll turn 29 before Opening Day next year so he’s not exactly a kid anymore either.

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Unfortunately, as long as a player didn’t end the season on the disabled list, MLB clubs have no real say in whether a player can participate in the WBC. I love the idea of the tournament and it’s a lot of fun to watch, it’s just a little stressful to see some of the organization’s most valuable players increasing their injury risk by participating.