On the WBC And Stuff......

Does this seem backward to anyone else out there? I mean, we’re having a World Series to start the season. The World Baseball Classic starts tomorrow and it looks as if it’ll be a pretty good one. Not that there’s more than 4 or 5 real contenders, but the contenders will probably have some really interesting tussles. Baseball being baseball, there could be some really good first-round games too.

But the way the divisions shape up, it looks as if the good ol’ USA will win their division, not that it’s impossible they could have some trouble along the way. Venezuela could give them some trouble, but I don’t expect much from Canada and Italy isn’t really ready for prime time. They have one hell of a team meal though.

Japan should be good in Pool A. I don’t figure either China to match up with them and who knows about Korea? For Japan, the first few games should play out like exhibitions.

The Pool B division features Cuba, I would suppose, but it seems as if we’ve grabbed off all their best players and those fellas don’t necessarily want to go back. Mexico City might be close enough to inspire a little anxiety. Mexico could probably give them a little trouble. The less said about South Africa and Australia, the better.

Pool D figures to be a dogfight. There’s the Dominican Republic that seems to breed baseball players, Puerto Rico, Panama and the friggin’ Netherlands. No, really….The ten-run rule may be in effect in the first round.

So it shapes up as a 4-team matchup between Japan, the U.S. the Dominican Republic, and then Mexico or Cuba, I guess. All those games should be worth watching at the very least, and some of them might wind up being classics.

The U.S. team is worth rooting for, for sure. I like the infield especially, with Jeter at short, Pedroia at second, Wright at third base and then there’s Youkilis at first. Good players, good team players all, they’ll be tough to beat. The outfield seems a little power-deficient, but it’s speedy with Granderson and Victorino in there, and Ryan Braun should provide some pop.

The pitching staff is weird. There are only four real starters, and a couple of them are kind of questionable, in terms of quality. Peavy and Oswalt are great pitchers, but I don’t know that Ted Lilly and Jeremy Guthrie match up with them. Then there’re a million, it seems, relievers and some pretty good ones in J.J. Putz and J.P. Howell, my favorites, but then almost all these relievers can be tough for an inning or two.

But this USA team could play with and beat a lot of past All-Star teams, and I think they’ll be really good defensively and on the bases. I just wish the pitching staff were a little more solid. You might be seeing a lot of Davey Johnson , depending upon the rules on visiting the mound.

You have to like the Dominican Republic team though, with at least three first-round fantasy players in the infield in Jose Reyes, Hanley Ramirez and Arod. He’s questionable now, I guess, but then he’s always been questionable. Then they have some really interesting young pitchers, featuring Johnny Cueto and Edison Volquez.

Carlos Beltran and Carlos Delgado anchor the Puerto Rico team, but they’ve got plenty of good players, and pitchers too. Alex Rios could outdo Delgado for power and match Beltran for speed. They’ve got a really nice catcher in Geovany Soto too, but I’m not crazy about their pitching staff either.

And if none of the above particularly turns you on, you can watch the exhibition season games, not that they’ll be very exciting with all those star players missing. The Mets especially seem really short-handed, what with the likes of Wright, Beltran, Reyes and Delgado all being gone. I think I could live without seeing Putz and crazy Ollie for a few weeks, but I lost my enthusiasm for the rest of Spring Training.

It was really good to see Manny Ramirez finally agree to the Dodgers contract though. If I have this right, I understand Manny has an option for 2010, but not the Dodgers. He’ll get his 45 mill or thereabouts, but he apparently thinks he’s worth more in a better economic climate, or maybe he just doesn’t like LA. You’d think Manny and LA was a match made in heaven but maybe it’s not.

Or maybe he just doesn’t like Spring Training. What am I saying….maybe? It’s nice to see a guy hold up the entire League though. If anybody’s totally aware of his own worth, it’s Manny, and he doesn’t put on any airs. You won’t hear any rah-rah speeches from Manny..

And it’s really great the football Giants care about defense, but some thought, at least, should be given to the wideout position. I guess they figure they can pick a wideout anytime, but you’re not going to find a quality one if you wait. I suppose they’ll draft a few but they haven’t been that smart about those receiver picks in the past.

The Jets look as if they’re making some good moves too, but a quarterback would be a nice addition, unless they really expect a lot out of their reserves. They don’t seem that concerned. I know there’s a plan……somewhere..

The only other thing that intrigued me lately was the duel between Shaq and Superman down in Orlando. They apparently don’t like each other much either, not that anybody could really like Shaq and not that Shaq cares about anybody else. He sure is high on himself though, and especially when the officials let him hang around in the paint for twenty seconds or so.

In any event, though, Howard gave him all he had, and it was apparently more than enough for Shaq. Nothing would make me happier than the disppearance of Shaq from the NBA-protected list (from penalties).

Unless it’s Kurt Warner finally re-signing with the Cardinals.