Looking into Classic’s future, MLB sees growth

The tournament drew a record 781,429 fans since it began in Asia on March 2, played to huge international television audiences, and Brosnan said it will certainly be back for its fourth running in 2017.

“The Commissioner is 1,000-percent committed,” Brosnan said.

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Mainstream baseball countries Mexico, Canada, Venezuela and Korea were all knocked out in the first round, but only Mexico will have to qualify for the tournament in 2017.

In that matter, Brosnan promised more teams and more qualifiers.

“There’s a thousand possibilities,” Brosnan said. “There are going to be competitions in the intervening years because it’s going to grow larger. The intention is to play the championship every four years, but we might see more qualifiers two years from now. This tournament is just going to continue to grow.”

2 years? As in, 2015 in addition to 2016 for qualifiers? How big are they going to make it? I’m intrigued…

Why is Adrian Gonzalez’s father suing MLB?

Pesqueira and David Gonzalez, who also acts as the player’s agent, are now involved in a potentially historic lawsuit against Major League Baseball that could change the signing system for Mexican players and complicate efforts for a worldwide draft. At the crux of the fight is whether Pesqueira was willfully aware that he finalized a contract with the Diablos Rojos, or if he and his father were tricked into signing away his free-agent rights—or if the young player had ever even signed a contract in the first place.

When MLB ruled in favor of the Diablos Rojos, thereby denying Pesqueira his right to free agency, it became embroiled in the controversy.

Currently, Mexican players are usually signed through negotiations with teams from the Liga Mexicana de Beisbol (LMB), which own the rights of the majority of signing-eligible players. If an MLB team wants a player, it buys him from the Mexican team, which then pockets a majority of the bonus. It’s a profitable business for those teams. But Pesqueira believes that he never signed a legitimate contract with Mexico City.

Should Gonzalez win the lawsuit, or settle with MLB, it may create a precedent through which many other youth professional contracts from Mexico—signed or fabricated, depending on who you believe, under the same circumstances that Pesqueira claims—are also invalidated, creating a slew of free agents and leading to a situation similar to those in the Dominican Republic and Venezuela. If there is any question as to who owns the rights of hundreds of Mexican players, or if Pesqueira’s lawsuit drags on for several months, or even a year, then it could be tricky for any kind of worldwide draft to be implemented anytime soon.

WBC Finals: Dominican Republic 3, Puerto Rico 0 (DR runs table and wins 1st WBC title)

That was fun. Is it 2017 yet?

World Baseball Classic FINALS OMNICHATTER

8:00 PM- Dominican Republic vs. Puerto Rico

WBC FINALS.

On MLB Network and ESPN Deportes.

World Baseball Classic Semi-Final Number 2 OMNICHATTER

9:00 PM- Dominican Republic vs. Netherlands
Winner faces Puerto Rico in finals.

All games on MLB Network and ESPN Deportes.

WBC Semi-Final Number 1 OMNICHATTER

9:00 PM- Japan vs. Puerto Rico

Winner to finals.

All games on MLB Network and ESPN Deportes.

WBC Day 16 OMNICHATTER

Just a seeding game today:

1 PM: Dominican Republic vs. Puerto Rico (Winner faces Netherlands, loser faces Japan)

All games on MLB Network and ESPN Deportes.

WBC Day 15 OMNICHATTER

7:00 PM- USA vs. Puerto Rico (ELIMINATION GAME)

All games on MLB Network and ESPN Deportes

WBC Day 14 OMNICHATTER

7:00 PM- USA vs. Dominican Republic (winner advances, loser faces PR in elimination game)

All games on MLB Network and ESPN Deportes.

WBC Day 13 OMNICHATTER

7:00 PM- Puerto Rico vs. Italy (ELIMINATION GAME)

All games on MLB Network and ESPN Deportes.

WBC Day 12 OMNICHATTER

6:00 AM: Japan vs. Netherlands (seeding game)
1:00 PM: Dominican Republic vs. Italy
8:00 PM: USA vs. Puerto Rico

All games on MLB Network and ESPN Deportes.

Kingdom of the Netherlands 7, Cuba 6

Honk, Honk.

WBC Day 10 OMNICHATTER

12:30- Venezuela vs. Spain
4:00- Canada vs. USA
7:30- Puerto Rico vs. DR
6:00 AM (Monday)- Netherlands vs. Cuba (ELIMINATION GAME)

All games on MLB Network and ESPN Deportes.

WBC Day 9 OMNICHATTER

11:00 AM- DR vs. Spain
2:30 PM- Mexico vs. Canada
5:30 PM- PR vs. Venezuela
9:00 PM- USA vs. Italy
6 AM (Sunday): Netherlands vs. Japan

All games on MLB Network and ESPN Deportes.

