LOS ANGELES — Clayton Kershaw and Miguel Cabrera have résumés few other baseball players have ever matched. Both are former MVPs and future first-ballot Hall of Famers. Kershaw has three Cy Young Awards. Cabrera has won a Triple Crown and surpassed both 500 home runs and 3,000 hits for his career.
This offseason, both players committed to playing in the World Baseball Classic for their respective countries. Kershaw's commitment to play for Team USA was considered a coup for a tournament still seeking to establish legitimacy. Without Cabrera, arguably the greatest Venezuelan baseball player ever, the tournament would've left a baseball-mad nation unsatisfied.
Both encountered an obstacle earlier this month: securing insurance coverage to participate in the event. Kershaw's and Cabrera's contracts, which both expire after this season, were deemed uninsurable because of their injury histories.
