Last Monday the 45-man provisional rosters of the 16 World Baseball Classic teams were published. One week later a several more players opted against a participation in the tournament in March. But why even bother to put these names on the rosters? Every day we hear news about players, who rather are with their employers during spring training instead with their national team. This puts the event in a bad light, despite the fact that the tournament still is loaded with premium talent. Especially Felipe Alou, manager of the Dominican Republic, will have a few headaches how to fill the lineup card with this stacked roster. Anyway here are the latest players, who decided to cancel their participation:
Hideki Okajima: Despite his long-known non-desire to play in the Classic, the Japanese Baseball Federation surprisingly added reliever Hideki Okajima to its provisional national team roster last week. But he will skip the WBC.
John Lackey/Joe Saunders/Mike Napoli/Vladimir Guerrero: starting pitcher John Lackey (USA), outfielder Vladimir Guerrero (DOM) and catcher Mike Napoli each wanted to play in the Classic, but their Major League team, the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, vetoed their participation. Lackey missed the first six weeks of last year’s season due to an arm injury. Guerrero and Napoli are recovering from knee (Guerrero) and shoulder (Napoli) surgeries. Starting pitcher Joe Saunders took himself out of the tournament, as he doesn’t think he gets his arm ready for the upcoming season, if he would have pitched for Team USA. He had replaced Lackey on the provisional roster.
Rich Harden/Jeff Francis: Rich Harden of the Chicago Cubs and Jeff Francis of the Colorado Rockies will not pitch for Team Canada. Harden’s shoulder problems are well-known since a few weeks and a columnist from his hometown newspaper in British Columbia indicated that his inclusion in the provisional roster was purely ceremonial. Francis had shoulder problems last year and they are still there, after starting throwing a few days ago. Ryan Dempster (Cubs) declined an invitation a few weeks ago, probably out of responsibilities for his MLB team after signing a $52 million contract during the offseason.
John Danks: Left-handed starting pitcher John Danks opted against to play for Team USA in the Classic this week. He is bypassing, as he wants to save his best stuff for the White Sox. He was one of the major reasons in 2008 that Chicago reached the playoffs after winning the AL Central division.
Carlos Ruiz: The catcher of the World Series champion Philadelphia Phillies, Carlos Ruiz, will not play for Panama in the tournament. He played in the inaugural Classic in 2006. He gave no reasons for his withdrawal.
Johan Santana/Anibal Sanchez: starting pitcher Johan Santana (Mets) was added to the Venezuelan roster despite the fact he is recovering from knee surgery this winter. There is no chance New York is letting him play. His potential rotation mate Anibal Sanchez of the Florida Marlins will not be blocked by his team. The decision appears to be up to himself or Team Venezuela. He came back from shoulder surgery last summer.
Fausto Carmona: The Dominican Fausto Carmona might opt against the Classic, but a decision wasn’t made yet. He had hip problems at the start of last year, but came back healthy and even pitched in the Dominican Winter League.
