Today’s news regarding players and the World Baseball Classic:
Go below the jump for the full list:
Today’s news on World Baseball Classic participation:
Go below the jump for the entire list of statuses for players in the WBC.
Today’s changes:
The latest ins and outs for the WBC:
Go below the jump for the full look at who’s in, out and somewhere in-between for the World Baseball Classic.
After a few days, we now have another confirmation about the World Baseball Classic. Shane Victorino has said he will be playing for Team USA. Since it’s not official (since technically the Red Sox need to approve it), I’m placing him in possibly/likely.
Go below the jump for the full look at who’s in, out and somewhere in-between for the World Baseball Classic.
The Australian Baseball League’s All-Star Game is coming up, and it pits the league’s best Australian players against the league’s best foreign players. This allows, interestingly, for something of a glimpse of what Australia’s World Baseball Classic team could look like.
The Australian roster for the ABL ASG, which can be found here, has seven players with MLB experience: pitchers Shane Lindsay, Chris Oxspring and Ryan Rowland-Smith, infielders Brad Harman, Luke Hughes and Justin Huber, and outfielder Chris Snelling, who was born in Florida but grew up in Australia. The WBC roster could add Grant Balfour, Rich Thompson and Travis Blackley, but they aren’t playing in the ABL, so they aren’t on this roster.
Some other notable names on the rest of the roster:
Allan De San Miguel, who has been confirmed to be playing in the WBC, is, as I noted back during my August projections for the Aussies, a light-hitting but good-fielding catcher who spent the past year in the Orioles organization.
Stefan Welch, who was in the Pittsburgh system last year, is a utility guy who can player first and third, although he played mainly third last season.
Elliot Biddle and Mitch Dening were also on my projections. Biddle was one of the best hitters in the ABL in 2011, while Dening was a Indy Leaguer in 2012.
Brendan Wise had a tough year in AAA, but he’s done well in the ABL this season so far, and well-deserves the spot he has on the team. He also will likely be on the WBC team.
One of the players who I did not have on my projections who is on the ABL Australian roster is Paul Mildren. Mildren, a lefty, spent eight season in the minors, reaching as high as AAA. However, he eventually washed-out, but is now pitching professionally down under. While he’s only 1-3 with a 5.40 ERA so far this season, there can never be enough lefties, so it’ll be interesting to see if he make the WBC roster.
Another player who wasn’t on my earlier projections? Corey Adamson. The San Diego prospect has been blazing his way in the ABL this season, one of the league’s leaders in batting average.
Overall, the Australians would do okay if they went to the WBC with this all-star-game team, but they’d probably have trouble advancing, since they are in a tough pool with Korea, Taipei and the Netherlands. Of course, in baseball anything can happen, and if enough MLB players take part for the Aussies, they could be a Cinderella team.
You can expect a full new projection for the Baseballroos sometime in the coming days.
Today’s movers and shakers:
Alfredo Aceves has apparently volunteered to play for Team Mexico… as a catcher. He’s a pitcher usually. So either there was some sort of joke he made that got lost in translation in Nick Cafardo’s baseball column at the Boston Globe, or he’s considering a position change. What the heck, I’ll put him in as possibly/likely.
Go below the jump for the whole list:
Today’s changes:
The Boston Globe reports that David Ortiz almost certainly will be unable to play in the WBC, due to his Achilles’ injury not being fully healed yet.
The complete list is below the jump:
To better show the changes to the list, I’ll list the ins/outs and in-between that are new and then, below the jump, there is a list of all of the players who are in or out (or somewhere in between).
Today’s notes:
Angel Pagan will play in the WBC, according to Henry Schulman. As he has not officially been said by the WBC to be in it, I’ve placed him in the possibly/likely.
Brandon Phillips has been asked and is considering it. I’ve placed him in the possibly/likely side.
Johnny Cueto has said he “probably” will pitch for the DR. I’m putting him in possibly/likely.
Marco Scutaro, probably won’t take part, as the 37-year old wants to “save his bullets“.
Who’s playing in the WBC? Who’s dropped out? Who is still being considered or might be taking part? Well, go below the jump for it:
The Baseball Continuum 