Baseball Preview: West Divisions

Say, did you happen to know that BASEBALL STARTS TODAY!?!?!? In addition to it being the most holiest of days in the Christian calendar, it's also the happiest day of the year for me and millions of like-minded superfans. While I'm more than excited for the games, a lot of the fun comes from examining the various projections to see how each team stacks up heading into Opening Day. I've been spending the off-season poring over stats and compiling my own detailed lists, but for some reason the start of the season doesn't hit home until the Sports Illustrated baseball preview issue hits newsstand shelves. As the focus this year is all about strikeouts, the three alternate covers feature three different staff aces: my hometown Dodgers' Clayton Kershaw, my fellow July birthday Stephen Strasburg, and last year's AL Cy Young award winner David Price.

For a few years now, the ESPN magazine has eschewed projected lineups from their baseball preview, so I haven't had the chance to compare the thoughts of my two most trusted baseball authorities. But this year, ESPN.com has called on the bloggers of the Sweet Spot network to post their projected lineups online. I've been diligently following both publications (while also doing some of my own analysis) and what follows are the notable discrepancies between the two. I'm starting with the West divisions of both leagues since two of their representatives are kicking off the season this evening.

AL WEST

Los Angeles Angels

Both ESPN and SI are in agreement that the boys from Anaheim will finish first in the division, mostly due to their major free agent addition Josh Hamilton. Even though SI was in the same boat last year, when that big addition was Albert Pujols, I am more inclined to believe them this time around due to the emergence of Mike Trout. The only discrepancy in the projected lineup is in who will be the most important bullpen piece behind last season's breakout closer Ernesto Frieri. SI has former Phillies closer Ryan Madson, even though he will start the year on the disabled list while recovering from the Tommy John surgery that caused him to miss all of 2012. ESPN is banking on lefty Sean Burnett who was signed away from the Nationals. Nothing too drastic and I think we can all agree that this will be a very dangerous team.

Texas Rangers
I'm putting these teams in order based on Sports Illustrated's projected finish, but I'd like to note that ESPN has my A's finishing in second place. There are two discrepancies in this team, and both have to do with differing philosophies regarding injured players. SI has the rookie Martin Perez listed as Texas's 5th starter even though he will be out of action for a while after breaking his arm in training camp. ESPN has in his place Nick Tepesch, the organization's #18 ranked prospect (according to MLB.com) and a non-roster invitee this year who split time with the Rangers' A+ and AA teams in 2012, just his second year in professional ball. In a flip-flop of those philosophies, SI has Tanner Scheppers as the second bullpen arm behind Joe Nathan, while ESPN has another injured hurler Joakim Soria. Scheppers made his major league debut last year and posted a pedestrian 4.45 ERA, but he's still just 25 years old and a rookie. Soria made a name for himself as one of the best relievers in the game while with the Royals, but missed all of 2012 due to Tommy John surgery and won't be back with the big leagues until at least the end of May.

Oakland Athletics
Infield depth is the first issue here for the A's - too much depth that is. They have so many capable players that the two publications are at odds with who will start and who will be on the bench. They agree that new addition Jed Lowrie will play the infield every day, but whether it's at second base (leaving converted catcher Josh Donaldson to man the hot corner) or third base (with Scott Sizemore at second coming off a lost season due to a freak knee injury) is anybody's guess. BREAKING NEWS: The A's placed Japanese import Hiroyuki Nakajima on the DL yesterday with a strained hamstring, which allows Lowrie to start at shortstop and opens the door for both aforementioned players. Young pitching depth is another issue, as SI favors sophomore A.J. Griffin while ESPN goes with rookie Dan Straily. In reality, both will open the season in the rotation, as veteran Bartolo Colon still has some suspension to serve for PED use.

Seattle Mariners
Aside from drastic differences in the projected batting order (which I will ignore for now, since batting order is so nebulous throughout the season), bench and bullpen were the only discrepancies. ESPN gave the second bench spot (behind Raul Ibanez) to backup catcher Kelly Shoppach while SI thought it was more important to showcase fifth outfielder Jason Bay. Bay has a lot to prove, coming off a renegotiated early exit from his contract with the Mets, but Shoppach will likely see a lot of playing time due to the well-documented defensive woes of former catching prospect Jesus Montero. The two publications disagree which rookie reliever (Stephen Pryor or Carter Capps) will back up closer Tom Wilhelmsen - although I would personally tab lefty Charlie Furbush as the M's most talented RP2 option.

Houston Astros
What a disaster this team will be, huh? The SI article profiling the American League basically just went on and on about how embarrassed AL GMs would be if their clubs went .500 or worse against Houston. This team is so bad that they signed Ronny Cedeno to be their starting shortstop after he was released from a minor league deal with the Cardinals. Only SI got this right, though, as ESPN still had Tyler Greene slotted in there, who was released upon Cedeno's signing. ESPN also had J.D. Martinez as the starting right fielder (who is left out of SI's lineup), which will turn out to be true, only because prospect Fernando Martinez went on the DL yesterday with a strained oblique.


NL WEST

San Francisco Giants
Showing classic bias toward last year's world champions, SI projects this team as the first place finishers while ESPN favors the recently free-spending Dodgers. I will say that the Giants are a much more consistent ballclub, with their playoff lineup and rotation returning intact and the same on paper across both publications. The bench is a point of contention, as SI thinks that newcomers Tony Abreu (IF) and Andres Torres (OF) will have more impact on the big club than backup catcher Hector Sanchez. They are also in disagreement on the primary lefty setup man: SI says Javier Lopez while ESPN has Jeremy Affeldt. Personally, I might have picked fireballer Santiago Casilla as their RP2, seeing as he did close quite a few games for San Francisco last year, but what do I know...

Los Angeles Dodgers
The boys in blue spent a ton of money stockpiling starting pitchers, and the only issue these two publications have is who will round out that rotation. SI says it will be new Korean right-hander Ryu Hyun-Jin while ESPN has its money on lefty Chris Capuano, a holdover from last year. Whoever loses this battle will join other starters from last year Aaron Harang and Ted Lilly (when healthy) in a very good, versatile, and expensive bullpen.

Arizona Diamondbacks
Both ESPN and SI have exactly the same projected lineup, rotation, and projected finish for this team. Well done, fellas. Way to be on the same page.

San Diego Padres
Who will be this team's fifth starter? Will it be new addition from the A's Tyson Ross (he of the negative fantasy points in the bigs last year, despite a pretty good performance in AAA)? Or will it be the main haul from the Cubs in the trade for Anthony Rizzo last year Andrew Cashner (he spent most of last year coming out of the bullpen, possibly to build up arm strength after missing most of 2011 with a shoulder injury)? Who can know? SI also left outfielder Chris Denorfia off the projected bench, which I took issue with seeing as I see him getting more playing time than Jesus Guzman in the very likely eventuality that Carlos Quentin goes down with some kind of injury.

