💥 BREAKING NEWS: José Berríos stuck in limbo as insurance rules threaten to derail Team Puerto Rico’s WBC plans ⚡ .MH

José Berríos is accustomed to consistency. For most of his MLB career, he’s been a symbol of resilience: rarely injured, consistently starting 30 games each season, almost never having a question mark over his fitness. But this February, the Toronto Blue Jays’ right-hander finds himself in a much stranger state—waiting.

Berríos is in a wait-and-see situation regarding whether he can represent Team Puerto Rico at the World Baseball Classic. Not because he doesn’t want to play. Not because the Blue Jays are preventing him. But because of… insurance.

According to The Athletic, Berríos is one of several Puerto Rican players whose insurance policies haven’t yet approved, forcing his application to be reviewed. And that’s leading to a much bigger consequence: the possibility of Puerto Rico withdrawing from the tournament.

The team’s operating manager, Joey Sola, has admitted this scenario “is on the table.” If as many as 10 players are uninsured, Puerto Rico might not have enough players to compete — especially given that the country already has a much more limited player pool than many other teams.

That sounds absurd. And that’s what makes the situation so tense.

Berríos is only 31 years old. He’s never been on a 60-day injury list. His only serious injury in his MLB career was a short bout of elbow inflammation last August — his first time in the IL. By any standard, that’s the record of a “safe” pitcher.

But the World Baseball Classic no longer operates by “standard.”

Following the 2023 WBC, where José Altuve broke his thumb and Edwin Díaz suffered a serious knee injury during… a celebration, insurance companies have tightened regulations. For pitchers, insurance now covers up to four years’ salary if an injury occurs. With contracts worth tens of millions of dollars, that risk is something they are no longer willing to accept easily.

The result is a hard-to-swallow paradox:
Players earning low salaries, or even those without guaranteed MLB spots, are facing the risk – while the $30 million/year stars of other teams are given the green light.

And José Berríos, despite being a consistent mainstay for many years, is caught in the middle.

Time is not on Puerto Rico’s side. The official roster must be submitted to the MLB and the Players Association by Tuesday. The group stage will take place in San Juan from March 6–11, featuring Canada, Colombia, Cuba, and Panama. If insurance decisions are not made in time, Puerto Rico may have to patch up its roster – or make an even more painful decision.

It’s worth noting that no one in this story is actually “wrong.” The MLB doesn’t control the insurance. The WBC doesn’t make medical decisions. Insurance companies are simply doing what they’re paid to do: mitigating risk. But when all the pieces make sense, the outcome becomes absurd to those involved.

For Berríos, this wasn’t just a tournament. It was an opportunity to represent his homeland, his identity, his pride. And having to wait for an administrative decision to find out if he was allowed to pitch was something no pitcher wanted—especially one who had spent his career proving he could endure it.

As the deadline approached, the question was no longer whether Berríos was ready.

It was: was the World Baseball Classic becoming a playing field where invisible barriers dictated more than baseball itself?