10 Days to The World Baseball Classic
by Dan Salem and Todd Salem (2-18-13)
TODD:
WBC (every four years): Official site for schedule and tickets
Alright, maybe the WBC hasn't caught up to the Olympics quite yet but it still beats a normal baseball spring training as far as interest and importance.
You and I were lucky enough to attend a WBC game last time it was held, a game at Dodgers Stadium in Los Angeles. It was a fun time all around, rooting for your country, glimpsing stars from other countries who have yet to migrate to the Major Leagues and getting to see some less-than-household names from around the world as well.
This year's competition should be no different. Cuba and Japan will both be bringing very good teams full of people none of us have heard of. Some of the Latin American nations will be bringing heat this year as well, as always, filled with a plethora of MLB stars. USA will have a formidable roster; and countries like Canada and Australia will be playing for some reason too.
The first question that comes from a contest like this is always who has the best team. Without having much knowledge of teams like Cuba and Japan, I can't accurately throw them in this listing. But it seems that Venezuela may be the top dog this year, even without Felix Hernandez pitching. Their staff is anchored by Anibal Sanchez, a stud pitcher no matter the country of origin. Even with an all-star caliber starter on the mound and some effective bullpen arms, their pitching isn't even their strength. Here is a quick listing of their hitters with a parenthetical documentation following each name describing how good they are:
Catcher (C) Miguel Montero - (very underrated; a good, all-around hitter)
Infielder (IF) Marco Scutaro - (reigning NLCS MVP)
IF Pablo Sandoval - (reigning World Series MVP)
IF Elvis Andrus - (MLB All-Star)
IF Asdrubal Cabrera - (MLB All-Star)
IF Miguel Cabrera - (reigning AL Triple Crown winner and best hitter on the god damn planet)
Outfielder (OF) Martin Prado - (fantastic contact hitter)
OF Gerardo Parra - (one of the best fielders in the Majors)
OF Carlos Gonzalez - (one of the best players in the world)
Take a look around and tell me who is better than that team.
DAN:
Love the WBC, if not for having a cool acronym then for making baseball relevant in March! Its fun to smash all-stars onto a team and watch them play for pride of country. The tournament means so much to each country outside the USA, that team USA must bring its A game or risk getting run over. Your Venezuelan team is full of studs, but come on, no way they are better than team USA!
Pitching:
Heath Bell
R.A. Dickey (knuckle balls!)
Chris Perez
Ryan Vogelsong
Craig Kimbrel (BEST closer in baseball)
Kris Medlan
Gio Gonzalez
Maybe only Dickey strikes fear in your heart, but this is a strong, young set of arms. A perfect compliment to team USA's other worldly lineup.
Ryan Braun OF (All star and former league MVP)
Adam Jones OF (Great)
Giancarlo Stanton OF (Great - possibly the best power hitter alive)
Shane Victorino OF (All star)
Joe Mauer C (All star)
Brandon Phillips IF (All star)
Jimmy Rollins IF (All star and amazing veteran presence)
Mark Teixeira IF (All star and all out Awesome Dude)
David Wright IF (Possibly the best at his position and an All star)
Ben Zobrist UTL
Willie Bloomquist UTL
Please, check my math, but I believe team USA has more All stars than team Venezuela. Hmm, I wonder who will win?
TODD:
You know what? That USA roster IS pretty loaded. I might have jumped the gun here with Team Venezuela. The problem is, when these rosters come out, all we hear about is all the American guys who will NOT be playing. Sure, this team has some nice pitching, especially out of the bullpen. But there's no Justin Verlander, no David Price, no CC Sabathia, no Cliff Lee. None of the best American starters are playing in this thing. The lineup ain't bad, but other than the outfield, it is relying on a lot of aged, veteran presence; call it Yankee-ish if you want.
So USA might have the best overall team heading into this thing, but I can't bring myself to call them the favorite, not when I am fully aware of how many stars will not be participating. (I know this is flawed logic, to penalize a roster for who is not there; it is what it is though.)
We went through this a bit with the Olympics in the late 90's and early aughts for Team USA basketball. A lot of the best players were either told by their teams to pass on the invite to avoid injury, or they simply did not wish to exert themselves "for free." We seem to have passed that stage, for the most part. The Olympics has the added advantage of world pressure though. Everyone watches the Olympics. Nobody watches this WBC business, not yet at least.
So how long will it take for the World Baseball Classic to reach the front burner of popularity? Baseball as a sport is not as big as it used to be and this tournament is brand new, so it certainly won't happen overnight. But, until it does, I can't escape the feeling that Team USA will always look like this: pretty good, some studs there certainly, but where the hell is _____??
Round by Round Picks and Trash Talking on Friday
No comments:
Post a Comment