How much will the World Baseball Classic impact the Tribe?
It could potentially impact them very much. Their starting third baseman and center fielder are both going to be playing for Team USA in Mark DeRosa and Grady Sizemore. Plus, two of their more important bullpen options in the Rafael-tandem, Betancourt and Perez, could be pitching for their respective teams. They could also lose their starting shortstop in Jhonny Peralta to the Dominican Republic. Thankfully, they avoided Cy Young winner Cliff Lee pitching for Team USA, starting catcher Victor Martinez opting to focus on the Indians and staying healthy, and Fausto Carmona not going to pitch for the Dominican. They will have Shin-Soo Choo honoring his heritage by playing for the Korean team, but without possible military immunity on the line. Masa Kobayashi could be with Japan but that ends the list of possible Major Leaguers playing for a team in the WBC. Hopefully the Tribe avoids any injuries and all of their players don’t start out the year in a funk for participating in the Classic.
