World Baseball Classic is Back
The World Baseball Classic is happening again this spring and the rosters are starting to take shape. MLB.com came out with an article on the Dominican Republic team and it sounds like Alfonso Soriano and Carlos Marmol will be playing for them. In Carrie Muskat's latest mailbag, she says that Carlos Zambrano will sit out for Team Venezuela this time. It doesn't appear any Cubs will play for Team USA unless the Cubs do land Jake Peavy. You have to hope that Rich Harden wouldn't participate for Team Canada, although I'd guess that Ryan Dempster would. Kosuke Fukudome has indicated he would be honorod to play for Team Japan if they ask. And that's all the Cubs I can think of off the top of my head for the major league squad.
As for the minor leagues, I assume pitcher Alex Maestri will play for Team Italy. The Cubs also signed two Australian pitchers Ryan Searle and Cody Hams and they may play. There are also a few Korean prospects in the system, Lee Hak-ju and Dae-Eun Rhee, so watch for them. And there's a good chance I'm missing a few players so fill in the gaps in the comments if you know of anyone else. (UPDATE: And there you go, Geovany Soto is probably a good bet for the Puerto Rico team).
In the 2006 WBC, Carlos Zambrano and Henry Blanco played for Team Venezuela, Derrek Lee and Michael Barrett played for Team USA. The 2009 WBC will start on March 5th.
Comments