Colorado Rockies
Another fifth starter question! Could it be lefty Drew Pomeranz (acquired from the Indians in the Ubaldo Jimenez deal)? Or how about veteran Jon Garland (who didn't pitch at all in any level in 2012 due to shoulder surgery)? Here's a hint: On the same day that the Rox signed Garland last week, they optioned Pomeranz to AAA Colorado Springs. That doesn't necessarily prove anything (the Mariners optioned their 5th starter, Erasmo Ramirez, two days later and the Rangers aren't even going to call up Tepesch from the minors until his first scheduled start comes around next week, despite naming him the fifth starter in the press) and in a very weak Colorado rotation, I can see them both getting plenty of work.


So who will it be next? The Central divisions? The East divisions? Leave your suggestions in the comments section and that's who I'll do next! I'm just so excited for baseball!

WBC: Team USA Roster

Well, the WBC is finally over, and the Dominican Republic is your undefeated champion! I'm glad someone unseated the two-time defending champ Japanese team and I'm secretly not too disappointed that it wasn't Team USA. While I love my country, baseball is already our national pastime, and we have the best players in the world playing in our very own major league. What's the use of having the WORLD Baseball Classic if the most established powerhouse always wins? I will say that it would have been a much more interesting final four if our boys had advanced though...

Speaking of our boys, I put together an in-depth analysis type roster for them even though they didn't make it to the championship round, because I think it's important to see who was chosen to represent the world's biggest baseball power. As with the other charts, players with their last names highlighted in yellow were members of the 2009 version of Team USA, and the lowercase letters in the minor league level column indicate that no player on this team spent enough time below big league level to gain fantasy eligibility there. Let's take a look, shall we?

The quality of the major league talent on this roster is unparalleled by any other team in this year's tournament. Not only is every player except one ranked by MLB.com, but every starter except one is ranked in top 100. The lone exception, Eric Hosmer, was a late replacement for the injured Mark Teixeira - who was ranked 105 even before his wrist injury, but who's counting? There are only four offensive holdovers from the 2009 team, but a great deal of turnover is to be expected with more than 900 U.S.-born players in the majors to choose from each year. First we have leadoff hitter Jimmy Rollins, who has taken over as the primary shortstop after splitting time with Derek Jeter in the last tournament. Left fielder Ryan Braun made the same batting order jump from seventh to third made by Dominican star Robinson Cano from last tournament to this one. Rumor has it that Braun was considering playing for Team Israel had they advanced beyond the qualifying round. David Wright, who earned the moniker "Captain America" due to the clutch hitting he displayed before sore ribs kept him out of most of Round 2, took sole possession of third base thanks to Chipper Jones's retirement. And outfielder Shane Victorino spent more games on the bench than in the starting lineup, but the Flyin Hawaiian's energy is always a welcome addition to any team.

The highest ranked newcomer to the team is Marlins right fielder Giancarlo Stanton, who had the added privilege of getting to represent his country while playing in his home stadium (at least for Round 2). Orioles center fielder Adam Jones filled the position once occupied by the great Ken Griffey Jr. Brandon Phillips took over at second base for Dustin Pedroia and Joe Mauer dethroned Brian McCann as the starting catcher. What's interesting about those last three players is that they all recently signed long-term extensions with their clubs. (Stanton will make the minimum for the last time this year, and if Miami's past is any indication of its future actions, he might soon be sent packing.) I guess it makes sense to pick players with job security to play for Team USA, since these particular guys have definitely achieved some measure of the American Dream.

The USA pitching staff was arranged more like the Dominicans, in that they had only the bare minimum amount of starters while loading up on relievers. The polar opposite strategy is that taken by the Japanese, whose staff was roughly two-thirds starting pitchers, who were then of course used in relief. The top starter was R.A. Dickey, winner of the 2012 NL Cy Young award and recipient of his own extension from his new team, the Blue Jays. I know he had a phenomenal season last year, but as Deadspin hilariously noted, it's a little sad when the best Team USA can trot out for an international competition is a 38-year-old knuckleballer. Nationals lefty Gio Gonzalez is a much more impressive athlete, but you have to ask yourself how much that was due to his link with Miami anti-aging clinic Biogenesis (he of course claims it's nothing). It makes sense that he too is on this team, since one could argue that using whatever edge you can to gain a competitive advantage is also part of the American Dream.

What's not part of the American Dream is blowing a huge game against the tournament's toughest competition, and yet that's exactly what Braves closer Craig Kimbrel did against the Dominicans in the game that led to the game that sealed Team USA's fate. I don't begrudge his choice, though, as I agree with MLB.com's assessment that he's the top relief pitcher available. The only holdover from 2009's pitching staff was middle reliever Heath Bell, who made it onto last tournament's team based on a resume that included setting up for Trevor Hoffman - he would not become a closer until the season directly following the tournament. The only other closers proper in the bullpen were Twins lefty Glen Perkins and Steve Cishek, also of the Marlins. The rest were a curious mix of middle relievers (including David Hernandez who was briefly slated to pitch for Team Mexico), but they mostly did their jobs out of the pen.

The big head-scratcher was the USA bench. There's no excuse to have the best option to fill in at third base when Wright was scratched from the lineup be Willie Bloomquist. Ben Zobrist eventually stepped up and manned the hot corner, which means that between the WBC and the regular season I think he's litrally played every position on the diamond except pitcher and catcher. And I guess you need two backup catchers when your cleanup-hitting backstop has to DH half the time. But when you have to carry 11 relievers, sacrifices have to be made.

So there you have it. I have now written at least a little bit (and in some cases a lotta bit) about every team that participated in the 2013 World Baseball Classic. What a perfect way to occupy the early part of Spring Training and segue into fantasy season (both my drafts are next weekend, so I'll probably write about how they went). Congratulations to the Dominican Republic for running the table and taking home the trophy, but remember that in some sense, everyone who participated in this patriotic event is a winner. In a very small sense. Because in a much larger sense, everyone who didn't win is a loser. But hey, at least there's the regular season coming up...

WBC Rosters: Finalists

You guys, big news: They've released the starting lineups for tonight's WBC Championship Game between Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. While there aren't really any surprises, having them finalized gives me some context to post my in-depth informational charts about each team.

But first, here's a little key-type information. From left to right, the first column represents each player's ranking (according to MLB.com). The next two columns contrast the position(s) they played in 2012 with the positions they played in the WBC (positions with asterisks denote that the last time they played was before last year). The columns for name and bat/throw are pretty self-explanatory. As far as the stats, everything to the left of the dotted line represents major league stats, while everything on the right is anything below the major league level. If a player split time between two or more levels but played significantly more in one than any other, that is denoted by having the dominant level in all caps.

For those of you not familiar with my fantasy point scoring system, the bottom line is that it boils down each player's performance in a given year to a single, all-encompassing number. 2,000 points (for both hitters and pitchers) is considered an elite season. The starters represent tonight's batting order, and everyone else is listed in order of how many games they've played in the tournament (with starts privileged over relief/pinch hitting/defensive replacement appearances). As for color coding, last name in yellow means that player represented his country in the 2009 version of the team and full name in Cyan means they were featured in that ESPN.com article that I ABSOLUTELY cannot stop referencing that profiled the best non-MLB players in this year's tournament.

