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2017 - Dominican Republic WBC Team

Saturday, May 4th, 2013

They are the defending champs, the first team to go through all their games undefeated after being embarrassed in 2009 by being eliminated in the first round.  It was a star studded lineup but so was the 2009 team.  What will be the lineup in 2017?

Catcher - Carlos Santana will only be 31 in 2017.  The question will be whether he will still be catching or playing first base by that age.  Gary Sanchez is the best young catcher out there.  He should be ready to make an impact with the Yankees by 2017.  The question may be whether the Yankees would allow him to participate in the event.  Wilin Rosario is probably suited more for a backup role.

First base - Miguel Sano will earn this spot with his 40 homerun bat making an impact on the Minnesota Twins.  The Dominican Republic should be able to find plenty of good defensive players for the third base position, his current position.  Edwin Encarnacion will only be 34 and he could DH or play first base to allow Miguel to play third.  The Dominicans could also make room for veterans Albert Pujols and Adrian Beltre if they can remain healthy.  Neither got to play on the championship team because of the existing injury rule.  Both will be pushing 40 by 2017.

Second Base - Eric Aybar will be a veteran that will have lost his range at 33 to play shortstop.  He could slide over to second or play third base.  Alen Hanson is a younger player who may not have the arm for short and could be the Pirates second baseman by 2017.  Ronny Rodriguez of the Cleveland Indians could also fill the second base role.  There could also be a battle for the shortstop position between Starlin Castro, Jean Segura and Manny Machado (if he qualifies) and the losers will move to second and third.

Shortstops - They were loaded here in 2013 with Jose Reyes and Eric Aybar switching off.  The Dodgers wanted Hanley Ramirez to get some reps here as well.  All three will be in their mid-30s by then and they could still occupy that position as Derek Jeter did for the United States team in 2009 at age 35.  They will have to fight three up and comers in the Cubs Starlin Castro, the Brewers Jean Segura and the Orioles Manny Machado.  Down on the farm youngsters like the Royals Adalberto Mondesi, son of Raul and the Indians Dorssys Paulino could be ready for backup roles.  Emilio Bonafacio could be a nice utility option that could play all three infield positions.  Leury Garcia filled that position for the 2013 team and will be available to fill that role again in 2017.

Third Base - Pedro Alvarez is of Dominican descent.  He needs to swing and miss less to make an impact.  Juan Francisco is getting an opportunity with the Braves.  The Cubs Junior Lake is down on the farm and should be a regular by 2017.  The Dominicans also have a lot of names they can choose to put here from the shortstop position.  It will be a wide open but talented position.

Outfield - The Dominicans were a bit short here in 2013.  That should not be the case in 2017.  They should have lots of choices to cover ground in centerfield in Starling Marte, Eury Perez, Rymer Liriano and Gregory Polanco.  The corners should see Moises Sierra, Marcell Ozuna, Domingo Santana, Jorge Bonafacio (who could be teammates with his brother Emilio) and any of the losers in the centerfield fight.  The outfield could be so crowded that one of the best corner outfielders Oscar Taveras could choose to play for Canada, but the Dominicans would be wise to make room for him.

Starting Pitchers - Major league teams are very protective of starting pitchers they let participate in this event.  Johnny Cueto could be their ace.  Alexi Ogando and Michael Pineda are also potential starters here.  Carlos Martinez was just called up by the Cardinals.  His small stature makes him better suited for the bullpen.  The Brewers may have Willy Peralta as their ace by this time.  The Rays will have called up Alex Colome by this time.  There are others scattered in the majors, future Samuel Dedunos.

Bullpen - They will have a number of players coming out of the pen more talented than Fernado Rodney, but he was a late bloomer, closing for the Dominicans at 36.  Neftali Feliz should be healthy and Kelvin Herrera should be an established closer with the Royals by this time.  The Mets have a load of pitchers who could move to starter or relief in Jeurys Familia, Rafael Montero and Domingo Tapia.  Arodys Vizcaino will have established himself with the Cubs by 2017.  You could always have a late bloomer like Pedro Strop or Felipe Paulino.

