Comments on: Team USA’s roster announced for the World Baseball Classic

By: zurnvs

zurnvs — Sat, 19 Jan 2013 18:32:33 +0000

Votto loves Canadian bacon and maple leaf hockey.

By: stlouis1baseball

stlouis1baseball — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 21:53:42 +0000

Seriously MJ? Ummm…you might want to wait till the other countries announce their teams.
But Joey won’t be on the team. Still re-habbing…possibly in Canada. Just a guess.

By: Francisco (FC)

Francisco (FC) — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 20:03:20 +0000

Well, ask yourself this question: What Nationality is Joey Votto?

By: Francisco (FC)

Francisco (FC) — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 20:02:25 +0000

So there’s your USA team. Teams from other countries to be released later today

I know USA is keen on winning one of these tournaments, but locking up the competition isn’t the way to do it. Glad to see they came to their senses and will let the other guys play.

By: historiophiliac

historiophiliac — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 19:33:58 +0000

Boooo!

/throws popcorn

By: mj1818

mj1818 — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 19:02:35 +0000

Where’s votto?

By: digbysellers

digbysellers — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 18:51:17 +0000

We’re gonna get smoked

By: Matthew Pouliot

Matthew Pouliot — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 18:46:20 +0000

geoknows is correct. Francisco Rodriguez has the same issue.

By: historiophiliac

historiophiliac — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 18:13:04 +0000

The site was closed when the post went up so it’s sitting in Craig’s refrigerator til he can take it in.

By: historiophiliac

historiophiliac — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 17:58:39 +0000

Go Venezuela!

By: sportsdrenched

sportsdrenched — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 17:57:16 +0000

Team America! F*** Yeah!

And Yeah, I know the WBC isn’t well liked, but…it’s more baseball and more baseball is good.

By: stlouis1baseball

stlouis1baseball — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 17:41:43 +0000

When pitted against Barmes and Ryan…
His glove is very much where he struggles and his stick is where he stands out.
I would surmise the whole reason for him being picked (and Barmes and Ryan NOT being selected) is because Jimmy can hit and they can’t.

By: mdpickles

mdpickles — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 16:48:17 +0000

I’m with on this about Rollins. He passes the eye test for me, don’t care about UZR, etc. His range is still remarkable for his age. Arm is still strong. Is he one of the top 5 SS’s in baseball? No. But last time I checked, the majority of SS’s come from Latin America. So yeah, this is like saying, “How come there are no great American bantamweight boxers?”

By: professormaddog31

professormaddog31 — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 16:41:41 +0000

…but Tulo’s been rehabbing for what seems like forever, there wasn’t any way dude was lacing up the cleats for the WBC.

JJ Hardy would have been my choice, had there been a choice.

By: mattyflex

mattyflex — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 16:37:41 +0000

nor Phil Collins.

By: mjames1229

mjames1229 — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 16:37:31 +0000

Kind of like the Mauer / Lucroy combo at C, with Arencibia an acceptable backup.

By: dkphilly1122

dkphilly1122 — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 16:37:27 +0000

Rollins is far better defensively than any of them. The only person who is better is Tulo because of his hitting. Nobody has an arm like Rollins does and can make the plays he does. Cabrera is good defensively but isn’t playing for Team USA obviously. If any American was better they’d be playing on the team. Rollins is definitely not a weak spot on the infield at all. His bat is where he struggles.

By: bolweevils2

bolweevils2 — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 16:34:17 +0000

And J.J. Hardy?

By: jerze2387

jerze2387 — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 16:32:31 +0000

Ill agree on zobrist. bloomquist…not so much.

By: kopy

kopy — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 16:27:02 +0000

You already mentioned Zobrist. Other candidates would be Ian Desmond or Brendan Ryan, JJ Hardy, Clint Barmes…

By: stlouis1baseball

stlouis1baseball — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 16:23:58 +0000

Brendan Ryan and Clint Barmes are easily superior to Jimmy Rollins defensively.
And we haven’t even disucssed J.J. Hardy and Tulo.
The problem with playing Ryan and Barmes are their sticks.
This is were Jimmy comes it.

By: stlouis1baseball

stlouis1baseball — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 16:21:33 +0000

I am thinking Teixeira, Phillips and Wright make up a damn fine infield.
Jimmy might be a weak spot…but the other dudes can pick it.

By: oldnumero7

oldnumero7 — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 16:21:19 +0000

I’m being too harsh on Rollins. With Tulo out, the best American SS options are Rollins, Zobrist, Desmond in some order. I forgot how many other elite SS aren’t from here.

By: geoknows

geoknows — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 16:20:37 +0000

And LOL!

By: geoknows

geoknows — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 16:20:08 +0000

Perhaps the software doesn’t know which Ryan Braun to link to, so it doesn’t link at all.

By: bolweevils2

bolweevils2 — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 16:19:56 +0000

Well, if you take the UZR/150 games for 2011-2012 combined, 500 innings min, these guys are better:

Barmes
Ryan
MacDonald
Cozart
Peralta
Hardy
Janish
Crawford
A. Ramirez
Andrus
Aviles
Tulowitski
R. Cedeno

By: mrfloydpink

mrfloydpink — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 16:08:41 +0000

Odd. How come Ryan Braun is the only one that doesn’t get an automatic link? Is the blogger software a steroid witch hunter? Would it vote against Bonds and Clemens for the Hall of Fame if it had a vote?

By: dkphilly1122

dkphilly1122 — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 16:07:21 +0000

Rollins is the BEST defensive shortstop in the game…….if you doubt it check his numbers and name someone who is better. I think the team is stacked, but if Trout was playing it would be sickening with him Stanton and Braun followed by Wright. That is a nasty lineup either way with Braun, Stanton and Wright.

By: smoochytherhino

smoochytherhino — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 16:06:44 +0000

I should also say that there’s something special about the team, even though it’s not our best, when you know these guys want to be out there representing their country. That can be even better than your best players out there when they don’t really want to be.

Because of that I think I pull even harder for teams like this. Oh yeah, and, go USA!

By: paperlions

paperlions — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 16:04:39 +0000

…and I didn’t mention a better US 3B, did I? As a group, that IF is not particularly impressive for a US National team. Rollins may be the best US SS, which is pretty sad.