Baseball Canada scrambling to replace Martin

Baseball Canada is scrambling to replace Russell Martin on its World Baseball Classic roster a week before opening its training camp after the all-star catcher abruptly pulled out because he doesn’t want to handle duties behind the plate.

Two possible replacements are George Kottaras, who already said no once because he is fighting for the backup job with the Kansas City Royals, and John Suomi, a veteran minor-leaguer in the Philadelphia Phillies system.

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Speaking to MLB.com at Pirates camp in Bradenton, Fla., Martin said both the Pirates and Canadian squad “were uneasy” about him playing shortstop and added, “I simply didn’t want to catch.”

“It’s just too much grind. The catcher’s out there the whole game, and it just takes your body so long to recover from catching 20 innings or so. … I feel sorry for (Team Canada), but sometimes you just have to look out for what’s best for you. You have to make a personal choice. But I’m really sorry for how all this went down.”

Max St. Pierre would listen if Ernie Whitt called.

Tim Raines, George Bell, headline Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame’s class of 2013

Still waiting for Cooperstown, Tim Raines can say he’s a Hall of Famer.

The former Montreal Expos outfielder was selected for induction Thursday into the Canadian Baseball of Fame. Also included in the class of 2013 are former outfielders George Bell and Rob Ducey as well as former announcer Tom Cheek and longtime minor league owner Nat Bailey.

Can’t stop the Rock.

Baseball Canada announces names submitted for World Baseball Classic Provisional Roster

Baseball Canada has submitted to WBCI for approval, the names of 23 players to appear on their Provisional Roster for the upcoming World Baseball Classic March 2nd-19th. The official Provisional Roster will be announced by WBCI on January 17th.

The remaining five players elected to fill out the Provisional Roster will be announced at a later date.

The roster features 12 players who played Major League Baseball in 2012 including Justin Morneau of the Minnesota Twins, Russell Martin of the Pittsburgh Pirates, John Axford of the Milwaukee Brewers, Jesse Crain of the Chicago White Sox, Michael Saunders of the Seattle Mariners and Brett Lawrie of the Toronto Blue Jays.

Joey Votto will also be there, but apparently has to finish some sort of insurance process first. Ryan Dempster unknown but I’m guessing unlikely.

WBC Update (Dec. 1, 2012): Pools set, Canadian Coaching Staff

the qualifiers have been placed in groups. Brazil is going to Japan, Taipei is in Taipei, Spain will be in San Juan, and Canada will be in Arizona.

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The link is to news on Canada’s coaching staff. They are led by manager Ernie Whitt. The rest: Larry Walker (Hitting/First Base Coach), Tim Leiper (Third Base Coach), Denis Boucher (Pitching Coach), Paul Quantrill (Bullpen/Pitching Coach), Stubby Clapp (Coach) and Greg Hamilton (Coach and Director of National Teams).

Secondly, the qualifiers have been placed in groups. Brazil is going to Japan, Taipei is in Taipei, Spain will be in San Juan, and Canada will be in Arizona.