Shortly after revealing the MLB affiliated players on the rosters of the World Baseball Classic Qualifier in Brooklyn, New York (September 22-25), World Baseball Classic, Inc. also released the complete rosters.
Great Britain’s team, which is managed by Liam Carroll, features a mix of players from MLB organizations, players of the British National Baseball League and several leagues from around the world. Michael Roth, Jakub Esch, Chris Reed and Chris Berset lead the affiliated portion of the roster. The German Baseball-Bundesliga is represented with Richard Klijn, Cody Chartrand and Greg Hendrix. Jordan Edmonds, Maikel Azcuy and Spencer Kreisberg are currently playing in the NBL. And last but not least former Major League outfielder Antoan Richardson is also on the team. Complete Roster Great Britain.
Managed by Jerry Weinstein Israel’s squad has 20 of the 28 players coming from MLB organizations. Nonetheless also several of the remaining team members can look back at experience in the Major and Minor Leagues. The pitching staff features Dean Kremer and Shlomo Lipetz, who have pitched in C-Pool European Championships. However also on the staff are former Major Leaguer Jason Marquis and left-handers Jeremy Bleich and Craig Breslow. Catcher Ryan Lavarnway played for the Boston Red Sox in the big leagues. Nate Freiman was Israel’s best player in the 2012 WBC Qualifier. Meanwhile the biggest name on the team besides Marquis is former New York Mets hopeful Ike Davis, who subbed for an injured Mark Teixeira with the New York Yankees this season before getting released recently. Complete Roster Israel.
The other two teams in the WBC Qualifier in Brooklyn are missing star power on the roster. Brazil, which actually qualified for the World Baseball Classic in 2013, has nine affiliated players on the team. Their biggest names can be found on the coaching staff with Hall of Famer Barry Larkin and former MLB greats Steve Finley and LaTroy Hawkins. Complete Roster Brazil.
The big underdog is the newcomer in the WBCQ field with Pakistan. The number 23 in the Men’s Baseball World Rankings has only players from Pakistan on the roster. While an early elimination from the tournament is expected they for sure know to compete and certainly could surprise after performing well in various Asian tournaments in the last few years. They will be managed by Pervaiz Shah Khawar and currently looking to find additional funding for a training camp in Lahore through a Kickstarter campaign. Complete Roster Pakistan.