The Dominicans won’t have a hard time finding players to repeat their championship run.

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2017 - Puerto Rico WBC Roster

Saturday, April 27th, 2013

It is possible that in 2017 Puerto Rico will have a more talented team than the collection of players that filled the roster for the 2013 team, but it will be tough to accomplish what the 2013 team accomplished - a second place finish.  Carlos Beltran will be gone and big game pitcher Nelson Figueroa will not be available, but Puerto Rico has some improved players coming up ready to fill the roster.

Catcher - Yadier Molina will be 35.  That is a bit old to still be able to dominate at this position.  He could make the team as a backup.  The favorite to start for Puerto Rico would be A.J. Jimenez.  He only played 27 games last year before having Tommy John surgery and has yet to play this year, but when healthy he has not had any problems hitting .300.  Puerto Rico doesn’t seem to have a problem producing catchers so they could also trot out players like the Rockies Wilfredo Rodriguez, the Red Sox Christian Vazquez or the Diamondbacks Michael Perez.  Journeymen Martin Maldanado or Jesus Flores are also options, but they would be better utilized in a reserve role.

First base - The Reds Neftali Soto would be the favorite to play the position.  He has 90 minor league homeruns but he is a borderline prospect.  The player to watch is the Twins big 6′5″ Kennys Vargas.  He is playing in the Florida State League and if he reaches his potential he will be the first baseman.

Second Base - Eddie Rosario has some big time pop for a second baseman, but could also play outfield.  If you look at the surplus of shortstops they may need this position to put one of their extra shortstops.  Ivan DeJesus Jr. will be a utility player in the major leagues and could fill the roster in that same capacity.

Shortstop - Puerto Rico, like the Netherlands will not be hurting for shortstops.  Carlos Correa, the number one pick last year in the draft by the Astros is the favorite.  Many say he could be too big for the position and eventually move to third.  The Indians Francisco Lindor will have the best glove for the position and that ultimately wins out when you can move the other players around.  The Cubs Javier Baez may have the best combination of glove and bat.  Lost in the background is the Dodgers number one supplemental pick Jesmuel Valentin, who is the son of long time major leaguer Jose Valentin.  Another good glove to stick here would be Brewers prospect Yadiel Rivera.  Lots of options here.

Third Base - They’ve got this position covered with their excess of shortstops but Gabriel Rosa was the Reds second round pick in 2012 and could make some noise.  He is a big at 6′4″ with some potential.

Outfield - The Tigers Steven Moya was signed as a free agent out of the Dominican Republic but he was born in Puerto Rico.  At 6′7″ he has the potential for big time power.  To supplement this position they would need to put some of their excess shortstops in the outfield, or put Eddie Rosario out there. Alex Rios or Jose Pagan will not be that old to fill a back up role or start a few games.  They would be a good veteran experience and you will need some of the veteran players on that 2013 roster to show the new guys the way.

Starting Pitching - This is where they could use some help. The best of their pitchers may also not be allowed to play if the major league team has a say. Julio Rodriguez could be another Nelson Figeroa. He is a soft tosser who has not made a big impact yet. By 2017 he could bounce around in Taiwan, Korea or Japan, make a name for himself there and then return to the Puerto Rican team with a lot of international experience. J.O. Berrios is probably their best pitcher. He was a first round supplemental of the Twins last year and at 19 made the roster for the 2013 team. The bullpen could be filled with a cast of journeymen characters like Xavier Cedeno, Hiram Burgos or Randy Fontanez, all of whom played on the roster in 2013. If they are not playing in the major leagues in 2017 they will still be making their presence felt by pitching in the Puerto Rican League, which should see some resurgence in popularity next year after the second place finish by Puerto Rico in the 2013 World Baseball Classic.  Edwin Diaz was drafted in the third round by the Mariners last year and has a good fastball.  As he fills out that fastball could be hitting the mid-90s by 2017.  Jorge Lopez has good height at 6′4″ and was a second round pick in 2011 by the Brewers.  He relies more on the breaking pitch to get hitters out but he could be ready by 2017.

