WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — After Houston Astros third baseman Carlos Correa could not receive insurance to play for Puerto Rico in next month’s World Baseball Classic, his native island’s biggest celebrity made a last-ditch effort to make him eligible.

Correa confirmed on Friday that music superstar Bad Bunny offered to pay for his insurance, but with a provider that Major League Baseball, the Astros and Correa’s agent, Scott Boras, did not approve.

“They all told me it was a bad idea,” Correa said. “They all told me the insurance company that was proposed to me had cases where they were not paying players back. Since it was not approved by MLB, not approved by the organization and not approved by my agent, I could not sign my life away with something that three people that I trust are telling me not to do.”

Correa did not name the provider Bad Bunny proposed, but multiple reports earlier this month suggested that the music superstar offered to cover insurance for both Correa and New York Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor. Bad Bunny, whose real name is Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, is a native of Bayamón, Puerto Rico.

“It means a lot that he’s that involved,” Correa said. “He tried to do everything possible. I wanted to play and make sure that I was going to go out there and play for Team Puerto Rico in Puerto Rico,” which is hosting pool play. “The fact that he did that means a lot in how much he cares for the country, how much he cares for the fans back home. I’m deeply grateful that he tried that hard.”

After receiving the offer from Bad Bunny, Correa said he called MLB, the Astros and Boras to discuss its feasibility. None of them would approve the arrangement, Correa said. Astros owner Jim Crane had previously called Correa and asked him to focus on spring training and the upcoming season.

“Like (Crane) told me, being here is a great thing also. I get to work with the young guys. I get to have more one-on-one time with these guys. I get to make sure that we’re trending the right way heading into the season,” Correa said.

“Everybody’s putting the work in they need to. At the end of the day, I play for the Houston Astros and my obligations are to this team and some things are out of your control. You can’t do anything with that.”

Both Lindor and Correa were denied coverage through National Financial Partners, which brokers WBC insurance. Lindor just had surgery for a fractured hamate bone, while Correa has an extensive injury history.

In 2022, both the Mets and San Francisco Giants voided $300 million agreements with Correa because of concerns with his ankle. Both instances made him think insurance for the World Baseball Classic would be hard to obtain.

“I could see it happen before it even happened based on my MRIs in free agency and all that. MRIs say one thing. I feel another thing. They called it asymptomatic,” Correa said. “At the same time, (the) insurance company doesn’t know how I feel, so they only rely on what the MRI says. I figured it would happen at some point.”

Significant injuries to both Edwin Díaz and Jose Altuve during the 2023 WBC made securing insurance this time around more difficult, sources told The Athletic in recent weeks.

As many as 10 Puerto Rican players were initially expected not to receive coverage. Correa and Lindor were two of the most prominent, prompting a threat from the Puerto Rican baseball federation to pull the team from the tournament.

After receiving clearance for a few previously uninsured players, Team Puerto Rico will participate in the tournament and the country will host pool play starting March 6.

On Thursday, commissioner Rob Manfred described the situation as “a little misunderstanding by one federation in particular about how the process worked.”

“The WBC insurance process has been the same since the very first WBC,” Manfred said during Thursday’s owners’ meetings. “In order to get clubs comfortable with the idea that guys should play earlier in games they otherwise would not play, we had to protect them financially.”

“I recognize that it is not a positive in terms of promotion of the event for players to say, ‘I want to play’ … then to have a problem with the insurance and the guy being unable to play. We recognize that. I’m just not sure that there is a way around it.”

Altuve also failed to receive insurance and will not play for Team Venezuela in next month’s tournament. In a statement released last month, the MLBPA said Altuve “is obviously disappointed in this result, but he is looking forward to getting to spring training and preparing himself for a successful season.” Altuve has not yet reported to spring training; the team’s first full-squad workout is on Monday.

Correa reported to Astros camp on Thursday and participated in his first workout on Friday. He spoke with optimism about the upcoming season, but still with some sorrow about what could’ve been. Daikin Park is hosting a quarterfinal round of the WBC next month — and Team Puerto Rico will play there should it advance from pool play.

“It hurts because I was envisioning my kids in the stands watching me play in my hometown and the crowd roaring and me hitting homers and the kids celebrating and me talking to them about that,” said Correa, who played for Puerto Rico in the 2017 WBC.

“That’s the part that hurts me the most because I wanted them to experience that with me since, in the first Classic, I didn’t have any kids. I trust in God’s plan and it was not meant to be this year. As much as it hurts, I have to accept the fact that I can’t go out there without insurance and sacrifice their future.”

— Evan Drellich contributed to this report.