It’s early January in Boston. Every day, or so it seems, there is the dreaded wintery of sleet/snow/rain/ice and of course wind. But over the next month there will be more and more stories about guys “in the best shape of his life” and heading to Florida for Spring Training. And as soon as those stories finish we’ll be looking at high-level baseball sooner than you think: the World Baseball Classic runs from March 5th to 17th. Representing teams across the globe, the Red Sox will be represented. According to Chris Cotillo these are the likely participants, although there is some flux.
Garret Whitlock – Team USA
Ceddanne Rafaela – Netherlands
Jovani Morán – Puerto Rico
Aroldis Chapman has been included on Great Britain’s preliminary roster but does not appear to be a final candidate yet according to the MLB players listed. Neither do Rafaela, Abreu, or Morán seem to be included on that list. But there are players being announced as additions every day so this may still change.
But one player has me more interested than other: Roman Anthony.
Last week on the Foul Territory show at about 1:43:16, Kansas City Royals first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino and member of Team Italy admitted to having something of a white whale in recruiting for the WBC: Roman Anthony.
And why wouldn’t he? Anthony was only worth 3.1 bWAR in 71 games in 2025 while basically posting the dream .300/.400/.500 slash line of .292/.396/.463. Pasquantino’s entire career, 424 games over 4 years with some injuries, has been 4.9 bWAR. Granted 2025 is 2.4 of that over a span of 160 games so he’s no slouch himself. But Anthony is his prize.
Yes, Roman, from Florida, can play for Team USA. But why would you want to?
By the time of the next WBC it’s possible that Anthony is among the very best outfielders in the game. And America has a rich, deep pool of baseball talent.
You know who doesn’t have an endless supply of guys? Especially high-end outfielders? Italy!
The average of the projections currently on FanGraphs predict a slash line of .263/.358/.437 with around 20 home runs this year. And about a 3.0 WAR season. Projection systems, of course, feed on prior data which at the major league level Anthony just doesn’t have much of but even if you think that’s his max for a sophomore season guaranteed a starting job and signed for most of the next decade that’s looking pretty good!
Which, if this is his floor, is all the more reason for Vinnie and Team Italy to make their move now. He literally might not be available for the next WBC because if he looks as good as he did over the summer of 2025, MLB and whoever succeeds Rob Manfred isn’t going to want that guy playing for Italy. They’re fine with lower tier players (Sorry Pasquach) representing an ancestral homeland but not superstars.
If there is ever a time for Italy to scoop him up it’s now. 2026. Just imagine the face of Team Italy: Roman Anthony.
Now if they can only do something about that hat design…
