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LOS ANGELES — The 2017 World Baseball Classic rosters were announced on Wednesday. Team Mexico announced its roster at Dodger Stadium, which is appropriate with five Dodgers on the team.
Adrian Gonzalez, Sergio Romo, Vidal Nuño, and Alex Verdugo will play for Mexico, with Gonzalez’s brother Edgar managing the team. This is the fourth WBC for Gonzalez, who also played for Mexico in 2006, 2009 and 2013. Romo, whose one-year, $3 million contract with the Dodgers hasn’t yet been finalized, also pitched for Mexico in the 2013 WBC and pitched for them in the Caribbean Series just last week.
Verdugo played a two-game exhibition series with Mexico in Japan in November.
Julio Urias could potentially pitch for Mexico, part of designated pitcher pool for the team. Kenley Jansen is similarly listed in the designated pitcher pool for the Netherlands.
New rules for the 16-team event were announced on Monday, with a 10-team pitcher pool available to teams for use in different rounds. This allows pitchers to be available to pitch in the WBC without committing to all three rounds.
Edgar Gonzalez said that in consulting with the Dodgers and Urias that Urias wouldn’t be available for the first round, but might be available for future rounds.
That new rule was to try to attract more top pitchers to the WBC, even if just for one round. Clayton Kershaw, however, is not on the list for the United States.
Kiké Hernandez is on the roster for Puerto Rico. Rob Segedin is on Italy’s roster, joined by minor league infielder Drew Maggi.
Non-roster invitee Ike Davis is on Israel’s roster, and is joined by pitcher Dean Kremer, drafted by the Dodgers in the 16th round out of UNLV last year.
There are four pools of four teams each, beginning play on March 6. The top two teams from each pool advance to the second round, beginning on March 11. The United States are in Pool C along with Canada, the Dominican Republic and Colombia, and will play at Marlins Park from March 9-13.
Mexico and Puerto Rico are in Pool D along with Italy and Venezuela, and will play in Jalisco, Mexico from March 9-13. The top two teams from Pools C & D will move on to Pool F, played at Petco Park in San Diego from March 14-19.
The championship round will be played at Dodger Stadium from March 20-22, with semifinal games taking place the first two nights followed by the championship game on March 22.