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It’s the President’s Office

Monday, April 22nd, 2013

Chapter 23

It’s the President’s Office

May 14 – China Premier Li Jiabao says he is looking forward to his visit to the United States in September.  One of the plans on his agenda in addition to talking to the United States President about the Iran conflict is to watch Chinese native Jason Woo pitch.  He is hoping he will have that opportunity while he is visiting the United States.  While he says he has little understanding of the game of baseball he has asked his officials to brief him on the game.  China has a professional baseball league, but their season does not start until June and they play only a 40 game schedule.

Ruben was back.  That put a lot of pressure off Larvell.  Not that he was under any obligation to run the team in Rueben’s absence, especially since Rueben had not selected anyone to be in charge while he was gone, but Larvell took on that responsibility.  Everyone seemed to come to him for questions.  He felt like he was behind the steering wheel in a car racing through a neighborhood at 60 miles an hour.  As long as he stayed on the road everything was okay.  Who cares if he hit a few mailboxes along the way or left some black skid marks along the road.  He would apologize for that later.  The important thing was to stay on the road.  While Ruben was gone Larvell felt he stayed on the road.

The command structure in the organization was a bit loose and haphazard, something Larvell didn’t like.  He made a mental note to himself that it was another example of how poorly this franchise was being run.  There was very little communication streaming down from the top, because there was confusion about who was at the top after Ruben.  They all had titles but there was no organization chart showing where those titles settled in the hierarchal scheme.  Larvell got most of his information from Ruben’s administrative staff when he wanted to know what was going on with the ball club.  It rarely filtered down from Ruben except when he stopped by the office to chat.  With his current problem Ruben did not stop by the office to chat anymore.  Larvell determined that was probably a good thing.

Larvell remembered the Cubs structure.  There was an organization chart.  Everyone knew where they stood in this command structure.  The Cubs owner conducted staff meetings once a week.  Even if he wasn’t available to attend the staff meeting he would still put a person in charge to run it, having that person brief him when he got back about what was discussed.  Every manager knew at least something about the organization they were not involved in because it was discussed at the staff meeting, whether they needed this information or not.  With the Orioles Larvell was limited to what he learned from Pablo, Moose and Rigo.  All the other stuff that went on with the Orioles he learned through the rumor mill or gossip channels.  

The trip to Europe seemed to have gotten the press off Ruben’s back.  That was a good thing.  The return of Jason Woo gave them more interesting stories to write about.  Once Ruben returned his presence was forgotten.  His statements about “flatulent claims” and “export money from me” would remain embedded in the ethos of the internet forever, the video clips from the interview propagating like weeds throughout the various blogs and other links from baseball sites for the world to laugh at.  Ruben Pendergrass the person would be ignored.  Ruben Pendergrass, the clown who made the statements about flatulent claims would be viewed forever, even if no one knew his name.  The pervasive but brief sex clip with Kathy Li made that a certainty, creating an urban legend, the fat baseball owner with the sex tape.    

The major league team was certainly not winning.  They were firmly in last place in the American League East with no hope for escape.  Larvell was already trying to contact other teams to trade the remaining veterans on the team.  There was not a lot of interest. 

The team was so bad that yesterday they made the ESPN highlight reels for turning a single into a triple play.  There were runners on first and second with no one out.  The next batter lined a single into right field.  The runner at second flew through a stop sign from the third base coach and was thrown out trying to score.  The batter hitting the single tried to take second on the throw but he was thrown out easily.  The runner on first who had successfully advanced to third on the single forgot how many outs there were and walked off third base toward the dugout.  The third base coach grabbed him and tried to bring him back to the third base bag, but the runner was ruled out by the umpire because of the contact with the third base coach. 

The local writers took advantage of the gaffe to further denigrate the team.  It was the manager’s fault.  Larvell’s fault.  The owner’s fault.  The incompetence of the players never entered the equation.  Like the Ruben Pendergrass interview, the single resulting in a triple play propagated like a weed through the various blogs and sports talk shows throughout the internet, another embarrassment to a once proud franchise.   

