Katie Stratman-Imagn Images

Padres' Manny Machado Announces World Baseball Classic Decision

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Eric W. Bolin | Last updated Jul 1, 2025 4:17 PM ET

San Diego Padres third baseman Manny Machado will play for his native Dominican Republic in the 2026 World Baseball Classic, he announced Tuesday.

Machado, a four-time, top-five finisher in Most Valuable Player voting, is slashing .293/.354/.477 with 13 home runs and 20 doubles this season for the Padres. He's on pace for his best bWAR season since 2022 with a 2.5 mark as of Tuesday. He finished second in NL MVP voting that season and finished with a 6.8 bWAR.

Machado joins fellow superstars Juan Soto and Fernando Tatis Jr., both of whom previously their intent to play in the WBC, on the Dominican team. The team failed to make it to the knockout stage in the last Classic in 2023.

Over his 14 big-league seasons, Machado is a career .280/.339/.488 hitter with 355 home runs. He spent six-plus seasons with the Baltimore Orioles, who took him with the No. 3 pick in the 2010 draft, before being traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2018. Machado played only the final few months of the season with the Dodgers before signing with the Padres and subsequently inking an 11-year, $355 million deal to stay in San Diego back in 2023.

Machado and Soto were both a part of the 2023 Dominican team that disappointed by not making it to the knockout round then. Tatis did not play for his country then as he was ineligible because of an 80-game MLB suspension for violating the league's performance-enhancing substance policy. The Dominican team lost the final game of Pool D group play in a winner-advances game against Puerto Rico.

San Diego entered Tuesday's MLB games second in the National League West, 7 1/2 games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers and trailed the St. Louis Cardinals by one game for the final wild-card spot.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

More must-reads: