Cant wait to see him, in the 3rd edition of the world baseball classic. in pool that i can consider the group of death:

- Dominican republic
-Puerto Rico
-Venezuela
- Spain

Venezuela Rooster:

Pitchers :

-Henderson Álvarez
-Ronald Belisario
-Enrique González
-Félix Hernández
-César Jiménez
-José Mijares

*Francisco "Kid" Rodríguez
*Anibal Sánchez
*Carlos Zambrano.

Catchers:

-Miguel Montero
-Ramón Hernández
-Salvador Pérez

Infielders:

- Miguel Cabrera
- Pablo Sandoval
- Elvis Andrus
- Asdrubal Cabrera
- Marco Scutaro

Outfielders:

- Carlos González
- Martín Prado
- Gerardo Parra

there still 8 more spots left.

Whats your opinion so far about Luis Sojo ( manager ) selection at this time?

How come nobody named Smith or Jones is on that team?....lol

"Venezuela Rooster"

^ LOL

Dominican Republic has a pretty killer roster.

http://web.worldbaseballclassic.com/wbc/2013/teams/index.jsp?team=dom&team_id=805

Is cabby going to be playing first base?

Dominican and Venezuela should be quite interesting in their pool - at least I think they are in the same pool.

I hate the WBC.....I pray to God that it isn't one of the Tigers that have a season ending injury.

You can't tell me these guys are in tip top baseball shape in March. A pitchers, arm, shoulder, back injury....a hitters olique, hamstring, back injury will happen. You know it, and I know it.

Can't argue with you about the risks, they are definitely there. But that bird has flown, the WBC will be played, and some darn good MLB players will be in it. Let's just hope it all comes out OK with our guys.

Playing in the World Baseball Classic actually reduces the chance of injury, looking at 2009 and 2006. And many older veterans (Jeter, '09) had career years afterwards.

They start to work out earlier, they play in more competitive games through March, it has nothing but positive benefits on the players participating.

zero....There isn't much I disagree with you on, but I have to on this issue.

I think fangraphs just posted an article recently looking at injuries during the tournament, look it up. There was very few.

<<<They start to work out earlier>>>

For what it's worth, Miguel, Jhonny, and Alex were in South Florida working out together during the winter.
http://espn.go.com/mlb/hotstove12/story/_/id/8723468/diamondbacks-dodgers-tigers-teams-unfinished-winter-meetings-business

<Although the Tigers have expressed a desire to get more athletic in the field, they say they're OK with the range-impaired Jhonny Peralta at shortstop. Peralta is in South Florida working out with Miguel Cabrera and Alex Avila, looking to rebound after his OPS dipped from .824 in 2011 to .689 last season.>

There is a big diference between working out with 2 players, vs working out with the team. Although it doesn't say it, I'd be willing to wager that "working out" in this case, is lifting weights and hitting in the batting cage. I doubt they were seeing much live pitching.

I suppose you could be right as far as pulled muscles and other injuries which occur due to lack of conditioning. In terms of just freak incidents, such as turned ankles, etc. could be a risk just due to participating in live game action. All in all, I doubt there will be a whole lot of serious injuries sustained in the WBC.

Well all players work out during the winter and hit and condition (or at least the ones who care about their job lol), but preparing for games is a little different. I mean work out as seriously starting to train and get into game shape.

The risk of turning an ankle or any other injury is just as high as playing a normal spring training game. I think the players are playing just as much (or less) than they would in ST also.

"Well all players work out during the winter and hit and condition (or at least the ones who care about their job lol)"

I think a lot of people forget that. This isn't the 50s where these guys have other jobs in the off season. Baseball is their job, and as you said, the ones who are dedicated to it are going to stay in condition year round. For the most part, the days of guys needing to have spring training in order to get back in to playing shape is long gone. That's why you hear a lot of players saying spring training is too long now.

There is a HUGE diference between showing up for the WBC in shape, vs baseball shape. I you ever played the game, you know what I mean.

"baseball shape"

What does that mean?

While that's true, these guys play 150 games a year. If they're in good physical condition, it wouldn't take them very long to get back in to game shape, as well.