After the most star-studded United States team played in the 2026 World Baseball Classic, let’s pull out the crystal ball and envision what the roster might look like for the next tournament.
Though future WBC dates have not been decided yet, the next edition would take place in 2029 if it follows the same three-year pattern, so we’ll use that year for our roster prediction. Of course, assuming all of the best players participate, what we’re really asking here is: Who will the top players in MLB be in 2028, the season that will determine roster choices? Though it’s easy to assume the best players from 2025 will remain so in three years, we know that won’t be the case. Players age, new talents emerge and good luck predicting which pitchers will remain healthy.
To make these predictions, we went back to 2010 and looked at the top three players at each of the eight positions on the diamond — leaving aside designated hitters and pitchers, and then grouping the corner outfielders together — in both Baseball-Reference WAR and adjusted batting runs (to focus only on offense). We then checked the results three years later: 2013, 2016, 2019, 2022 and 2025. This produced a list of 207 different player seasons.
The primary questions to consider: How old are the game’s top position players? How often do the players remain at the top of their positions three years later? Here were some of our findings:
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Of the 207 unique player seasons, only 35 were from players 31 or older (under 17%).
If we raise the cutoff to 32 or older, it drops to only 22 seasons (10.6%).
The average age is what you might expect: 27.4 years.
There were more seasons from 24-and-younger players (36) than 31 or older (35).
There were 49 instances of a player reappearing in the top three — including at a different position and including skipping years (like Fernando Tatis Jr. appearing as a shortstop in 2019 and then a right fielder in 2025).
Age is a huge factor here, so we’ll be focusing on that. In 2025, for example, Nick Kurtz (age 22), Junior Caminero (21), Julio Rodriguez (24), Pete Crow-Armstrong (23), Corbin Carroll (24), Wyatt Langford (23) and James Wood (22) all ranked at the top of their positions. Caminero and Rodriguez, of course, played for the Dominican Republic team in this year’s tournament, and Crow-Armstrong was on Team USA — and Carroll would have been too, until he was injured before the tournament. Kurtz, Langford and Wood all certainly look like strong candidates for 2029.
Let’s get to it. We’ll list each player’s age as of March 15, 2029 (assuming the tournament will take place in the same timeframe it has in recent iterations) and match the 14 position players the U.S. had on the 2026 squad.
Position players
C: Cal Raleigh, Seattle Mariners (32)Carter Jensen, Kansas City Royals (25)
Drake Baldwin and Shea Langeliers would be the other top options here, especially with Raleigh right at that dangerous age precipice. His 2028 season would be his age-31 season, and while top catchers do tend to be a little older than other positions, the oldest catchers to make the top three were 31-year-old Carlos Ruiz in 2010 and 31-year-old J.T. Realmuto in 2022. But Raleigh was so good in 2025, and has been so durable, that we’ll bank on his productivity for a few more years.
Jensen is entering his rookie season this year after debuting late last season for the Royals — and the left-handed hitter looks as if he’s going to both post a high on-base percentage and hit for power. He ranked as the No. 22 prospect in Kiley McDaniel’s top 100 list for 2026, and though he’ll split the catching duties with Salvador Perez in 2026, Jensen should eventually take over that job with Perez shifting into a full-time DH role.
1B: Nick Kurtz, Athletics (26)
This feels like an easy call given the other top United States-born first basemen in 2025 — Matt Olson, Freddie Freeman, Pete Alonso, Bryce Harper — are all already in their 30s, and Kurtz was still a top-three first baseman in 2025 despite playing a partial season. If you’re looking for the guy most likely to be hitting cleanup for the future Team USA, this is him.
2B: Kevin McGonigle, Detroit Tigers (24)
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ESPN’s No. 2 overall prospect, McGonigle will debut this season with the Tigers and is making a strong bid to crack the Opening Day roster at age 21 after hitting .305/.408/.583 in the minors in 2025, with more walks than strikeouts as he struck out only 11.6% of the time. His bat has a chance to be special, and while it looks as if he might be able to stick at shortstop, we’re not too concerned about that here. For this team, we’re going to make him our second baseman.
3B: Gunnar Henderson, Baltimore Orioles …? (27)
We’re going to cheat again. We’ll shift Henderson over to third base for the 2029 WBC, just as was the case this past tourney, especially considering the top young third basemen in the game — Caminero and Maikel Garcia — aren’t American and third base is a weak position in the minors. What we don’t know is whether Henderson will still be with the Orioles, as he’ll hit free agency after the 2028 season.
SS: Bobby Witt Jr., Kansas City Royals (28)Konnor Griffin, Pittsburgh Pirates (22)
Witt will still be in the prime of his career and maybe he’ll even have wrestled an MVP award from Judge by 2029, so he’ll be back for a third stint in the WBC. But we have to fit Griffin on the team. The Pittsburgh phenom might crack the Pirates’ roster while still a teenager — he doesn’t turn 20 until April 24. By 2029, he’ll have finished his third season in the majors and will already be a star.
