Minnesota Twins' Harrison Bader to Join Team Israel For 2026 World Baseball Classic

Harrison Bader may be on his fifth MLB team in the past four seasons, but he already knows what jersey he'll be wearing in 2026.

The Minnesota Twins outfielder went on Tuesday's episode of "The Max Mannis Podcast," touching on a wide variety of topics from his long list of superstar teammates over the years to his Jewish identity. That led to Bader making an announcement about his plans for next spring.

"I'm looking forward to playing for Team Israel in 2026 for the World Baseball Classic, so that'll be amazing," Bader said. "I'm fully healthy, I plan on being fully healthy, and it's something I'm certainly looking forward to doing. So that'll be super cool for so many reasons."

Bader, whose father is Jewish, previously committed to playing for Team Israel in 2023 before an oblique strain prevented him from participating in the tournament. He wore a belt with the Star of David of it during the 2024 season.

The 30-year-old New York native has hit .242 with a .699 OPS and 14.2 WAR over the course of his nine MLB seasons. He finished sixth in NL Rookie of the Year voting in 2018, then won a Gold Glove in 2021.

Bader accomplished both of those feats with the St. Louis Cardinals. He has since bounced around to the New York Yankees, Cincinnati Reds, New York Mets and now the Twins. He is on the books for $4.75 million this season and carries a $10 million mutual option for 2026.

Yankees superstar Aaron Judge was announced as the captain for Team USA last week, effectively opening the floodgates for other players to make their plans public. Still, the WBC is over 10 months away.

Israel will start in Pool D, which also includes Venezuela, the Dominican Republic, the Netherlands and Nicaragua. Those countries will compete in Miami between March 6 and 11.

Ryan Lavarnway, Danny Valencia, Joc Pederson and Dean Kremer were among the MLB veterans who suited up for Israel in 2023, alongside youngsters like Spencer Horwitz, Zack Gelof and Mattt Mervis. That group did not advance past the group stage, instead finishing fourth in Pool D.