WBC Day 8 Chatter

Day 7 isn’t all done yet, but, hey, better to be early than late.

Today’s games:
Italy vs. Canada, 2:00 PM
Puerto Rico vs. Spain, 5:30 PM
USA vs. Mexico, 9:00 PM
Cuba vs. loser of Taipei/Japan, 5:00 AM (Saturday) ELIMINATION GAME

WBC Day 7 OMNICHATTER

The WBC really gets going with four games across three countries!

3:00 PM- Mexico vs. Italy, Pool D
6:30 PM- Dominican Republic vs. Venezuela, Pool C
10:00 PM- Cuba vs. Netherlands, Pool 1 (2nd round)
5 AM (March 8th)- Taipei vs. Japan, Pool 1 (2nd round)

All games on MLB Network and ESPN Deportes (or wherever you find it in your country).

WBC Day 5 OMNICHATTER

Only one game tonight/tomorrow morning:

5:00 AM- Cuba vs. Japan

Winner gets top seed.

All games on MLB Network and ESPN Deportes.

WBC Day 4 OMNICHATTER

Is this the end of the Honkbal heroes? Which Fukuoka pool team will avoid likely relegation to the qualification rounds in 2017? Will Taipei send the hometown fans home with pool sweep?

FIND OUT TONIGHT!
11:30 PM- Netherlands vs. Australia
3:00 AM- China vs. Brazil
6:30 AM- Korea vs. Taipei

All games on MLB Network and ESPN Deportes.

WBC Day 3 OMNICHATTER

Tonight’s games (okay, technically tomorrow morning):
Cuba vs. China, 2:30 AM
Australia vs. Korea, 5:30 AM

All games on MLB Network and ESPN Deportes

WBC Day 2 OmniChatter

Day 1 isn’t fully done yet, but I’ll submit this now. All times ET:

10:30 PM- Brazil vs. Cuba
1:30 AM- Taipei vs. Netherlands
5:00 AM- Japan vs. China

World Baseball Classic OMNICHATTER Day 1

Pool B: Taipei vs. Australia, 11:30 PM EST, MLBN and ESPN Deportes
Pool A: Brazil vs. Japan, 5:00 AM EST, MLBN and ESPN Deportes
Pool B: Netherlands vs. Korea, 6:30 AM EST, will be on Tape Delay MLBN and ESPN Deportes later

Chatter up!

2013 World Baseball Classic Begins This Friday On MLB Network

MLB Network’s exclusive English-language telecast of the 2013 World Baseball Classic in the United States begins this Friday, March 1 at 11:30 p.m. ET and continues with all 39 games of the tournament through the Championship on Tuesday, March 19 at 8:00 p.m. ET. MLB Network’s Bob Costas, Jim Kaat, Joe Magrane, Harold Reynolds, John Smoltz, Matt Vasgersian, Tom Verducci and Matt Yallof are among the group of announcers scheduled to call the tournament, produced by MLB Network in the United States and by MLB International abroad. The complete list of announcers is outlined below.

In addition to televising all 39 games, MLB Network will extensively cover the World Baseball Classic in its studio programming, including World Baseball Classic Today, which debuts this Saturday, March 2 at 11:00 a.m. ET. Former Major League infielder and coach of the 2005 World Champion Chicago White Sox Joey Cora will serve as a guest analyst on the program from March 7-9. The tournament’s Championship Round will include on-site coverage with Intentional Talk live before each game and live pre- and postgame coverage on MLB Tonight on the field from AT&T Park in San Francisco.

It’s on ESPN Deportes as well (in Spanish) and will be on Sportsnet in Canada.

International competition hits Fan Cave for Classic

Proof that there are at least 16 other people in the world who are even more interested in the WBC than I am.

Just 45 blocks downtown from the United Nations, Major League Baseball on Wednesday introduced winners of a competition for “MLB Fan Cave: World Baseball Classic Edition.” These 16 Cave Dwellers traveled from five continents and speak eight total languages. They will watch every game of the Classic live at all hours of the day and night, each gradually getting eliminated when his or her country/territory is ousted from play.

The winners are Nic Connell (Australia), Pedro Carvalho (Brazil), Daryl Andrews (Canada), Yuning (Vivia) Wang (China), Chi-En (Adam) Wang (Chinese Taipei), Damaso Rosales (Cuba), Juan Sarmiento (Dominican Republic), Periluigi Mandoi (Italy), Kozo (Toshi) Sasa (Japan), Soo Yeon Seo (Korea), Mariana Patraca Dibildox (Mexico), Julia Bol (The Netherlands), Raul Rivera (Puerto Rico), Josep Juaneda Josa (Spain), Kelsey Shea (USA) and Tibaldo Hernandez (Venezuela).

