- The World Baseball Classic is something that should have been done decades ago when the Giants were featuring the Alou brother?s in all outfield spots and Roberto Clemente was making some of the game?s most stellar right field plays. The United States would have surely won back then, but it could have fueled international interest, which is at an all-time high right now. With the percentage of foreign born talent on team?s rosters, there are several countries that could be in the running for the cup. Of course the Dominican Republic will feature one of the greatest lineups ever assembled. Names like Pujols, Soriano, ManRam, Tejada, Vlad and Beltre will give their manager, likely Felipe Alou, a lot of combinations. Alou enjoys getting creative with his lineups and you could envision a situation where Tejada, last season?s RBI champ, batting leadoff. Pitching will be top-heavy with Pedro and Bartolo being forced to shoulder the majority of the load. The Japanese team won?t have the big names (outside of Ichiro) but with crafty pitching, and small ball offensive play, they could pull of an upset of a powerhouse. Valenzuela is the toughest team to handicap, because of their superb pitching and average hitting. Johan Santana is the MLB?s best pitcher and he will be followed in a rotation by the fiery Carlos Zambrano. Their lineup will be anchored by Miguel Cabrera, who is a World Champion, but is still very young and Melvin Mora, who is overshadowed by the twin Dominicans on his own ?club? team, the Baltimore Orioles. The Puerto Ricans will look like the Rockies, great hitting and no pitching. Beltran, Delgado and Pudge will score loads of runs, but their pitching will be lackluster at best. ?Which brings us to Team USA, who will be the most balance country in the tournament. Latin America has closed the gap, but the United States remains the team to beat. From the top of the roster to the bottom, the United States will have players of the highest caliber. The Dominicans will have a more dominant lineup, but let?s not forget about Bonds, ARod, Jeter. Pitching won?t be a problem either with Rocket, Unit, Schmidt, Prior, D-Train and whoever else you want to throw up, which brings us to the problem with the Team USA, who will be selected? There will be some very good players that will have to be excluded. - ARod is in therapy?I give him credit for that. He is one of the most hated men in the MLB, so he has that to contend with, but he?s also the best right handed hitter not named Albert Pujols, Manny Ramirez or Vladimir Guerrero. - Baltimore got a bad break on Tuesday when Javy Lopez suffered a broken bone in his right hand. The Orioles got Sammy Sosa back earlier in the day, so for another six weeks we won?t be able to see how great Baltimore?s lineup could really be.