WBC roster likely to be finalized this week
Japan's Yu Darvish to skip tourney
By Kang Seung-woo
Korea’s 28-player roster for the World Baseball Classic (WBC) is likely to be finalized as early as this week.
The third edition of the international tournament is scheduled to take place from March 2 to 19 in Taiwan.
Ryu Joong-il, manager of Korean Series champions, the Samsung Lions, will lead the squad. He held discussions Tuesday with members of the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) technical committee, headed by former manager Kim In-sik, on forming the national team.
The baseball governing body shortlisted about 50 players in September based on their performances at international competitions and this year’s statistics in the local league.
Although the deadline for the final entry is Nov. 30, the KBO plans to come up with the list by the the end of the Asia Series, where the top baseball clubs from five countries on the continent will compete for the 500 million won ($458,000) prize, in order to prepare for the WBC in advance.
“The Asia Series opens on Thursday, but we will try to announce the final list this week or by Sunday at the latest,” said Jeong Keum-jo, the KBO’s chief manager of baseball operations.
The KBO is troubled by a lack of seasoned right-handed starting pitchers and Ryu is agonizing over a glut of first basemen with the Lions’ Lee Seung-yeop, Hanwha Eagles’ Kim Tae-kyun, the Orix Buffaloes’ Lee Dae-ho and Nexen Heroes’ Park Byung-ho all in contention.
According to the KBO, those selected will join the national team on Feb. 12 for a two-week training camp in Taiwan before launching Korea’s Group B qualification campaign with the Netherlands, Australia and an as yet undecided nation at the Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium.
Meanwhile, two-time defending champion Japan suffered a huge blow Wednesday as Yu Darvish of the Texas Rangers has decided not to pitch in the WBC to focus on preparing for his second major league season.
The 26-year-old right-hander, who was 2-1 with a 2.08 ERA and 20 strikeouts in 13 innings from five outings in the WBC in 2009, said through his agent that after consultation with his coaches and trainers, he has decided to sit out the WBC, calling it “a very difficult decision.”
Other Major League Baseball Japanese players like the New York Yankees’ Ichiro Suzuki and Hiroki Kuroda, the Seattle Mariners’ Hisashi Iwakuma and the Milwaukee Brewers’ Norichika Aoki have yet to commit to the national squad.
In the previous two WBCs in 2006 and 2009, Korea finished third and second, respectively.