Freddie Freeman surprisingly steps away from Team Canada for WBC

Multiple outlets citing Sportsnet's Shi Davidi reported Saturday that Freeman will no longer play in the 2026 tournament due to personal reasons. The detail is thin, and it's clearly being treated as private.

This turn is jarring because the whole winter vibe was optimism. Sportsnet had Freeman saying he wanted to suit up again, with Canada set for pool play in Puerto Rico and a March 7 opener against Colombia.

On the MLB side, Freeman is still very much Freddie Freeman right now. He's 36, he hit .295 with 24 homers, a .869 OPS, and 90 RBIs in 2025, and he's signed at $27 million per season on that Dodgers deal.

Team Canada's projected starting lineup for the World Baseball Classic was announced with Freeman at DH but it looks like that will not be the case.

Baseball-wise, it changes the feel of Canada's order immediately. Freeman's at-bats force managers to burn their best left-on-left reliever early, and his first-base defence cleans up plenty of rushed infield throws.

The early chatter on replacements points to Josh Naylor taking on the everyday first-base job, which keeps the lineup dangerous. It's not the same star power, but Naylor brings real thump and a different kind of edge.

Canada's bigger challenge is identity, not just production. Freeman is the face casual fans recognize, and he's been part of the WBC story for Canada in 2017 and 2023, even with that 2023 hamstring exit hanging over it.

I'm not touching the «personal reasons» part beyond what's been reported, because it's not our business. The human hope is simply that everything is okay, and the baseball hope is that Team Canada still turns March into something loud.

Source: Sportsnet
Canada's Freeman withdraws from World Baseball Classic for personal reasons