LF: Roman Anthony, Boston Red Sox (24)James Wood, Washington Nationals (26)
Anthony replaced Carroll on this year’s roster and is another easy call for the 2029 team. He’s mature beyond his years at the plate with the potential to put up Juan Soto-type numbers thanks to a high walk rate and power potential. Anthony’s going to be one of the best hitters in the game for the next decade, posting annual OBPs over .400 — heck, he was already at .396 as a 21-year-old rookie in 2025.
In his first full season in the majors, the 6-foot-6 Wood blasted 31 home runs and made the All-Star team while hitting .256/.350/.475. Though he has a good approach — he drew 85 walks — his long swing also led to 221 strikeouts, only two from the MLB record. Wood struggled in the second half as pitchers found some holes to attack, but given his youth, look for him to make those adjustments and return to All-Star status.
CF: Wyatt Langford, Texas Rangers (27)Pete Crow-Armstrong, Chicago Cubs (26)
Langford split his time between left field and center field for the Rangers, but we’ll make him the starting center fielder on this squad. His defensive metrics are excellent at both positions, plus his offense was good enough that he produced 5.6 WAR in 2025 — seventh among all MLB outfielders. Globe Life Field was an impossible place to hit last year, which affected the offense of all Texas hitters. Look for Langford’s raw numbers at the plate to look much better in the future.
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I’ll admit — I’m not completely sold on PCA despite an impressive six-win second season. After a hot first half, his offense fell apart in the second half (.216/.262/.372) as pitchers did a better job of exploiting his hyperaggressive approach. He ended up finishing with a below-average .287 OBP. Still, Crow-Armstrong offers a high floor as an elite Gold Glove center fielder, is young enough to make some improvements at the plate and, at a minimum, could serve as a defensive replacement and pinch runner. We’ll tentatively make him the backup for now over San Diego Padres center fielder Jackson Merrill (who, like PCA, needs to improve his plate discipline) and Tigers prospect Max Clark.
RF: Corbin Carroll, Arizona Diamondbacks (28)
After breaking his hamate bone at the start of spring training and sitting out this year’s WBC, Carroll will be back in 2029, still in the prime of his career — and, luckily for Diamondbacks fans, still with them after signing a long-term contract that can keep him in Arizona through the 2031 season. Others to watch: Jac Caglianone (who played for Italy this year but could also play for Team USA) and don’t discount Kyle Tucker, who was on the 2023 squad and will be coming off his age-31 season. Byron Buxton, who was also on this year’s team, probably will have aged out of center field but could be a right fielder by this point and might merit consideration as well.
DH: Aaron Judge, New York Yankees (36)
This is the one player where you can throw age out the window. Maybe he won’t still be the best hitter in the game three years from now — though, I also wouldn’t bet against him. The 2028 season will be his age-36 season. Of the 207 player seasons mentioned above, no 36-year-old cracked the top three at his position. The only 35-year-old was Marlon Byrd in 2013 — who, we should mention, received suspensions for PED violations in 2012 and 2016 (the latter of which was for a full season). But there have been some 35-year-old DHs who ranked high, including George Springer last season. So, we’ll comfortably put Judge on the roster.
Final spot: Roch Cholowsky, SS, UCLA (23)
We have room for one more player and should probably go with another infielder. We could add another first baseman, but the top contenders — the Cubs’ Michael Busch and Yankees’ Ben Rice — are both left-handed-hitters like Kurtz, so that would be kind of pointless. Alonso will be coming off his age-33 season, a bit past his prime and probably a DH by then anyway. So, let’s add that infielder and go with Cholowsky, a UCLA star who looks like a lock for the Chicago White Sox as the first pick in the 2026 draft. He’s advanced enough that he’s expected to quickly reach the majors. Maybe Cholowsky won’t play much, but he can soak in the knowledge of being around all the best players in the game.
Pitching staff
We’re not going to run through the entire pitching staff because pitchers get hurt, are less predictable, don’t necessarily want to participate and most of the staff are relievers anyway.
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Entering the 2026 season, three pitchers are head and shoulders above other U.S. starters: Paul Skenes, Tarik Skubal and Garrett Crochet. OK, maybe Hunter Brown is right up there as well. We’ll go with that group as our four-man rotation for the 2029 WBC and take our chances.
Other contenders: Logan Webb, on this year’s team, will probably still be pumping out 200-inning seasons. Nolan McLean could return as well. Maybe Dylan Cease finds his groove with the Toronto Blue Jays. And Seattle’s Bryan Woo is coming off a stellar 2025. Young starters to watch: Bubba Chandler of the Pirates, Andrew Painter of the Philadelphia Phillies, Trey Yesavage of the Blue Jays, Thomas White of the Miami Marlins and Kade Anderson of the Mariners. And let’s hope Cincinnati Reds right-hander Hunter Greene, who is expected to be out until July, can get healthy. There’s still Cy Young potential there if he can ever put together a full season.
The bullpen? We’ll bring back Mason Miller as the closer and go from there.
