Korea, Japan lack star players ahead of WBC
Korean major leaguer Choo Shin-soo, left, and Japan’s Yu Darvish will not play for their countries at the World Baseball Classic in March. / Korea Times file
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By Kang Seung-woo
With the third edition of the World Baseball Classic (WBC) three months away, Korea and Japan, finalists in the 2009 contest, are struggling to field star-studded squads due to injuries and withdrawals.
Choo Shin-soo, the nation’s lone Major League Baseball (MLB) player, and left-handed ace Ryu Hyun-jin, currently in contract negotiations with the Los Angeles Dodgers, are likely to opt out of the baseball’s only worldwide international competition to feature players from the North American big leagues. For Team Samurai, their MLB stars including the New York Yankees’ Ichiro Suzuki and Texas Rangers fireballer Yu Darvish will also skip the tournament.
The 30-year-old Choo said on Nov. 14 that he is not sure if he will participate.
“I can’t say at this point whether or not I will be able to play in the WBC,” he told reporters on his departure for the United States.
The Cleveland Indians outfielder played in 2009 and helped Korea reach the final, blasting a three-run homer against Venezuela in the semifinals and also had a solo shot in the final.
His uncertain status for the WBC has been echoed by his agent. Scott Boras said in a recent interview that his client, who will become a free agent after the 2013 season, will miss the tournament to focus on his contract year.
Ryu, whose negotiation rights were purchased by the Dodgers for $25.7 million earlier this month, will not be available for the WBC, according to his agent, also Boras.
If the 25-year-old joins the six-time World Series champions, he will likely want to be with his new club for spring training to adjust to the majors.
The latest blow to Team Korea, which reached the penultimate round of the maiden competition in 2006, is the loss of veteran left-handed pitcher Bong Jung-keun of the LG Twins.
Last week, Bong, 32, a former Atlanta Brave and Cincinnati Red, said that he will undergo up to four months of rehab on his left shoulder. In 2004, he had surgery to insert two pins in his pitching shoulder and a recent checkup showed the pins had dislocated.
The hurler, who pitched for Korea in both 2006 and 2009, went 2-0 in four outings including three starts with a 0.51 ERA.
“We were counting on Bong to play an important role at the upcoming WBC,” said Yang Sang-moon, the national team’s bench coach. “Now, we’re faced with some problems as far as operating our bullpen.”
To make the situation worse, the SK Wyverns’ Kim Kwang-hyun, another lefty on the team’s 28-player provisional roster, is expected to sit out the WBC, also due to a shoulder issue.
Korea’s manager, Ryu Joong-il, said that he plans to include all the players from the provisional list announced on Nov. 12 but will not force those who cannot be available due to injury to represent the nation in the competition, scheduled for March 2 to 19. The deadline for the final roster is Nov. 30.
Japan’s three-peat hopes are suffering, as several members of its championship team have declined their WBC invitations.
Darvish, who was 16-9 with a 3.90 ERA and 221 strikeouts in 191 1/3 innings in his debut season, was the first Japanese big-league player to pass on the WBC, followed by Seattle Mariners right-hander Hishashi Iwakuma, who recorded nine victories and five losses and posted a 3.16 ERA this past season, and Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Norichika Aoki, who finished fifth in the National League Rookie of the Year balloting.
Suzuki and Yankees’ teammate Hiroki Kuroda are the latest Japanese players in the majors to opt out of the tournament.
“I appreciate being asked to play for Japan again at the WBC,” Suzuki said. “But after the second tournament in 2009, I never considered playing in the third event. My feelings have not changed to this day, and it’s where things stand.”
In the 2009 final, Suzuki drove in the winning run with a liner up the middle in the 10th inning in a 5-3 win over Korea.
High-profile players from Japan’s domestic league will miss the competition too.
The Seibu Lions’ Takeya Nakamura, who led the Pacific League with 27 homers has gone down with a knee injury while Hanshin Tigers closer Kyuji Fujikawa and Lions shortstop Hiroyuki Nakajima, both pursuing MLB careers, will likely choose spring training to adjust to their new surroundings.
The U.S. team will be without star shortstop Derek Jeter, who fractured his ankle in Game 1 of the American League Championship Series last month.
Korea will begin its campaign in Group B with the Netherlands, Australia and Taiwan at the Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium in Taiwan on March 2, while Japan is grouped with China, Cuba and Spain.