Baseball Musings
Baseball Musings
February 14, 2006
Team USA

Buck Martinez announced the team USA roster today. He'll go with a rotation of Clemens, Willis, Peavy and Sabathia. How many managers would like to go into a season with that staff!

The outfield isn't all that impressive, with Griffey and Damon being the big stars. I wonder if both will start, or if Griffey will DH?

The infield is really stacked. A-Rod and Chipper at third, Jeter and Young at short, Chase Utley at second and Teixeira and Derrek Lee at first. I would suspect that team USA would have the best offensive team by playing Jeter and Chipper Jones in the outfield.

This is going to be a fun squad to watch.


Posted by David Pinto at 03:52 PM | World Cup | TrackBack (0)
Comments

I agree, Chipper should play left, Damon in center and Griffey in right. I think their catcher should do well too. They're not gonna hit a ton of homers, but they should be able to get on base. And they're good enough behind the plate. I think that the WBC could be really cool if it's not overhyped and commercialized.

Posted by: Kendall at February 14, 2006 04:24 PM

i would have rather they subtract a catcher, put chipper in OF and make David Wright A-rod's backup...but thats just my personal preference

Posted by: tony flynn at February 14, 2006 07:19 PM

Hey, if Varitek wants to drop out as a catcher, that'll be more than fine for me. He already wears down shortly after the All-Star Break, and I'm not thrilled about him starting to play even earlier in the year.

On the other hand, the announcement of this squad made me at least a little more interested in the WBC, although at this point of the year I'm scowling the triple digit cable channels hoping to catch college softball reruns just to get a baseball fix, so that's not exactly difficult to do.

Posted by: Hunter at February 14, 2006 07:34 PM

What jumps out at me is the relative youth of the starting pitchers. Obviously exlucing Clemens, the other three starters are 25 or under.

Posted by: Pat D at February 14, 2006 07:42 PM

I feel bad for Brian Roberts. Good call on David Wright, he should be there. Time to buy some David Wright rookie cards.

Posted by: Ed Zipper at February 14, 2006 07:53 PM

Why was Joe Mauer cut from the team? I think he's one of the best catchers in the game. I'd much rather have him DH than Griffey.

Posted by: Phil at February 14, 2006 08:28 PM

Just to get it in before the inevitable grousing begins about potential (and probably real) injuries, slumps, the irrelevance of this competition -- this is cool. I really like this competition, and I hope it goes well. I also hope the United States comes in second place because I think that will stoke interest the next time the competition is played.

Posted by: adwred at February 14, 2006 09:35 PM

Joe Mauer pulled himself out.

If there aren't too many injuries, this should be pretty good by the time it gets down to the final four.

Posted by: miles at February 14, 2006 09:51 PM

Why not make Jeter an umpire, forget all about this
center field stuff. Maybe David's joking. Jeter is never
going to the outfield. There have to be better subjects.
(Which, of course, are indeed raised here everyday).

Posted by: susan mullen at February 14, 2006 09:56 PM

Varitek catching Clemens is a great chance for the Sox captain to make the case for finishing his career in a Boston uniform.

Posted by: Hudson at February 14, 2006 10:13 PM

I'm not too worked up about the WBC. I can't see any MLB players playing their hearts out; I'm expecting the games to look like Spring Training games. However, it should be fun to watch the series. And Hudson (not Tim, the person who made the comment) raises a good point: Varitek might sway Clemens a bit to put on a Boston uniform this year.

Posted by: stat man at February 15, 2006 12:36 PM

Clemens is going to retire. I don't think there's much of a chance of him playing in Boston or anywhere else next year.

Posted by: Benjamin Kabak at February 15, 2006 12:44 PM

Clemens is going back to Houston after he takes April off and sees how boring his life will be without baseball (and an extra $20 mil). He has the sweetest job in baseball: pitches in his home area, doesnt go on road trips unless he is pitching, and doesnt even go to games he isnt pitching in unless he wants to. Im not saying these are good qualitites but it is certainly sweet.

Posted by: tony flynn at February 15, 2006 06:35 PM
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