Team USA has nothing to be ashamed of. If you're going to fall short in the World Baseball Classic, it might as well be with a one-run loss in the championship game to an undefeated juggernaut, with your best hitter going down swinging against the opposition's best pitcher.

This said, it's not too early to dream big about what Team USA might bring to seek revenge in the 2026 World Baseball Classic.

Or at least, this is what we told ourselves as we picked a preliminary dream team for the next iteration of Team USA. The idea was to dream up an American version of the Samurai Japan squad that denied the USA a second straight WBC championship: a proper collection of the 30 best players the country has to offer.

To be sure, it's hard to take anything for granted regarding how willing players will be to participate in the 2026 tournament, much less whether they'd choose to play for Team USA. And while ZiPS projections for 2025 were helpful, there's no way of really knowing who's going to play into and out of stardom over the next three years. For now, it's all guesswork.

Note: All ages are players' seasonal ages for 2026.

Catchers

The Picks: Adley Rutschman (28), Will Smith (31), J.T. Realmuto (35)

Total 2025 ZiPS WAR: 13.7

Realmuto leads all major league catchers in rWAR since 2017 and he's fresh off going 6-for-12 in his first appearance in the World Baseball Classic. So, yeah, he's in.

Realmuto will, however, be firmly on the old side by catcher standards come 2026. And chances are he'll already be in his decline phase. The projections for 2025 peg him for a modest 101 wRC+ and 3.3 WAR.

Smith, on the other hand, should still be in his prime when the next WBC comes around. And what a prime it is. Over the last two years, he's clubbed 49 home runs and is second to only Realmuto in rWAR among American-born catchers.

As for Rutschman, it's not exactly unbelievable that the aforementioned projections call for him to be the best catcher in MLB by 2025. If anything, he's already there. After a slow start upon his promotion to the Baltimore Orioles last season, he ripped off a 151 wRC+ and a catcher-high 5.2 fWAR after June 15.

Corner Infielders

The Picks: Pete Alonso (31), Austin Riley (29), Gunnar Henderson (25)

Total 2025 ZiPS WAR: 14.1

Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado were at the corners for Team USA in both 2017 and 2023, but both will be longer in the tooth come 2026. Arenado will be pushing 35, while Goldschmidt will be 38.

It's thus not beyond the pale to think that the starting gigs at the hot and cold corners should pass to others. Alonso stands to inherit the latter after backing up Goldschmidt in this year's classic, and he should still be in a prime that's seen him average 45 home runs per 162 games over the last four seasons.

Riley, meanwhile, is on his way to supplanting Arenado as the best American-born third baseman in MLB. He's been a down-ballot MVP contender in each of the last two seasons even as is, and a closer look at his batting metrics reveal a player who's still getting better.

As for Henderson, we like him in part because he has experience at shortstop and second base in addition to third base. But even more so because the 21-year-old has "budding superstar" written all over him. After teasing an uncanny knack for hard contact late in 2022, he's coming into 2023 as our No. 2 prospect.

Middle Infielders

The Picks: Corey Seager (32), Trea Turner (33), Bobby Witt Jr. (26)

Total 2025 ZiPS WAR: 12.1

Turner, Witt and Tim Anderson were the middle infielders who suited up for Team USA this year, and...yeah, it's hard to do better than that.

But if we have our druthers, Seager would be the guy at shortstop for Team USA in 2026 for one very simple reason: dude can hit. He hit at .306 with a 147 wRC+ across 2020 and 2021 and, no thanks to the shift, he deserved much better results than what he got in 2022.

As for Turner, including him here indeed requires taking it on faith that he'd be willing to play second base in deference to Seager. It's nothing he hasn't done before, however, and his speed and especially his power would certainly be welcome back on Team USA's roster.

Witt is the upside play here. If a very much unpolished version of him could hit 20 home runs and steal 30 bases as a 22-year-old last season, it stands to reason that a more experienced 25-year-old version of him that will exist in 2026 will be even more dangerous.

Outfielders

The Picks: Mike Trout (34), Mookie Betts (33), Aaron Judge (34), Bryce Harper (33), Michael Harris II (25), Corbin Carroll (25)

Total 2025 ZiPS: 27.2

Trout has already verbally committed to playing for Team USA again in 2026, so that's one MVP winner who'll be coming back. Betts would make that two if he also re-ups for '26. And for his part, Harper was set to add his own MVP credentials to this year's squad before Tommy John surgery nixed the idea.

As for the 2022 American League MVP and recent slugger of 62 home runs, Judge wouldn't commit to playing in the next WBC to Dan Martin of the New York Post. But it seems fair to say he's interested.

"We'll see when the time comes," Judge said. "It's a fun, amazing event. It captivates the world. You've got kids everywhere staying up late watching these games, and you've got the best players in baseball competing. We'll see where we are when the time comes."

