Mariners Forbid Beltre From WBC

Adrian Beltre wanted to play for his home country, the Dominican Republic, in the World Baseball Classic. The third baseman is coming off two different surgeries in September -- one on his left thumb and another on his left shoulder -- but felt he was healthy enough to represent his country.

The Mariners management, however, didn't seem to agree with his assessment of health, nor do they want to take the chance he hurts something else. In fact, they didn't let him have a say in the matter.

"Yes, we took the decision (away)," Mariners general manager Jack Zduriencik said. "We need this player, and we need this player badly, to be competitive this year.

"I feel bad about it. I know how badly he wanted to play. As I said all along, I would support him - as long as he was healthy. ... If he's not right at 100%, then we as an organization couldn't afford to have a setback."

As the USA Today article points out, Beltre was healthy enough to go 2-3 with three RBI this week in his first spring action.

While the organization is doing the right thing in the short term, at least in their view, publicly stating they won't allow him to play raises my eyebrows for two reasons.

First of all, if they need him so badly, why aren't they looking to the future? Beltre's a free agent after this season, and this has the potential to leave a bad taste in his mouth. It's not like the Mariners can afford to bowl him over with huge dollar figures, so they'd need any advantage they can find.

Secondly, Bud Selig is championing this idea of the WBC. He's done everything short of shove it down the collective throats of baseball fans everywhere, so it surprises me that an prominent front office executive would so blatantly prevent a good player from participating. While Beltre isn't a star, he would certainly be a key cog on the Dominican Republic's team. Selig obviously can't publicly bash the Mariners for trying to protect their own player, but this has to have drawn his internal ire.