WBC Provisional Rosters Released

Provisional rosters for the 2009 World Baseball Classic have been set and can be seen here.

Things you want to know:

Eight active Yankees are playing.

They include:

USA: Derek Jeter
Dominican Republic: Melky Cabrera, Robinson Cano, Damaso Marte, Edwar Ramirez, Alex Rodriguez, Jose Veras
Mexico: Alfredo Aceves, Jorge Vazquez
Panama: Jahdiel Santamaria
China: Liu, Kai , Zhang, Zhenweng (for the few unfamiliar, in Chinese, the surname comes before the first name. So if Jeter was playing for China he'd be listed as Jeter Derek on the roster).
Italy: Francisco Cervelli


Also, the Dominican roster is sick.

Seriously. Imagine fielding this line up (I have no idea if they play with the DH but if I'm Dominican then I'd fight for it just so I can have Hanley, A-Rod and Pujols hitting back-to-back-to-back):

Jose Reyes SS
Robinson Cano 2B
Hanley Ramirez DH
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Albert Pujols 1B
Vladimir Guerrero RF
Miguel Olivo C
Melky Cabrera CF
Alfonso Soriano LF

(So they're weak in the outfield, what can I say?)

Either way, the Dominican team has got to be considered one of the favorites.

Seriously, though, they can afford Melky Cabrera when the rest of their roster is so good anyway.

Then imagine having Ervin Santana or Edinson Volquez start with Jose Valverde (among a plethora of others) in the bullpen?

The full Dominican roster can be seen here


As for the US roster...you could put together a line up like this:

Dustin Pedroia 2B
Derek Jeter SS
Evan Longoria 3B
Carlos Quentin OF
Kevin Youkilis 1B
Chipper Jones DH
Brian McCann C (I don't really know about any of these catchers...)
Ryan Ludwick OF
Grady Sizemore OF

And then you could have Scott Kazmir or John Lackey start, with Brian Fuentes, JJ Putz and George Sherrill in the bullpen. The full US roster can be seen here

It's not a half-bad roster, but, still, the Dominican must have something in the water...