2013 World Baseball Classic Thread

[evman150]

Originally Posted by GirlySports

USA and Canada might be the only 2. The other 14 teams have their best.
Nothing can fix bad American attitudes.

Dominican Rep, Venezuela and Puerto Rico are stacked with major leaguers! One of them will get eliminated in the first round.

Actually if I were to bet now, I'd put money on Venezuela to win it all.

My money, as usual, is on Cuba.

[rubecube]

Originally Posted by evman150

My money, as usual, is on Cuba.

You would, pinko!

[evman150]

Originally Posted by Matty81

Was hoping Jameson Taillon or James Paxton would have pitched for Canada because SPs (and maybe middle IF) is the weak point.

Hopefully Dempster steps up he has been pretty disappointing... I understand his concerns about form but if he can get insurance for his contract really what does he have to lose, he'll be at work in camp anyway.

Taillon added (along with Tosoni, Richmond, Hardy):

http://www.baseball.ca/eng_news_story.cfm?NewsID=2293

Still no Votto, but one more roster spot yet to be named.

[Drake]

There were positive signals Tuesday night that Cincinnati Reds superstar Joey Votto would be added to Canada's roster for the World Baseball Classic ahead of Wednesday's deadline.
The first baseman from Toronto wants to play in the tournament, but the left knee he had surgery on last summer has cast some doubt on that.

To create some comfort on the part of the Reds, who signed him to a $225 million extension before last season, one possibility is that Votto joins the Canadian squad later to give Cincinnati more time to monitor his progress.

At the Classic, Votto could also ease his workload by splitting duties between first base and designated hitter with Justin Morneau.

Meanwhile, the Canadian squad did make one roster change Tuesday, naming left-handed Philadelphia Phillies prospect Jay Johnson of Sussex Corner, N.B., to the team in place of right-handed Milwaukee Brewers farmhand Nick Bucci, who withdrew after suffering a shoulder problem during a side session.

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

[GirlySports]

Votto has officially been added.

And I hear Russell Martin might play shortstop!

[dustyanddaflames]

Ya it sounded like on MLB radio, Martin may play shortstop... seems a little cray to me.

[Matty81]

Really can't wait for this tournament. Only bad thing I can say about it is the nationality rules are so stupid - I thought FIFA was bad.

Italy's roster is a joke, in an attempt to create more competitive teams they are letting anybody with even remote heritage and no actual connection to the country play for them. Israel was even worse IMO where they would let anyone who is Jewish play for them.

Anthony Rizzo for instance qualifies because he has a great grandfather from Sicily. They may as well have said, if their name sounds Italian they can play. Going by great grandparents half the majors could probablyrepresent 5 or 6 countries.

Not that it matters really since I don't think anybody is losing any sleep over winning it but still... lame.

[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/

[GirlySports]

Wah wah.

The tournament just isn't important enough for USA and Canada which is why they will never do well.

Once again it'll be a battle between Asia and the Caribbean.

I mean look at Taiwan! They pretended to be umps in order to spy on the Korean!

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?...s_mlb&c_id=mlb

[dustyanddaflames]

I have never liked Russel Martin - and this fully adds to my disliking of him... Overrated since his first three seasons with the Dodgers.

[browna]

Just odd how Canada would even consider Martin's request from the start. If Martin wanted to treat this as some weekend beer league tourney and play out in the field, Canada should've told him no from the and had it never get to this.

I wonder what the Pirates are thinking they got themselves into with this guy.

[Matty81]

Ya poor poor move from Martin. If he didn't want to play in the WBC that's fair but committing and then bailing a week before it starts is poor. Quitting because the team wouldn't let him play shortstop makes him look like even more of an ass. And if it's possible made himself look even worse in this article:
http://www.torontosun.com/2013/02/24...ts-team-canada
with lines like "I guess I don't carry that sense of national pride" and “If Morneau is pissed he can go catch and I’ll play first base.”

[dustyanddaflames]

That's fine - surely we have a shortstop somewhere within our country that is more able to handle the position than Russel Martin and his "I can play anywhere I want, and if you don't let me, I just won't play" attitude.

I love the quote directed to Morneau - you idiot Martin, you think you are the only guy who has to play behind the plate? Do you hear Buster Posey complaining? No, Buster Posey is busy leading his club to mutiple World Series rings. I for one am glad that Martin pulled the chute - lord knows he wasn't going to make or break this club. If Canada somehow advances it will be because the club came together, not because Russell Martin was playing shortstop.

Good riddance IMO

[GirlySports]

It starts tonight!

On Sportsnet Ontario at 9:30pm Mountain

Australia vs Taiwan
followed by
Brazil vs Japan
followed by
Netherlands vs South Korea!

[dustyanddaflames]

Australia, Japan, South Korea...

[GirlySports]

Interesting, so you think Australia advances in the group at the expense of Taipei? Or will the Dutch finish 2nd?

[dustyanddaflames]

There was a wee sarcasm in my comment about Austrailia... I think they get crushed, but it won't stop me from cheering for them. Ryan Rowland-Smith will be able to do only so much...

[GirlySports]

great atmosphere so far in Taiwan. So far I've hear the crowd chant to the thems from Once Upon in China and Shaolin Soccer

[Maritime Q-Scout]

Any idea who the projected starter for the US is against Canada?

Looks like Holland. I'm going to have to explain to the cat that while she's named after the pitcher for the US we're actually cheering for Canada

[dustyanddaflames]

hahaha - gotta love people who name their animals after athletes. Has Votto committed yet, because the last I heard on Friday, he still wasn't "fully" intending on attending this tournament?