World Baseball Classic Power Rankings: Who's No. 1?

It's World Baseball Classic time! The international baseball tournament is back for the first time since 2017 and features some of baseball's most stacked lineups maybe… ever.

In its fifth edition, the World Baseball Classic will start on March 8, with pool play spanning Japan, Taiwan, Florida and Arizona and featuring 20 teams. Two will advance out of each pool to compete in the quarterfinals in Tokyo and Miami. From then on, games will be played in Miami, with the semifinals on March 19 and 20 and the championship game on March 21 to conclude the tournament.

Which of the top teams will prevail?

Will Mike Trout help the United States defend its 2017 title? Can Japan win its third championship with Shohei Ohtani at the helm? Or will a stacked Dominican Republic team headlined by Manny Machado and Juan Soto secure a second title?

We ranked all 20 competitors — from those with the best chance at winning to those that are just happy to be there. ESPN's Alden Gonzalez, David Schoenfield and Bradford Doolittle explain the rankings, identify a player to know for every team and give us an MLB equivalent for each of the top squads.

Let's dive in.

Why it could win it all: I mean, just look at that lineup. Even with Vladimir Guerrero Jr. withdrawing because of a knee injury, the position-player portion of the Dominican roster boasts 32 trips to the All-Star Game, 19 Silver Sluggers and five Gold Gloves. The likes of Nelson Cruz and Robinson Cano, now in the late stages of their respective careers, absorbed a sizable chunk of those accolades. But this team is decorated with numerous superstars in the thick of their prime — Machado, Soto, Rafael Devers, Julio Rodriguez, Wander Franco, Jeremy Pena. It's exhausting.

The only question