World Baseball Classic

The World Baseball Classic rosters were announced Monday night with much anticipation, at least from me. The 2nd annual Classic will begin on March 5. The games, first and second round, will be broadcasted on the MLB Network, with the semifinals and final will be on ESPN.

The big question here was, What MLB players would be playing in the Classic? Ryan Braun, Miguel Cabrera, Felix Hernandez, Derek Jeter, Chipper Jones, David Ortiz, Dustin Pedroia, Hanley Ramirez, Alex Rodriguez, and Ichiro Suzuki. These are just some of the major names that are playing for their country.

The World Baseball Classic is an event that could parallel the Olympics before it is all said and done. Fans and players all cheering for their country in athletic events that will be broadcasted throughout the world. In my opinion, there is nothing better, no Championships, Division Titles, or single season records can match up to bragging rights for an entire country, without war.

Each country went through the MLB and their countries to find the best players to represent their countries and try and do what Japan did in 2006 and outlast baseball powerhouses like USA, Cuba, and Dominican Republic to bring home the trophy.

The rosters are not yet done, so don't give the trophy away yet, but I will in a little bit. The final rosters are not set until Feburary 24th and will have 28 players on them, which is 3 more players that a major league roster, 25. These rosters must have 13 pitchers, which leaves room for 15 open roster spots. What each country will do with those 15 spots is anyone's guess.

The first round games will be in Tokoyo, Mexico City, Toronto, and Puerto Rico.

The brackets look like this:

• Tokoyo: Japan, China, Chinese Taipei, and Korea (March 5-9)
• Toronto: USA, Canada, Venezuela, and Italy (March 7-11)
• Puerto Rico: Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Netherlands, and Panama (March 7-11)
• Mexico City: Mexico, Cuba, South Africa, and Australia (March 8-12)

The Classic will be a Double Elimination tournament in the first two rounds. The winners of Toronto will meet the winners from Puerto Rico in Miami and the winners of Mexico City and Tokoyo will meet in San Diego. The semifinals and finals will be played in Los Angeles and will be single elimination. The finals will be played on March 23rd.

Now that the first set of rosters are out, go out start talking smack for your team. Be supportive, enjoy it. Hopefully this year turns out better for the USA, but that is just my hope.

The United States were taken out early in 2006 when the lost in the second round. This year, they have vowed to have a better outcome. They have gotten younger, more powerful and, in this writers professional opinion, better.

They added the likes of the American League MVP Dustin Pedroia, Kevin Youkilis, World Series Champions Jimmy Rollins and Cole Hamels, AL Rookie of the Year Evan Longoria and teammate on the Rays Scott Kazmir. Others who are looking to represent the US are David Wright, Ryan Braun and Grady Sizemore. All young and very good players and the future of the MLB. Look at the potential roster for the USA and it will give you chills because of the potential it has.

With all the talk about the Classic, who are the favorites for this year. I have looked over the rosters and the brackets and there are many teams that have so much talent that it is tough to decide an absolute favorite, however I will give it the good old college try. It is tough to leave out Japan, last years winners, Dominican Republic, in my professional opinion, had the best roster in 2006 and have the best roster this year too. Cuba, a team that people could leave out based on not knowing the players, but they are one of the best teams and won the Silver Medal in the Olympics this year and are looking for revenge. A surprising team this year could be, Korea. Korea came in third place in 2006 and won the Gold Medal in the Olympics. I do not think they will win it all, however they could make a huge splash.

Based on everything I just said, here are my picks based on the 45 man rosters. These may change once the final rosters come out, but here they are:

(Picks in Bold)

First Round

• Pool A: Japan, China, Chinese Taipei, and Korea
  
• Pool B: Mexico, Cuba, South Africa, and Australia
  
• Pool C: USA, Canada, Venezuela, and Italy
• Pool D: Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Netherlands, and Panama

The top 2 teams in each bracket will advance to the second round.

Second Round

• Pool 1: Japan (Pool A winner), Korea (Pool A runner up), Cuba (Pool B Winner), Mexico (Pool B runner up)
• Pool 2: USA (Pool C winner), Venezuela (Pool C runner up), Dominican Republic (Pool D winner), Panama (Pool D runner up)

Semifinals

• Game 1: Dominican Republic (Pool 2 winner) v Japan (Pool 1 runner up)
• Game 2: Cuba (Pool 1 winner) v USA (Pool 2 runner up)

Finals

• Finals: Dominican Republic (Game 1 winner) v USA (Game 2 winner)
  

2009 World Baseball Classic Champions: Dominican Republic

These are my picks for now. They may change when the final rosters are made and major names are left off the roster, because with rosters this stacked on each side, there will be some major names left out of the World Baseball Classic.

With 45 days left until the first game, the countdown begins.

-Kaelber