Suzuki, Darvish, Aoki won’t play in WBC

Yankees outfielder Ichiro Suzuki will not be participating in the World Baseball Classic this summer.

“I appreciate being asked to play for Japan again at the WBC,” Suzuki told the Associated Press. “But after the second tournament in 2009 I never considered playing in the third event.”

Suzuki, who turns 40 next year, helped Japan win the WBC in 2006 and 2009.

He isn’t the only former Japanese player to pass on the opportunity to compete. Both Yu Darvish and Norichika Aoki will not play

It’s thought that Japan will now likely field a team with players from Japan with only a few Major League players.