So, without further ado, and just one hour before the big game starts, I humbly present to you my one-page informational sheets containing pretty much all you'd ever think to ask about the members of this year's WBC Finalists. Enjoy!

WBC Finals: Puerto Rico vs. Dominican Republic

So it's come to this: an All-Caribbean WBC final game against two teams that have already played each other twice in this tournament. Things didn't work out too well for Puerto Rico the last two times - as they didn't work out too well for any team that has squared off against the Dominicans in this tournament - but they've been famously resilient against highly favored teams in elimination situations. So what will happen? Will the Dominicans continue their dominance and complete an undefeated tournament? Or will the Puerto Rican giant-killers strike again and hand the Dominican Republic their first loss in the game that counts most? The best way to determine the results is with a little side-by-side lineup comparison.

Catcher: Yadier Molina vs. Carlos Santana
Quite a lot of talent here as MLB.com has these two catchers ranked second and third in the position, behind only NL MVP Buster Posey. While Santana has had an impressive couple of years, what the youngest of the three famous Molina Brothers brings to the table in terms of defense, leadership, and (as of fairly recently) with his bat is unparalleled.
ADVANTAGE:

First Base: Carlos Rivera/Martin Maldonado vs. Edwin Encarnacion
On the Dominican side, you have a proven cleanup hitter who outscored Dominican great Albert Pujols last year. The Puerto Ricans, on the other hand, have a platoon between someone who, granted, did very well in the Mexican League last year and a major league backup catcher. The choice here is clear. On a side note, though, I wonder if this tournament will get the Brewers thinking about using Maldonado at first base at least to start the season, since with both Corey Hart and Mat Gamel out, Milwaukee's first base options look rather slim.
ADVANTAGE:

Second Base: Irving Falu vs. Robinson Cano
Again, the Dominicans are fielding the consensus best second baseman in the game right now, whereas Puerto Rico has a guy who can't even win a starting spot on the constantly-rebuilding Royals. Come on. Just... come on.
ADVANTAGE:

Third Base: Andy Gonzalez vs. Hanley Ramirez
A career minor leaguer with just over 250 big league at-bats to his credit? Or a former Rookie of the Year, three-time All-Star, two-time Silver Slugger (at shortstop, no less)? You decide...
ADVANTAGE:

Shortstop: Mike Aviles vs. Jose Reyes
Aviles has been one of Puerto Rico's most consistent producers and is making a case that he deserves to be more than just a utility player for his new team, the Cleveland Indians. But Jose Reyes is not just an elite shortstop, he's the spiritual force behind this Dominican Republic team.
ADVANTAGE:

Left Field: Eddie Rosario/Jesus Feliciano vs. Ricardo Nanita/Moises Sierra
This is by far the least consistent position for either team. Rosario is a top 10 prospect in the Twins organization, but he hasn't played above class A ball, while Feliciano has just 54 games of major league service time (all in 2010 for the Mets) and is currently a free agent. Nanita and Sierra were teammates on Toronto's AAA affiliate last year. Nanita has started the majority of the games in left, but only Sierra has any major league experience: 49 games in 2012. This one is close, but I'm giving it to the Dominicans based on Sierra's trendworthy performance last night.
ADVANTAGE:

Center Field: Angel Pagan vs. Alejandro De Aza
De Aza established himself as a serviceable center fielder last year with the White Sox. But with only one season under his belt as a starter, I have to go with the guy who not only has a longer track record and more complete skill set, but who just made bank on a new free agent contract.
ADVANTAGE:

Right Field: Alex Rios vs. Nelson Cruz
Rios (De Aza's teammate in Chicago) had a better 2012 than Cruz, but he struggled so badly early on in the WBC that the Puerto Rican manager dropped him from third to sixth in the order. But the sweet swing he put on an Atsushi Nohmi pitch for a two-run home run in Sunday's semifinal game against Japan is all the evidence I need to prove that he's out of his slump.
ADVANTAGE:

Designated Hitter: Carlos Beltran vs. Erick Aybar/Miguel Tejada
Whether Aybar is subbing in for Jose Reyes at short or Tejada is subbing for Hanley Ramirez at third, these are the two players that alternate for D.R., so I'm counting them as a DH platoon. But however you slice it, Beltran is a much more complete hitter than either of his opponents, and since defense doesn't come into consideration for this position, that just makes the choice easier.
ADVANTAGE:

Starting Pitcher: Giancarlo Alvarado vs. Samuel Deduno
Giancarlo (aka Carlos) Alvarado has never made it to the major leagues at age 34, but he's come rather close: in the years sandwiching the 2009 WBC (in which he also pitched for Puerto Rico) he started a total of 48 games for the Dodgers AAA affiliate. But in the three years since then, he's made his home in Japan where he has compiled a 3.53 ERA for the Hiroshima Carp and Yokohama BayStars. Samuel (aka Sam) Deduno got his first big chance with Minnesota last year, starting 15 games at the big league level and causing Twins fans no shortage of discomfort. I have a bet going that his masterful WBC performance thus far will lead to an increased workload this year, despite the fact that he's only in Twins camp as a non-roster invitee at this point.
ADVANTAGE:

Closer: Fernando Cabrera vs. Fernando Rodney
Pop quiz, stats nerds: who had a lower ERA (by almost 90 points), a lower WHIP, and 10 more saves than bullpen gold-standard Aroldis Chapman? 36-year-old (as of yesterday) Fernando Rodney, that's who. Cabrera has racked up 89 saves in his career... in the minor leagues. Tab over to his major league stats, and you'll see that total reduced by 88 - the 6'4" right-hander has saved only one major league game, and that was in 2007. There's no chance Rodney repeats his 2012 brilliance, but he's definitely got momentum on his side.
ADVANTAGE:

Bullpen:
Xavier Cedeno/J.C. Romero/Jose De La Torre
vs.
Santiago Casilla/Pedro Strop/Octavio Dotel
(based on number of appearances)
Even without Rodney, this Dominican team has an intimidating relief corps. Before Sergio Romo took over as San Francisco's closer (a spot that got him on the cover of a very special issue of Sports Illustrated in October), Casilla showed that he too has the stuff to finish out ballgames. Strop can hit 96 on the gun and Dotel has proven his staying power by pitching for a record number of teams over his career. On the flip side, P.R.'s middle relievers are as mediocre as D.R.'s are intimidating. The only one to score positive points in the majors is Xavier Cedeno, and those were with the Astros. J.C. Romero is the elder statesman on this staff, having gotten his start the same year as Dotel, but the lefty currently isn't employed by a major league team. There are some promising pitchers - Jose Berrios is another Twins top 10 prospect and Hiram Burgos ranked 13th in the Brewers system - but the overall talent just isn't there.
ADVANTAGE:

So there you have it: the final tally is Dominican Republic - 8, Puerto Rico - 4. I've done similar roster analyses in the past for big matchups, and the winners don't always end up victorious by any means. But if I were a betting man and had the opportunity to put some money down, I would definitely go for the Dominicans tonight.

