A couple more news about the World Baseball Classic with a little more than a month to go before the first official pitch. China, which will be managed by John McLaren and also will have Bruce Hurst as pitching coach, is starting training camp for the 2013 WBC in Arizona this week. 27 players will travel to the United States to work out at the Seattle Mariners Spring Training complex starting on January 31.
Meanwhile the pitching staff for Team USA is falling apart. After Kris Medlen opted out last week, New York Yankees veteran Andy Pettitte let know that he is not going to play in the 2013 World Baseball Classic. He informed manager Joe Torre, who had hoped for the services of the lefty. Apparently the Yankees had expressed concerns since the 40-year-old has some injury history.
Meanwhile Albert Pujols hopes to wear the Dominican jersey at least in the second round of the WBC. Thanks to a knee surgery after the end of the 2012 season the Los Angeles Angels can block his appearance in the Classic. However the 33-year-old hopes that their concerns and insurance issues will be cleared up after a couple of Spring Training games.