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...

World Baseball Classic: Dominican Republic May Lose Starters

Translated from El Nuevo Dia

As before, please feel free to inform me of any errors in my translation.

clásico mundial
Posibles bajas en Dominicana

Jugadores como Pujols, Ortiz y Soriano podrían verse afectados.

World Baseball Classic Possible Scratches in the Dominican: Players like Pujols, Ortiz and soriano could be affected

SANTO DOMINGO — La República Dominicana perdería al menos seis de sus principales estelares para el Clásico Mundial de béisbol debido a problemas físicos, informó el domingo el gerente general, Stanley Javier.

The Dominican Republic will lose at least six of its principal stars for the WBC due to health problems, the team's general manager Stanley Javier said Sunday.

“Hay varios casos que serán analizados como son los de Albert Pujols, David Ortiz, Fausto Carmona, Francisco Liriano, Alfonso Soriano y Carlos Peña”, dijo Javier en una entrevista con el programa La Semana Deportiva, del canal 13 de la República Dominicana.

“There are various cases that will be analyzed, like those of Albert Pujols, David Ortiz, Fausto Carmona, Francisco Liriano, Alfonso Soriano and Carlos Peña”, said Javiar in an interview with the program “La Semana Deportiva (The Week in Sports), on channel 13 in the Dominican Republic.*

Los citados jugadores estuvieron en la lista de lesionados por períodos prolongados de tiempo en las temporadas del 2007 y 2008 y en los casos de Pujols y Peña, ambos fueron operados durante el receso.

The players cited above were on the DL for prolonged periods of time in the seasons of 2007 and 2008 and, in the cases of Pujols and Peña, they had surgery during the break.

MLB anunció ayer en su portal en la internet que hoy se pondrán a la venta las taquillas individuales para los Juegos del Clásico Mundial que se jugarán en Puerto Rico, Toronto, Miami, San Diego y Los Ángeles. En el caso de Puerto Rico, los boletos pueden ser adquiridos a través de Ticketpop y sus precios fluctúan entre los $12 y $96.

MLB announced yesterday on its website that today people could purchase individual tickets for the WBC games that will be played in Puerto Rico, Toronto, Miami, San Diego and Lost Angeles. In the case of Puerto Rico, tickets can be acquired through Ticketpop and the prices are fluctuating between $12 and $96.

Según Javier, el Clásico tiene una regla que establece que peloteros que hayan estado más de 90 días en la lista de lesionados en las dos temporadas previas no pueden participar en el torneo.

As Javier said, the Classic has a rule that establishes that players that spent more than 90 days on the disabled list in the two previous seasons cannot participate in the tournament.

El receptor boricua Jorge Posada confirmó el sábado que no jugará debido a dicha reglamentación.

The catcher Jorge Posada confirmed Saturday that he will not play owing to the said rule.

Esperanzado Javier

Sin embargo, el ejecutivo dominicano estableció que la regla no es absoluta.

The hope of Javier

However, the Dominican executive established that the rule is not absolute.

“Eso es algo que será analizado durante los entrenamientos de primavera y no es algo automático, por lo que nos mantenemos optimistas de que ellos estarán en el equipo”, aseguró.

"This is something that will be analyzed during Spring Training and is not something automatic, for this we remain optimistic that they will be on the team”, he reassured.

La República Dominicana integra junto a Puerto Rico, Holanda y Panamá el grupo D que jugará en el estadio Hiram Bithorn de San Juan, en la primera ronda.

The Dominican Republic is entered together with Puerto Rico, the Netherlands and Panama in group D that will play in Hiram Bithorn Stadium in San Juan in the first round.