WBC Semifinals: Dominican Republic vs. Netherlands

What a tense and exciting game between Japan and Puerto Rico last night, huh? Let's hope that tonight's other semifinal matchup between the Dominican Republic and the Kingdom of the Netherlands is equally as exciting. But given the personal history between these two teams, how could it not be? In 2009, back when both rounds of the tournament were modified double elimination, the Dutch team beat the heavily favored Dominicans not once, but twice, single-handedly ending their WBC run. Tonight, the undefeated Dominican team will be out for revenge against a surprising team from the Netherlands that has had some trouble with injuries, but has also made some key additions prior to the semifinal round. Here's a look at the top players on each roster.

Let's start with the Dominican Republic, since they have a far more impressive crop of major league talent than their competitors: 20 players on the Dominican roster reached the majors in 2012 compared to just five for the Netherlands, and that includes the two last-minute additions for the semifinals. Leading the pack in terms of both lineup positioning and personality is shortstop Jose Reyes, who also led off for the 2009 version of this team. Unfortunately he and former Mets teammate David Wright did not get to display their talents for trash-talking during his match against Team USA, as Wright was held out of the final two games with sore ribs. The top Dominican player in terms of talent is the #5 overall ranked player according to MLB.com, Yankees second baseman Robinson Cano. His career has taken a huge turn for the positive since he played this position for the Dominicans in 2009, as he's made a jump in the batting order from seventh to third and has become the face of baseball his country. Hanley Ramirez, the former No. 3 hitter displaced by Cano in the Dominican lineup, was also displaced from his former position in the Marlins infield last year by the very person with whom he alternated in the 2009 WBC: Jose Reyes. They have since both been traded away by Miami and are both projected to start the 2013 season at shortstop. The other two returning offensive players from 2009 are Texas Rangers outfielder Nelson Cruz, who made a not-quite-Cano-like jump in the batting order from eighth to sixth, and third baseman Miguel Tejada, who made a couple starts in this tournament despite not having played at the major league level in 2012.

The D.R.'s heaviest hitter in terms of fantasy points - Edwin Encarnacion slugged 2,408 points for the Blue Jays last year, narrowly eclipsing Cano's 2,396 - did not play in 2009 since they pulled the legendary David Ortiz into the field for the tournament. Carlos Santana (not the guitar player) is the third-ranked catcher in the game this year behind Buster Posey and Yadier Molina, indicating that people are expecting big things from the oft-injured power hitter entering his age 27 season. Shortstop Erick Aybar occupies the roster spot taken up by his brother Willy in 2009. And White Sox center fielder Alejandro De Aza is the only other major league starting outfielder on the roster, leaving left field to a pair of Blue Jays farmhands, Ricardo Nanita and Moises Sierra. With so much established major league talent, you wouldn't expect to find many prospects on this roster, but outfielder Eury Perez (Washington's #7) and infielder Leury Garcia (Texas's #19) are on the bench if needed.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, prospects are the name of the game for a Dutch roster that is short on established star power. That's not to say that there aren't any major leaguers in the lineup: leadoff hitting shortstop Andrelton Simmons is likely to fill those same roles for the Braves this year, Roger Bernadina was (and will be again) the fourth outfielder for the Nationals, and Andruw Jones was a reserve outfielder for the Yankees last year (his 2013 status is still uncertain). But the two prospects that really make this team are the (really) last players I'll mention from that ESPN.com article that profiled the best non-major league players in the tournament: #20 overall prospect (and #1 on the Red Sox) Xander Bogaerts and Baltimore's #4 prospect Jonathan Schoop (pronounced like "scope"). In the two rounds prior, these two started at third base and second base for the Dutch, respectively, but for the semifinals, Schoop will shift to third and Bogaerts will shift to the bench to make room for baseball's consensus #1 prospect Jurickson Profar, the reason the Rangers are listening on trade offers for Venezuelan starting shortstop Elvis Andrus.

Of the non-MLB non-prospect players on this team, former major outfielder and cleanup hitter Wladimir Balentien had the best season statistically - he clubbed 30 home runs for the Yakult Swallows of the NPB. Third baseman/outfielder Yurendell de Caster, one of the four holdovers from 2009's offense (none of them were mentioned above), was not far behind, hitting .326 with Winnipeg of the independent American Association. No one else played above AA with the following three players reaching that milestone: holdover first baseman Curt Smith played in Miami's organization, outfielder Kalian Sams was with Seattle, and infielder Hainley Statia was with Milwaukee. Starting catcher Dashenko Ricardo played with San Francisco's low-A affiliate, meaning this offense didn't have to rely on any starters who played exclusively for the Dutch major league - not the case for the pitching staff, as we'll explore below.

But first, on the Dominican pitching side, only one player returned from 2009: Padres starter Edinson Volquez, who started the opening games of both previous rounds and is slated to start tonight's semifinal matchup. This team is modeled after the United States rather than Japan, with only other two other starters on the roster: veteran Pirates lefty Wandy Rodriguez and surprisingly effective 2012 rookie Samuel Deduno, who has used the WBC so far to make a very convincing case for a spot in a weak Twins rotation. The overall point leader on this team is neither Cano nor Encarnacion, but 36-year-old Rays closer Fernando Rodney (2,478 points from 48 saves and a 0.60 ERA), who has pitched in every one of his team's game in this tournament. Backing him up is a group of fireballers headlined by Giants stand-in closer Santiago Casilla, famous team-hopping journeyman Octavio Dotel, projected Astros closer Jose Veras, the Royals' breakout setup man Kelvin Herrera, Pedro Strop of the Orioles, and Alfredo Simon of the Reds.

Prior to the semifinals, which saw the addition of Dodgers closer and 2009 holdover Kenley Jansen to the roster, the Dutch pitching staff didn't have a single major league pitcher representing. Of the five pitchers who started a game for the Netherlands, only 2009 holdover Tom Stuifbergen of the Twins' high-A affiliate had any American professional experience in 2012. Three of the other starters, including tonight's starter Diegomar Markwell, last played in the Honkbal Hoofdklasse, which is, no joke, the Dutch translation of Major League Baseball. Had I known the Dutch word for baseball, I would have been actively rooting for the Netherlands much earlier in the tournament. Other players who spent time for major league affiliates last year are minor league journeyman Shairon Martis (who got a taste of The Show with the Nationals in 2008-09) and reliever Loek van Mil (who split 2012 between Cleveland and the Angels, and is currently trying to catch on with Cincinnati on a minor league deal).

Who will advance to meet upstart Puerto Rico in the final game tomorrow? Let's find out!

WBC Semifinals: Japan vs. Puerto Rico

Before I go over the recently-eliminated Team USA, I have an opportunity to do something I haven't been able to do since last baseball season: live-blog a baseball game. So rather than wait until one of these teams is eliminated to analyze their roster, I'll give my real-time reactions. This matchup features two-time WBC champion Japan and treasonous United States territory Puerto Rico, who eliminated their colonial overlords in Round 2 last week. Let's start with Puerto Rico's batting order, since they came up first and also scored first. (Alright, I'm not exactly real-time, so sue me.)