Larvell made another note to himself to talk to Moose about their coaching options for third base next year.  That was too basic a blunder to commit.  It gave the perception the Orioles didn’t focus on the most basic fundamentals.  He could understand a player making mistakes on the field, but coaches are supposed to know better.  Regardless of how the team was playing on the field, Larvell wanted the perception to those watching the game that progress was being made.  No one was seeing that.  The big headline among the local press was “Blanks Drawing Blanks with the O’s”.  As if he didn’t expect to see that at some point in his career.  If he wasn’t such an obscure player in the minor leagues he would have seen plenty of that during his 0 fers in his minor league playing career.  During these times he had moments when he longed for that obscurity to return.

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Japan 2017 WBC Roster

Friday, April 19th, 2013

Japan could not make it a three peat in the 2013 WBC.  They got as far as the semi-finals but a loss to Puerto Rico ended their reign.  The 2013 roster was minus any Japanese player who moved to the major leagues.  If they want to reclaim their championship in 2017 they may want to convince some of their major league converts of the importance of their participation in the WBC, especially Yu Darvish.

With Japan it always comes down to the pitching.  In 2017 the Japanese team will be loaded with pitchers.  It would be nice if the starting staff could be led by Yu Darvish.  He’ll only be 31 years old, still young enough to participate in  2017.  The 2013 roster had five pitchers 30 years old or older.

Two returning pitchers who could be pitching in the major leagues when the next WBC rolls around would also be sure roster additions for 2017 if they wanted to play.  Kenta Maeda and Masahiro Tanaka played significant contributions for the 2013 team.  Expect Tanaka to be a New York Yankee before the 2017 WBC.  Both pitchers will be 29 for the 2017 WBC and if they are not fighting for a spot on a major league roster they will be three crucial pieces to the Japanese roster.  Tanaka may even be considered as the closer.

It is the 2012 draft class that could be the strength of the 2017 team.  Shohei Otani of the Nippon Ham Fighters and Shintaro Fujinami of the Hanshin Tigers are the big names to take from this draft.  Both pitchers show fastballs in the mid-90s, a rarity in Japan.  But they are not the only pitchers from the 2012 draft class contributing to their major league team.  Yakult Swallows second round pick Yasuhiro Ogawa has been a surprise with an ERA under two in three starts.  The Softbank Hawks have Nao Higashihama and the Yomiuri Giants have Tomoyuki Sugano, both first round picks who are already contributing to the 2012 ichi-gun team.

For position players Asian teams tend to go with experience over youth.  Only six of the position players for the 2013 WBC team were under 30.  You have to assume they will be favorites to make the 2017 team.  At catcher would be Ginjiro Sumitani, Hayato Sakamoto and Yuichi Honda would be two of the repeats in the infield and Sho Nakata, Hisayoshi Chono and Katsuya Kakunaka would patrol the outfield.  The Rakuten Eagles leadoff hitter Ryo Hijirisawa is another outfield possiblity and Hawks outfielder Yuki Yanagita has certainly gotten off to a strong start in the 2013 season.  Shohei Otani has been playing right field for the Nippon Ham Fighters so if he gives up on pitching an outfield spot could be waiting for him in 2017.

If Shota Dobayashi can improve his defense he could see third base for the 2017 WBC team.  He has a big power bat that is usually reserved for foreign players. If his defense does not develop there is always the designated hitter spot.  The Hawks shortstop Kenta Imamiya is just the opposite.  He can play defense, but his bat has yet to develop.  Another middle infield possibility is Tsuyoshi Nishioka who has returned to Japan from the major leagues and is hitting .349 in the young season for the Hanshin Tigers.  Before leaving for the States he won the NPB batting title hitting .346 for the Chiba Lotte Marines.

Whoever fills the starting lineup for the 2017 WBC team the key for this team will be the pitching.  Many Japanese fans will hope that favorite Yuki Saito of the Nippon Ham Fighters also makes the team.

