Javier Báez takes blame for drug test that cost him WBC: 'Keep my mouth shut'

Jason Sargent Wednesday, February 18, 2026

Gabe Lacques, USA TODAY Wed, February 18, 2026 at 3:45 PM UTC

Javier Báez had little choice but offer a full mea culpa, even if the situation proved a little absurd.

"This is all my fault," he told reporters in Lakeland, Florida regarding a positive test for marijuana that will prevent him from representing Puerto Rico in next month's World Baseball Classic.

"I'm the one that failed the test. It really hurts my family, my reputation, but it's part of it. Other than that, I got a long season to go, and I got to prepare for that."

Báez, a Detroit Tigers 2025 All-Star, would not have been caught up in a positive test simply under MLB's auspices. The league has not tested members of the 40-man roster for marijuana and after the 2019 season stopped suspending minor league players for positive tests for pot.

Javier Baez was an All-Star for the Tigers in 2025.

Yet the World Baseball Softball Federation, which administers the WBC, still considers it a banned substance, even in this era when other governing bodies prefer players use marijuana rather than opioids to manage pain and other maladies.

His suspension landed at a particularly inopportune time for Puerto Rico's squad, which learned the same week that fellow All-Star shortstop Francisco Lindor will not play due to insurance concerns; Lindor eventually suffered a hamate bone injury, anyway.

Báez, 33, is expected to play a key multi-positional role again for the Tigers. He just hoped to rep his home territory in the WBC before then.

"I understand the rules," says Báez, per the Detroit Free Press, part of the USA TODAY Network. "It's not like I was taking steroids or anything to last longer or whatever. They made that decision.

"I'm fine with it – I mean, I'm not fine with it. I just keep my mouth shut."