Just look at how much it meant to the players from Venezuela. The TV ratings for the WBC were through the roof. Maybe USA fans dont care as much but fans from Venezuela, the DR, Italy, Japan, etc. certainly cared
Not only is Lockridge having an awesome ST, I think what's more important is how good he was for us in a limited sample last year. He was worth 0.4 bWAR in only 53 PAs for the Brewers last season. Thats nearly a 4 win player if he got 500 PAs. Given both the small sample last year & what he's doing in ST I hope we give him plenty of PT early to see if any of it is sustainable
The easy answer here is no. If the WBC spanned 162 games and then had a best of 7 series it would feel a lot different. What really helps the atmosphere of the WBC is the short time period & single elimination nature of it. Every game in the WBC truly means something and once you get to the knock out round any team can be knocked out at any point
I mean I wouldn't put it past Arnold to make a deal at anytime. I think they gave up so much for Zerpa because they expect him to be a late inning guy for them. So I think they are happy to deal Megill if a team offers a good package, I just dont think theyve gotten that offer, maybe a ST injury will change that