ESPN: World Baseball Classic is “Not the Priority Right Now”

The last time we saw a World Baseball Classic take place, the United States took home their first gold medal in the event. That was 2017, meaning under normal circumstances, they would defend their title in 2021. These aren’t normal circumstances, however, and the event “will not be played in 2021,” according to ESPN reporter Enrique Rojas.

Source to ESPN Deportes: World Baseball Classic will not be played in 2021

— Enrique Rojas/ESPN (@Enrique_Rojas1) May 11, 2020

The 2021 World Baseball Classic was set to expand to 20 teams for the first time. The 16 teams from the 2017 tournament automatically qualified while the remaining four were to come from a qualifying tournament this past March (it was postponed due to the coronavirus).

Miami and Phoenix were supposed to host the 2021 WBC along with Tokyo and Taiwan.

A new date has not been announced as of yet, and “may not return until 2023,” via Rojas’ ESPN article. “The tournament was canceled. It is not the priority right now,” the article added.

The original dates for the 2021 WBC were March 9th through March 23rd.