“The World Baseball Classic is a logical extension of the Fan Cave, which has been enormously successful in generating entertaining baseball content for social media,” said Tim Brosnan, MLB executive vice president of business. “So much has changed in the media landscape since 2009, the last time we held a World Baseball Classic. The Fan Cave’s ability to show a different side of baseball and the players to fans around the world instantaneously is perfectly suited for the World Baseball Classic in a rapidly changing media environment.”

Final rosters for 2013 World Baseball Classic announced

Many of the game’s elite stars and veterans of Major League Baseball (MLB), Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB), the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) and other leagues from Asia, Latin America, Europe and Australia will participate in the third edition of the World Baseball Classic.  From the ranks of Major League Baseball, the rosters include 2012 American League Triple Crown winner Miguel Cabrera of Venezuela as well as fellow past Most Valuable Players Ryan Braun (USA), Joe Mauer (USA), Justin Morneau (Canada), Jimmy Rollins (USA), Miguel Tejada (Dominican Republic) and Joey Votto (Canada).  Reigning Cy Young Award winner R.A. Dickey is on the roster of Team USA.

Including the names above, there are 45 Major League All-Stars who appear on the submitted rosters (alphabetically): Elvis Andrus (Venezuela), Heath Bell (USA), Carlos Beltran (Puerto Rico), Braun, Asdrubal Cabrera (Venezuela), Robinson Cano (Dominican Republic), Nelson Cruz (Dominican Republic), Dickey, Yovani Gallardo (Mexico), Adrian Gonzalez (Mexico), Carlos Gonzalez (Venezuela), Gio Gonzalez (USA), Ramon Hernandez (Venezuela), Omar Infante (Venezuela), Adam Jones (USA), Andruw Jones (Netherlands), Craig Kimbrel (USA), Russell Martin (Canada), Mauer, Yadier Molina (Puerto Rico), Miguel Montero (Venezuela), Morneau, Chris Perez (USA), Brandon Phillips (USA), Martin Prado (Venezuela), Hanley Ramirez (Dominican Republic), Jose Reyes (Dominican Republic), Alex Rios (Puerto Rico), Fernando Rodney (Dominican Republic), Francisco Rodriguez (Venezuela), Rollins, Pablo Sandoval (Venezuela), Giancarlo Stanton (USA), Mark Teixeira (USA), Tejada, Jose Valverde (Dominican Republic), Javier Vazquez (Puerto Rico), Shane Victorino (USA), Ryan Vogelsong (USA), Edinson Volquez (Dominican Republic), Votto, David Wright (USA), Carlos Zambrano (Venezuela) and Ben Zobrist (USA).

Other participants of note are eight returning players from Japan’s 2009 Championship Team, including two Pacific League MVPs, pitcher Toshiya Sugiuchi and outfielder Seiichi Uchikawa, as well as the reigning Central League MVP, catcher Shinnosuke Abe; 11 returning players from Korea’s 2009 Finalist squad, including infielder Tae-Kyun Kim and outfielder Hyun-Soo Kim; Cuban stars Frederich Cepeda, Alfredo Despaigne and Yulieski Gourriel; Canadian relief pitcher John Axford, infielder Brett Lawrie and pitcher Jameson Taillon, the second overall choice in the 2010 MLB Draft; longtime Major League pitcher Chien-Ming Wang of Chinese Taipei, marking his first World Baseball Classic appearance, as well as 2008 MLB Futures Game MVP Che-Hsuan Lin of Chinese Taipei; 2005 MLB Futures Game MVP Justin Huber of Australia; Team Italy’s Anthony Rizzo and Alex Liddi, who became the first Italian-born and developed Major League player ever in 2011; Netherlands infielders Andrelton Simmons and Xander Bogaerts; Minor Leaguers Ray Chang and Wei Wang of Team China; and members of the 2012 World Series Champion San Francisco Giants, including National League Championship Series MVP Marco Scutaro of Venezuela and outfielder Angel Pagan of Puerto Rico.

Baseball America: International Reviews: Tampa Bay Rays

As a result, the Rays won’t be able to sign anyone next year for more than $250,000 and probably won’t make any major international splashes until July 2 either because of the tax. Going well beyond the bonus pool is a curious move, but the Rays did pull in a considerable amount of talent, including arguably the two best 16-year-old pitchers on the market. Given that their 90-win season last year will give them one of the lower bonus pools for the 2013-14 signing period, which many scouts believe is shaping up to be a down year for international talent, perhaps it will be a worthwhile gambit.

This is interesting, I had no idea the Rays had been blowing past the international spending cap like this. I believe a primate recently asked why a team wouldn’t spend excessively one year on international free agents to load up on top-end talent and then accept that the next year they would be very limited in what they could do. The Rays haven’t gone massively over budget but it appears they are making use of that suggested strategy.