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Fuentes, Shields, Lackey say yes to WBC
January 9th, 2009, 12:07 pm · 7 Comments · posted by BILL PLUNKETT, OCREGISTER.COM
Team USA announced a preliminary roster of 22 players who have committed to play in the 2009 World Baseball Classic. Three Angels pitchers are on the initial list including the newest Angel, left-handed reliever Brian Fuentes. Right-handers John Lackey and Scot Shields have also committed to play as has Dodgers right-hander Jonathan Broxton.
WBC teams will submit their provisional 45-man rosters next week. Should the Angels be concerned about their pitchers?
Spring training schedules have been adjusted this year in order to give players additional time to prepare for and participate in the second WBC. Camps open Feb. 14 for pitchers and catchers then players report to their various WBC teams for workouts beginning on Feb. 18.
Here is the preliminary list of players that have agreed to participate for Team USA (I see a problem already — who starts at SS, Rollins or Jeter?):
OF Ryan Braun, Milwaukee Brewers
RHP Jonathan Broxton, LA Dodgers
IF-OF Mark DeRosa, Cleveland Indians
LHP Brian Fuentes, LA Angels
OF Curtis Granderson, Detroit Tigers
SS Derek Jeter, NY Yankees
3B Chipper Jones, Atlanta Braves
RHP John Lackey, LA Angels
RHP Matt Lindstrom, Florida Marlins
C Brian McCann, Atlanta Braves
RHP Joe Nathan, Minnesota Twins
RHP Roy Oswalt, Houston Astros
RHP Jake Peavy, SD Padres
2B Dustin Pedroia, Boston Red Sox
RHP J.J. Putz, NY Mets
SS Jimmy Rollins, Philadelphia Phillies
LHP B.J. Ryan, Toronto Blue Jays
RHP Scot Shields, LA Angels
OF Grady Sizemore, Cleveland Indians
LHP Matt Thornton, Chicago White Sox
3B David Wright, NY Mets
1B-3B Kevin Youkilis, Boston Red Sox
7 Comments
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Bill, that’s a GREAT problem for Davey Johnson to have, picking between Rollins and Jeter at shortstop. Now that A-Rod wants to play for the Dominicans, they have to decide where to play Aramis Ramirez. Great players, how to put it together … that’s one of the real attractions of the WBC for me.
good God that team is stacked.
Can you imagine that lineup?!
It was already announced that Jeter will be the starter.
Should be a heck of a lineup but an even better pitching staff.
Where’s that ass-clown Mark Teixeira??? Guess he’s too good for it, huh?
I hope Shields does not play. He seems to run out of gas the second half of the season and the extra innings could affect his performance. That ass-clown Teixeira is not playing, his wife won’t let him.
The fact that everytime a WBC article is written, we talk about the risk of players getting injured is a problem. The NBA did the olympics well because teams could be competitive, but in this system with pitch counts and pinch hitting it’s more like the All-Star game than a competition to see who has the best baseball in the world.
Well, let’s be honest, Mark — the WBC isn’t a competition to see who has the best baseball in the world. The United States and Dominican Republic are so far beyond the rest of the world, and it’s beyond dispute. We all just pretend to ignore that for a few weeks to make the WBC more fun. Bur if we were really trying to find out who is best at baseball, it wouldn’t be a series of one-game eliminations.
Hey, why don’t we trade for Peavy so we can have 4 pitchers on the roster…
I’m concerned about the impact of playing in the WBC on the pitchers’ preparation for the season. Not to mention that they have to leave Angels camp in early March for this. Lackey is a leader. We need him around the rest of the team…