Leadoff hitter Angel Pagan is one of six players in the starting lineup to have played in the majors last year. He's playing in his home stadium, having just signed a new four-year deal with the Giants. Batting next is Irving Falu, who had very limited playing time last year with the Royals, but based on his AAA numbers (16.1 points per game), he could very well be their second baseman of the future. His job is to set the table for a past Royals mainstay Carlos Beltran. The seven-time All-Star played center field for P.R. but now he's been relegated to DH since the start of Round 2. The cleanup hitter is one of the top catchers in the game Yadier Molina, whose older brother Jose is backing him up on the bench. Shortstop Mike Aviles, who found a bit of a power stroke last year with a career high 13 HR, bats fifth and is responsible for the only run of the game so far. Surprisingly he's hitting in front of Puerto Rico's top point scorer Alex Rios, of the White Sox. Those last four players also represented their country (territory?) in the last WBC.

All six above-mentioned major leaguers came to bat in the first inning, whereas it took Japan two full innings to send six batters to the plate. In fact, Puerto Rico pitcher Mario Santiago is absolutely dealing, having retired 10 straight batters before Japan got their first hit in the bottom of the fourth. That hit came off the bat of Hirokazu Ibata, a player I saw in person when I visited Japan in 2005. One of the many reasons I'm glad I have a chance to watch this game in particular, because some of the more dedicated Japanese fans, of which there are plenty in attendance in the Bay Area, bring their trumpets to the game and play personalized theme songs for each of the top players. It had been eight years since I heard the chant "GAN-BA-RE I-BA-TA!" and yet the melody still echoes in my mind. Ibata was left on base, as neither No. 3 hitter and former batting champ Seiichi Uchikawa (he hit .378 back in 2008) or catcher Shinnosuke Abe (one of the 13  best non-MLB players in the tournament profiled by ESPN.com) could come through, and as we head to the bottom of the fifth inning, Puerto Rico still has a 1-0 lead.

UPDATE: Despite his mastery of the Japanese lineup, Puerto Rico starter Mario Santiago was chased from the ballgame after 4 1/3 innings due to an apparent injury - he left with a 2-0 count on Japan's No. 7 hitter Sho Nakata and was visibly upset about it. He gave way to Puerto Rico's second-most used reliever, Jose De La Torre, who split his 2012 between Cleveland and Boston's AA and AAA affiliates. Santiago spent his 2012 in the Korean Baseball Organization, then signed with the Dodgers, who I'm sure are concerned about the status of his arm. After completing the walk to Nakata, De La Torre got his team out of the jam, striking out Ichiro Suzuki's idol, 40-year-old first baseman Atsunori Inaba, and third baseman Nobuhiro Matsuda to hang on to the slim lead.

In the top of the sixth, the night was also done for Japan's starter Kenta Maeda. The point leader for Japan notched a staggering 2,548 points for the Hiroshima Carp and threw a pretty good semifinal game overall - he was a bit wild at the start (one of his two first inning walks came around to score the game's only run), but what he lacked in control, he made up for in two great defensive plays to get the lead runner at second base, erasing some Puerto Rican baserunning threats. He gave way to Atsushi Nohmi of the Hanshin Tigers, who made his only start of the tournament in game 1 of Round 2.

There will be more about these team's rotations later, as there is currently some excitement going on. Uchikawa cranked a two-out triple to the left-center field power alley past a diving Angel Pagan, which chased De La Torre out of the game. Lefty Xavier Cedeno, one of just two Puerto Rican pitchers to spend time in the majors in 2012 (the other being veteran lefty J.C. Romero, who we'll likely see later given the lefty-lefty combo in the middle of Japan's order), came in and struck out Abe to end the threat. But the threat was just starting for Puerto Rico, which just tacked on another two runs with a huge home run by Alex Rios. The way these Puerto Rican pitchers are picking apart the Japanese with their lightning quick style of play, I don't know if they can recover at the rate of one run per inning.

After the home run, Nohmi gave way to Tadashi Settsu, the second-highest point scorer on the team (2,374 points for the Softbank Hawks), but he's been used exclusively as a reliever in the tournament. Neither of the pitchers in this game played for Team Japan in 2009's tournament. However, the next reliever to enter the game, Toshiya Sugiuchi of the Nippon Professional Baseball champion Yomiuri Giants, was with the team last time around. In the two rounds prior to this game Sugiuchi had only made two relief appearances, despite the fact that he's wearing number 18, the most prestigious number for a Japanese pitcher. The best pitcher in terms of points per game (94.4 PPG for the Rakuten Golden Eagles) is also the only Japanese pitcher featured in the aforementioned ESPN.com article, Masahiro Tanaka. Strangely enough, he started a game in Round 1, but then has made only relief appearances. The other Round 2 starter (aside from Nohmi and Maeda) was Kenji Otonari, a lefty for Softbank.

UPDATE: As we know, Mario Santiago started this game for Puerto Rico, just the second game he started in the tournament. Interestingly enough, two of the other three starters on the roster spent their 2012 seasons with the NPB: Orlando Roman pitched pretty effectively for the Yakult Swallows and Giancarlo Alvarado didn't do much for the Yokohama BayStars. The fourth starter on the roster is the only one to have spent time with a major league organization last year, and in fact, he was with two: Nelson Figueroa, who spent time with the Red Sox and the Yankees at the AAA level. All three non-Santiago pitchers were also with Team Puerto Rico in 2009's classic. The only other returning pitcher for Puerto Rico is the team's de facto closer Fernando Cabrera

Japan's new pitcher, Hideaki Wakui, the closer for the Seibu Lions last year, was with Team Japan in 2009. He's one of only four pitchers on the roster who was a reliever in 2012, Team Japan opting to fill their pitching staff 2/3 of the way with starting pitchers. This is the opposite strategy of Team USA, which had just about as many starters as there were games with the rest of the roster full of relievers. While we're talking about team makeup strategy, I'd like to note a difference in Team Japan's 2013 squad as opposed to their 2009 squad. Four years ago, the Japanese team was veritably stacked with NPB stars who had made the jump to the majors: Ichiro Suzuki led off, the bottom of the order comprised of outfielder Kosuke Fukudome, catcher Kenji Johjima, and infielder Akinori Iwamura, while All-WBC pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka led the staff to both of their championships. This year, however, not one current major league player graces Team Japan's roster (Kazuo Matsui is on the team, but he last played in the majors in 2010).

On the flip side, five stars from Japan's 2009 team have made their way over to the majors. Yu Darvish migrated from the Nippon Ham Fighters to become the ace of the Texas Rangers. Hisashi Iwakuma left his former team of Rakuten to earn a spot in the Seattle Mariners rotation. Norichika Aoki (the No. 3 hitter for Japan in 2009) is a starting outfielder with the Milwaukee Brewers. And reliever Kyuji Fujikawa and shortstop Hiroyuki Nakajima are projected to make their major league debuts in 2013.

