Troy Tulowitzki made it clear that he wanted to play for the United States in the World Baseball Classic despite missing most of last season following groin surgery, but the decision has been taken out of his hands by an insurance company.
Tulowitzki has $140 million remaining on his long-term contract and the Rockies have the deal insured, which means the insurance company gets to decide if they want him playing in an exhibition tournament. And they don’t, predictably.
It’s the same issue that Albert Pujols faced in potentially playing for the Dominican Republic and Joey Votto may run into the same problem for Canada. Obviously the WBC would love all the biggest stars to play, but the bigger the contract the smaller the chance they’ll be cleared to participate.