BWDIK: Barton, Bowsfield, Cruz, Hall, King, Logan, Sanchez
Great Lake Canadians and Junior National Team alum Adam Hall (London, Ont.) will play for Canada at the World Baseball Classic.
February 1, 2026
By Kevin Glew
Canadian Baseball Network
Some Canadian baseball news and notes:
Hall to play for Canada at WBC
Canada will announce its World Baseball Classic roster on Thursday and Adam Hall (London, Ont.) will be on it.
Hall confirmed this with CTV London’s Brent Lale on Wednesday. The speedy Great Lake Canadians alum, who can play both the infield and outfield, will have a bench role with Canada next month.
It will be Hall’s first time suiting up for Canada since he played for the Junior National Team in 2017.
The versatile 26-year-old split 2025 between the Milwaukee Brewers’ double-A and triple-A affiliates, batting .232 with 25 stolen bases in 75 games. He has spent this off-season recovering from a knee injury and is currently a minor league free agent.
Selected in the second round of the 2017 MLB draft by the Baltimore Orioles, Hall played parts of six seasons in the O’s organization before spending his last two seasons in the Brewers’ system.
Cruz will not play for Canada in WBC
Infielder Trei Cruz, the son of former Toronto Blue Jay Jose Cruz Jr., will not play for Canada at the World Baseball Classic, according to a report by Evan Petzold in the Detroit Free Press on Friday.
The report indicates that Cruz was an extended an invitation by Canada but that the switch-hitting infielder has opted to focus on cracking the Detroit Tigers’ Opening Day roster.
The 27-year-old Cruz, who was born in Toronto, enjoyed his finest professional season in 2025. In 127 games between double-A Erie and triple-A Toledo, he batted a combined .279 with a .411 on-base percentage with 13 home runs and 102 walks in 127 games.
Selected in the third round of the 2020 MLB draft, Cruz has spent five seasons in the Tigers’ organization.
Photo of Freddie Freeman‘s father
Freddie Freeman, whose parents, Rosemary and Fred, are both Canadian, played for Canada in the 2017 and 2023 World Baseball Classics. He will not be playing for Canada this year due to personal reasons.
In previous columns, I have mentioned that Freeman’s father, Fred, was from Windsor, Ont. Well, Windsor native Jerry Soulliere, the son of Canadian Baseball Hall of Famer Bernie Soulliere, shared the following photo of a young Fred Freeman with me last week.
“I wanted to forward this photo of Fred Freeman, Freddie’s father, on the Assumption (Windsor) High School junior basketball team. Assumption is the same high school that Canadian Ball Hall of Fame members Reno Bertoia attended, and Father Ronald Cullen taught at. Former MLB players Hank Biasatti and Joe Siddall also attended Assumption,” wrote Soulliere.
Freeman is fourth from the right in the top row.
Thank you for sharing this, Jerry.
King, Logan receive big league camp invites
Left-hander Justin King (Lloydminster, Alta.) and catcher Gavin Logan (Oyen, Alta.) have received invites to the Miami Marlins’ and Arizona Diamondbacks’ big league camps respectively.
An Okotoks Dawgs alum, King, 28, posted a 3.55 ERA in 31 relief appearances with the Marlins’ double-A and triple-A affiliates last season. He had 41 strikeouts in 33 innings.
The 6-foot-1 lefty was signed as an amateur free agent by the Brewers on June 5, 2022. He spent parts of three seasons with them before being released on Canada Day in 2024. Four days later, he signed with the Marlins and proceeded to post a 2.55 ERA and strike out 32 batters in 17 2/3 innings in 17 relief appearances for double-A Pensacola. King also participated in Marlins’ big league camp in 2025.
Logan, another Okotoks Dawgs grad, will be in Diamondbacks’ big league camp this spring. The 26-year-old catcher split 2025 between three levels in the D-Backs’ system, rising as high as triple-A, where he batted .366 with three home runs in 12 games.
Chosen in the ninth round of the 2022 MLB draft, Logan has played parts of four seasons in the D-Backs’ organization. He has belted 17 home runs in 209 professional contests.
Sanchez signed by Royals
Former Blue Jays right-hander Aaron Sanchez signed a minor league contract with the Kansas City Royals on Tuesday.
The deal includes an invite to major league spring training.
The 33-year-old hurler has not pitched in the big leagues since 2022, but he drew considerable interest this off-season after going 4-2 with a 1.55 ERA in eight starts with Toros del Este in the Dominican Winter League.
Bob Elliott, of the Canadian Baseball Network, reported in January that Sanchez had agreed to pitch for Mexico in the World Baseball Classic.
Sanchez pitched his first six big league seasons with the Blue Jays from 2014 to 2019. Many predicted stardom for him after he went 15-2 and topped the American League with a 3.00 ERA in 2016. But his career has been plagued by injuries, including a blister issue on one of his pitching fingers.
Remembering Vince Barton
Former Chicago Cubs outfielder Vince Barton was born in Edmonton, Alta., on this date in 1908.
Who is Barton you ask?
He was one of the top home run hitters in the minor leagues in the 1930s. He had two 30-home run campaigns (which was a lot in that era) and in 1938, he belted five home runs in a single game for the Hickory Rebels of the outlaw Carolina League.
He got his first taste of big league action in 1931 when he was called up by the Cubs. In 66 games with the Cubs, he belted 13 home runs and had 50 RBIs. But he’d bat just .224 with three home runs in 36 games with the Cubs the following season and then never played in the big leagues again.
He passed away in Toronto in 1973 at the age of 65.
Barfield and Carter and No. 29
If you asked a Blue Jays fan: who is the first player that comes to mind when you say No. 29? It depends what era they started following the Blue Jays.
Those who began cheering for them in the 80s will say Jesse Barfield and those who started in the 1990s will say Joe Carter. Both are two legendary outfielders and Canadian Baseball Hall of Famers.
But, as you know, the Blue Jays don’t retire numbers.
So, I thought this story Barfield shared on X this week was interesting (Note: This conversation must have happened after December 5, 1990 when Carter was acquired by the Blue Jays from the San Diego Padres):
Sixty-five years ago, Bowsfield landed with Angels
It was on this date 65 years ago that left-hander Ted Bowsfield (Penticton, B.C.) was selected from the Cleveland Indians by the Los Angeles Angels in the MLB expansion draft.
The transaction proved to be a blessing for Bowsfield. With the Angels in 1961, he recorded career-bests in wins (11), ERA (3.73), innings (157) and complete games (4).
He followed that up with another solid season with the Angels in 1962, going 9-8 with a 4.40 ERA in 34 appearances and a career-high 25 starts.
His success with the Angels also helped set him up for his post-playing career. He later became the the team’s stadium director.
Check out the Fanning Archives on YouTube
Frank Fanning is working diligently on a much-anticipated book about his father, Montreal Expos legend and Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame inductee Jim Fanning. While he is doing this, he has decided to share some of the treasure trove of memorabilia that his father saved on a YouTube channel called The Fanning Archives. You should definitely check out the channel here.