Entering the 2013 World Baseball Classic, I am not sure if people expected the United States to win it all, but I think most expected them to return to the Championship Round as they had in 2009. With a new manager who appeared to be focused on winning the WBC (Joe Torre) and a roster that had been compiled more like a team built to win games instead of an All-Star team, expectations were extremely high.
When the United States lost to Puerto Rico last Saturday night, eliminating them from the tournament, immediately finger pointing began on television shows and the question was asked by multiple reporters, "Why has the United States not won the World Baseball Classic yet?"
Me personally, I see two major reasons why the United States has not, and more than likely will not, win the World Baseball Classic.
First of all, the timing is terrible. Japan and Cuba are at the end of their seasons, and the Caribbean Series ended in February. The United States has a roster that includes only Major League Baseball players. That means that every player on the roster is working themselves into playing shape after being off all winter, while players from other countries have guys who have been going for months already.
I know that there are major league guys from other countries who are playing, but there is not another roster that consists of only MLB property players. The timing of the World Baseball Classic is going to be against the United States each and every year the WBC is played unless they change the time. There are some who say play it in November, but you will not get any more MLB guys then, because of the grind of a long season. There are some who say play it in July during the All-Star break, but I would hate to see the All-Star Game taken out every four years.
The truth of the matter is that it is an obstacle they will have to overcome, and you cannot sit back and use it as an excuse if you truly want to win the World Baseball Classic.
The other major reason I have, is that the United States cannot get the best of the best in our country to participate. I do not want to sit and knock the guys who were willing to go play in the tournament, and I will be rooting for most of them throughout the season because I had a vested interest in their performance in the WBC and now I am going to follow their regular season play.
Guys like J.P. Arencibia, Jonathon Lucroy, Ben Zobrist, Willie Bloomquist, Shane Victorino among the position players on the United States roster are nice players. They are major league veterans who contribute to their team during the season and I would not be upset if they were on the Rangers and had key parts throughout the regular season. But, they are not among the best players that our country has to offer.
For instance, let me show you, position by position, the roster that the United States fielded, versus the roster they could have had.
Catchers
2013 WBC Catchers: Joe Mauer, Jonathon Lucroy, J.P. Arencibia
Potential 2013 WBC Catchers: Joe Mauer, Buster Posey, Matt Wieters
Once again, nothing wrong with Lucroy or Arencibia on your team during the MLB season, but who would not want Posey and Wieters over those two on an United States team? I also understand someone had to catch R.A. Dickey and his knuckleball, and that is why Arencibia was there, but perhaps someone else, like Wieters, could have learned how to catch him over the winter.
Infielders
2013 WBC Infielders: Eric Hosmer (1B), Brandon Phillips (2B), Ben Zobrist (2B/3B), Willie Bloomquist (SS/3B), Jimmy Rollins (SS), David Wright (3B)
Potential 2013 WBC Infielders: Prince Fielder (1B), Dustin Pedroia (2B), David Wright (3B), Troy Tulowitzki (SS), Ian Desmond (SS/2B), Evan Longoria (3B)
The issue with some of the guys that COULD have been on the team was injuries. The Rockies would not have let Tulowitzki play in the tournament, so Rollins is probably the best guy available at shortstop. Longoria would have been a nice addition to the lineup when Wright went down to injury during the tournament, and could have been in the designated hitter spot. Pedroia would have been an upgrade over Phillips at second and Desmond would have been an upgrade over Bloomquist in the utility role.
Outfielders
2013 WBC Outfielders: Ryan Braun, Adam Jones, Giancarlo Stanton, Shane Victorino
Potential 2013 WBC Outfielders: Ryan Braun, Mike Trout, Matt Kemp, Andrew McCutchen
The outfield group is probably the one group that you cannot find fault in, as Braun is perhaps the best offensive outfielder in the game, and Adam Jones was pretty solid in the tournament. Stanton struggled, and Victorino is not really a guy I would even consider for an All-Star team. But if you would have Trout and Kemp in that lineup, pitchers would have feared the United States greatly.
Overall, the potential 2013 United States batting lineup could have looked like this:
CF Mike Trout
2B Dustin Pedroia
LF Ryan Braun
1B Prince Fielder
RF Matt Kemp
DH Joe Mauer
3B David Wright
C Buster Posey
SS Troy Tulowitzki
Is there any question which lineup would be the best in the World Baseball Classic?
What about the pitching staff? The United States fielded a solid pitching staff in 2013, but imagine what it could have been:
Starting Rotation
2013 WBC Starting Rotation: R.A. Dickey, Ryan Vogelsong, Derek Holland, Gio Gonzalez
Potential 2013 WBC Starting Rotation: Justin Verlander, Clayton Kershaw, David Price, Matt Cain
One could argue that Stephen Strasburg should be in the mix as well, but with the way the Nationals handled him last season, there is no way they would allow him to play. But look at that group. Find me a better four in the world with the other countries combined.
Bullpen
I will not argue with the bullpen composition for this team, because quite honestly, you need set-up guys and long guys, not just closers. But there are quite a few guys who could have been out there for the United States. Papelbon and Joe Nathan are the two guys that come to mind, but like I said, bullpen composition is all about match-ups. The only guy who was out there that really struggled was Tim Collins, but Joe Torre really liked him against certain guys.
The bottom line is this. If the 2017 United States WBC roster is not filled out with a little more pop and more athleticism, they will fall short once again in the tournament. Until then, we will have to wonder what could have been in 2013.
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