Meanwhile, a current Japanese star who is in no position to head over to the states at age 37, Hirokazu Ibata just drove in Japan's first run. A single by Uchikawa chased Puerto Rico's Randy Fontanez and brought up (who would have guessed) J.C. Romero. Now, he ended up getting Abe to ground out, but the more interesting play was when Uchikawa was hung out to dry on a failed double steal attempt, where Ibata at second just stopped running in front of him. I don't know if I've ever seen a caught stealing unassisted by the catcher before, but that's how Yadier Molina ended up getting the second out. With Puerto Rico's lead down to just two, we'll head to the top of the ninth.

UPDATE: Fernando Cabrera is warming up in Puerto Rico's bullpen to pitch the ninth, so it looks like two of Puerto Rico's most interesting pitchers will go unused in this game. The first is Jose Berrios, a Minnesota prospect mentioned in that ESPN.com article, although he spent 2012 in Rookie Ball, so it will likely be a while since we'll see him in any meaningful games. The other is Hiram Burgos, who broke 2,000 points and 70 PPG while pitching primarily for Milwaukee's AA affiliate. The last notable player on Puerto Rico's roster, and the final time I'll reference that ESPN.com article, I promise, is Eddie Rosario another Twins who played second base and center field for Minnesota's class-A affiliate.

Hey, it looks like Fernando Cabrera is going to stay in the bullpen for now, as J.C. Romero stays on to pitch the ninth. But out he comes, as he brought the tying run to the plate by walking Itoi after a questionable foul ball call earlier in the at-bat that almost got catcher Yadier Molina tossed out of the game. But it doesn't matter as Cabrera takes care of Nakata and pinch hitter Kazuo Matsui to get the save and advance Puerto Rico to advance to the final game. And how classy is Team Japan, lining up on the third base line and bowing in respect to the fans and to the opposing team. I have to say I'm glad that Japan won't complete their three-peat, but I'm disappointed that the team that knocked out the USA is moving on. We'll see who they play after tomorrow's game between the undefeated Dominican Republic and the team that beat them twice in 2009, the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

World Baseball Classic: Round 2 Recap

Following the format of my previous WBC recaps would only have left me with two eliminated teams per pool to analyze. So I decided to wait until all four teams were eliminated from both Round 2 pools and lump them all together. And although the last game of Round 2 is happening as I type between the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico, this game is just to determine seeding purposes. I have to say, in a tournament format such as this, the anticlimactic final game is the only drawback of the modified double elimination format. The positives are that every game is meaningful and that it's clear when and why a team is eliminated, without resorting to a flawed, convoluted, fight-causing tie-breaker system. Not that it's not fun to enjoy some fireworks on the international stage every now and then.

The first team to be eliminated from Round 2 was Chinese Taipei, the only team from the Qualifying Round to advance past Round 1. The highest profile major leaguer on this team has to be Wang Chien-Ming, the former Yankees ace who is currently a free agent after racking up negative points in 10 games with the Nationals last year. As the only Taiwanese pitcher to start more than one game in the tournament proper, Wang had a nice chance to put together a little audition for major league clubs. The next most recognizable face on this roster is former Dodgers reliever Kuo Hung-Chih (nee Hong-Chih Kuo) - a personal favorite of mine, since I have his bobblehead from 2011 (the last year in which he pitched for the majors) sitting on my shelf. Then the only other player on this team who has had a taste of the majors is Boston AAA shortstop Lin Che-Hsuan, who got his first cup of coffee in 2012. Only a handful of other players had non-Taiwanese baseball experience: Wang Yao-Lin pitched for the Cubs single-A affiliate, and in the Japanese League, Yang Dai-Kang played center field for the Nippon Ham Fighters, Wang Yao-Hsun started games started games for the Fukuoka-Softbank Hawks, and Wang I-Cheng started (disastrously) for the Yokohama Bay Stars. (Are you sensing a pattern here in terms of family names? In addition to four Wang's, this team also sported seven Lin's and three Chen's. Whatever happened to variety?)

With the exception of Lo Ching-Lung, who pitched for Lancaster in the independent Atlantic League, the rest of this team played in the Chinese Professional Baseball League, the top-tier baseball organization in Taiwan. There are only four teams in the CPBL (one of which, the EDA Rhinos, will soon be welcoming Manny Ramirez) so it wasn't hard to determine who played for which teams by a cursory glance at their Wikipedia rosters. But forget about finding statistical information for individual players. There is no Taiwanese equivalent of baseball-reference.com or even mlb.com - each team's website is hosted individually with massive differences in layouts for each one. And trying to use Google Translate to navigate the Chinese sites just yields hilariously ineffective results. I just hope that by the next WBC, in four years' time, that we can complete the globalization of baseball stats around the world.

The next team to see its WBC journey come to an end was surprisingly Cuba, the 2006 runner-up and the country that had five players represented in the past two All-WBC teams (surpassed only by 2009 runner-up Korea and two-time winner Japan). Their team certainly wasn't short on talent: Cuba had three starters in that ESPN.com article profiling the best non-major leaguers in the tournament, two of whom also represented their country in 2009. Infielder Yulieski Gurriel (formerly Gourriel) is the consensus most talented overall player in the Cuban Serie Nacional (who I saw play live in the Olympics) and outfielder Alfredo Despaigne (who in the years leading up to both tournaments scored more than 20 fantasy points per game) join newcomer to team Cuba Erisbel Arruebarruena, who has made a name for himself with his glove and his surplus of syllables in his name. Six more players returned to team Cuba from 2009: including cleanup hitter Frederich Cepeda (who launched some monster home runs in Round 1 in Japan), all three starting pitchers from Round 2 -- Ismel Jimenez, the only pitcher to break 2,000 points in the 2011-12 Cuban season, Vladimir Garcia, who led the staff with more than 90 points per game last year, and Danny Betancourt, who appears to have had a lost season with less than 900 total points under his belt -- reliever Norberto Gonzalez, and backup catcher Yosbany Peraza.

Notable newcomers to the Cuban team are first baseman Jose Abreu, who along with Despaigne make the only two batters to surpass 2,000 points, Raciel Iglesias, who relieved in a team-high five WBC contests, Alexi Bell, one of Cuba's all-time great outfielders, and Jose Fernandez, the second baseman who must have had a lost season, since he consistently batted third in the order despite only 1,100 fantasy points all year. The only player on this team to have any kind of affiliation with a major league club is pitcher Freddy Alvarez who pitched for Tampa Bay's Venezuelan Summer League affiliate. Notable members of Cuba's 2009 team who have since made the jump to the majors are Reds reliever-turning-back-to-starter Aroldis Chapman, who back then went by Albertin, Athletics outfielder Yoennis Cespedes, and pitcher Yunesky Maya, who has had a couple cups of coffee with the Nationals.

