[dustyanddaflames]

Canadian catcher Russell Martin has withdrawn from the World Baseball Classic after being denied his request to play shortstop, reports MLB.com's Tom Singer.
Martin was lobbying to play shortstop at the WBC, but Team Canada and the Pittsburgh Pirates didn't want the veteran catcher switching positions.
"(The Pirates and Team Canada) were uneasy about that," Martin said, "and I simply didn't want to catch. It's just too much grind. The catcher's out there the whole game, and it just takes your body so long to recover from catching 20 innings or so.
"I feel sorry for (Team Canada), but sometimes you just have to look out for what's best for you. You have to make a personal choice. But I'm really sorry for how all this went down."

http://www.sportsnet.ca/baseball/201...raws_from_wbc/