February 25, 2009 at 9:47 AM
Fifteen Red Sox players named to WBC rosters
Fifteen players from the Red Sox organization - six major leaguers and nine minor leaguers - have been named to the final World Baseball Classic rosters, which were released on Tuesday night. The Sox players assigned to WBC rosters are:
Taiwan (Pool A) - Chih-Hsien Chiang and Che-Hsuan Lin
Japan (Pool A, defending champions) - Daisuke Matsuzaka
Australia (Pool B) - Mitch Dening
Canada (Pool C) - Jason Bay and Steve Green
United States (Pool C) - Dustin Pedroia and Kevin Youkilis
Venezuela (Pool C) - Enrique Gonzalez
Dominican Republic (Pool D) - David Ortiz
Netherlands (Pool D) - Dennis Neuman
Panama (Pool D) - Angel Chavez
South Africa (Pool D) - Justin Erasmus
Puerto Rico (Pool D) - Fernando Cabera, Javier Lopez
Taiwan (Pool A) - Chih-Hsien Chiang and Che-Hsuan Lin
Japan (Pool A, defending champions) - Daisuke Matsuzaka
Australia (Pool B) - Mitch Dening
Canada (Pool C) - Jason Bay and Steve Green
United States (Pool C) - Dustin Pedroia and Kevin Youkilis
Venezuela (Pool C) - Enrique Gonzalez
Dominican Republic (Pool D) - David Ortiz
Netherlands (Pool D) - Dennis Neuman
Panama (Pool D) - Angel Chavez
South Africa (Pool D) - Justin Erasmus
Puerto Rico (Pool D) - Fernando Cabera, Javier Lopez
The first round of the WBC kicks off on March 5, with the sixteen teams split into four pools and games in Tokyo, Mexico City, Toronto, and San Juan. The top two teams from each pool will qualify for the second round, which will be held from March 14-19 in San Diego and Miami. The semi-finals will then be held on March 21 and 22 in Los Angeles, followed by the finals on March 22, also in Los Angeles. Check out the WBC official site for a full schedule.