The news tonight on people dropping in or out of the World Baseball Classic:
- As expected, Michael Young won’t be taking part in the WBC for Mexico (his mother is of Mexican descent) or the USA, as he goes into his first spring with the Phillies.
- Larry Bowa has mentioned R.A. Dickey, Andy Pettitte and Mark Teixeira as possible players familiar to New York City who could be on Team USA. So I’m putting them as under consideration.
- Jerry Crasnick also notes that Nick Swisher, of Italian descent, is also turning down an opportunity to be a passport player.
- Bruce Chen has been invited to play for China at the WBC. He’s a Panamanian of Chinese descent. Given the fact he wasn’t able to pitch for his native Panama in the qualifiers, I find it unlikely that he’ll take the offer, but for now I’m putting him under consideration.
- Johan Santana will be on the provisional roster for Venezuela. However, because he was injured and missed a lot of time last season, the Mets will almost certainly keep him from participating, so I’m keeping him on out, barring some type of deal or persuading of the Mets.
- Martin Prado of the Braves is interested in playing for Venezuela. So I’m putting him in as possibly/likely.
As always, go below the jump for the full list: