13 Miracle and Mighty Mussels' Alums to Participate in the 2026 World Baseball Classic
Fort Myers, Fla. (March 2, 2026) – This month, the baseball community will unite for the sixth edition of the World Baseball Classic. Within the tournament, 13 former members of the Fort Myers Miracle and Mighty Mussels will represent their home countries. The 2026 field will feature the same 20-team
Fort Myers, Fla. (March 2, 2026) – This month, the baseball community will unite for the sixth edition of the World Baseball Classic.
Within the tournament, 13 former members of the Fort Myers Miracle and Mighty Mussels will represent their home countries.
The 2026 field will feature the same 20-team format that was first used in 2023, with four pools of five teams. The following countries will compete for the 2026 WBC Championship:
Pool A: Canada, Columbia, Cuba, Panama and Puerto Rico
Pool B: Brazil, Great Britain, Italy, Mexico and the United States of America
Pool C: Australia, Chinese Taipei, Czechia, Japan and Korea
Pool D: Dominican Republic, Israel, Netherlands, Nicaragua and Venezuela
The most prominent name on the list is Byron Buxton, who will man the outfield for Team USA. Buxton, who the Twins selected with the No. 2 pick in 2012, played for the Miracle in 2013-14 and then again for a single rehab game in 2018. In total, he wore a Fort Myers uniform for 88 games and slashed .292/.376/.443/.819 with 26 extra-base-hits and 29 stolen bases.
Buxton reached the majors in 2015 and is a two-time All-Star. He set an American League record for the most stolen bases in a season without being caught when he went 24-for-24 in 2025. He also set career highs with 35 homers, 83 RBIs, and 97 runs scored en route to taking home a Louisville Slugger Silver Slugger award. The Twins’ centerfielder won a Rawlings Gold Glove and Platinum Glove in 2017. In 11 MLB seasons, Byron has appeared in 898 games and hit .248 with a .795 OPS, 168 home runs and 117 steals. Among active MLB players, Buxton has the fifth-longest tenure with a single franchise. The names ahead of him on that list are a quartet of All-Stars, MVPs, and likely Hall of Famers; José Ramírez, Salvador Perez, Mike Trout and Jose Altuve.
Buxton will have a former teammate joining him on the U.S. roster in Griffin Jax. Jax was the Twins third round pick in 2016 out of the Air Force Academy. He spent the entire 2018 season in Fort Myers, compiling a 4.52 ERA in 15 games (14 starts). Jax broke into the majors in 2021 and spent parts of five seasons with the Twins before being traded to the Tampa Bay Rays this past August. In 276 games with Minnesota, Jax had a 4.06 ERA with 378 strikeouts in 336.2 innings of work.
Infielder Luis Arráez will once again represent Venezuela. The three-time batting champion and All-Star hit .324 with an .801 OPS in 63 games with the Miracle in 2017 and 2018. He debuted with the Twins in 2019 and hit .314 in 389 games across four seasons in Minnesota. He is a career .317 hitter with two silver slugger awards in seven big league seasons and recently signed with the San Francisco Giants. Arraez hit .235 in five games in the 2023 WBC.
Former Mighty Mussel infielder Edouard Julien will represent Team Canada. Julien was the Twins’ 18th rounder in 2019 out of Auburn and spent part of the 2021 season in Fort Myers. He slashed .299/.490/.456/.946 with 21 steals in 47 games during the inaugural Mussels’ campaign. Julien reached the majors in 2023 and appeared in 267 games across parts of three seasons with the Twins. In that time, he hit .232 with a .717 OPS.
Julien was traded to the Colorado Rockies in January. He previously represented Canada in the 2023 WBC and hit .538 with a 1.821 OPS while recording four extra-base-hits in four games in the tournament.
Right-hander Jordan Balazovic will join Julien on the Canadian roster. Balazovic is the lone player on the list to play for both the Miracle and Mighty Mussels, as he was in Fort Myers in 2019 and then for a single game in 2022. He recorded a 3.24 ERA across 16 games (14 starts) while striking out 97 batters in 75 innings. In 2023, Balazovic appeared in 18 games out of the bullpen for the Twins and had a 4.44 ERA.
The most well-represented nation on the list is Team Australia, which will feature a quartet of former Miracle and Mighty Mussels players.
