Team USA has its leadership in place ahead of the 2026 World Baseball Classic.
On Thursday, USA Baseball announced that Mark DeRosa will return to the dugout to manage the United States at the 2026 WBC, marking his second consecutive stint leading the stars and stripes at the Classic. DeRosa guided Team USA to a silver-medal finish at the ‘23 WBC. Meanwhile, Michael Hill, a longtime baseball operations executive and the current senior vice president of on-field operations and workforce development for Major League Baseball, has been named GM for Team USA.
“We are extremely excited to begin the 2026 World Baseball Classic process by welcoming Michael and Mark to our staff,” said USA Baseball executive director/CEO Paul Seiler. “For nearly 30 years, Michael has taken on many key roles throughout Major League Baseball and has made an incredible impact on our game. Mark garnered respect from some of baseball’s biggest stars in ‘23 and is a great fit to return to the U.S. dugout in ‘26. We are ready and eager to begin building a championship roster to represent the United States in the World Baseball Classic.”
A 16-year big league veteran who currently serves as one of the co-hosts of “MLB Central” on MLB Network, DeRosa had never managed at any level prior to taking on the role for Team USA at the 2023 WBC. But DeRosa, who previously played for the United States at the 2009 Classic, proved to be a quick study, leading a star-studded team all the way to the championship game.
“Getting the chance to share the clubhouse and dugout with USA's greatest staff and players was one of the highlights of my life,” said DeRosa. “I'm extremely grateful and fired up to get another opportunity to put 'USA' across my chest come March.”
Hill began his tenure as an MLB executive in 2021 and was appointed to his current role in September 2024, filling some of the areas of supervision that were previously under the purview of Billy Bean, who served as MLB’s senior vice president for diversity, equity and inclusion until his death on Aug. 6, 2024, from acute myeloid leukemia. Prior to joining MLB, Hill had a lengthy tenure in the Marlins’ front office, starting out as the team’s assistant general manager in ‘02 before being named GM five years later. He was promoted to president of baseball operations in ‘14 and held that role until ‘20.
“Having the opportunity to lead Team USA into the World Baseball Classic is an honor and a privilege for me,” said Hill. “I look forward to working with Mark DeRosa and our coaching staff in building a team whose goal is to win a championship.”
Rounding out the Team USA coaching staff will be 2023 NL Manager of the Year Skip Schumaker as bench coach, five-time World Series champ Andy Pettite as pitching coach and seven-time All-Star Matt Holliday as hitting coach. Dodgers third base coach Dino Ebel will again hold that role for Team USA, while Tigers bench coach George Lombard will coach first base.
Meanwhile, former MLB managers Fredi González and David Ross will serve as assistant manager and bullpen coach, respectively, while former All-Stars Brian McCann and Michael Young will serve as assistant managers.
Team USA is a member of Pool B at the 2026 World Baseball Classic, joining Brazil, Great Britain, Italy and Mexico. Pool B is scheduled to take place from March 6-11 at Houston’s Daikin Park, home of the Astros. The top two teams will advance to the quarterfinal round in Houston against the top two finishers from Pool A.
The 2026 WBC will be the sixth iteration of the international tournament. Team USA has medaled twice, winning gold in ‘17 and silver in ‘23. Japan, which defeated the United States in the championship game at the ‘23 WBC, leads all participants with three titles.