Yankees sneak 1 fun World Baseball Classic warmup into 2026 spring training schedule

The New York Yankees' 2026 season is just around the corner! No, the other corner. One more corner. Yeah, that oughtta do it. Just peek around that corner five more corners down, and there we go.

While nearly an entire offseason's worth of work is still to be done (shoutout Tim Hill), the Yankees just started the engines on Wednesday afternoon, announcing the team's 2026 spring training schedule. This year's annual rites of spring overlap with the World Baseball Classic, which means certain teams have tacked on a fun exhibition to their slate before the action gets underway.

The Yankees, who officially begin play on Feb. 20 on the road against the Baltimore Orioles' spring squad, are one such team.

They'll face off with Team Panama at George M. Steinbrenner Field on March 3, nearly two weeks into the spring competition.

2026 Yankees spring training schedule interrupted by World Baseball Classic: When is the 2026 WBC?

The official WBC action gets underway right after the Yankees face off with Panama's finest, a group that could include Jose Caballero, who played on the 2023 team's roster. The tournament lasts from March 5 through March 17 this year, with the semi-finals and finals once again taking place in Miami.

As you can see, spring training action stops for no Captain; the Yankees will be playing short-handed throughout Team USA's WBC run and the rest of the tournament. Spring action continues through March 24, with the Yankees playing their final two preseason prep contests on the road in Arizona against the Cubs. That's how they'll handle moving west inch-by-inch, readying for the start of the regular season all by their lonesome in the spotlight the night before Opening Day; the Yankees play the Giants on Netflix to start the campaign in primetime.

While the full slate of Yankees World Baseball Classic participants remains unknown, Aaron Judge will be captaining America, participating in the event for the first time. Who knows? Maybe he'll get a chance to recreate and reverse the iconic "Ohtani vs. Trout" tournament-ender back in 2023 by homering off Camilo Doval in a dramatic moment.