» World Baseball Classic

Jon Lester and the Red Sox have reached a contract extension that will keep the best lefty in baseball in Boston for another five years. Lester is one of three aces in the deepest rotation in baseball, joining Daisuke Matsuzaka and Josh Beckett.

In the WBC, Dustin Pedroia is off the USA’s roster after straining his oblique. In a way, I’m glad the MVP is not going to be at risk for a more serious injury, especially if the team is going to play like this.

Ortiz and Bay are back with the Sox after their WBC teams were eliminated. Papi hit a home run against the Yankees on Friday, as did Mike Lowell. Julio Lugo may have a meniscus tear, as his MRI results were analyzed by a specialist who believes this to be true. Lugo will have knee surgery and may miss some time.

The following Astros are participating in the WBC and their stats so far.

SS Chris Barnwell- Team Canada    No stats, but currently playing against Italy.
P T.J. Burton- Team Canada           No stats
P LaTroy Hawkins- Team USA      1.o IP, 1 K, 1 BB, 0.00 ERA, 1.00 WHIP
OF Carlos Lee- Team Panama        .250 avg with 1 BB, no other stats
P  Chia-Jen Lo- Team Chinese Taipei    No stats
P Roy Oswalt- Team USA               3.2 IP, 1 K, 2 BB, 7.36 ERA, 2.18 WHIP
SS Miguel Tejada- Team Dominican Republic  .500 avg and a solo homerun as his only RBI

Sort of a mixed bag right now. Oswalts numbers are frighteningly bad, but it is good to see Miggy still have some power. LaTroy Hawkins continues to dominate in middle relief, so that is exciting.

I know I’m a Dbacks Blogger, but this is one of those things I’ve got to write about!

When I first checked the score this morning, I was immediately shocked to see the Netherlands were up 3-1 in the 5th inning against the juggernaut Dominican Republic.  I watched the game in awe, wondering and waiting for a comeback. To my surprise, it never happened.

The intensity of the 8th and 9th innings are why I watch baseball. I’ll admit, I’ve been bored with spring training ball; the atmosphere isn’t “we’re going to with this game at all costs,” but rather “get your pitches in and that’s that.” This game, however, was exactly a David v Goliath match. No one, including myself, ever thought the Dutch had a chance! Even as the game was in the final innings, I found myself still wondering when and how the Dutch were going to blow it. Sure enough, they proved me wrong. Their young pitcher Dennis Neuman (and I mean young… he’s in the Red Sox Class A Affiliate Lowell Spinners) looked a little nervous facing the first few batter and then brought it home well. Struck out Jose Guillen and got Nelson Cruz & Moises Alou to fly out. Then came the 9th inning.

Randall Simon was nailed by a pitch in the top of the 9th and was pinch run for Michael Duursma. Duursma ended up being caught in the middle of a pickle, making it seem routine and no way to make it to base safely. After Fernando Tatis (at this time he’s playing 1st base) made his seconds throw, Duursma turned around and pretty much ran and seemingly lunged at Tatis, getting an interference call and 2B. The Dutch, however, were not able to capitalize and drive him in. So, the score stayed 3-2.

In the bottom of the 9th, Leon Boyd came in to close the game. (This guy needs to be brought over to the Major Leagues. Nasty off-speed stuff!). He ended the game on a 4-pitch strikeout against Jose Bautista. Beyond him, the biggest game changer of the inning had to be Willy Taveras being gunned down by the 6′5” Kenley Jansen at third base. If you don’t think that’s a momentum killer, then I don’t know what is. 

Lesson learned: don’t overlook teams. Even though the Dutch never hit the ball out of the infield, they proved it isn’t about getting jacks… it’s about teamwork. They overcame the power house and shocked the baseball world.

Mad props to the Dutch.

Tomorrow marks the first day of Spring Baseball as both the Grapefruit and Cactus Leagues have a handful of games scheduled for the afternoon. The Red Sox begin their spring with a split squad, first playing the Boston College Eagles at 1:05 at City of Palms Park, then they head across town to play the Minnesota Twins at Hammond Stadium at 7:05.

The Sox have their early spring rotation set, as Josh Beckett gets the ball against BC, Tim Wakefield has his go against the Twins, Jon Lester throws to the Pirates on Thursday,  Michael Bowdin climbs the mound on Friday to face the

Josh Beckett looks to improve on a 12-10 record from a year ago.

Tampa Bay Rays, lefty Kris Johnson will throw against Northeastern University with a split squad on Saturday, then Clay Bucholz is on the bump for the nightcap against the Reds. 

Brad Penny is expected to pitch March 5th, but that isn’t yet set in stone.

Of semi-related news, the World Baseball Classic begins play on Thursday, March 5 at 4:30AM EST.

Hi. I’m Joel, your new Cardinals blogger. I’ll tell you a little bit about myself, but I’m going to keep it brief.

