Puerto Rico isn’t the baseball factory it once was. Once Puerto Rico was included as part of the draft, it ceased to produce as many prospects and as a result the entire culture of baseball on the island has suffered. Thankfully, this might be changing as MLB has helped set up baseball academies on the island, and it appears to be working: Carlos Correa was the top pick of this year’s draft, and he was an alum of the Puerto Rico Baseball Academy.

However, despite this, Puerto Rico still has some advantages in the tournament. For one, many of the players will have also played winter ball, so will be more fresh and ready than some of the other teams. For another, it’s possible that the Puerto Ricans will be hosting a part of the tournament- they have the past two times- and if so they will no doubt have a rabid fan base behind them. And, finally, they will have Carlos Beltran, who is still a good enough player to be able to turn a game around single-handedly.

So, anyway, with all of this in mind and after much research, I’ve put together a possible roster for the Puerto Ricans:

• Any player coming off a major injury or who has a history of injuries is unlikely to participate. This is especially true for the pitchers.
• Players that will be on new teams are less likely to participate, but shouldn’t be completely ignored, with the exception of pitchers.
• Teams are made up of 28 players, of which 13 of them must be pitchers and two of them catchers.
• The pitch count rules make relievers extremely important.

More after the jump.

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