Vlad Guerrero Jr. picks his 2023 World Baseball Classic team

By Jake Mintz & Jordan Shusterman
FOX Sports MLB Writers

Last year, the Dominican Republic claimed the baseball bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics with a roster filled with prospects and veterans who are no longer on major-league rosters. 

It was a thrill to watch that mix of up-and-coming youth and familiar elder statesmen compete together, but it also felt like we were missing out on seeing some of our favorite big leaguers on a global stage. 

Fortunately, fans won’t have to wait much longer to see the best of the best compete internationally. 

The World Baseball Classic is set to return in 2023 after a six-year hiatus, having most recently occurred in 2017, when Team USA won the championship. Because the WBC takes place during spring training, far more MLB players are able to participate in this than in the Summer Olympics. Granted, it’s never a guarantee, as MLB teams have varying levels of willingness to let their players take on injury risk, but it’s still much easier for the teams competing in the WBC to load up with their native star players.

Team D.R. already has one WBC title, having won it all in 2013. But an entirely new wave of Dominican superstars, including Vladimir Guerrero Jr., have made their mark in the big leagues since then. 

With the next Classic a year away, we sat down with Vlad Jr. at spring training and asked him to put his manager cap on and pick his dream Dominican Republic team for next year’s tournament.

We went position-by-position and asked Vlad to choose from a list of candidates at each one. 

Here are his options and choices:

Outfield:

* Franchy Cordero
* Teoscar Hernández
* Eloy Jiménez
* Ramón Laureano
* Manuel Margot
* Ketel Marte
* Starling Marte
* Marcell Ozuna
* Franmil Reyes
* Jose Siri
* Juan Soto
* Raimel Tapia

Vlad’s picks: LF Teoscar Hernández, CF Starling Marte, RF Juan Soto

First base:

* Vladimir Guerrero Jr.
* Ronald Guzmán
* Yermín Mercedes
* Albert Pujols
* Miguel Sanó
* Carlos Santana

Vlad’s pick: Himself :)

Second base/shortstop: We had Vlad pick his double-play combo from this group.

* Willy Adames
* Oneil Cruz
* Wander Franco
* Jorge Polanco
* Amed Rosario
* Jean Segura
* Fernando Tatis Jr.

Vlad’s pick: SS Fernando Tatis Jr., 2B Wander Franco

Third base:

* Rafael Devers
* Maikel Franco
* Vladimir Guerrero Jr.
* José Ramírez
* Miguel Sanó
* Jonathan Villar

Vlad’s pick: Rafael Devers

Catcher:

* Wilkin Castillo
* Francisco Mejía
* Yermín Mercedes
* Francisco Peña
* Gary Sánchez
* Pedro Severino

Vlad’s pick: Gary Sánchez

Pitcher:

* Sandy Alcantara
* Luis Castillo
* Johnny Cueto
* Cristian Javier
* Frankie Montas
* Freddy Peralta
* Michael Pineda
* Ervin Santana
* Framber Valdez

Vlad’s pick: Sandy Alcantara

Designated hitter: We figured Vlad would pick Nelson Cruz … but he actually chose Franmil Reyes!

What do you think of Vladdy’s team? Would he make a good GM? Let us know @CespedesBBQ what your dream Team D.R. would look like!

Jake Mintz and Jordan Shusterman, creators of the Twitter account Céspedes Family BBQ, write about all things baseball for FOX Sports.