The World Baseball Classic is the best it’s ever been in its 20-year history, but John Smoltz believes he has an easy way to make it even bigger and better.
Smoltz joined The Dan Patrick Show on Tuesday afternoon ahead of the WBC final between Team USA and Venezuela. And during the interview, Patrick asked Smoltz how baseball can take an already successful event and make it better.
“I think you make it bigger when you do it in the middle of the season and shut it down for a week.”
– John Smoltz on how to make the WBC bigger. pic.twitter.com/ZMhCRDRy5s
— Dan Patrick Show (@dpshow) March 17, 2026
“I think you make it bigger when you do it in the middle of the season and shut it down for a week,” Smoltz said. “I’ve been saying that for years. I think it’s the perfect spot to showcase the international talent, you would have everybody wearing that uniform, they’d be in midseason form, there would be no restrictions, you truly get to see the Goliath against the Goliath without them coming out and throwing a million arms.”
“This tournament has accomplished its goals,” Smoltz continued, implying they can now change the format. “Team Italy, baseball’s gonna be thought of differently there. You’ve got other countries that are bringing baseball to the forefront when other sports were really kinda marquee and king. That has worked. Is it the perfect timing? No.”
Smoltz cited Team USA manager Mark DeRosa essentially having to run every decision about a player by their MLB manager first, because these players would normally be at Spring Training.
“You got 30 bosses telling you what their players can and can’t do. It’s a very difficult situation,” Smoltz said. “But given the circumstances, this has been an epic year. It’s probably the best tournament we’ve seen in a long time.
There is no doubt that DeRosa’s job as manager is made harder by having to consult 30 bosses. But a belief that the tournament or any version of the tournament wouldn’t be hampered by player restrictions if it were played in-season is mistaken. MLB teams and managers are never going to let their pitchers throw 100 pitches in an exhibition game, even if it’s being played in July.
Smoltz said he has told commissioner Rob Manfred about his idea to improve the WBC by moving it to the regular season, claiming he would even be in favor of turning it into a World vs. USA event that replaces the All-Star game.
“Even if you just did an international World vs USA,” Smoltz explained. “I think our All-Star Game is still the best All-Star Game of any sport…and everybody is still trying to figure out how to spruce it up, well, this is how you would…and you could do two games. If you shut the game down for a week and give everybody the break they need, you could do so many things to promote within that week and own that week.”
There is something to be said for the World Baseball Classic being successful in March because fans are hungry for quality baseball. That appetite might not be the same during the season, when they’re able to watch quality baseball every day. But the best way to take an event that has grown immensely over 20 years and ruin it would be to reduce it to a World vs. USA format. Part of what makes the WBC special is the fact that other countries care about it so much. If you put Japan, Italy, Venezuela, the Dominican Republic, and every other participating country on the same team, the event would lose the essence that has made it so successful.
