02/13/26 03:46:00
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02/13 15:44 CST Bad Bunny offered to pay for Puerto Rican star Carlos Correa's
WBC insurance
Bad Bunny offered to pay for Puerto Rican star Carlos Correa's WBC insurance
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) --- Bad Bunny really wanted to see Carlos Correa
play for Puerto Rico at home in the World Baseball Classic.
Correa, the infielder for the Houston Astros left off the WBC roster over
insurance coverage, said Friday that the music superstar and fellow native of
Puerto Rico had offered to pay for a policy.
"It means a lot that he's that involved," Correa told reporters at the Astros'
spring training complex. "He tried to do everything possible. I wanted to play
and make sure that I was going to go out there and play for Team Puerto Rico in
Puerto Rico. The fact that he did that means a lot in how much he cares for the
country, how much he cares for the fans back home. I'm deeply grateful that he
tried that hard."
Correa, who has a $200 million contract through 2028, had surgery in 2014 to
repair a broken right tibia and both San Francisco and the Mets failed to
approve his physicals for a contract during the 2022-23 offseason.
While not providing the name of the provider Bad Bunny proposed, Correa said it
was one that was not approved by Major League Baseball, the Astros and Correa's
agent, Scott Boras. A person familiar with the process said MLB was not
contacted about the possibility of Bad Bunny arranging an insurer. The person
spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because no public
statements were made.
"I could not sign my life away with something that three people that I trust
are telling me not to do," Correa said.
Puerto Rico is hosting pool play games in the WBC next month.
Bad Bunny, who was born Benito Antonio Martnez Ocasio, is one of the
most-streamed artists on the planet. He was the featured halftime performaer at
the Super Bowl last Sunday, a week after winning album of the year at the 2026
Grammys for "Deb Tirar Ms Fotos", which is the first time an all
Spanish-language album took the top prize.
Bad Bunny's sports representation firm, Rimas Sports, and the MLB Players
Association settled a lawsuit last year after the union disciplined the agency
over violations of its agent regulations. It revoked the agent certification of
Rimas' William Arroyo and denied certifications of executives Noah Assad and
Jonathan Miranda, citing citing a $200,000 interest-free loan and a $19,500
gift. The union issued a $400,000 fine for misconduct. Arbitrator Ruth M.
Moscovitch upheld the union's five-year suspensions of Assad and Miranda and
cut Arroyo's suspension to three years.
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AP Baseball Writer Ronald Blum contributed to this report from New York.
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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
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