Team USA roster finalized for Classic

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The final rosters of the 16 teams participating in the second World Baseball Classic were released on Tuesday evening and they included a bevy of All-Stars.

Team USA has Boston's Dustin Pedroia, the Yankees' Derek Jeter and San Diego's Jake Peavy. Defending Japan's roster includes Seattle's Ichiro Suzuki and Boston's Daisuke Matsuzaka. The Dominican Republic brings back Boston's David Ortiz and adds Florida's Hanley Ramirez. Team Canada boasts Boston's Jason Bay and Minnesota's Justin Morneau. And Puerto Rico has the Mets' Carlos Beltran.

"There is not one experience in baseball, in the big leagues, that is bigger than playing for your country," said Beltran, who was a member of the 2006 Puerto Rican team that didn't make it out of a hotly contested second round, losing out to Cuba and the Dominican. "We had a good time [in '06], and we hope to have the same results or a better experience."

Each team could have selected up to 28 players, meaning a maximum of 448 were eligible to play in the tournament, the only one internationally in which players on the 25-man rosters of each Major League team are sanctioned to participate. Over 200 of them have some affiliation with a Major League team or a big league pedigree.

This second running of the tournament, which opened to wild acclaim in 2006, is replete with new venues and a gala final game at Dodger Stadium. It will begin in a nation or commonwealth near you on March 5 and end in Los Angeles on March 23.

All 39 games are slated to be televised this year by ESPN and MLB Network -- 16 on the Network.

First-round games are slated for Tokyo Dome from March 5-8, Hiram Bithorn Stadium in San Juan, Puerto Rico, from March 7-11, and Toronto's Rogers Centre and Foro Sol Stadium in Mexico City from March 8-12.

The second round is at San Diego's PETCO Park and Dolphin Stadium in Miami, with the games being played in those two venues on March 14-19.

And Dodger Stadium will host the semifinals and finals from March 21-23. PETCO was home to the semis and finals in 2006, when Japan defeated Cuba to take home the first Classic championship.

Japan opens its 2006 title defense against China in Tokyo on March 5, while Team USA tries to avenge its second-round elimination when it opens against Canada in Toronto two days later.

The 16-team field is the same as '06, though an expansion of the field to 24 countries and territories with qualifying rounds as a preface to reach the main competition is under consideration for 2013, the next time the tournament is slated. The expectation is that the Classic will be a four-year rotation from here on in.

The field includes Australia, Canada, China, Chinese Taipei, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Italy, the Netherlands, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Panama, Puerto Rico, South Africa, the U.S. and Venezuela.

Among the other notable players in the tournament are Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez, who is playing for the Dominican this time as opposed to the U.S. three years ago. And career-Yankee Bernie Williams is making a comeback with Team Puerto Rico after sitting out the past two seasons. Ivan Rodriguez, still a free agent, is auditioning for a job this season on the Puerto Rican squad.

The U.S. also has pitchers Roy Oswalt of Houston and Brad Zeigler of Oakland, plus Mets third baseman David Wright and Phillies shortstop Jimmie Rollins on its 26-man roster.

The rosters of at least two teams -- the Dominican and U.S. -- are completely filled with Major League players.

"I consider myself to be very patriotic and loyal to my country," said Ziegler, a second-year player who's on the U.S. roster for the first time. "To be able to play for Team USA [is] a dream come true."

Even Italy, Australia and South Africa have players with Major League backgrounds.

Italy has Kansas City pitcher Lenny DiNardo. Australia boasts pitcher Richard Thompson of the Los Angeles Angels. And South Africa and has six players with MLB affiliations.

China, which hosted last summer's Olympics and is playing for the second time in the WBC, has five MLB affiliated players on the roster this time around.

Cuba comes back again with its highly-regarded national team that has been to the finals in international tournaments 38 times in a row.