There have been rumblings that this is going to be the last World Baseball Classic tournament, the competition apparently not making enough money to justify its existence. Which is sad, considering how much it seems to have done to help popularize the sport outside of its usual territories in the Americas and East Asia. Witness the Netherlands’ fourth-place finish at the last tournament in 2013 - lasting longer in the event than the United States, and only going out to eventual winners, the Dominican Republic.
But if this is indeed the case, it seems the home nation wants to do better than it has done over the three previous events.