Dominican Republic
IBAF World Rank: 13
First things first, the Dominican Republic are not the 13th
best team in this tournament; they are easily one of the top 5 teams. For
whatever reason their recent international play has resulted in a low ranking,
but the addition of many All-Star major leaguers makes them one of the best
teams coming in. They have the best infield in the tournament with Adrian
Beltre at third, Jose Reyes at short, Robinson Cano at second and I am
suggesting they put Hanley Ramirez at first. However, as is the case for many
teams, they will go as far as their pitching takes them. Edison Volquez, Alexi
Ogando are their best starters and Francisco Rodney is their best reliever.
After disappointing efforts in the last two WBCs, look for the Dominican to
make a big splash this year.
Spain
IBAF World Rank: 16
Most of the players on Spain’s roster weren’t actually born
in Spain, which tells me baseball has a lot of work to solidify Spain as a
baseball country. They have had success in international play and are
considered the third best team in Europe right now. However, baseball can only
become a global sport if Europe jumps on and the Spanish roster is very
discouraging. Currently, it seems that they have all of the players from Cuba, the
Dominican, Venezuela and the US who weren’t good enough to represent their own
country but use their Spanish descent as an opportunity to play in the WBC. In
my experience when you have second tear players, it doesn’t give you a great
shot in a world-class tournament.
Puerto Rico
IBAF World Rank: 12
The amount of talent in the MLB of Puerto Rican descent is
down from recent history, and it shows in their lineup. Yadier Molina and
Carlos Beltran are both world-class hitters, but their supporting cast isn’t
strong enough to make them a real threat this year. Puerto Rico’s biggest
weakness is their pitching, it doesn’t match up well with the high-powered
Dominican and Venezuelan lineups in their group. However, Puerto Rico is a
great baseball country and takes pride in their baseball history, so they are
never a team you can overlook.
Venezuela
IBAF World Rank: 8
Venezuela did arguably the best job recruiting MLB players
to participate in the WBC. I believe that they have the best lineup in the
tournament. Which will look something like this.
Elvis Andrus SS
Carlos Gonzales OF
Miguel Cabrera 1B
Pablo Sandoval 3B
Martin Prado OF
Asdrubal Cabrera 2B
Salvador Perez DH
Miguel Montero C
Gerardo Para OF
Highlighted by Triple Crown winner Miguel Cabrera, this
lineup boasts last years World Series MVP, a former batting title winner in
CarGo, a rising star in Andrus and the best offensive catcher in the MLB
outside of some guy named Buster. Their offense has a chance of being really
deadly if all of they hit to their capabilities. However, the key to the
Venezuelan success will be their pitching. Felix Hernandez will give them a
chance to win every game but the Venezuelans will go as far as Carlos Zambrano
and Francisco Rodriguez take them. Both guys have proven to be erratic
pitchers, but if they perform well Zambrano gives them another great starter
and Rodriguez can shorten the game, giving Venezuela a great chance of playing
far into the tournament.
Prediction:
Venezuela 3-0
D.R. 2-1
Puerto Rico 1-2
Spain 0-3
Bold represents teams advancing
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