Insider tackles question of if Mark DeRosa should return as Team USA manager

Team USA fell short in the World Baseball Classic championship against Venezuela, and many are already looking toward the future of the team. The one thing that has caused a lot of attention is whether Mark DeRosa should be the manager moving forward, after some things that he did or said during this run.

As for someone who was around the team, Ken Rosenthal believes that DeRosa shouldn’t be on the hot seat for the team not winning the championship.

“I have a hard time blaming him for this,” Rosenthal said on Foul Territory TV. “Two times that he’s managed, they’ve gone to nine innings of the championship game. It’s pretty good. Baseball is sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. Nothing he did strategically had a big impact, and I thought he had a really good game strategically against the Dominican Republic.”

Should Mark DeRosa return as Team USA manager?@Ken_Rosenthal: "I can see it going either way." pic.twitter.com/DeBqKkcqp0

— Foul Territory (@FoulTerritoryTV) March 18, 2026

DeRosa did have some questionable moments during the run, one where he thought Team USA had already clinched a spot in the quarterfinals before facing Italy. They lost that game, but were able to come back strong and win two straight games.

“Should he back? Some people might say you need somebody different, and he hasn’t won twice,” Rosenthal said. “I can see it going either way. But in my view, he rallied this team when they had that crisis after Italy, a crisis that was in part due to his comments, and they came back and beat Canada, they beat the Dominican Republic, and they nearly beat Venezuela.”

If the team can find a better manager than DeRosa, then they may decide to move on from him. At the same time, DeRosa has shown that he can bring some of the best in the world together and get them to compete at a high level. He may not have the championship to show for it, but he’s been close.

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