In a past life, Luis Guillorme sculpted art with his bare hands. In this one, he plays slick defense. A longtime member of the New York Mets, he became a fan favorite early on in his career. He was more than a bench piece. We can easily forget how he ended up with over 300 plate appearances for the club in 2022 while hitting a very productive .273/.351/.340. Guillorme managed to become a quality bench piece for more than defense. Let go after a down season in 2023, he remains a nomad with no new deal.
Guillorme played for the Atlanta Braves, Los Angeles Angels, and Arizona Diamondbacks last year. The results weren’t good. Hitting just .205/.301/.273, it’s looking like a minor league deal will be all he can muster this winter.
In the meantime, while he awaits an actual contract with an affiliated ball club, he’ll represent Spain in the WBC qualifiers.
When are the WBC qualifiers anyway?
We’re all geared up for Mets spring training, but on the same weekend they begin to play, the WBC qualifiers for the 2026 tournament take place, too. Four teams will compete in this leg of the qualifying round in Taiwan beginning on February 21. The top two teams will qualify for 2026. The same goes for the four teams that’ll play in early March.
Spain’s roster isn’t a particularly loaded one when it comes to experienced major league talent nor does it look like the other teams have names we’d know unless you’re following baseball overseas. Rosters in the qualifying rounds don’t tend to be the greatest either. Most players are more focused on spring training and will wait their turn when the tournament actually takes place in 2026.
Because he has no major or minor league deal, Guillorme is free to represent Spain in only a few short weeks. Unable to qualify back in 2023, they’ll have to get past at least two of their field of four that will include Chinese Taipei, Nicaragua, and South Africa. If you’re looking for a dog in this fight, Guillorme’s a reason to root for Spain.