Matt Vasgersian takes responsibility for Mark DeRosa gaffe

Matt Vasgersian is throwing Mark DeRosa a lifeline as the Team USA manager continues to explain away believing their ticket was prematurely punched to the World Baseball Classic quarterfinals last week.

Team USA will be playing Venezuela in the 2026 World Baseball Classic final Tuesday night, but it took some help to get them there. DeRosa infamously said Team USA had their ticket “punched to the quarterfinals” during an appearance on MLB Network’s Hot Stove ahead of their game against Italy last week. At the time, Team USA’s ticket was not punched to the quarterfinals, and the error was enhanced after losing to Italy 8-6, putting their championship hopes in severe jeopardy.

DeRosa has since claimed he “misspoke” and “completely misread the calculations” prior to the Italy game. Thankfully for DeRosa and the Americans, Italy beat Mexico to punch Team USA’s ticket to the quarterfinals. And after wins over Canada and the Dominican Republic, Team USA now finds themselves in the finals. A win might help DeRosa forget about last week’s mistake. But if he has aspirations of managing a MLB team one day, DeRosa will likely be asked to answer questions about his miscalculations. And if he wants to pass the blame, Matt Vasgersian is willing to take it.

Vasgersian, who hosts MLB Network’s Hot Stove amid his many other jobs, joined longtime San Diego sports media personalities Marty Caswell and Darren Smith on their YouTube this week, where he took responsibility for DeRosa’s error.

“The heat that he took, first of all, I and some of my colleagues take full responsibility for bringing him down a bad path in that interview,” Vasgersian said. “And unfortunately, he went with a little and it just spiraled out of control. But that was at 10 o’clock ET on a gameday. If anybody thinks he was unaware of the circumstance after that interview, they are mistaken. By the way, he knew what was going on the whole time, and he was clarified on that as soon as the interview ended. So, there was this narrative that a lot of hacky people built about how he rested key players and didn’t manage it with any urgency, that’s nonsense.”

Vasgersian went on to note there is no such thing as resting key players on a roster filled with All-Star caliber talent, even though DeRosa sat Bryce Harper for Paul Goldschmidt.

“It’s really a ridiculous narrative,” Vasgersian continued. “And in the Dominican game, he managed his bullpen perfectly. Perfectly. So the haters are out there and they want to get you in a gotcha moment. We know that’s what the social media channels are all about. Everybody loved it. There were a lot of people taking cheap shots, but those same people should be tipping their cap to him.”

It was the clip of DeRosa saying Team USA’s “ticket’s punched to the quarterfinals” that went viral when in reality, the Americans were still in danger of being eliminated from the tournament. But in the full exchange on MLB Network, Vasgersian may have led the witness by saying, “you’ve already kicked through to the quarterfinals” during his question that ultimately prompted DeRosa to echo the claim.

DeRosa has been repeatedly asked about the gaffe, but has refrained from blaming his MLB Network colleague for the error, instead leaning on it being a misspeak. Even if Vasgersian mistakenly sent DeRosa down the wrong path, the manager still has to know whether or not his team already advanced in the tournament. The next time DeRosa is asked about it, Vasgersian is willing to take the blame, but the Team USA manager is hoping he can soon answer the question by claiming WBC victory. Just don’t ask him if they’ve already won it until after the game.