WBC PREVIEW

The WBC opens up play this week from locations all over the world. I'm going to break down the 4 brackets and make my predictions of how each round will play out:

Pool A:
Has the defending champions Japan, China, Korea and Taipei. I'm not too familiar with any of these teams but look for Japan with major leaguers Ichiro, Matsuzaka and Kenji Jojima to come out of this pool. The Koreans put up a nice showing in the 2006 version of the tournament and look for them to also come out of Pool A. Baseball is still new to China so it'll be a matter of time before they become a player in the international scene but they're still years away.

Pool B: Cuba, Mexico, South Africa, Australia.

Cuba, who went to the finals in '06 look to come back strong this year and finish the job. Cuba is the real unknown when it comes to this tournament because no one really knows much about these players but them playing in this pool with Australia and South Africa, they should advance. Mexico, playing its games at home, should have a lot of fan support and look to build on the mild success they had in the 2006 tournament. I like Cuba and Mexico to advance.

Pool C: Canada, USA, Venezuela, Italy

Team USA looks to bounce back after an embarassing showing in the 2006 tournament and get revenge on team Canada who beat them in 2006. These 2 teams meet up Saturday afternoon at what will be a raucous Rogers Centre in Toronto where over 45000 tickets have already been sold for this game. This pool should have some intriguing match ups with Team Canada, USA and Venezuela who also will look to bounce back after a less than stellar showing back in 06. My prediction for this one is that team USA and Venezuela advance.

Pool D: Domincan Republic, Puerto Rico, Panama, Netherlands

This is a 2 horse race, the Dominicans and Puerto Ricans. I can't see Panama and Netherlands really putting much of a fight here. The Dominican teams comes in loaded, maybe not as much so as in '06 but loaded nonetheless. Look for the Dominicans and Puerto Ricans to come out of this pool.

QUARTERFINALS

Pool 1 - Will have the top 2 teams of Pool A face the top 2 teams of Pool B. So I'm saying it will be Japan, Korea, Cuba and Mexico. I'm going to go out on a limb and say Japan and Korean will advance on in this round. The word is that Cuba is leaving many of there top players at home because of fear of defections, I think its the end of the line for team Cuba and Mexico. Look for Japan and Korea to keep going.

Pool 2 - This will have the top 2 teams of Pool C and Pool D. This I think will be the best of the tournament. I have it at USA, Venezuela, DR, and Puerto Rico. The marquee match up will be USA vs. DR, although no ARod anymore for the Dominicans does take some of the luster away. I look for team USA and Dominican to go on to Los Angeles.

SEMI FINALS

The semi finals are set up where the winner of Pool 2 faces the runner up of Pool 1 and vice versa. I have it at Team USA winning pool 2 facing Korea. Look for team USA to make it to the finals. The 2nd semi final I have it at Japan facing Domincan Republic. It pains me to say it but, I see the Dominican run ending in the semi finals yet again. Japan advances to defend its title.

FINALS

Team USA vs Japan. The USA pitching is just too much for Japan this time around. USA wins the 2nd World Baseball Classic.

There you have it, this is how I think things will play out but in the end I'm sure we'll have some surprises along the way. Here's to an exciting tournament.