Houston Astros stars Jose Altuve and Carlos Correa will not participate in the 2026 World Baseball Classic due to insurance issues on their contracts. Without coverage, they risk forfeiting regular-season salaries for any games missed from tournament injuries. The decision follows discussions with team owner Jim Crane, who urged them to prioritize spring training.
Houston Astros infielders Jose Altuve and Carlos Correa have opted out of the upcoming World Baseball Classic, citing the inability to secure insurance for their high-value contracts. Reports from The Athletic and CBS Sports indicate that an independent insurer, agreed upon by MLB and the MLBPA, deemed their contracts uninsurable based on injury histories. This means any injury sustained during the tournament could lead to lost salary without team guarantees.
Correa, 31, expressed disappointment but acknowledged the business risks. "I'm definitely upset because I've been preparing really hard this offseason to get better this year and be ready early so I can be ready for the WBC," he told The Athletic. "I also understand the business side of things and that's too big of a risk to take, to play with no insurance."
Correa is owed $31.5 million in 2026, with $10 million from the Minnesota Twins as part of his trade back to Houston last summer. His availability has been hampered by an oblique strain and multiple bouts of plantar fasciitis, limiting him to 365 of 486 regular-season games since 2022 and just 86 in 2024.
Altuve, 35, faces a similar predicament with his $30 million salary for the coming season. He missed the first 43 games of 2023 after fracturing his thumb in the previous WBC, which required surgery and sidelined him until mid-May. Despite playing at least 153 games in each of the last two seasons and undergoing minor foot surgery in November, Altuve is expected to be ready for spring training.
Astros owner Jim Crane personally contacted both players, emphasizing focus on the team amid last season's injury woes. "Jim called me and told me that he wants me to focus on the team and spring training," Correa said. "Obviously he traded for me to win a championship here and we had too many injuries as a team (in 2025)."
This mirrors past cases, such as Miguel Cabrera and Clayton Kershaw withdrawing from the 2023 WBC over insurance. Correa represented Puerto Rico in 2017 but skipped 2023 due to family reasons, while Altuve played for Venezuela in both 2017 and 2023. At the Astros' FanFest, Altuve reiterated his desire to play: "It's always an honor to represent my country."
The tournament's Pool A and a quarterfinal will be hosted at Daikin Park in Houston, adding irony for Correa, whose potential quarterfinal appearance for Puerto Rico would have been a homecoming.
