WBC 2023--We'll Be Seeing You Later

[bmfc1]

It's a World Baseball Classic season:

https://www.mlb.com/world-baseball-classichttps://www.mlb.com/world-baseball-classic

and lots of Mets are participating. Up to 15 players per team can leave to play in the WBC and the Mets might be close to that number. For how that impacts the Mets, this is an interesting article:

https://nypost.com/2023/01/14/inside-buck-showalters-mets-plan-to-address-mlb-rule-changes/?s=03https://nypost.com/2023/01/14/inside-buck-showalters-mets-plan-to-address-mlb-rule-changes/?s=03



The rosters aren't finalized yet but we might see the entire Mets starting infield away from camp for two weeks:

USA: Alonso, McNeil, Ottavino

DR: Marte

Italy: Nimmo

Columbia: Quintana

Venezuela: Carrasco, Escobar, Narvaez

Puerto Rico: Lindor, Diaz

Nicaragua: Vientos



There could be more. This means two weeks away from camp not learning the new rules and not learning from Buck. I hope that Marte declines so he can rehab and that Quintana and Narvarez decline so they can work with their new coaches and teammates (this seems especially important for a catcher).



Positive view: the Mets are so good that many of their players will play in the WBC which will make it more exciting to watch.

Negative view: these players are risking injury by playing intense games in March (games that will quickly be forgotten) when they should be ramping up for the season.

Edited January 20, 2023 by Guest

[Fman99]

I like it - that much earlier that there will be actual baseball to watch on TV.

[Fman99]

=bmfc1 post_id=117039 time=1674222238 user_id=73]


Negative view: these players are risking injury by playing intense games in March (games that will quickly be forgotten) when they should be ramping up for the season.

[metirish]

I wish Ireland had a qualified, looks like they have a team at least



https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/WBSC_World_Rankingshttps://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/WBSC_World_Rankings

[Edgy MD]

Calvin Ziegler is also expected to play for Team Canada.



Not concerning Ziegler, but I've never been keen on players representing nations they have only a coincidental connection to by way of heritage. A least in the World Cup, once a player commits to play for the nation of his forefathers, that's his international squad. If his status improves or declines, he can't suddenly declare his loyalty to a nu flag.

[batmagadanleadoff]

WBC might be the thing for which I have the least shits to give about anything involving MLB players. I don't think I saw more than half an inning of WBC, cumulatively, in my entire lifetime. Single elimnination finals and semis? Really? In a sport already reeking with luck and randomness. And I though MLB playoffs were a degraded and compromised tournament.

[Fman99]

=batmagadanleadoff post_id=117127 time=1674444378 user_id=68]
WBC might be the thing for which I have the least shits to give about anything involving MLB players. I don't think I saw more than half an inning of WBC, cumulatively, in my entire lifetime. Single elimnination finals and semis? Really? In a sport already reeking with luck and randomness. And I though MLB playoffs were a degraded and compromised tournament.

[Johnny Lunchbucket]

I kinda wish it was outside of mlb's grips.

[metirish]

I think there can be some great matchups like in past WBC , Puerto Rico V Dominican Republic, Japan V Korea , grudge games , USA V any of those teams would make for good viewing I would think.

[Edgy MD]

Johnny Lunchbucket wrote: I kinda wish it was outside of mlb's grips.

Absolutely.

[Edgy MD]

Looking at the rosters, there is going to be Mets DNA all over this thing, especially if you are generous in how you regard trace elements of Mets DNA.



Early favorite has to be Puerto Rico, as they and Japan usually go hardest after this thing, but new Mets pitcher Kodai Senga is sitting out. I wouldn't sleep on Netherlands though, as they are stacked with players from the Dutch Caribbean. Their infield alone includes Xander Bogaerts, Didi Gregorius, Jonathan Schoop, and Andrelton Simmons. Jurickson Profar is absent, but his Frontier League-playing brother Juremi is, perhaps as an incentive to get Jurickson on board.



Also absent is Brandon Nimmo, who pulled a hammy playing for his beloved Italy in 2017, and now that his profile is high enough for him to play for the US (you're allowed to switch flags, unlike the football World Cup), he's sitting out. Michael Conforto has also been a non-Italian Italian in the past, but alas.



The politics of the whole thing seem to be all over the place. Some nations collect talent from their colonies and/or protectorates, but others such entities field their own team. (I would imagine that Curaçao alone could field a better squad than The Netherlands if they limited the rosters to natives.) The ringeriest team continues to be Israel, for whom 33 of 35 players are US-born, including the returning Ty Kelly.



Taiwan is competing as "Chinese Taipei," because nobody wants to piss of the Chinese, but South Korea is listed as "Korea," or "Republic of Korea," because I guess, folks aren't as sensitive about pissing off North Korea.



They seem to have the "pools" divided into something resembling global regions. One group is mostly Pacific Asian countries, but not quite. One group is mostly North American, but not quite. This leaves the team composed of South American and Caribbean nations (Pool D) utterly stacked with Puerto Rico, Venezuela, and the Dominican Republic left to tear up each other in the first round when they should be considered to be three of the top five seeds.



