The World's Pastime

I was very excited to hear the news today that the long-discussed World Cup of Baseball will actually be taking place next year. The games will take place over three weeks in March, meaning that the season won't be interrupted and players will be in shape enough to participate. Instead of being governed by a third party (as is the case with the Olympics and USA Basketball) the "World Baseball Classic" is a product of MLB and the Players Association. I applaud both parties for getting together on this, because it decreases the chance of players saying "I don't feel like playing" and owners saying "I don't want my stars getting injured." Who would have thought the owners and players could collaborate on anything these days?

As for the games, the matchups are extremely enticing. The Dominican Republic, the United States and Venezuela would be the three favorites, and given the single-elimination format of the semifinal and final, any team could win (this actually strikes me as an unjust format for baseball, as I would have preferred a Best-of-3 for the final two rounds). ESPN took a stab at predicting the lineups for the top teams, and I have to say that the Dominicans are a murderer's row. The best chance for the U.S. would be to milk its pitching staff, with Clemens, Johnson, Schmidt and Hudson at its disposal. As for the U.S. position players, I would make a few alterations to David Schoenfield's list. I'd take Jeter out of the starting lineup as his production has dropped over the past few years. Instead, I'd start A-Rod at shortstop (he's been struggling as a third baseman as a Yankee) and put Scott Rolen at third. Finally, I think we can do better than Mark Loretta at 2B. The torrid Brian Roberts is the clear choice as the starter, and I'd put Marcus Giles or Michael Young on the roster as a backup infielder.