"Don't they have better options?" - Fans baffled by Nelson Cruz's interest in Yankees' Austin Wells for Latin American team's 2026 WBC roster

Having made his big league debut in 2023, New York Yankees catcher Austin Wells might feature in the 2026 World Baseball Classic. However, not for the nation that most would expect.

Austin Wells' mother, Michelle, is of Dominican descent, making him eligible for to compete for the Latin American nation. As a result, it has been reported that the general manager of the Dominican Republic baseball team, Nelson Cruz, is trying to recruit Wells for next year's tournament.

Popular baseball content page "Talkin' Yanks" posted about Cruz's reported interest in the Yankees catcher on Tuesday.

"Austin Wells is being recruited by Dominican Republic general manager Nelson Cruz to play catcher for the DR in the 2026 World Baseball Classic, per @danielsantanard" the post read

Making their feelings known in the comments section, several fans appeared to be baffled by the news.

"Don't they have better options?" a fan wrote

"Sounds like a giant L to me." another fan commented

"They really want this trash baseball player? Any mlb teams interested too?" another fan posted

"Good, he sucks." another fan shared

"I’m sorry, what?" another fan replied

"So random lmfao" another fan responded

Alternative catching options for the Dominican Republic include Yainer Diaz, Samuel Basallo and Gary Sanchez.

With the team USA roster stacked, Austin Wells may eventually take Nelson Cruz up on his offer

Though he is half-Dominican, Austin Wells was born and raised in Scottsdale, Arizona, and the catcher would probably choose to represent team USA at the 2026 World Baseball Classic, were he to get a chance.

However, with catchers such as Cal Raleigh, Will Smith and Adley Rutschman likely ahead of him in the pecking order, a team USA call-up for Wells looks quite unlikely.

As a result, taking up Nelson Cruz on his offer and representing the Dominican Republic, who seem to have a shortage of quality options when it comes to catchers, could be ther best course of action for Wells in 2026.

New York Yankees v Chicago White Sox - Source: Getty

Heading into the tournament, the Dominicans, who won the WBC as recently as 2013, will be fancying their chances of success once again.

With the legendary Albert Pujols calling the shots from the dugout as manager, and boasting several superstars such as Juan Soto, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Fernando Tatis Jr., and more, on the roster, the Dominicans definitely have plenty of weapons that can do some serious damage to opposing teams.

About the author

Raghav Mehta is a baseball journalist at Sportskeeda awaiting results for a Bachelor's in Journalism from Delhi University. He enjoys highlighting the key battles between players at different stages of the game and analyzing the decisive moments upon which they hinge.

One of Raghav's favorite moments, which underscores this, was the Shohei Ohtani vs. Mike Trout clash in the 2023 WBC, where two of baseball's best players faced off against each other in the 9th inning. With the score 3-2 to Japan, Shohei eventually got the strikeout, which was absolute cinema.

Raghav is a Baltimore Orioles fan and is enjoying watching such an exciting young team compete at the top in a very competitive division.

Raghav has loved watching sports for as long as he can remember and realized he was pretty decent at writing his thoughts down at around the age of 14. Combining the two meant he had something he would enjoy doing every day, and he had identified that well before going to college.

Aside from work, Raghav enjoys playing sports, working out and watching movies.

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Edited by Raghav Mehta