Preliminary Rosters for WBC Announced

The 2nd World Baseball Classic will run from March 5th until March 23rd. In 2006, Japan won the first ever WBC against Cuba.

The provisional rosters were announced today. The official rosters will be cut to 25-men and will be announced in late February. Here are some of the notable players on each team.

United States: Roy Oswalt, Jake Peavy, John Lackey, Scott Kazmir, Justin Verlander, Cole Hamels, Scot Shields, Joe Nathan, JJ Putz, Brian McCann, Derek Jeter, David Wright, Chipper Jones, Jimmy Rollins, Kevin Youkilis, Evan Longoria, Derrek Lee, Carlos Quentin, Vernon Wells, Grady Sizemore, Ryan Braun

Dominican Republic: Pedro Martinez, Edinson Volquez, Fausto Carmona, Ervin Santana, Johnny Cueto, Francisco Liriano, Damaso Marte, Alex Rodriguez, Albert Pujols, Hanley Ramirez, David Ortiz, Jose Reyes, Robinson Cano, Carlos Pena, Miguel Tejada, Aramis Ramirez, Alfonso Soriano, Vladimir Guerrero

Panama: Manny Corpas, Carlos Lee

Venezuela: Johan Santana, Felix Hernandez, Carlos Zambrano, Francisco Rodriguez, Miguel Cabrera, Bobby Abreu, Magglio Ordoñez

Cuba: Yadiel Pedroso, Yulieski Gourriel, Alexei Ramirez, Osmany Urrutia, Yoandy Garlobo

Japan: Daisuke Matsuzaka, Yu Darvish, Hideki Okajima, Kenji Johjima, Kosuke Fukudome, Ichiro

Canada: Rich Harden, Jeff Francis, Eric Gagne, Russell Martin, Justin Morneau, Joey Votto, Jason Bay, Matt Stairs

México: Oliver Perez, Matt Garza, Yovani Gallardo, Joakim Soria, Luis Ayala, Adrian Gonzalez, Jorge Cantu

Puerto Rico: Joel Piñeiro, Javier Vazquez, Pedro Feliciano, Geovany Soto, Pudge Rodriguez, Carlos Delgado, Mike Lowell, Alex Rios, Carlos Beltran, Bernie Williams

Other notables:
Jair Jurrjens and Sidney Ponson for the Netherlands; Mike Napoli for Italy; Grant Balfour for Australia
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Venezuela's rotation is phenomenal. Johan, Felix, and Zambrano will dominate.

The Dominican roster is also stacked. Though these are only preliminary, a lineup with Hanley Ramirez, Jose Reyes, Alfonso Soriano, Alex Rodriguez, David Ortiz, and Albert Pujols may be one of the best lineups in today's game.

Though there are not many players listed on Cuba's national team, their roster is always filled with highly talented players. The same goes for Japan. Expect both teams to play very tough baseball and make a serious run at the title.

The US may not have the team with the most stars, but they are the most well-rounded team. They have a lot of depth in the rotation, bullpen, and lineup.

From a Yankee standpoint, Robinson Cano playing is a great thing for them. Cano usually starts his seasons off slow and in slumps. Getting him to play some serious baseball early on can only help him avoid a slow start.