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New Organization for International Baseball

Sunday, April 14th, 2013

In an effort to get Olympics back in baseball, the International Baseball Federation (IBAF) has combined with the International Softball Federation (ISF) to form a new organization the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC).  The purpose of this union is to get baseball and softball back in the Olympics for 2020.

You can read the article discussing this union here: http://www.ibaf.org/en/news/2013/04/14/new-world-baseball-softball-body-born-at-historic-/75492541-8081-452d-a203-df3523006093

You can go to the new website here: http://playball2020.com/

Posted in World Cup, World Baseball Classic | No Comments »

2017 WBC United States Dream Team

Tuesday, April 9th, 2013

Myworld will take a look at a few of the countries that automatically qualify for the 2017 WBC to put together a possible roster to see what their team could look like.  We will start with the United States baseball team because they have the most talent and myworld is more familiar with who most of the players could be.

Every tournament the United States is the team favored to win the WBC and each time they disappoint.  It kind of reminds me of the basketball team and their series of disappointing losses in international tournaments before the formation of the Dream Team.  Basketball officials echoed the same mantra as baseball officials, saying that if the best players participated the world would not stand a chance.  The NBA was finally able to trot out Larry Bird, Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan in the 1992 Olympics, calling themselves the “Dream Team”.  They won the gold with very little difficulty.  After that appearance the international popularity of basketball appeared to soar.

The United States has a number of rising stars percolating in the major leagues giving them the ability to put together their own dream team in 2017.  Whether that team will resonate like the “Dream Team” did for the sport of basketball is up for debate.  Baseball is a nine inning game, nine opportunities to show your superiority over the other team, so there should be no excuses for failure unless your superiority is not as great as you believe.

We will start out with the outfield, because this is where the United States team would be stacked.

Outfield - Bryce Harper says he wants to play in the next WBC.  He tends to generate excitement just by showing up at the park.  He could be a superstar by 2017, a presence like Larry Bird or Magic Johnson.  Mike Trout is an equal excitement generator and would be the Magic Johnson to Harper’s Larry Bird.  Giancarlo Stanton did not have a great 2013 WBC but he will be a veteran in 2017 and not yet 30.  He may not create as much excitement as Michael Jordan created for basketball’s Dream Team, but his batting practice homeruns would get just as many “Ohs” as a Jordan dunk.  Andrew McCutchen would also make a good pickup if one of those three could not play.  You could carry all four and rotate one through the DH spot.  No country would have the talent to match this outfield trio no matter which three of the four the United States decides to trot out there.

Catcher - You’ve not two good ones in Buster Posey and Matt Wieters.  Both would be hitting 30 years of age and would be veterans of their craft by 2017.  They could carry and guide a pitching staff to a championship.  Mike Zunino is a young catcher who will have a couple major league years on his resume by the time 2017 arrived.  He could be the premier catcher in baseball by the time the next WBC arrives.

First Base - Chris Davis would hit 31 years of age in 2017.  He drove in 17 runs in the first five games of the major league season this week.  By 2017 he could be one of the star firstbasemen in baseball if his power continues to develop.  Paul Goldschmidt would be a year younger and could offer the same power.  Like Mike Zunino the best may be Jonathan Singleton if he can overcome his drug issues to make an impact in the major leagues.

Second Base - Jason Kipnis will be another hitter reaching the middle of his prime at 30 years of age.  If you want a younger player Kolten Wong appears to be an impact player, but my gut is they’ll find some parental heritage that will allow him to play for some obscure Asian team.

Shortstop - This seems to be a domain of Curacao or Puerto Rico.  An injury prevented Troy Tulowitski from playing this year, but in 2017 he will be 33.  Time to pass the baton to the younger players.  Ian Desmond would be the best of the current younger veterans but even he would be 32.  So perhaps Trevor Story, the Rockies future replacement for Troy at Colorado or Adam Russell, Oakland’s 2012 first round pick will have developed enough to get the call.

