Gettin’ Geeky With the World Baseball Classic

To begin with I have a confession to make. I am a baseball Geek. Yes, that’s with a capital “G.” I have no problem admitting my geekiness because everyone is “that way” about something. Even the coolest cat in Hollywood is a geek in some respect.

Now that I’ve had my “Oprah moment” I will move on to the topic at hand, the World Baseball Classic. I plan on breaking the tournament down, with predictions of course, at a later date. I’m going to use this space today to offer up some suggestions to Team USA manager Buck Martinez.
For those of you not familiar with how the Baseball Classic rosters must be put together, keep these two things in mind:

–    Each team must carry at least three catchers
–    Each team must carry at least 13 pitchers

First of all, he Mr. Martinez should carry 16 position players and 14 pitchers. This split gives the team plenty of flexibility when it comes to the day-to-day lineup and it gives them enough pitchers to keep anyone from being overworked.

Each team will play three games in the first round and the 8 teams that advance to the second round will play three more games apiece. Then there is a single-elimination “final four” of sorts that will consist of one game for the teams that lose in the semis and two games for the teams that advance to the championship game. Team USA should have no trouble qualifying for the second round as they are clearly the best team in Pool B, so they should plan on playing at least 6 games. Canada, Mexico and South Africa are their first round competitors.

With that format in mind, here is what this baseball Geek thinks Team USA should look like when the World Baseball Classic begins in early March:

Catcher

There were 6 catchers on the preliminary roster and the three I would choose from that group are Jason Varitek, Joe Mauer and Paul Lo Duca. It was pretty easy to eliminate Chad Moeller and Michael Barrett from this group, but it was a tough call between Lo Duca and Brian Schneider for the third spot. I took Lo Duca because he has experience at first base and roster flexibility could be key in a tournament like this.

The best way to work the catchers is to have a rotation where each guy plays a half a game at a time with the third man being held back in case there is an injury. The catcher who sits out any game will be the starter in the next game.

First Base

Mark Teixeira and Derrek Lee were the only first basemen on the preliminary roster and it would only make sense to keep both of them on the final roster. Since they’re both incredible hitters, and because first base is not a physically demanding position, Teixeira and Lee could easily take turns starting games and also figure into the DH mix as well.

Second Base

There were only three second basemen on the preliminary roster and the two I would keep are Chase Utley and Craig Counsell. Bill Hall, who also plays other infield positions, was the third option at second base. Utley would be the primary starter here with Counsell playing the role of the perfect utility infielder.

Third Base

This was a tough one. Alex Rodriguez and Eric Chavez were my choices, but it was tough leaving David Wright and Chipper Jones off the team. Morgan Ensberg was the easiest of the five to eliminate.

Much like at first base, A-Rod and Chavez could take turns starting from game to game. Of course they too could fit into the DH mix.

Shortstop

This was tough as well. Derek Jeter was a no-brainer, but it was a tough call between Jimmy Rollins and Michael Young. I went with Young because he is the more consistent hitter and because he has some Major League experience at second base.  Yes, I am a Geek about roster flexibility!

Outfield

Believe it or not, it was pretty easy to choose the five outfielders I ended up with. Johnny Damon, Ken Griffey, Jr., Vernon Wells and Carl Crawford were automatic. The four together offer a great combination of speed, defensive skill and home run power.

Matt Holliday and Jeff Francouer, while fine young players, are not yet worthy of such a prestigious roster spot. Randy Winn was also pretty easy to leave off. It was a tough call between Lance Berkman and Luis Gonzalez for the fifth outfield spot, but I went with Berkman because he is a switch-hitter who also plays first base.

Starting Pitchers

This was the toughest of all the positions for me. There were 11 starting pitchers on the preliminary roster and my formula for the World Baseball Classic calls for the team to have 6 starting pitchers.

The first three were easy: Roger Clemens, Dontrelle Willis and Jake Peavy. They were three of the best pitchers in the game during the 2005 season and they offer plenty of diversity when it comes to pitching style and stuff.

After those three I choose Roy Halladay, Andy Pettitte and C.C. Sabathia. Again, diversity is a key factor here. All three are adept at getting hitters out and they do it in distinctly different ways.

Sabathia was the 6th and final starter I chose and it was difficult to take him over Ben Sheets, but I chose Sabathia because Sheets had arm problems late last season and it would be wise to proceed with caution and allow him to have a normal spring.

Jeremy Bonderman, Dan Haren, Tim Hudson and Brett Myers were the other cuts in my book. Nothing against any of them, they’re all fine starters, but the 6 pitchers I chose fit perfectly into my geeky little plan.

Under my plan, each starter would work three innings per game. In the first round I would have Clemens and Pettitte work the first 6 innings of Game 1, Willis and Halladay get Game 2 and then Peavy and Sabathia in Game 3. In the second round I would go with the same pairings in the same order except that the two pitchers would flip-flop – the one who started Game 1 would relieve in Game 4, etc.

Notice I also paired them up in a way the gives hitters something dramatically different to look at once there is a pitching change. Other countries won’t have the ability to play the left/right matchup game if Team USA uses this type of system because they won’t want to make wholesale changes in the middle of the game.

Relief Pitchers

There were 12 relievers on the preliminary roster for Team USA and according to my little plan here I need 8 relievers. I eliminated middle-of-the-pack guys like Al Leiter, Gary Majewski, Mike Timlin and Dan Wheeler right away.

My right handers are Chad Cordero, Todd Jones, Brad Lidge, Joe Nathan, Scott Shields and Huston Street. My lefties are Brian Fuentes and Billy Wagner.

In my system the relievers would simply be on an 8-man rotation. To ensure an equal amount of work for all these guys (it is Spring Training) they would each pitch one inning at a time. In the 8-man rotation there would be no need for anyone to work on back-to-back days.

One Final Note

If Team USA were to reach the semifinals and/or the finals, all bets are off. The hottest bats get to start and the pitchers who performed at the highest level in the first 6 games get preference over all the other guys. Those last two games should be managed just like they were Games 6 & 7 in the World Series.

Of course, some of these players could back out at the last minute and ruin my SuperGeek Plan, but I guess that’s life in the big city…

Please check back for more columns from me in the future. Sometimes my stuff will be geeky (like this piece), sometimes it will be funny. There will be instances where my column is related to the “topic of the day” and there will be others when I simply feel the need to break something down. I have columns planned for Super Bowl XL, a World Baseball Classic Preview and for the NFL Draft (including my own mock draft). I could also chime in on something else on any given day if the urge to write hits me. Your opinions and/or critiques are welcome and no, my columns will not always be this long.>