Moving on to Pool 2, to see the next team fall was a big blow to my personal family heritage. Italy advanced farther than they ever had before, squeaking past Mexico and trouncing Canada before losing to USA in the first round. But two blown-save losses in a row to the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico in Round 2 sent the Italians packing. I was frankly surprised at how many major league affiliated players represented for this team, prompting a friend of mine to joke that you could be eligible to play for Team Italy if you've so much as eaten at the Olive Garden. But seriously, folks, this team was so stacked that they only needed to devote two spots on its starting lineup to players from the Italian Baseball League (whose logo, while artfully drawn, looks like it depicts a batter who's about to get both his hands shattered with a pitch). First the returning players from 2009: journeyman infielder Nick Punto led off both years, outfielder Chris Denorfia returned to play center field, Alex Liddi rode the bench in '09 but was promoted to the cleanup spot this year (30 AAA home runs in 2011 give you quite a reputation), Mike Costanzo has been with three different teams (not counting Italy) since the last WBC, and Mario Chiarini has spent his entire career (save for one year with Seattle's Arizona Fall League affiliate) playing with Rimini in the IBL. But the most significant member of Italy's offense has to be Cubs first baseman and savior Anthony Rizzo -- another friend of mine attended the game when he hit his first home run at Wrigley Field and couldn't even begin to describe the deafening roar sent up by the bleacher bums. A couple of Twins fringe players also played into this team's success: AA first baseman Chris Colabello (who could take on added significance with Canadian representative Justin Morneau entering a walk year) and backup catcher Drew Butera.

On the pitching side, only two starters pitched outside of Italy last year: Alex Maestri, returning from 2009 and the only pitcher to start a game in both rounds, pitched very well in limited time for the Orix Buffaloes in the Japanese League, and John Mariotti likewise pitched well for Quebec in the independent Canadian-American Association. Remaining starters Luca Panerati and Tiago Da Silva (who both also represented in 2009) pitched for Bologna and San Marino respectively last year. The only pitcher to play in the majors in 2012 is prospective new Pirates closer Jason Grilli, but a total of four others were affiliated with major league clubs. The world's first "switch-pitcher" Pat Venditte had his AAA season with the Yankees cut short due to injury, former major leaguer Brian Sweeney has returned to his original team and is now toiling in the Mariners' farm system, Matt Torra started for the Rays' AAA affiliate and Tim Crabbe started primarily for Cincinnati's AA team.

As is evident by the fact that they are not playing in the final game of Round 2, the last team to be eliminated was, actually not so surprisingly given their history in the event, Team USA. But seeing as I'm actually a United States citizen and this team is where my loyalties should lie (and since they have the most impressive roster of major league talent in the tournament, I think they deserve their own post. Until then, here's hoping for an exciting finale of the tournament.

World Baseball Classic: Round 1, Pool D Recap

In a decidedly cyclical World Baseball Classic scheduling decision, on the same day that Round 2 ended in Tokyo for Pool 1, it started for Pool 2 in Miami. That means the advancing Japan and Netherlands teams will have nothing to do for a week but adjust to the 16-hour time difference between the Tokyo Dome and AT&T Park in San Francisco where the Final Round will commence this Sunday. Also, in a dramatic turn of events, the two teams that will not be advancing from Round 1's Pool D are the same two teams that were involved in the benches-clearing brawl in their last matchup: Mexico and Canada. But only the latter team's path to the WBC led through Qualifier 2 in Regensburg, Germany.

Despite a robust baseball tradition, including 21 Canadian-born players in the majors last year, Team Canada went winless in the 2009 tournament, forcing them into the qualifier situation. Since this Qualifier 2 took place during the regular season, meaning that only one of those 21 major leaguers were available: game 1 starter Shawn Hill. Even so, the Canucks steamrolled the competition, going undefeated and twice beating runner-up Germany, who had the qualifier's only other 2012 major leaguer, reliever Will Ohman. I was not surprised that Canada dominated in this qualifier, but I was surprised at the number of players on the other three rosters who are currently signed to major league organizations. Germany had left fielder / first baseman Donald Lutz, who spent all of last year on Cincinnati's 40-man roster while splitting time between their high-A and AA affiliates, center fielder Max Kepler, who showed why he was Minnesota's #10 ranked prospect by playing exceptionally well at the Rookie level, and Philadelphia single-A outfielder Aaron Altherr. Great Britain had a couple of standout pitchers in Dodgers #5 prospect Chris Reed and Jake Esch, who averaged 40 points per game in Miami's low minor league system. They also had Albert Cartwright, Philadelphia's high-A second baseman, and a pair of Baltimore outfielders Steven Bumbry (A+) and Antoan Richardson (AA). The only player of note on the Czech Republic's roster was career minor leaguer Mike Cervenak. Interestingly enough, of the seven players on the roster who played in professional organizations pre-2012, four of them were with the Twins system, which tells me they must have a strong scouting presence in Eastern Europe.

Team Canada's roster got a big boost when they moved to Phoenix, AZ for Round 2. In fact, the only starters that held over from the qualifiers were Phillies center field prospect Tyson Gillies, pitcher-turned-outfielder Adam Loewen, and Orioles AAA catcher Chris Robinson. Twins outfielder Rene Tosoni, Braves AA left fielder Tim Smith, journeyman IF/OF Jimmy Van Ostrand, and infielder Jonathan Malo of Quebec's independent league team remained on the roster, but moved to the bench. Six of those 21 major leaguers from 2012 joined the team on the offensive side for Round 1, although Blue Jays third baseman Brett Lawrie didn't play in an official game due to injury. Three of them, including their two best hitters, were holdovers from last WBC team: 1B/DH combo Joey Votto and Justin Morneau, and second baseman Pete Orr. The newcomers were Mariners outfielder Michael Saunders and Brewers infielder Taylor Green, Lawrie's last-minute replacement in the lineup. A couple of notable players from 2009 were missing from this year's roster: catcher Russell Martin and outfielders Jason Bay and Matt Stairs.

The pitching staff was led by Pirates #2 prospect (and overall #15 prospect, as ranked by MLB) Jameson Taillon, who should be ready to help the Pirates in the next couple of years. Shawn Hill was joined by Chris Leroux as the only other 2012 major leaguer to start a WBC game for the Canucks. The bullpen was anchored by Brewers closer John Axford and his teammate Jim Henderson, as well as Philippe Aumont, who in the years since his appearance in the 2009 WBC has seen his stock fall from starting prospect to struggling reliever. Minnesota AA starter Andrew Albers started a game in the qualifier, but was moved to the bullpen for Round 1. This team might have had a chance if other notable Canadian starters such as Ryan Dempster, Erik Bedard, Jeff Francis, or Scott Diamond had decided to show up, but I understand that cementing your role with a major league club takes precedence over celebrating national pride.

Team Mexico's fortunes rested pretty much solely on the shoulders of two titans: Brewers ace Yovani Gallardo and Dodgers cleanup hitter Adrian Gonzalez, the latter of whom was one of only four holdovers from the 2009 squad. The other three were veteran outfielder Karim Garcia, who has spent the eight years since he last played in the majors jumping between Japan, Korea, and Mexico, starter starter Rodrigo Lopez, who spent last year starting for the Cubs' AAA affiliate and is currently trying to make it with the Phillies as a non-roster invitee, and former starter Oliver Perez, who is trying to reinvent himself as a lefty specialist out of the bullpen. Sergio Romo and Alfredo Aceves served as the closers for their respective clubs last year, but whereas Romo helped the Giants win a championship, the Red Sox can't even trade Aceves on account of his being possessed by the devil and all. Gallardo's projected number 2 in Milwaukee's rotation also started a game for this squad, while a handful of relievers also saw major league action: Luis Mendoza primarily started for Kansas City and Fernando Salas and Cesar Ramos pitched in relief for St. Louis and Tampa Bay respectively. Third baseman Luis Cruz kicked the tar out of AAA pitchers and is scheduled to open the season as the Dodgers starter. On the prospect front, backup catcher Sebastian Valle ranked at #3 in the Phillies system.