Third Base - At 35 David Wright would be a bit creaky to make this team.  Chase Headley and Ryan Zimmerman at 33 would be better but still sliding past their prime.  Will Middlebrooks had a three homerun game in the first week and he would only be turning 30 when the next WBC arrived.  Other possibilities include Jedd Gyorko, Mike Olt or Nick Castellanos, but all of them are facing possible position changes.

Starting Pitcher - Another strength for the United States team.  You put these four starters on the hill and they would not need a bullpen, but pitch counts being what they are you can populate the bullpen with some token closers.  Clayton Kershaw and Stephen Strasburg would vy for the coveted ace title.  The two of them could have half a dozen Cy Youngs on their resume by the time 2017 arrives.  Cole Hamels would be another young arm turned veteran stud to follow Kershaw and Strasburg in the number three spot.  At 32 David Price would be the veteran of this group.  He already has a Cy Young on his resume.  A WBC championship would be next on his list.

Bullpen - This could be very flexible including some starters to use as set-up or closers.  Craig Kimbrel will get an encore.  Even at 29 the concern would be the number of games he has worked by 2017.  Historically, relief pitchers who have four or five 70 appearance seasons are due for a downfall.  Young pitchers like Dylan Bundy, Matt Harvey and Gerritt Cole will have created quite the buzz by 2017.  With no room in the rotation for them they can rotate in as the middle inning eaters.  The United States manager would not have a shortage of choices.  The real challenge is finding those players with the motivation to play.

Myworld will bet they make the final four with this roster, perhaps even play in the championship game.  But a few of these players will beg off when their country calls because of either injury, endorsement deals or just a lack of interest.  Most of the players could be making $20 million per year by 2017 and their teams would not want to risk injury by exposing them to a few exhibition games, even if their exposure would be good for the sport of baseball.  If major league owners had their say there will be no opportunity to field a baseball equivalent of a Dream Team to erase the feelings of disappointment after the first three WBCs.

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WBC Counter Hype

Saturday, March 23rd, 2013

If you read the international baseball sites, they spin out the press releases from the World Baseball Classic Inc. which laud the success of the tournament. It is like being a Republican where your only source of news is Fox. You were certain Mitt Romney had the election sewn up. Reading the WBC press releases give you the fuzzy feeling the games were an astouding success, with attendance up and television ratings sky rocketing with viewership more than fifty percent in some countries. Everything was rosy and maybe that is the truth, but myworld still sees pimples that need to be cleared up.

Myworld has spent many a year spinning success stories. It is often what is not said that must be heard. Read between the lines and see what is not in print and you can identify the problems, the acne that can be hidden with a good application of makeup.

When you analyze the attendance for some of the Asian series the attendance for those games in which either Japan or Taiwan did not play was sparse. The stadium was almost empty for a match between Cuba and China. Cuba is a team with some of the more talented players in baseball. You wonder if the cost of electrictiy for turning on the lights in the stadium for that game cost more than what revenue was received from that day’s attendance. While the games for the local teams drew a large crowd, when the local team did not play the interest disappeared.

In the United States the fans attending the spring training baseball games appear to have no interest in discussing or watching the WBC. Myworld could not get anyone interested in debating about the games. The most popular response is that it was a waste of time, a nuisance that takes away the stars from their exhibition games. The two weeks in which their team has to play without Jimmy Rollins or Joey Votto is like having the flu. They tolerate their absence but know that after two weeks the players will return and real baseball will be whole again. Attendance at spring training was also down, but that may still be a reflection of the economy and the price of gas.

The interest in the United States could reflect the lack of hype major league baseball dished out prior to the games. If you follow the Japanese, Korean or Taiwan English papers the WBC is bigger than their exhibition games. Their teams get established almost two weeks before the games start and the papers are debating the roster. Players battle for the honor of playing for the team, not finding excuses not to play in the game. At least, those players not on major league rosters. Almost every Asian player on a major league roster chose not to play for their country.

The United States didn’t really get together until they had a couple exhibition games. There was no press from the local beat writers, or even the national writers on the roster of the team. Most of the news was still discussing the roster of the major league teams. Gio Gonzalez didn’t even join the United States team until it was his turn in the rotation to pitch. It was almost like he made a guest appearance. After his game it was back on the plane and back to Vierra where the Nationals play. What kind of team camaraderie is going to be built with a roster that rarely interacts with each other.

