Pete Crow-Armstrong Will Play for Team USA in the 2026 World Baseball Classic

[Matthew Trueblood]

Image courtesy of © Matt Marton-Imagn Images

Fueled by his friendship with Seiya Suzuki and his eye-catching fashion choices, Pete Crow-Armstrong became an international star when the Cubs went to Japan to open the 2025 regular season. Next March, he won't have to endure as long a flight to experience the same global spotlight. He has accepted an offer to play for Team USA in the World Baseball Classic, starting with pool play in Houston in March, he announced Thursday night.

Any list of center fielders on the wish list for American manager Mark DeRosa was going to include Crow-Armstrong, and since Byron Buxton (arguably the only other center fielder from the U.S. better than Crow-Armstrong in 2025) will probably elect to avoid the injury risk of playing high-stakes games three weeks before Opening Day, the Cubs' young star has a clear path to playing time for his country.

He won't be the Cubs' only representative in the tournament, but Crow-Armstrong is the one who could enjoy a further star turn by playing well there. That doesn't come with direct benefits for the Cubs. In fact, in addition to the slight risk of injury and the significant disruption of the preparation process that is spring training, this is likely to put extra time pressure on any attempts to sign him to a long-term deal. The two sides can't talk as easily with Crow-Armstrong in Houston. As Crow-Armstrong's profile continues to grow, he's also in an increasingly comfortable negotiating position. 

If the Cubs want to lock him up beyond 2030, they might already need to shift their focus from trying to capture value on a team-friendly extension toward paying the market rate for his services. Contracts signed by similarly famous and talented players (Bobby Witt Jr., Julio Rodríguez, Fernando Tatis Jr.) have worked that way, even when the player didn't appear to have the short-term earning power or proximity to free agency to extract that kind of payday. 

Those players are all better than Crow-Armstrong, whose second-half struggles at the plate exposed very real weaknesses. However, his freakish athleticism and the upside he flashed with a calendar year (from August 2024 through July 2025) during which he batted .271/.312/.524 in 687 plate appearances make him just as dynamic as they are—and he's becoming that caliber of celebrity, too.

The Tokyo Series to open 2025, his showcase at the All-Star Game and the Cubs making a two-round push into the postseason put Crow-Armstrong very much on the global map this year. Next year, he'll get to continue carving out a niche. He might even prove himself to be the best defender in baseball, anywhere in the world. The World Baseball Classic is wonderful because of players just like Crow-Armstrong; the endlessly charismatic Randy Arozarena was one of the biggest stars of the last one. Next spring's event continues to fill up with big names, and that's what Crow-Armstrong has already become.

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