Today’s news:
- Miguel Montero of the Arizona Diamondbacks basically confirmed he was going to play for Venezuela in the WBC on Twitter. So into possibly/likely he goes.
- The Cincinnati Enquirer‘s John Fay has some WBC tidbits in his latest news about the Cincinnati Reds. He repeats that Joey Votto will take part for Canada if healthy, that Brandon Phillips will be asked for Team USA, and that Johnny Cueto will likely take part. But he does have the new information that Jay Bruce will probably be asked to play for Team USA. Bruce, 25, is a two-time all-star and is one of the most overlooked outfielders in the National League, in my opinion. Since Fay doesn’t say either way that he has been invited, merely that he is “likely” to be invited, I’m placing him in the “under consideration” category.
- A tweet from William Aish, who works for a ESPN Radio station in Santo Domingo, quotes the manager of the Leones del Escogido as saying that Adrian Beltre is more practicing with them to prepare for the WBC, not play for the Leones. I’m going to put Adrian Beltre in the possibly/likely category.
- Adam Rubin of ESPN New York writes that David Wright is likely the only Met to be scheduled to play in the WBC. Considering that Johan Santana is the only player that immediately comes to mind who would probably good enough to even be invited (and he probably won’t be allowed by the Mets due to his injury), this isn’t too much of a surprise.
As usual, go after the jump for more.
IN (OFFICIALLY CONFIRMED BY THE WBC):
Ryan Rowland-Smith– Australia
Luke Hughes– Australia
Yan Gomes– Brazil
Andre Rienzo– Brazil
Justin Morneau– Canada
Brett Lawrie– Canada
Chien-Ming Wang– Chinese Taipei
Hong-Chih Kuo– Chinese Taipei
Ray Chang– China
Wei Wang- China
Yuliesky Gourriel- Cuba
Freddy Asiel Alvarez- Cuba
Robinson Cano– Dominican
Jose Reyes– Dominican
Alex Liddi– Italy
Jason Grilli– Italy
Shinnosuke Abe– Japan
Masahiro Tanaka– Japan
(And 28 of the 34 players on the provisional roster of Japan, presumably)
Seung Yeop Lee- Korea
Dae Ho Lee- Korea
(And possibly everybody on this list for Korea.)
Adrian Gonzalez– Mexico
Jaime Garcia– Mexico (could depend on health)
Andruw Jones– Netherlands
Roger Bernadina– Netherlands
Carlos Beltran– Puerto Rico
Yadier Molina– Puerto Rico
Engel Beltre– Spain
Francisco Figueroa- Spain
David Wright– USA
Joe Mauer– USA
Miguel Cabrera– Venezuela
Pablo Sandoval– Venezuela
POSSIBLY/LIKELY (not officially confirmed by WBC Inc, but said by other sources):
Carlos Zambrano– Venezuela
Felix Hernandez– Venezuela
Elvis Andrus– Venezuela
Melvin Mora– Venezuela
Luis Jimenez– Venzuela
Martin Prado– Venezuela
Miguel Montero- Venezuela
Dustin Pedroia– USA (will depend on recovery from finger surgery)
Ryan Vogelsong– USA (was at WBC News Conference when details for 2013 edition were first announced)
Craig Kimbrel– USA
Brandon Phillips– USA (has been invited, is considering)
Shane Victorino– USA
Edwin Encarnacion– Dominican
Wilin Rosario– Dominican
Octavio Dotel– Dominican
Starling Marte– Dominican
Carlos Santana– Dominican
Ervin Santana– Dominican
Edinson Volquez– Dominican
Carlos Gomez– Dominican
Albert Pujols– Dominican
Pedro Strop– Dominican
Hanley Ramirez– Dominican
Johnny Cueto– Dominican
Adrian Beltre- Dominican
Wladimr Balentien- Netherlands
Javier Vazquez– Puerto Rico (coming out retirement to do it!)
Angel Pagan– Puerto Rico
Joey Votto– Canada (see this) (Apparently will depend on how his knee is doing)
Russell Martin– Canada
Chris Robinson– Canada (per Roch Kubatko)
Dustin Molleken– Canada
Andrew Albers– Canada
James Avery– Canada
Taylor Green– Canada
Allan De San Miguel- Australia (per Roch Kubatko)
Travis Blackley– Australia (per Australian Baseball Digest)
Rich Thompson– Australia (also mentioned at Australian Baseball Digest)
Alfredo Aceves– Mexico
Gabriel Suarez- Spain
Alex Maestri– Italy
Martin Maldonado– Puerto Rico
Probably? (were on initial list- possibly a first draft- put out by WBC but not in the second one they tweeted):
Grant Balfour– Australia (the Australian Baseball Digest says he is going to play)
Sergio Romo– Mexico
Luis Cruz– Mexico
Edgar Gonzalez– Mexico
UNDER CONSIDERATION (Haven’t said either way, but are definitely either interested, considering it, or under consideration by a team for an invite):
Mike Trout– USA
Clayton Kershaw– USA (but unlikely given his injury last season)
Troy Tulowitzki– USA
Giancarlo Stanton -USA
Paul Konerko– USA
Buster Posey– USA (Bruce Bochy has said he would prefer he doesn’t, but won’t stop him if he wants to.)
Justin Verlander– USA (“Justin Verlander is a good bet to be the ace of Team USA.”)
R.A. Dickey– USA
Andy Pettitte– USA
Mark Teixeira– USA
Jay Bruce- USA
Starlin Castro– Dominican Republic
Hector Santiago– Puerto Rico
Didi Gregorius– Netherlands
Yovani Gallardo– Mexico
Miguel Gonzalez– Mexico
Everybody on this list for Mexico
Ryan Dempster– Canada
Bruce Chen– China
PROBABLY OUT (has officially been asked but probably won’t, although there isn’t a firm no yet):
Wei-Yin Chen– Taipei (had said he wouldn’t because of his newborn child, but apparently isn’t officially out yet)
Pedro Alvarez– Dominican Republic
OUT:
Alex Rodriguez (Injured)
Derek Jeter (injured)
Evan Longoria (injured)
Matt Kemp (coming off injury)
Chris Sale and Jake Peavy (reportedly not on early but unreleased provisional roster)
Most Japanese MLB players (most are free agents)
Johan Santana (injured)
Joakim Soria (with new team and recovering from injuries)
Victor Martinez (coming off of a injury)
Liam Hendriks– Australia (note that he was on the original list for Australia, but apparently he’s had some off-season elbow trouble and won’t be able to take part)
Chase Headley (not asked, per Bill Shaikin)
Yonder Alonso– Had been approached by Spain
Bryce Harper (per Scott Boras)
Alex Avila (had been inexplicably claimed by Spain, said no because he isn’t Spanish)
The Baseball Continuum 
Great article! Keep the great job! Go Dominican Republic! Jose Bautista said he wants to go, though I don’t know about the Jays, he said he’s working out..
Go USA! Let’s win this thing.