Korea and China also share the shameful distinction of bringing no personnel with Mets pedigree.



Metly participants are below, although I'm sure I've missed some. The largest group will be found in Group of Death Pool D.

[th]Pool A[/th]	[th][/th]	[th]Mets[/th]	[th]Mets Minor Leaguers[/th]	[th]Ex-Mets[/th]	[th]Ex-Mets Minor Leaguers[/th]
[th]Chinese Taipei [/th]	[th][fimg=90]https://flagpedia.net/data/flags/h80/tw.webp[/fimg][/th]								Tzu-Wei Lin
[th]Netherlands [/th]	[th][fimg=90]https://flagpedia.net/data/flags/h80/nl.webp[/fimg][/th]						Hensley Muelens (manager)		Roger Bernadina
[th]Cuba [/th]	[th][fimg=90]https://flagpedia.net/data/flags/h80/cu.webp[/fimg][/th]						Yoenis Céspedes(!)
[th]Italy [/th]	[th][fimg=90]https://flagpedia.net/data/flags/h80/it.webp[/fimg][/th]				Claudio Scotti		Matt Harvey(!!) Mike Piazza (manager)
[th]Panama [/th]	[th][fimg=90]https://flagpedia.net/data/flags/h80/pa.webp[/fimg][/th]				Jonathan Arauz Humberto Mejia		Alberto Baldonado

[th]Pool B[/th]	[th][/th]	[th]Mets[/th]	[th]Mets Minor Leaguers[/th]	[th]Ex-Mets[/th]	[th]Ex-Mets Minor Leaguers[/th]
[th]Japan[/th]	[th][fimg=90]https://flagpedia.net/data/flags/h80/jp.webp[/fimg][/th]						Masato Yoshii (pitching coach)
[th]Korea [/th]	[th][fimg=90]https://flagpedia.net/data/flags/h80/kr.webp[/fimg][/th]
[th]Australia [/th]	[th][fimg=90]https://flagpedia.net/data/flags/h80/au.webp[/fimg][/th]						Graeme Lloyd (bullpen coach)
[th]China [/th]	[th][fimg=90]https://flagpedia.net/data/flags/h80/cn.webp[/fimg][/th]
[th]Czech Republic [/th]	[th][fimg=90]https://flagpedia.net/data/flags/h80/cz.webp[/fimg][/th]								Martin Cervenka

[th]Pool C[/th]	[th][/th]	[th]Mets[/th]	[th]Mets Minor Leaguers[/th]	[th]Ex-Mets[/th]	[th]Ex-Mets Minor Leaguers[/th]
[th]United States of America [/th]	[th][fimg=90]https://flagpedia.net/data/flags/h80/us.webp[/fimg] [/th]		Pete Alonso Jeff McNeil Adam Ottavino Brooks Raley				Jerry Manuel (bench coach)		Lou Collier (first base coach)
[th]Mexico [/th]	[th][fimg=90]https://flagpedia.net/data/flags/h80/mx.webp[/fimg] [/th]						Luis Cessa Oliver Perez (!!!) Taijuan Walker Elmer Dessens (bullpen coach)
[th]Colombia [/th]	[th][fimg=90]https://flagpedia.net/data/flags/h80/co.webp[/fimg][/th]		José Quintana						Nabil Crismatt Carlos Ocampo Ezequiel Zabaleta
[th]Canada [/th]	[th][fimg=90]https://flagpedia.net/data/flags/h80/ca.webp[/fimg][/th]						Rob Zastryzny		Adam Loewen
[th]United Kingdom [/th]	[th][fimg=90]https://flagpedia.net/data/flags/h80/gb.webp[/fimg][/th]				Cam Opp		Akeel Morris		Vance Worley

[th]Pool D[/th]	[th][/th]	[th]Mets[/th]	[th]Mets Minor Leaguers[/th]	[th]Ex-Mets[/th]	[th]Ex-Mets Minor Leaguers[/th]
[th]Puerto Rico [/th]	[th][fimg=90]https://flagpedia.net/data/flags/h80/pr.webp[/fimg] [/th]		Edwin Diaz Francisco Lindor		Dominc Hamel		Alex Claudio Marcus Stroman Javier Baez Hector Santiago Ricky Bones (pitching coach)		Luis Rivera (third base coach)
[th]Venezuela [/th]	[th][fimg=90]https://flagpedia.net/data/flags/h80/ve.webp[/fimg][/th]		Eduardo Escobar Omar Narvaez		Elieser Hernandez		Robinson Chirinos Andrés Giménez		Anthony Vizcaya
[th]Dominican Republic [/th]	[th][fimg=90]https://flagpedia.net/data/flags/h80/do.webp[/fimg][/th]						Rafael Montero Robinson Canó
[th]Israel [/th]	[th][fimg=90]https://flagpedia.net/data/flags/h80/il.webp[/fimg][/th]						Ty Kelly		Josh Zeid (pitching coach)
[th]Nicaragua [/th]	[th][fimg=90]https://flagpedia.net/data/flags/h80/ni.webp[/fimg][/th]						Erasmo Ramirez		Cheslor Cuthbert Kevin Gadea

[nymr83]

Edgy MD wrote: The ringeriest team continues to be Israel, for whom 33 of 35 players are US-born, including the returning Ty Kelly.

