baseball marches on without the Olympics

**USA101** · 05-13-2011, 01:38 PM

I would rather the format we have been discussing with the bottom four teams having to qualify with the winner take all feeling rather than lets take second and get in.

**Rally Monkey** · 05-13-2011, 02:13 PM

I double-posted. See my comment below.

**Rally Monkey** · 05-13-2011, 02:13 PM

Originally Posted by NewEnglandAmazins

According to that article:

A different format? It won't be the the following:

Perhaps the later was a preliminary idea; the WBC Steering Committee probably has not discussed it in great detail. Apparently format has yet to be determined or if a qualifier will even be held.

I assume this is simply a mistake by Barry Bloom. It would make absolutely no sense to require the bottom-eight finishers in the last tournament to be required to qualify this time. Why would the WBC organizers put Australia, Italy, China and, above all else, the Dominican Republic at risk in a play-in round? Even if the top-two from each pool advance (assuming four pools of four teams each), the DR could get the short stick. Hell, they let the mostly semi-pro guys from Holland beat them TWICE in 2009. Why risk anything like that again?

Having said that, a four-pool qualifier is only really possible if there's a field of 28 teams in the tournament. And the fact that Barry Bloom's sources are telling him that this is going to be a 24 team tournment suggests that maybe the bottom-eight teams really will have go through a qualifier. I'm not convinced that that's such a good idea. (Plus, I'd prefer to see more teams in this tournament--not fewer.

At any rate, this is an interesting tidbit. I don't know much about MLB Kreminology, but my understanding was that Paul Archey and MLB International Business took the lead in overseeing the 2009 and 2006 WBC tournaments. But it sounds from this MLB.com article that Kim Ng in Torre's Baseball Operations shop will be doing the honors this time. I don't know if that's right--or even if it's significant. But it's noteworthy.

**USA101** · 05-13-2011, 04:30 PM

If they make the bottom 8 qualify it would make the qualifiers less relevant. A winner take all would emphasize the drama and be great for marketing, in a double elimination pool anything can happen. We could see S. Africa lose the first game and come back from it and win the pool or see them choke in the finals. Making the qualifiers meaningful and adding suspense would increase ratings and make countries like Canada send there best too make sure they have the best chance at getting back to the WBC.

**Rally Monkey** · 05-13-2011, 04:55 PM

Originally Posted by USA101

If they make the bottom 8 qualify it would make the qualifiers less relevant. A winner take all would emphasize the drama and be great for marketing, in a double elimination pool anything can happen. We could see S. Africa lose the first game and come back from it and win the pool or see them choke in the finals. Making the qualifiers meaningful and adding suspense would increase ratings and make countries like Canada send there best too make sure they have the best chance at getting back to the WBC.

I guess I don't get that. They could still use a double elimination format if only the bottom four teams are required to qualify. Do you mean that you'd prefer that a team should outright-win the qualifying pool to advance? If so, I agree that that would be more exciting. But it would also be more risky. What if Canada doesn't win its pool and, I dunno, Germany gets the nod instead. That'd be great for the German players, but not so great for millions of Canadian baseball fans--millions more than German baseball fans. (And that, of course, is millions of dollars less for the WBC.)

One way to hedge this is to put advance two teams from each of the qualifying pools. And that would mean having the bottom eight teams have to qualify for the next WBC. Which puts us back where we started. I guess it's not an easy call.

**NewEnglandAmazins** · 05-13-2011, 07:38 PM

Originally Posted by Rally Monkey

I assume this is simply a mistake by Barry Bloom. It would make absolutely no sense to require the bottom-eight finishers in the last tournament to be required to qualify this time. Why would the WBC organizers put Australia, Italy, China and, above all else, the Dominican Republic at risk in a play-in round? Even if the top-two from each pool advance (assuming four pools of four teams each), the DR could get the short stick. Hell, they let the mostly semi-pro guys from Holland beat them TWICE in 2009. Why risk anything like that again?

Having said that, a four-pool qualifier is only really possible if there's a field of 28 teams in the tournament. And the fact that Barry Bloom's sources are telling him that this is going to be a 24 team tournment suggests that maybe the bottom-eight teams really will have go through a qualifier. I'm not convinced that that's such a good idea. (Plus, I'd prefer to see more teams in this tournament--not fewer.

I hope you're right

I prefer a larger qualifier too and hope that Mr. Bloom is incorrect. The Dominicans would have the highest amount of Major Leaguers in the qualifiers and if they don't get eliminated might field a totally different team for the WBC itself; I'm sure team execs would not be pleased.

**USA101** · 05-13-2011, 08:16 PM

That's exactly what I mean rally monkey, it would make a much more exciting tournament. If Canada doesn't qualify then it isn't MLB's problem, if they can't beat Sweden, France, and maybe New Zealand quite frankly they shouldn't be able to beat Italy or the USA. To qualify means to qualify, not to guarantee entry. Put them in a weak group, but they must qualify like Panama and S. Africa.

**Richard** · 05-14-2011, 08:30 AM

Maybe Canada will have incentive to send their best players then and Canada has lots of good players

**USA101** · 05-14-2011, 09:51 AM

They send their best then they will qualify easily.

