Left on Base is MLB FanHouse's link dump.
-- Seattle teammates Wladimir Balentien and Adrian Beltre couldn't play in this year's World Baseball Classic -- Balentien, a native of Curacao, because he is fighting for playing time and Beltre, a native of the Dominican Republic, because the Mariners forbid him.
But, as old friend Larry Stone points out, just because neither is playing doesn't mean Balentien has been sparing Beltre from trash talk in the wake of the Netherlands' shcoking elimination of the D.R.
-- One of the guys who might be hurt the most by the Dominican Republic's exit from the WBC is future Hall of Famer Pedro Martinez. He's still without a major league team in 2009 and was using the tournament to showcase his abilities. Because of the D.R.'s elimination, that showcase has been cut short.
The news gets worse for Pedro. MASNSports.com's Roch Kubatko reports that the Orioles -- a team that could use pitching if there ever was one -- will not consider Martinez. Baseball Prospectus' Eric Seidman piles on (subscription required), noting that while Pedro still has something left in the tank, he probably doesn't have very much.
-- One final link relating to the wonder Dutch: David Ortiz was left at a complete loss to explain what happened to him and his Dominican teammates.
Sports
-- CC Sabathiacould explain his lousy spring outing Wednesday -- he didn't have good command, particularly of his cutter -- to Joe Lapointe of the New York Times, but unlike Big Papi he doesn't seem to worried about it.
-- Finally, Mike Rizzo, who is the Nationals' acting general manager in the wake of Jim Bowden's resignation, spoke to Ben Goessling of the Washington Times and had plenty to say. He had especially high praise for San Diego State right-hander Stephen Strasburg -- the presumptive first pick in June's Rule 4 draft barring a catastrophic injury.
Left on Base: Dutch Bragging Rights originally appeared on MLB FanHouse on Thu, 12 Mar 2009 00:58:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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