It is no wonder the United States does not do well in this tournament. While this year’s United States roster was filled with good character players who appeared to have the enthusiasm to win, they just didn’t have enough face time together to play as a unit. Teams generally need some time playing together before they get comfortable in the locker room. Until the United States does well in the tournament it will never be embraced by fans in the United States.

Attendance is also misleading. The important thing is revenue. If you look at the schedule for the Phillies exhibition games the WBC game price was cut in half. It is not like the Philles were playing a weak team. They were playing the eventual champions the Dominican Republic who ended up crushing them, even when the Phillies had started their best pitcher Cole Hamels. Revenue is not generated if tickets are given away or sold at a reduced cost, i.e. tickets for $5 if you provide a ticet stub for a spring training game.

The WBC website was also a bit disappointing. They need to do a better job of putting information on the site weeks before the games start to generate interest. Myworld rarely went to the site to get any kind of news on the games because there was rarely anthing there worth reporting. Even the preliminary rosters were very inaccurate. It was also obvious there was not a lot of research done on the historical information for each country playing in the tournament. It’s too late to be writing about the games once the tournament has started.

Now that the games are over myworld bets nothing is done to try to carry the momentum. Like the World Cup in soccer, the momentum is lost while people wait for four years for the event to be held again. At least the qualifying matches make that wait three years if you have interest in following those games. The WBC website will be absent of any international news. You will have to go to the IBAF website to find that.

The WBC also has to do a better job of making this appear more like an international event rather than a United States organized event. This involves getting more feedback from the IBAF and other countries on the organization of the tournament. Perception is everything.

In 2017 myworld hopes the United States has a roster with an outfield of Mike Trout, Bryce Harper and Giancarlo Stanton. The starting pitcher will be Stephen Strasburg, followed by Dylan Bundy, Gerrit Cole and Matt Harvey. The Japanese team will see a rotation of Yu Darvish followed by Shintaro Fujinami and Shohei Otani. The Cuban team will find a way to get Aroldis Chapman, Jorge Soler, Yasiel Puig and Yoenis Cespedes on the team and there will be debate about the games a year before they begin play. That is the kind of tournament myworld can get excited about.

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Cuba Retains Number One Ranking

Thursday, March 21st, 2013

The United States had an opportunity to replace Cuba in the number one ranking, but the United States failed to reach the final four and the standings for the top three remain the same.  Taiwan moved up one, surpassing Korea who dropped to the ninth spot.  Below are the Top Ten countries.  For the rest of the 73 countries you can go here: http://www.ibaf.org/en/infopage-detail.aspx?id=149f4e9a-9427-4a7b-b8df-18ab77845d33

1. Cuba 772.98 (2012 ranking 1)

2. United States 719.27 (2)

3. Japan 544.42 (3)

4. Taiwan 541.79 (5)

5. Netherlands 497.76 (7)

6. Canada 492.02 (6)

7. Dominican Republic 449.18 (13)

8. Puerto Rico 361.25 (12)

9. Korea 333.22 (4)

10. Venezuela 318.13 (8)

The biggest jumps were made by the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico who moved up six and four spots after reaching the finals of the WBC.

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Myworld’s WBC All Star Game

Wednesday, March 20th, 2013

The games are over and now myworld will name our vision of the WBC All Star team.  These are the players whose numbers say they had the most impact on the games.  The contributions of Yadier Molina or Migeul Tejeda will not be reflected here because there locker room presence or handling of a pitching staff is not reflected in statistical numbers.

