2017 World Baseball Classic

[BuckFoston]

I am really excited for this. Here is Team USA's roster according to Baseball-Reference.

Jim Leyland, Manager
Chris Archer, P
Brett Cecil, P
Tyler Clippard, P
Danny Duffy, P
Sam Dyson, P
Michael Fulmer, P
Mychal Givens, P
Sonny Gray, P
Luke Gregerson, P
J.A. Happ, P
Nate Jones, P
Jake McGee, P
Andrew Miller, P
Pat Neshek, P
Tanner Roark, P
David Robertson, P
Drew Smyly, P
Marcus Stroman, P
Alex Wilson, P
A.J. Ellis, C
Jonathan Lucroy, C
Buster Posey, C
Nolan Arenado, IF
Alex Bregman, IF
Matt Carpenter, IF
Brandon Crawford, IF
Paul Goldschmidt, IF
Eric Hosmer, IF
Ian Kinsler, IF
Daniel Murphy, IF
Adam Jones, OF
Andrew McCutchen, OF
Giancarlo Stanton, OF
Christian Yelich, OF

Should be fun!

[realmofotalk]

It's like a very bad fantasy baseball player who wasted his first 15 picks on position players and has no starting pitchers.

[Henry Silvestre]

My thoughts exactly...I could be the ACE of that team with my 77mph fastball and sidearm delivery..lol

[BuckFoston]

Well, sounds like Sonny Gray won't be able to play after all.

A’s ace Sonny Gray is out of the World Baseball classic after being denied insurance coverage for the event, according to Oakland general manager David Forst.

“I know Sonny’s bummed,” Forst said. “He wanted to pitch and we were excited to let him do that.”

Gray did not comply with all criteria required for coverage, but Major League Baseball pushed hard to try to get a waiver for the right-handed starter to pitch for Team USA. As issue: Gray was on the DL at the end of August, he was on the DL for more than 60 days last year and he didn’t play in more than 10 innings after coming off the DL at the end of the season.

“It’s not up to us or MLB, it’s up to the insurance company,” Forst said. “MLB pushed the issue and asked the insurance carrier to let him pitch, and they didn’t do it. ... He feels great, he’s throwing.”

With Gray unable to play for Team USA, his spring schedule will be eased up a bit and instead of pitching against the Giants on Monday, he’ll now make his first Cactus League start Wednesday.f

A’s Sonny Gray out of the WBC because of insurance issue - SFGate

Judging by the way he pitched last year, this could actually be a good thing.

[realmofotalk]

Team Israel beat South Korea in their own backyard, and less than 24 hours later, Israel bombed Taiwan as if it is the Gaza Strip.

[BuckFoston]

The crowd in Japan is something to behold. I would love to attend a game like this in person.

[BuckFoston]

The Netherlands roster is legit.

[realmofotalk]

Prediction: The squad of American Jews are going to advance further in the tournament than Team USA.

[BuckFoston]

Huge walk off win for Team USA. Shouldn't have even been in that spot but hey, they got it done.

[realmofotalk]

Lol Mexico. It's funny because Sergio Romo wasn't given closer's job because he blew in the last WBC, and instead the supposedly reliable Roberto Osuna gets tagged for 5 runs, with help from good ol' Oli Perez.

[BuckFoston]

Remember when Andrew Miller threw unhittable sliders?

[realmofotalk]

People are surprised Andrew Miller is pitching poorly in Miami? Must not have watched the Marlins in 2008, 2009 or 2010.

#analysis

[BuckFoston]

So now US has to win tomorrow or they're basically eliminated, right?

[realmofotalk]

I'm not sure what's the tiebreaker if the US, Venezuela, and Canada are all tied at 1-2, but yeah, the US is hoping Colombia doesn't pull off an upset over the DR.

[realmofotalk]

Uh oh, the DR is on the verge of imploding in the 9th.