World Baseball Classic news (2-20-09)

(link: Astros note confirms that Carlos Lee will be on Panama)

As said the link above confirms, Carlos Lee will participate on the Panamanian team.

As posted earlier: Yu Darvish.

The Korean Manager In-Sik Kim is working on the final roster for the WBC.

The Yankees are proud to say how they have two Chinese players in the WBC.

Australia beat Taiwan once again in a lead-up to the WBC.

As I posted yesterday, the Cubans have announced their roster, which can be found here.

And now… a preview for Chinese Taipei/Taiwan, I’m trying a new style today, which can be found if you extend this:

Chinese Taipei

AKA: Taiwan (Chinese Taipei is name used in International competition)

Participating in: Pool A (Asian Pool), with the first opponent being Korea

Best known in baseball for: Chien-Ming Wang, good Little League teams

Largest league: The Chinese Professional Baseball League, or CPBL

Recent Baseball history: Wave of game-fixing scandals forced 2 CPBL teams to fold, loss to China in ‘08 Olympics caused national outrage and concern over Taiwan’s baseball future

Number of players on WBC team with MLB/MiLB contracts: 11

Notable players not participating: Chien-Ming Wang

Players to watch: Che-Hsuan Lin, a Red Sox-system outfielder who myworldofbaseball ranks as the best Asian Prospect in North America’s minor leagues. A CPBL player to watch is Chen-Min Peng, who won the CPBL batting title last year with a .391 average.

Overall assessment of team: While certainly not a push-over, the Chinese Taipei team is reeling. With the domestic league in gambling-related chaos that makes 1919 look like a cakewalk, and with a few CPBL teams outright refusing to let any of their players participate (something MLB teams only wish they could do), the WBC could become the latest blow to Taiwan’s baseball structure, especially if they fail to beat China. The fact they are in the same pool as Japan and Korea does not help. Still, all is not lost, as an upset or two could easily get them into the second round, and an upset isn’t too far out of the question.

CT will win the WBC if: They are actually one of those old LLWS teams adjusted for level of play.

CT will advance past round 1 if: A upset or two happens.

CT Worst-Case Scenario: They throw the game against China.

Most likely outcome: A loss to Korea, a win against China then a loss against the winner of a Japan/Korea game. Eliminated at 1-2 record.

My prediction: Same as most likely outcome.

Next time: The Netherlands