**Rally Monkey** · 05-14-2011, 10:24 AM

Originally Posted by USA101

They send their best then they will qualify easily.

Right. But they won't send their best players if the qualifier is really going to happen in the fall of 2012. (I know there's been mixed information on that, but--given the apparent plan to hold the qualifying pools in several different venues around the world--it seems likely that the qualifier be will put on before the end of the MLB season.) I'm sure Baseball Canada will cobble together a pretty decent team with a mix of amateur and pro players. But it wouldn't be the same high-quality team that they put on the field in March of 2013.

**USA101** · 05-19-2011, 02:04 PM

I'm sure everybody has read the article now, but if the WBC takes place in May, they must suspend the season. So are they planning to stop the season for a qualifier?

**Rally Monkey** · 05-20-2011, 02:09 PM

No. That would be insanely early. And there's no way MLB will suspend the season for anything. As desslok reports on the WBC thread, it looks like the WBC organizers have finalized plans for a fall qualifier. I'm not sure if that means that major leaguers will be able to play, though.

**USA101** · 05-20-2011, 06:38 PM

We should hopefully see in a couple of weeks.

**Richard** · 07-07-2011, 09:40 AM

koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/sports/2011/06/136_8977.0.html

**Richard** · 07-07-2011, 09:42 AM

Anyway a tenth team will be added in Korea

**NewEnglandAmazins** · 07-16-2011, 07:53 PM

According executives from the Caribbean Confederation interviewed on ESPN Radio Dominicana; the proposal would open the doors in 2013 for special guests without having to be members. Two teams from Cuba, Colombia, Nicaragua or Panama, will be the first candidates to receive direct invitations. They did not confirm it, but Cuba and Colombia are the two countries most likely to get invited and compete within two years with professional teams from the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Puerto Rico and Venezuela in the new stadium in Hermosillo, Mexico

Article is in Spanish: http://teamrenteria.info/teamrenteri...=2136&Itemid=1

**Richard** · 07-17-2011, 04:13 PM

[QUOTE=NewEnglandAmazins;1908177]According executives from the Caribbean Confederation interviewed on ESPN Radio Dominicana; the proposal would open the doors in 2013 for special guests without having to be members. Two teams from Cuba, Colombia, Nicaragua or Panama, will be the first candidates to receive direct invitations. They did not confirm it, but Cuba and Colombia are the two countries most likely to get invited and compete within two years with professional teams from the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Puerto Rico and Venezuela in the new stadium in Hermosillo, Mexico
I read that also. They have to do something because the Carib World Series isn't what it once was. Most of the players nowadays aren't even second tier players and will never sniff the majors, hence it is poorly attended. The Puerto Ricans didn't even come out for the PR team.

**titorondon** · 07-18-2011, 10:04 PM

"Most of the players nowadays aren't even second tier players and will never sniff the majors, hence it is poorly attended."

Actually that is not true. But the players now are new, not the "name" players. The press have been brutal; Puerto Rico has other, deeper problems.

Oversimplification does not help.

I have compared rosters through the years; decades ago there were very few star Latins in the Majors and most of them played in the Caribbean Series - that is what we remember. When you read about it it would seem that Willie Mays participated every year...

**Rally Monkey** · 08-11-2011, 02:44 PM

The Renteria's Colombian Baseball League announced that it's paring back from 6 to 4 teams again this next season. Apparently, the Medellin tam and, in particular, the Bogota team had no luck finding private sponsors.

http://www.eltiempo.com/deportes/bis...-10111786.html

**NewEnglandAmazins** · 08-11-2011, 06:44 PM

The Bulls are leaving Cali and returning to Sincelejo. No reason for that move, but Colombian pro baseball will only be played on the Atlantic coast.

**NewEnglandAmazins** · 10-03-2011, 09:50 AM

This article is a bit old, but according to Indy League sources the new CBL discussions are "very preliminary", nonetheless it's good to hear that Canada is attempting it.

We spoke too soon on Sunday. It looks like Can-Am League/American Association chief Miles Wolff is interested in developing a new Canadian baseball circuit that would include inter-league play with the Can-Am League...According to Wolff, the North American League’s Calgary Vipers and Edmonton Capitals, the American Association’s Winnipeg Goldeyes, and Can-Am League’s Quebec Capitales would probably join forces with Montreal to form the league. An expansion franchise in Trois Rivieres could launch in the Can-Am League before moving on to become a sixth Canadian league club.

Sources:
http://ballparkbiz.wordpress.com/201...eague-on-deck/
http://fr.canoe.ca/sports/nouvelles/...09-181624.html

**cutchemist42** · 10-13-2011, 11:34 AM

I hope it works out better then the old Canadian Baseball League from a few years ago. Don't know about travel though, I live in Winnipeg and its a far way from Quebec.

**NewEnglandAmazins** · 10-16-2011, 05:28 PM

Hopefully, the new CBL won't repeat their predecessor's mistakes. In recent years, there are or have been Professional/Semipro teams in Edmonton, Calgary, Winnipeg, Quebec, Victoria, Ottawa, and Vancouver. Can Professional Canadian teams be something more than the "token Canadian team" in Predominantly American Leagues?