C - Shinnosuke Abe (Japan) - The leader of the Japanese team and the catcher with the best numbers (.261, 2, 7)

1B - Jose Abreu (Cuba) - Tied for the tournament lead in homeruns with three and second in RBIs with nine (.360)

2B - Robinson Cano (Dom Rep) - Voted the MVP of the tournament (.469, 2, 6)

SS - Andrelton Simmons (Netherlands) - Led all players in runs scored with ten. (.333, 2, 6)

3B - David Wright (United States) - Led all players in RBIs with 10 (.438, 1, 10)

OF - Alfredo Despaigne (Cuba) - Tied with Abreu for the tournament lead in homeruns with three (.389, 3, 8)

OF - Michael Saunders (Canada) - Only three games but numbers better than many who played six games (.727, 1, 7)

OF - Eduardo Arredondo (Mexico) - See Saunders (.545, 0, 1 but with six runs scored)

DH - Mike Aviles (Puerto Rico) - Triggered the Puerto Rican offense with clutch hits (.323, 1, 9)

SP - Kenta Maeda (Japan) - 18 K’s were tops in tournament (2-1, 0.60)

SP - Samuel Deduno (Dom Rep) - started two big games and 17 K’s second to Maeda (2-0, 0.69)

SP - Danny Betancourt (Cuba) - The best of a poor Cuban lot (2-0, 0.00)

SP - Chien-Ming Wang (Taiwan) - Got Taiwan to the second round (1-0, 0.00)

SP - Nelson Figueroa (Puerto Rico) - A big game pitcher with a small time fastball (2-0, 1.80)

Closer - Fernando Rodney (Dom Rep) - no reliever had more games (8) or more saves (0.00, 7 saves)

Set-up - Pedro Strop (Dom Rep) - no pitcher had more wins (3-0, 0.00)

Set-up - Fernando Cabrera (Puerto Rico) - second in saves and 0.33 WHIP (0.00, 3 saves)

Set-up - Seung-hwan Oh (Korea) - struck out six of the eight hitters he faced (0.00, 1 save)

Middle - Kazuhisa Makita (Japan) - only three appearances but a win and a save (1-0, 0.00, 1 save)

Long - Hiram Burgos (Puerto Rico) - led relievers with 13 innings pitched and K’s with 12. (1-0, 0.69)

No lefthanders in this pen.  The future stars of the 2017 WBC is next.

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Dominican Republic WBC Champs

Wednesday, March 20th, 2013

Their hitters were considered the strong point of this team, but it was the bullpen that shined in the WBC.  After Samuel Deduno worked five innings of two hit shutout ball, the bullpen of Octavio Dotel, Pedro Strop, Santiago Casilla and Fernando Rodney shutout the Puerto Ricans out the rest of the way on one hit in the last four innings to win their fourth game against Puerto Rico 3-0.  Those four relievers plus Kelvin Herrera combined for 24 shutout innings in the tournament.

The Dominicans jumped out to an early 2-0 lead off Puerto Rican hurler Giancarlo Alvarado.  Jose Reyes led off the first with a double.  An intentional walk to Robinson Cano put runners on first and second, allowing Edwin Encarnacion to drive in both runners with a 2-run double into deep centerfield.

Hiram Burgos replaced Alvarado in the second and shut down the Dominican bats for three innings.  In the fifth they scratched out another run with a bunt single from Alejandro DeAza and a booming RBI double from Eric Aybar.  They had opportunities to score more runs in the latter innings, but with their bullpen they didn’t need them.

The Dominicans become the first team to go undefeated through the tournament at 8-0.  What is even more impressive is they were also undefeated when playing exhibition games against major league teams, beating the Phillies 15-2 and the Yankees 8-2.  That is a 10-0 won/loss record.  Put them in any of the divisions in the major leagues and they might be a favorite to win all of them.  Their only achilles heel is starting pitching.  That bullpen may eventually get wore down if the starters did not pitch to some length.

In 2009 it was Asias time to shine with Korea and Japan playing in the final.  In 2013 it was the Caribbean’s turn with Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic.  Will 2017 be Europes turn with Netherlands and Italy or North America with the United States and Canada?  Each country has four years to answer that question.

There were 35,000 who watched the game in San Francisco.  In the Dominican and Puerto Rico myworld bets that over 50 percent of the television sets were tuned into the game.  Both teams can be proud of the effort they made to get to the final.

Posted in Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, World Baseball Classic | No Comments »

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