On Monday Mark DeRosa became the latest Cub to accept an invitation to play for his country in the upcoming World Baseball Classic.
According to a report from Cubs.com, citing Fox Sports as its source, Mark DeRosa “is expected to join Team USA for its workouts March 2nd in Clearwater, Florida.” The second World Baseball Classic is scheduled to begin on March 5th, with Team USA’s first game scheduled for March 7th against Team Canada.
Ryan Dempster is expected to play for Team Canada and a report last Friday mentioned Rich Harden could also pitch for Team Canada in the tournament. Reports have also indicated Alfonso Soriano and Carlos Marmol could play for the Dominican Republic while Kosuke Fukudome is expected to play for Team Japan. Derrek Lee (USA) and Geovany Soto (Puerto Rico) could participate as well but the report from Cubs.com on Monday stated Soto could sit out the games due to participation by Ivan Rodriguez and Yadier Molina.
Carlos Zambrano indicated in November that he would skip the second WBC after playing in the first tournament in 2006. However, during the Winter Meetings a report suggested Zambrano might have changed his stance. Monday’s report on Cubs.com mentioned Zambrano could still pitch for Team Venezuela.
Stay Tuned….