Ten New York Yankees set to play in 2017 World Baseball Classic
Eight are on active rosters and two are in Designated Pitcher Pools
The players, in alphabetical order of country name, are: catcher Kellin Deglan (Canada); outfielder Tito Polo and infielder Donovan Solano (Colombia); RHPs Dellin Betances and Luis Severino (Dominican Republic); LHP Richard Bleier (Israel); LHP Tommy Layne (Italy); RHP Giovanny Gallegos (Mexico); shortstop Didi Gregorius (The Netherlands); and RHP Tyler Clippard (Team USA).
Catcher Gary Sanchez was on the Dominican Republic's preliminary roster, but decided earlier this week to skip the Classic and stay with the Yankees this spring, and RHP Masahiro Tanaka also decided last month that he would skip the event; minor-league outfielder Carlos Vidal, meanwhile, was on Colombia's roster for their qualifying tournament last year, but did not remain on that nation's active list for the actual Classic.
Of the 10 players who are on final rosters, eight are active for the first round, while Severino and Bleier are part of their respective countries' Designated Pitcher Pools. A new wrinkle for this year's Classic, Designated Pitcher Pools give each country a pool of up to 10 pitchers that can be swapped out between rounds; one or two can be active for each round, and if a pitcher is replaced, he is ineligible for the remainder of the tournament.
That designation means that Severino, who is in a multi-man battle for one of the final two spots in the Yankees' rotation, and Bleier, who is battling Layne, among others, for a spot in the bullpen, could end up not even appearing in the Classic at all.
So where can you see all these Yankees in the World Baseball Classic?
Six of the 10 are in Pool C, which contains Team USA, Canada, the Dominican Republic, and Colombia, and that pool plays March 9-12 at Marlins Park in Miami; Bleier and Gregorius will be part of Pool A, which takes place March 6-9 in Seoul, South Korea (with the Israel-Netherlands matchup set for March 9 at 10:30 p.m. ET); and Cessa and Layne are in Pool D, which plays in Jalisco, Mexico from March 9-12 (with the Italy-Mexico game set to open the pool on March 9 at 9 p.m. ET).
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