Add Miguel Rojas to the list of those unable to

Miguel Rojas is the latest Dodger to withdraw from consideration for the World Baseball Classic, becoming a member of Teoscar Hernández, Andy Pages, Andy Ibáñez and maybe other gamers. MLB Network will reveal all 20 workforce rosters Thursday at 4 p.m. PT.

Rojas, 37, is not going to symbolize his native Venezuela because of issue acquiring insurance coverage. The versatile World Series star expressed remorse that he can’t play in an Instagram story that included a picture of himself with the Venezuelan flag draped over his shoulders.

“Today I am very sad,” he wrote in Spanish. “A real pity to not be able to represent my country and wear that flag on my chest. On this occasion, age wasn’t just a number.”

Insurance was required to guarantee his $5.5-million wage in case he missed Dodgers video games because of accidents incurred during the WBC, which is able to happen from March 5-17 in Tokyo, Miami, Houston and San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Rojas’ state of affairs is comparable to that of Clayton Kershaw forward of the 2023 WBC. The pitcher was disillusioned that he couldn’t play for Team USA because his injury historical past made acquiring insurance coverage not possible. The Dodgers declined to waive his insurance coverage requirement and assume financial risk in case Kershaw acquired harm during the match.

“I’m frustrated,” Kershaw said at the time. “They should make it easy for guys that want to play to play.”

Insurance coverage protects groups from having to pay a participant for time missed because of an injury stemming from the WBC, which requires members to bear entrance and exit physicals to doc injury data.

Players could be deemed uninsurable for a number of causes, a source told The Times in 2023. Included are gamers who completed the earlier season on the injured list or spent appreciable time on the injured list. Also uninsurable are gamers identified with a “chronic condition.”

Rojas, who has said this can be his last season major league season as a participant, has sustained a succession of lower-body accidents in current years. The 12-year veteran utility infielder started his profession with the Dodgers in 2014 then performed for the Miami Marlins for eight years before rejoining the Dodgers in 2023.

He will always be remembered by Dodgers followers for his game-tying home run in the ninth inning of Game 7 of the 2025 World Series against the Toronto Blue Jays. The baseball Rojas struck bought for $156,000 at public sale.

This will mark the second WBC in a row that Rojas has missed. He was on Venezuela’s 2023 roster but withdrew after fellow infielder Gavin Lux tore his ACL during spring training, growing Rojas’ function with the Dodgers.

Hernández has elected not to play for the Dominican Republic while Pages and Ibáñez — who signed a one-year, $1.2-million contract with the Dodgers this offseason — received’t swimsuit up for Cuba. It is unclear whether or not insurance coverage considerations have been components in their selections.

However, Houston Astros stars Jose Altuve and Carlos Correa have been pressured to withdraw because of their incapacity to receive insurance coverage. Altuve would have performed for Venezuela and Correa for Puerto Rico.

Dodgers who plan to play in the WBC embody World Series heroes Will Smith of Team USA and pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto of Team Japan. Shohei Ohtani announced in November that he would play for Japan, although the two-way celebrity has not determined whether or not he’ll pitch.

Smith can be a teammate of Kershaw, who because he retired from the Dodgers doesn’t need insurance coverage now to take part in the WBC. In fact, he’s gone from needing insurance coverage to being insurance coverage.

“I just want to be the insurance policy,” Kershaw told MLB Network. “If anybody needs a breather, or if they need me to pitch back-to-back-to-back, or if they don’t need me to pitch at all, I’m just there to be there. I just want to be a part of this group.

“I learned a long time ago, you just want to be a part of great things.”