I'm referring to the fact that they are paid for a 6 month regular season with 1.5 months of practice beforehand and 1 month of playoffs after. They aren't going to give a crap about such a series. They might play if they get paid, but it won't come close to the intensity of the actual world series. It will be viewed as punishment for winning. I don't doubt that it won't have the luster of the World Series (especially at first), but I doubt anyone will view it as punishment for winning. A true "World" Series is something, if done correctly (big assumption, I know), that could generate a lot of interest. As with anything new, some people will probably really like it, some will hate it, and many will be indifferent. I mean I think the ideal comparison you are hoping to achieve is something like what they do with European soccer and the Champions league, where the best teams from all the leagues in Europe compete in a tournament to determine the "best team in Europe" every year. That is arguably more important to win than their actual league titles. But for that to work a lot of things would have to change. The hardest issue to overcome is that baseball is not really a sport where you can play year round and expect optimal performance, especially with pitchers. Soccer teams can handle playing in their home leagues, champions/uefa leagues, international tournaments and friendlies, and some ever are on loan to other leagues during their main leagues offseason (see Beckham on loan to Milan while under contract to the Galaxy). While some baseball players participate in other leagues during the MLB offseason, the primary importance is always to MLB and to the team you are under contract with. While you might play in the Venezuelan Winter League, most likely you are being closely monitored by your MLB club, cutting outings short at certain pitch counts, etc. So anyways, that's just a pipe dream ultimate dream for an international sport. Getting back this "Global Series" idea, the only way things like this or the WBC would ever become legit in the eyes of just about everyone is if a philosophical change occurs that makes people consider this series as the end all be all tournament of prestige or at the very least, as important as the World Series. Because if CC Sabathia, after throwing over 350 innings between spring training, the season and the playoffs, is out there throwing 100 pitches in a tournament against the Yomiuri Giants and blows out his arm, a lot of people are angry. The Yankees are pissed, the fans are pissed, CC is pissed. If Cristiano Ronaldo tears his ACL playing in a Champion's League game, people dismiss it as part of the game. You need to bridge that gap before anyone even begins to take these tournaments seriously. Until then, you might as well call them exhibitions because that's what they are.