If you don’t want to read the WBC Q&A posts one by one, feel free to go below the jump to see the whole thing. In addition, don’t forget that Joe Connor’s WBC Guide remains on sale.
With pitchers and catchers now beginning to report, there are now two new countdowns on the side of the main page: The first is to the first spring training games (exhibitions by the Red Sox against college teams), and the second is to the 11:30 PM Eastern game between Taipei and Australia that will open the WBC on March 1.
With Kris Medlen and Andy Pettitte out and Justin Verlander still making up his mind, the Team USA rotation was down to R.A. Dickey, Ryan Vogelsong and Derek Holland. Hardly a rotation of slouches (you could do very well in MLB with a front three that looked like that), but not exactly the names to strike fear into the hearts of the world’s hitters.
Well, yesterday, Team USA got an upgrade: Gio Gonzalez of the Washington Nationals. Although currently under a cloud of suspicion due to his name being on the Biogenesis papers (but apparently not linked to any banned substances), Gonzalez instantly gives Team USA’s rotation a good shot in the arm. He won 21 games last season while leading the NL in strikeouts per 9 IP and fewest HR per 9 IP. He’s left-handed, young, and a two-time All-Star.
And, more importantly, it gives Team USA two aces, not just one, as well as two left-handed starters, not just one.
And, what’s more, if Verlander decides to play, it could allow Team USA to have a rotation of Verlander, Dickey, Gonzalez, Vogelsong and Holland.
And that rotation would strike fear into the hearts of the world’s hitters.
Not wanting any type of freak injury or something mess up his mega-contract negotiations, Felix Hernandez has dropped out of the World Baseball Classic.
Venezuela, which takes the WBC very seriously, is not happy. At all. How not happy are they?
Well, here’s an image of what a sports newspaper in Venezuela looks like today. According to Google Translate, that headline basically says that Felix has devalued Venezuela, or no longer appreciates Venezuela, or something like that. The news also is on the front page of the two Venezuelan newspapers on the Newseum website, and Venezuelan journalist Efrain Ruiz Pantin tweeted that for many Venezuelans it was a bigger deal than that country’s recent currency devaluation. Another Venezuelan journalist reported that the chairman of the Venezuelan Baseball Federation wants to veto/ban any teams from signing Venezuelans if they won’t collaborate with international competitions. It is presumably only a matter of time before Hugo Chavez himself comments on the situation, assuming that he isn’t in the hospital again.
And this is what leads to a tough situation for Latino players in the WBC: they have left their homelands, where they often lived in poverty, for riches in America. They are literally playing for a way to have their families have a better way of life. So they cannot be blamed for passing on the WBC when it could possibly endanger the riches that could keep help their family for generations. This is (more or less) what Felix Hernandez himself tweeted out shortly after the news came out: the financial security of his family was what was coming first.
But, on the other hand, the WBC is a big deal in the Caribbean, and if a player backs out, they appear ungrateful to the nation that had been supporting them and has been holding the player as a national hero. You could not blame a player for risking a big contract to play for such passionate fans.
And so, players like King Felix are in a no-win situation. Don’t play in the WBC, and an entire nation questions his patriotism (or worse). Play in the WBC, and you could run a risk- however small- of ruining the chance to have yourself and your family being set for life.
Felix made his choice. It will be interesting to see what follows.
Okay, if you saw yesterday’s post, you are no doubt prepared for another round of questions and answers about the World Baseball Classic. Today, we look at some of the rules and regulations of the tournament… after the jump:
Well, scratch Kris Medlen off of Team USA’s starting rotation, as he won’t be pitching due to the fact that his wife will be having a baby any day now.
Now, there have been plenty of people who have complained about players who drop out of the World Baseball Classic, but I have to say, this is probably the best reason possible to miss the WBC. It’s actually happened before: Wei-Yin Chen declined a chance to pitch for Taipei for similar reasons, and Nick Markakis, if memory serves, passed on Team USA in 2009 because his child was due in March.
The general perception of the World Baseball Classic is that, almost universally, fans want their favorite team’s players- and especially pitchers- to avoid it like the plague. Which is why it’s interesting when I saw poll results on ESPN.com:
Huh. What do you know. It seems like a majority of people, at least on ESPN, would be fine with it. Now, it’s hardly a runaway majority, but it is a majority. Perhaps this suggests that there is a “silent majority” in favor of the WBC that is overlooked by the fact that those who are against having their team’s players playing in it make a lot more noise.
(Now, admittedly, this is hardly a scientific poll, and isn’t exactly specific- for example, it isn’t something like specifically asking Tigers fans if they’d be okay with Justin Verlander pitching, or Mariners fans if they are okay with how Felix Martinez is pitching, but the fact remains: in general, it seems like a majority of people have no problem with their team’s pitchers playing in the WBC.)
In 2006, Australia went 0-3 and in 2009 the Australians only did slightly better, going 1-2 (upsetting Mexico and then losing two straight, although they came close to upsetting Cuba). So how might they do this time around?
Well, Australia won’t have it’s most notable pitchers, but it’s still a team that could pull an upset or two, although it’s unlikely that they will get past the first round group that also has Korea, Taipei and the Netherlands.
Go below the jump for the analysis:
The Baseball Continuum 