First baseman Rixon Wingrove provided a spark for the 2024 Mighty Mussels when the Twins signed him as a minor league free agent at the end of May. In 45 games, Wingrove hit .264 with an .866 OPS. He connected on eight home runs while totaling 34 RBI. Wingrove famously homered in the Tokyo Dome in the 2023 WBC and batted .375 with a 1.069 OPS in five games during the tournament.
Logan Wade appeared in 154 games for the Miracle in 2015-16. He hit .240 with a .622 OPS while playing everywhere on the diamond except pitcher and catcher. He is a veteran of the WBC, having represented Australia in the 2017 and 2023 WBC while hitting .370 with a .997 OPS in 10 games.
Aaron Whitefield played 146 games for the Miracle in 2018-19. He hit .216 with a .580 OPS and 45 stolen bases for Fort Myers. Whitefield has appeared in eight MLB games - three in 2020 with the Twins and five in 2022 with the Los Angeles Angels. He also represented Australia in 2017 and 2023. Whitefield hit .267 with a .754 OPS in eight WBC games. All of his production came in 2023, when he hit .308 with four hits and five runs scored across five games.
Left-hander Lachlan Wells spent parts of 2017 and 2019 in Fort Myers. He compiled a 4.02 ERA in 25 games while making 22 starts. Wells appeared in two games for Australia in the 2017 WBC and reached as high as double-A in 2024 with the Reading Fightin Phils. He played in Korea in 2025 with the Kiwoom Heroes.
Left-hander Jovani Morán was the Twins seventh round pick in the 2015 draft and will represent Puerto Rico. He spent the 2018 season in Fort Myers and totaled a 2.56 ERA with 37 strikeouts in 31.2 innings. Moran was in the majors from 2021-23 with the Twins and compiled a 4.15 ERA in 79 games while striking out 112 batters in 91 innings. He notched a 3.38 ERA across three games for Puerto Rico in the 2023 WBC. Moran is currently with the Boston Red Sox.
Outfielder Gabriel Maciel played for the Miracle in 2019 and hit .261 with a .699 OPS in 55 games. He previously represented Brazil in the qualifying rounds of the WBC in 2016, 2022 and 2025. In that time, he has appeared in 11 games and batted .191. This will be his first time participating in the main field of the WBC. Maciel spent 2025 with Sussex County in the Frontier League, batting .385 with a 1.007 OPS in 61 games.
Right-hander Zack Weiss appeared in two games in Fort Myers on rehab in 2024 and threw three scoreless innings. He will take the mound for Israel this spring after previously pitching in the 2023 WBC. In 2023, Weiss had five strikeouts in 3.1 innings of work. Weiss has appeared in 25 big league games across 2018, 2022, and 2023, spending time with the Cincinnati Reds, Angels, and Red Sox.
Long-time Twins outfielder Jacque Jones is on staff as the outfield coach for Team Nicaragua. Jones played 132 games for the Miracle in 1996-97. He batted .299 with an .808 OPS, while totaling 55 extra-base-hits and 24 stolen bases. Jones went on to have a 10-year MLB career and spent seven seasons in Minnesota from 1999-2005. In that time, he hit .279 across 976 games. For his career, Jones was a .277 hitter. He also played for the Chicago Cubs, Detroit Tigers, and Florida Marlins.
The following players in the Twins’ organization will partake in the WBC but have not spent time in Fort Myers during their careers: Joe Ryan (USA), Dan Altavilla (Italy), Gio Urshela (Colombia), and Luis Quinones (Puerto Rico). Pablo López was committed to Venezuela before his season-ending injury.
Outside of players with immediate ties to the franchise, there is a familial connection from Fort Myers in the WBC. Terrin Vavra, brother of former Miracle infielder Trey Vavra, is playing for Czechia. Their father, Joe Vavra, was a member of the Twins’ coaching staff for 12 years.
The Fort Myers area will also have some representation for its collegiate ranks. Antonio Knowles and Carlos Rodriguez of Florida Southwestern State College will represent Great Britain and Nicaragua, respectively. Najer Victor of Florida Gulf Coast University will also suit up for Great Britain.
The 2026 WBC opens with pool play on March 5 in Tokyo, while Houston, Miami and San Juan, Puerto Rico host the other three pools beginning on March 6. The quarterfinals will be held in Houston and Miami on March 13 and 14, while the semifinals and finals will be held at LoanDepot Park in Miami beginning March 15.