If Team USA can get all four in 2026, it'll have the most star-studded outfield possible. Those four players have seven MVPs between them, not to mention four of the top seven slots for rWAR among outfielders dating back to 2017.

But since Trout, Betts, Harper and Judge will each be in their mid-30s come 2026, some youth would also be in order for Team USA's outfield. Given that his rookie year in 2022 saw him 19 home runs, steal 20 bases and play standout defense, Harris' ceiling appears through the roof. And likewise for Carroll, who has more standout tools than just his MLB-best speed.

Starting Pitchers

The Picks: Corbin Burnes (31), Gerrit Cole (35), Aaron Nola (33), Max Fried (32), Spencer Strider (27), Hunter Greene (26), Andrew Painter (23)

Total 2025 ZiPS WAR: 21.2

This is a minefield, and not just because the best American-born pitchers have tended to give the World Baseball Classic a wide berth. There's also the likelihood that Justin Verlander, Max Scherzer and Jacob deGrom will have aged out of greatness come 2026.

But as bets go, we're fairly sure that Burnes, Cole and Nola will still be chucking it well in three years' time. The first two hold the top spots for strikeouts across the last two seasons, while Nola has his unrivaled command to lean on.

Fried is here because we wanted to pick at least one of MLB's top left-handed starters, and he's been the best of the American-born bunch over the last three seasons. And besides, Carlos Rodón has a well-known injury history and Shane McClanahan's shoulder couldn't even survive a low-pitch-count diet in 2022.

There are also some injuries in Strider's and Greene's histories, to be sure, but both have youth on their side. And, more to the point, pure stuff worth buying stock in. Strider showed what he can do with his by punching out 202 hitters and allowing only 86 hits in 131.2 innings last season, while Greene finally unlocked his explosive fastball late in the year.

Speaking of buying stock, Painter is here because the sky is still the limit for him even after his UCL scare. He's still only 19, and yet he put up a 1.56 ERA in the minors last season and was in the running to make the majors out of camp this year. That's a danged special prospect.

Relief Pitchers

The Picks: Devin Williams (31), Josh Hader (32), Ryan Helsley (31), Clay Holmes (33), Scott Barlow (33), Pete Fairbanks (32), Alex Vesia (30), Ben Joyce (25)

Total 2025 ZiPS: 4.5

Relief pitching is a notoriously volatile profession, so trying to pick out eight guys who might still be good at it in 2026 might as well be the new definition of insanity.

But as far as guys who are good at it right now, Hader leads all relievers in rWAR dating back to 2017 and he fully recovered from a bad slump in 2022 before the year was even over.

For their parts, Barlow and Williams rank 1-2 among relievers in rWAR since the start of 2020. Helsley, Fairbanks and Holmes are more so here for stuff-related purposes, as the first two rank very highly just in general and the third has that turbo-sinker that would come in handy should Team USA find itself in need of a double play.

As to other skills that would come in handy, let's talk about Vesia. He's not a household name, but he is a guy with the best left-on-left OPS in the majors over the last two seasons.

And then there's the wild card that is Joyce. He comes with a great many questions, but any guy who can throw a 105 mph fastball ought to be able to hack it as a shutdown reliever.

What Team USA's Go-To Lineup Could Look Like

Starting Lineup

1. RF Mookie Betts (R)
2. CF Mike Trout (R)
3. DH Bryce Harper (L)
4. LF Aaron Judge (R)
5. SS Corey Seager (L)
6. 1B Pete Alonso (R)
7. 3B Austin Riley (R)
8. C Adley Rutschman (S)
9. 2B Trea Turner (R)

Starting Pitcher: Corbin Burnes (R)

Closer: Josh Hader (L)

The lineup arguably leans too heavily to the right, but Harper, Seager and Rutschman would bring some level of balance to it. There would likewise be a nice balance of sticks on the bench, as Smith, Realmuto and Witt bat righty and Henderson, Harris and Carroll bat lefty.

On the mound, it's hard to imagine a better guy to lead with than Burnes. Since he moved into the Milwaukee Brewers rotation back on Aug. 18, 2020, he's pitched to a 2.60 ERA while racking up an MLB-high 14.2 fWAR.

Should Team USA find itself with a lead to protect in the ninth inning, Hader would be the guy because, despite his volatility, his big game bona fides are evident in his playoff track record. Of the 72 batters he's faced, he's struck out 33, walked four and allowed 10 hits.

You can rest assured that there will be a Version 2.0 of Team USA's dream team as the actual start of the 2026 World Baseball Classic draws closer. But for now, Version 1.0 has us thinking three words: not bad, huh?

Stats courtesy of Baseball Reference, FanGraphs and Baseball Savant.