The Israeli professional baseball league went out of business in about 5 minutes, and before they could send me the hat I ordered.

[bmfc1]

"The ringeriest team continues to be Israel, for whom 33 of 35 players are US-born, including the returning Ty Kelly." Dude. Seriously? Eligibility is "anyone that is eligible for citizenship" (or words to that effect). Kelly's mother is Jewish. He has Israeli citizenship. Have you gone through every team's eligibility requirements? Lars Nootbar, of STL, is playing for Team Japan. He was born in California "... to an American father of Dutch, English and German descent Charlie Nootbaar and a Japanese mother Kumi Enokida. Nootbaar grew up in El Segundo, California, and attended El Segundo High School...." [Wikipedia.] These aren't "ringers". This is the rule that was created to allow for so many countries to participate and perhaps compete.

[metirish]

What is Matt Harvey doing with Italy ? Coaching staff ?

[Edgy MD]

Throwing baseballs.



He's ethnically Irish on the side of his athair, but ethnically Italian on the side of his madre.

[G-Fafif]

Jay Horwitz is press officer for Team Israel.



https://metsinsider.mlblogs.com/team-israel-underdogs-of-the-wbc-c8246f6f3267https://metsinsider.mlblogs.com/team-israel-underdogs-of-the-wbc-c8246f6f3267

[batmagadanleadoff]

=metirish post_id=118718 time=1677102361 user_id=72]
What is Matt Harvey doing with Italy ? Coaching staff ?

[nymr83]

=batmagadanleadoff post_id=118721 time=1677103161 user_id=68]
=metirish post_id=118718 time=1677102361 user_id=72]
What is Matt Harvey doing with Italy ? Coaching staff ?

[nymr83]

Jay Horwitz is press officer for Team Israel. https://metsinsider.mlblogs.com/team-israel-underdogs-of-the-wbc-c8246f6f3267https://metsinsider.mlblogs.com/team-israel-underdogs-of-the-wbc-c8246f6f3267

When Israel had a baseball league for a year (it actually lasted ONE year) Art Shamsky was a manager and his team's colors were blue an orange while playing for a city (Modi'in) that is pretty well known as as being an American ex-pat community. Annecodotally, I know at least one Mets fan there!

[bmfc1]

The second documentary about Team Israel, the group described herein as the "ringeriest team":

[kcmets]

This thing doesn't start for another week? What are they waiting for?

[nymr83]

=kcmets post_id=119078 time=1677713432 user_id=53]
This thing doesn't start for another week? What are they waiting for?

[bmfc1]

So the players can learn the new rules, then play games without those new rules and then return so they have to relearn them right before the regular season.

[A Boy Named Seo]

I'm going next weekend to shitty Phoenix to see USA/Great Britain and help check off a line item on a friend's bucket list. Mexico was a tough ticket to get so we're (sadly) hitting a spring training game as the other end of the double-header.



While I'm not "bucket list" hyped on the WBC, I'm into it. The World Cup Lite™ aspect brings a level of fun and passion that's just different from MLB. Through the more celebratory crowds and different styles of play, you really get micro-doses of different cultures through sport and I think it's a pretty cool thing.

Edited March 2, 2023 by Guest

[Edgy MD]

Agreed. It's beisbol played at a top level but delivered through a different cultural filter or filters with a different motivational stake for the players.



My US Cup™ tournament with teams representing each of the 50 states and US territories would be bigger than manbuns.

[A Boy Named Seo]

Edgy MD wrote: Agreed. It's beisbol played at a top level but delivered through a different cultural filter or filters with a different motivational stake for the players. My US Cup™ tournament with teams representing each of the 50 states and US territories would be bigger than manbuns.

That would be great. An FA Cup or Lamar Hunt US Open Cup for baseball would be super cool.



The WBC would be better if it were hosted in different countries for one. A tourney held in raucous domes in Japan or in the DR would be INCREDIBLE. I don't know that there is an ideal time to hold the perfect version of this tournament. Before or after the MLB season both present preparedness/fatigue injury worries, but running next to the winter leagues once every 4 years would probably be best. MLB, Korea and Japan all end their seasons October-ish. If they ran this tourney for 3 weeks in January, it would rock.

[nymr83]

I predict exactly zero major league pitchers would participate in an event that forces them to ramp up in January to dormant again and ramp up in March.

[Edgy MD]

Well, http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/events/winterleagues/league.jsp?league=carmany already do, although they are certainly not forced, and certainly something more than dormant in February, which is when camp begins.

[A Boy Named Seo]

I didn't realize games were being played in Tokyo (and Taichung) and not all just in the US. That's cool.



WBC kicks off tonight, kids! Cuba @ Netherlands at 11 PM Eastern (ugh) live from somewhere! Game is on FS1.

[metirish]