After watching Canada go public with their roster for the upcoming World Baseball Classic, the United States did the same during the official unveiling on MLB Network last night.
And it’s safe to say there’s a star per square foot, as the defending champions will have no less than four MLB MVPs in their ranks, Mookie Betts, Paul Goldschmidt, Clayton Kershaw and Mike Trout, in addition of 21 star players.
This is probably the best team the Americans have presented since the start of the Classic.
The only question mark, if you can call it that, may be in the starting rotation, which will be made up of Kershaw, Adam Wainwright, Lance Lynn and Nestor Cortes. Not that these elements can’t get the job done, but in such a short tournament, everyone will have to deliver the goods at the same time, especially against the Dominicans.
Because otherwise, the depth of the training led by Mark DeRosa is scary, some stars can even be left out, due to the excess talent among the starters.
Speaking of starters, here’s what America’s starting roster should look like:
1) Trea Turner SS
2) Mookie Betts LF
3) Mike Trout CF
4) Nolan Arenado 3B
5) Paul Goldschmidt 1B
6) Pete Alonso DH
7) Kyle Tucker RF
8) JT Realmuto C
9) Jeff McNeil 2B
We can therefore expect that everything, with the exception of taking part in the final, will be considered a failure for our neighbors to the south, even if they are far from alone in the world in this competition.
