Mark DeRosa defends his decision to invite Robert J. O’Neill into Team USA locker room

Team USA takes on the Dominican Republic in the semifinals of the World Baseball Classic on Sunday night, with a chance to advance to the final and potentially win the tournament for the first time since 2017.

On their way through the tournament, the American side has developed a reputation for being overly serious and treating the tournament like a battle. That’s been juxtaposed against teams like the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, and Japan, who have played a more celebratory style and seem to be enjoying themselves while still winning games.

This difference was never more apparent than when Mexico’s Randy Arozarena tried to get a fist-bump from USA’s Cal Raleigh, his Seattle Mariners teammate, during an at-bat, and was rebuffed. Seattle Times Mariners writer Ryan Divish said that it was understood that Team USA made it clear they were putting “country ahead of teammates and friendships,” which many read as being a bit too self-serious for a baseball tournament.

Just how seriously Team USA has taken the tournament was made clear when former Navy SEAL Robert J. O’Neill spoke to players in the locker room before their quarterfinal game against Canada. O’Neill has claimed to have fired the shots that killed Osama bin Laden as part of SEAL Team Six’s raid in 2011. The U.S. government has never publicly verified his claim, and others have offered alternative accounts and criticized him for breaking the SEALs’ code of silence. He also made controversial comments about masking during the pandemic, referred to men who voted for Kamala Harris in the 2024 election as “my concubines,” was charged with a DUI in 2016, and was arrested on misdemeanor charges of assault and public intoxication in 2023.

On Sunday, USA manager Mark DeRosa was asked by reporter Jen Ramos-Eisen about the decision to bring O’Neill in as a speaker before the game and what he would say to anyone who disagreed with that choice.

“Well, that was my decision to bring him in, and he was brought in actually a couple of days in Houston. It wasn’t before the Canada game,” said DeRosa. “I think for me, there has to be— you never want it to get lost why you’re doing this, whatever that why is. And a lot of people, like Paul Skenes said to me when he signed up for this, ‘I want to do this for every serviceman and woman that protects our freedom.’ And that’s why we wear USA across our chest. And I just thought it would be like a time to kind of redirect and get those guys to understand that although this is an unbelievable event, you’re getting a chance to share a locker room with the game’s greats, there’s a reason why you’re doing it, and a reason why people protect our freedom at night. And I just wanted to honor that. So that’s why he came in to talk.”

DeRosa’s decision-making and thought processes are bound to be analyzed long after this tournament ends for Team USA. He’s had a slew of mental gaffes and offered explanations that have dug the holes even deeper. Some have already openly wondered if the way he’s handled the tournament will preclude him from consideration for any Major League Baseball coaching jobs.

You can see how the inclusion of O’Neill makes sense on paper as part of the way Team USA is choosing to motivate itself in the WBC. Whether that was the route that made actual sense, given the spirit of the tournament, will likely depend on whether they end up bringing home the title.