The other two members of Pool D, USA and Italy, advanced to the second round and played their first Pool 2 games yesterday. I'll have more on them after a more in-depth look at the runners up in Round 2's other pool.

World Baseball Classic: Round 1, Pool C Recap

There are still two games left to in Pool C play, but thanks to the ridiculous Round Robin format of the first round, it's already been determined who will advance. While it's kind of silly that one game out of three in the pool is just to determine seeding between winners, at least Pool C won't have to rely on the laughable tie-breaker scenario (Team Quality Balance, or TQB) that saw Chinese Taipei and the Netherlands advance over Korea just due to their run differentials in head-to-head games. I mentioned this oddity in my last recap, and Deadspin also picked up on it, now that it contributed to causing a brawl in one of yesterday's Pool D games.

And since one half of Round 2 is already happening, it's especially frustrating to see the Round Robin debacle play out next to the much more satisfying and definitive Modified Double Elimination format they're using halfway across the world. But I guess that's hard to implement without some sort of seeding system, which can't be in place unless some games have been played already. So while it's an imperfect system, I guess we'll just have to put up with the complicated math and the occasional moment of tempers flaring.

But back to actual baseball. As with each of the first round pools, Pool C has its roots in a qualifying round -- Qualifier 1, to be exact, which took place last September (yes, during the regular season, strangely enough) in Jupiter, Florida's Roger Dean Stadium. This pool included last tournament's participant South Africa and newcomers Israel, France, and Spain. Despite its appearance in the previous contest, South Africa's roster had only two players who spent significant time in Major League organizations last year: starter Dylan Unsworth, who racked up 58 points per game in Seattle's low-A affiliate, and Gift Ngoepe, a shortstop for high-A Bradenton in Pittsburgh's system. France is probably the European country with the least robust baseball tradition of any of these teams, so it makes sense that they had only one player who played with an affiliated club last season: catcher Andy Paz, who has played with the Dominican Summer League's Athletics the last two seasons. (However, corner infield combo Rene Leveret and Carlos Hereaud both tore it up for teams in different independent leagues, scoring 14.4 and 15.4 points per game, respectively.)

On paper, it seemed, strangely enough, that Israel had the strongest roster, with only one player (Shlomo Lipetz, who would have been in for best name of the tournament had his team advanced) not currently signed to a major league affiliate or who had not spent time in the majors. Their most notable players were former All-Star outfielder Shawn Green (who, at age 40, was limited to DH duties for team Israel), right fielder Joc Pederson (the #3 prospect for the Dodgers and #85 prospect overall according to MLB.com, although he did not crack Baseball America's list), and second baseman Jack Marder (Seattle's #17 prospect, who absolutely mashed high-A level pitching to the tune of 21.4 PPG). Nate Freiman, first baseman for San Diego's AA affiliate was the team's second-highest point scorer (to Pederson) with 1,900 even. However, only one pitcher on the squad reached AAA (Cleveland's Eric Berger), only one broke 30 PPG (game 2 starter Justin Schumer of San Francisco's high-A affiliate) and only one approached 850 total points (reliever Jeff Urlaub, who split time between A and A+ in Oakland's system).

Israel did indeed play in the final elimination game (since this round was also Modified Double Elimination, the final game actually had meaning), but Spain came out on top (even though Israel had more players on its roster affiliated with major league clubs) and advanced to Round 1 in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Geographically, Spain is the clear outlier, as the other three teams -- Puerto Rico, Venezuela, and the Dominican Republic -- are all located in the Caribbean. Spain's top affiliated player was Texas's AA center fielder Engel Beltre who led off all seven games between the qualifiers and the first round. Their cleanup hitter Barbaro Canizares led the charge, scoring more than 2,300 points playing mostly with Oaxaca in the Mexican League. The only other player on the offense who spent the all of last year with a major league organization was Washington's single-A catcher Adrian Nieto.

All three Round 1 pitchers were affiliated with major league clubs, for at least part of last year, but none of them made any top prospect lists. Sergio Perez was a reliever with Houston's AAA affiliate, Yoanner Negrin pitched for the Cubs briefly before moving to the Mexican League's Tabasco, and Richard Castillo, the club's pitching point leader, started primarily for St. Louis's AA team. Richard Salazar, who scored a team-high 46.7 PPG with Sioux City of the Independent American Association, started an exhibition game before the proceedings and has figured in as an important reliever. The only player, offensive or defensive, to make the majors in 2012 was Houston's Rhiner Cruz. Unfortunately, Spain lost all three of its Round 1 matches, including today's game, which took place after they had already been eliminated from Round 2 play.

Their opponent in that game - Venezuela - had also been eliminated, which is surprising given the wealth of major league talent on their roster. All players in their lineup were not just starters for MLB teams last year, but eight of the nine were damn good ones. At the forefront is clearly last year's AL MVP and triple crown winner Miguel Cabrera, who moved back to his former position of first base to accomodate his World Series opponent Pablo Sandoval. Cabrera is one of only four offensive holdovers from Venezuela's last WBC squad: catcher Ramon Hernandez (who this year fell to third on the depth chart behind Miguel Montero and Salvador Perez), Marco Scutaro (who was a shortstop back then, but now shared second base with Omar Infante), and Gerardo Parra (who rode the bench last time, but now roamed center field between Rockies slugger Carlos Gonzalez and third baseman turned back to left fielder for this tournament Martin Prado. On s historical note: last WBC, those two positions were occupied by Bobby Abreu and Magglio Ordonez, respectively. No slouches indeed. The shortstop field is by far the most improved position on this roster, as all field no hit Cesar Izturis is replaced by a pair of All-Stars Elvis Andrus and Asdrubal Cabrera.

None of the major league starting pitchers from 2009 made repeat appearances, which is too bad because last year's staff included Felix Hernandez. Now that he's the highest paid pitcher in history, he doesn't need to waste his time with silly international exhibitions. 2009's staff also included Armando Galarraga and Carlos Silva, who were effectively replaced by Anibal Sanchez and Carlos Zambrano -- there is of course no replacing King Felix, although the additions Jhoulys Chacin and Henderson Alvarez gave this team more major league starters than the last. Back in 2009, Venezuela's closer Francisco Rodriguez was one of the best in the business, but now he's struggling to find a job in the majors. Once again, the addition of Ronald Belisario gives this year's team Venezuela one more established major league reliever than they had the last time.

Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic are playing right now to decide to will have the better seed in next week's Round 2, Pool 2. They will be playing the top two teams in Round 1, Pool D, whose action also wraps up today.