I’m 17 and a junior in high school. I live in Michigan, but I’ve been a Cardinals fan all my life, and a die-hard one at that. How did I become a Cardinals fan? It’s rather simple, really. My dad is a die-hard Cards fan himself, and I was a McGwire fan during the 1998 home run chase. Since then, I’ve bled Cardinal red.

The reason I joined MLBlogging was because I like baseball, and I hope to be a sports journalist someday. I’ve had the dream of being a journalist for as long as I can remember – longer than most people have known what they want to do for a living.  Okay, to put a number on it, since around the age of 7.

Enough about me, and now to the real Cardinals – of which, there’s not much to talk about.

The Cardinals are going to wait and see who will close for the team in ‘09,  and the most likely candidates are Chris Perez, Jason Motte, Josh Kinney and Ryan Franklin. Given that Motte is an unknown (who, as of last year, could only throw a fastball), Kinney has an injury history, and Franklin is shaky, I’d give the edge to Perez – but that’s just my own feeling.

Troy Glaus reported to camp, but he’ll still be out until late April, maybe even the first week of May. Things are looking good for him, so it sounds like everything is going to plan. Look for David Freese (who the Cards acquired in the Jim Edmonds trade to San Diego last season) to be the Opening Day starter at 3rd base.

Ryan Ludwick avoided arbitration and recently signed a 1 year deal for about $3.7 million. Here’s an interesting fact – the Cards have not gone to arbitration since 1999, when they last won their case with former Redbirds pitcher Darren Oliver.

Finally, Albert Pujols and Joel Pineiro will not play in the World Baseball Classic. Pujols will not play for the DR because of insurance reasons, while Pineiro withdrew his name from the Puerto Rican roster because he felt disrespected after being told that he would not be in their starting rotation.

That’s all the news for today. Goodnight, and Go Cardinals!

Albert Pujols still said on Sunday that it is confirmed that he will not be playing for the World Baseball Classics.

Underwriters of the World Baseball Classics are reluctant of insuring Pujols’ participation, due to the latter’s nerve transposition surgery in his right elbow last October. Pujols admitted that if he is not insured, then he will not be suiting up for the Dominican Republic, although there was a slight chance that he might be able to play in the Classic. 

“My main priority is here, to make sure that I’m ready for my season,” Pujols said. “Obviously it’s always good to represent the Dominican Republic. I’ve already done it once. I need to make sure everything goes the right way. I’m not going to go out there and play without insurance. I don’t think that’s a smart thing, myself coming from an injury. … I need to make sure right here in the next couple weeks how my elbow reacts to training here every day. I train during the offseason and it’s not the same as here in Spring Training.”

Manager Tony La Russa expressed his concern about Pujols playing in the Classics. Pujols may be currently feeling fine, but the manager feels that it is too risky for Pujols to play high pressure games instantly. Instead, it would be better for him to gradually play and taking things slow for a moment than to jeopardize the elbow again.

He admitted to that same instinct, saying that it was reason enough to be warned and cautious before going to any random decisions.
“I know that I can control myself, but I’m concerned about that the same way too,” he said. “Obviously when the games start, as you know, I don’t take it easy in the game.”

All other decisions will not rely on Pujols alone, which, in one part is a good thing. Without any expectations whatsoever to the insurance policy, he is positive that playing in the Classics is now out of his way.

“If they can’t get insurance, I’m definitely not going to play,” Pujols said.

The Indians, having eight big league players on temporary rosters for the World Baseball Classic, are dropping like cold ice on a mug.

Right-hander Fausto Carmona, who is also on the roster for the Dominican Republic, and Venezuelan roster member Rafael Betancourt will not be in the tournament, which will begin next month.

Carmona, missing more than two months due to a left hip strain last season, left the Indians with no choice but to remove him from the Classic scenario, although they still want his presence at camp, working on his delivery and getting him ready to tackle the number 2 spot on their rotation.

Betancourt was another story. After pitching for Venezuela in 2006, he felt the tension affected his performance for that season. He made only three appearances in the Classic, after that, felt shoulder pains when he returned to camp and ending up suffering upper back strains two weeks before the regular season.

“I was taking time to make my decision to play or not play,” Betancourt said. “I did it the first time, and I think, for me, I don’t play winter ball, so it takes a little bit of time to get ready to compete. I got the experience in 2006, and it was a very good experience representing my country. But to prepare myself for the season, it wasn’t good for me.”

Dominican mainstay Jhonny Peralta will be on the possibility of not participating. Peralta said that he is interested in playing for the Dominican team, but with Hanley Ramirez, Jose Reyes and Miguel Tejada all on the provisional roster, is uncertain if he can blend in with the star studded crowd.

“I don’t know if I’d have a chance to play,” Peralta said. “I don’t know what’s going on with that.”

Grady Sizemore and Mark DeRosa of the USA, Rafael Perez of the Dominican Republic, and Shin-Soo Choo of Korea, are expected to leave the camp to raise the banners of their respective countries. Masa Kobayashi of Japan however was still undecided.