No WBC, But I've Got a USA Roster Anyway

Had the entire sports world not been put on hold and rescheduled at this time last year, we wouldn't just have March Madness to watch for the next few weeks.  This was supposed to be the year when the United States would defend the World Baseball Classic title it won in 2017.  Now, we'll likely have to wait until 2023 for that.  (Although, that does mean the U.S. gets to be the reigning champions for an additional two years!)

Baseball returning to the Olympics softens the blow a little, but that tournament will only involve six teams and no Major Leaguers.  And that's the thing that really makes the WBC so awesome.  Fernando Tatis Jr. playing for the DR.  Shohei Ohtani playing for Japan.  Freddie Freeman for Canada.  Randy Arozarena for Cuba (maybe).  Hyun Jin Ryu pitching for Korea. 

I'm sure some of those guys will play in 2023, but there's no guarantee.  (Just like there's no guarantee they would've played in 2021.)  If the first four editions are any indication, though, we would've seen a number of top players from pretty much every country leave Spring Training and play games that count instead.

Who would've been on the American roster, though?  I have a feeling that this probably would've been the best Team USA yet.  You saw Mike Trout sitting there at the championship game in 2017 thinking "Man, this is cool!"  I have no doubt that he would've decided to play this time and take his own shot at a championship.  He might've even convinced Angels teammate Anthony Rendon to play in the WBC with him.

In 2017, the Team USA roster was set up perfectly.  There were name-brand stars, and there were also young guys (a then-unknown Christian Yelich was the breakout star of the 2017 WBC).  There were also role players who accepted the fact that they were gonna be on the bench.  Likewise, the starting pitchers weren't aces, but they were the serviceable 2's and 3's who had their arms built up enough to throw competitive innings in March.  The bullpen was really the guys who were available, and that would likely have been the case again.

For the sake of this exercise, I'm going with a 28-man roster.  That was the roster size in 2017, and most of last season in the Majors, so I think it makes the most sense to stick with it.  I'm also avoiding any players who are either coming back from injury or switched teams in the offseason.  I just don't think their teams would've signed off on their participation.  Even with those considerations, I've still got plenty of options for a team that would be pretty freakin' good!

Starting Pitchers: Gerrit Cole, Dallas Keuchel, Kyle Hendricks, Zack Wheeler
Cole got his contract and knows what he's doing.  If he wanted to pitch in the WBC, I have no doubt the Yankees would let him.  Keuchel is a veteran lefty, so that's an easy call to change it up.  Hendricks and Wheeler I just have a feeling would both (a) say yes and (b) turn in unexpectedly solid starts.  They're also easily replaceable should someone like Clayton Kershaw or Shane Bieber be available/interested.
 
Relievers: Scott Barlow, Ryan Brasier, Pete Fairbanks, Dylan Floro, Paul Fry, Amir Garrett, Shane Greene, Josh Hader, Greg Holland, A.J. Minter
Filling out the bullpen is perhaps the hardest part of WBC roster construction.  You need a lot of relievers, and they're gonna throw a lot of innings since the starters are on pitch counts.  So, you can't have all closers (which you wouldn't want to do anyway).  But you don't want to go with all long men either.  I ended up going with a couple long guys, a couple short guys on either side, and the Greene/Hader/Holland trio to finish games in whatever order.

Catchers: Travis d'Arnaud, Carson Kelly, Tucker Barnhart
Buster Posey and Jonathan Lucroy alternated games behind the plate in 2017.  It makes sense that the same strategy would be employed this time.  This is also the weakest position on the roster since the clear No. 1, the Phillies' J.T. Realmuto, is currently out of Spring Training and, thus, wouldn't be available.  So, instead it's the veterans Travis d'Arnaud and Carson Kelly splitting the reps, with Tucker Barnhart as a just-in-case lefty bat who adds flexibility since he can also play first.

Infielders: Paul Goldschmidt, Matt Olson, DJ LeMahieu, Corey Seager, Alex Bregman, Anthony Rendon
Goldschmidt was on the team in 2017, but barely played since Eric Hosmer ended up being named All-Tournament.  LeMahieu can play anywhere on the infield, but I have him as the starter at second.  NLCS and World Series MVP Corey Seager is an obvious choice at short.  Bregman was on the team as an extra infielder in 2017, well before he was a star.  He and Rendon would swap third base and DH.  Olson's the backup first baseman, but his real value comes as a lefty power bat off the bench.  (Josh Bell was traded from the Pirates to the Nationals, costing him the spot.)

Outfielders: Kyle Tucker, Mike Trout, Bryce Harper, Kyle Lewis, Chris Taylor
If I really wanted to get greedy, I'd have Mookie Betts, Cody Bellinger and Aaron Judge on the roster, too.  And George Springer is out because he changed teams.  Besides, I'd still need a left fielder alongside Trout and Harper, which is why I went with the Astros' Kyle Tucker.  He's a left-handed hitter, though, so Chris Taylor makes the roster as the right-handed option.  Taylor's also on there because of his versatility.  He plays about six different positions for the Dodgers.  AL Rookie of the year Kyle Lewis provides speed and an excellent glove, making him a late-game option as either a pinch runner or defensive replacement.

Manager: Mike Scioscia
With a team of this caliber, choosing the right manager is just as important as selecting the right players.  After Buck Martinez and Davey Johnson managed the USA in the first two editions, it was Joe Torre who led the team to the semifinals in 2013.  Then in 2017, another Hall of Famer, Jim Leyland, pushed all the right buttons.

The manager has to be somebody like that.  My first choice was Bruce Bochy, but he's managing France in the qualifying tournament and presumably still would be if they made the WBC itself.  So instead I'll go with former Angels skipper Mike Scioscia.  His 19-year career with one team was the deciding factor.  I also think that naming Scioscia manager would seal the deal about getting Trout to play.

As for the lineup Scioscia puts out there, that would be subject to change based on opponent and making sure everyone gets in there (it'll still be Spring Training, after all).  But, as the Dominican Republic in 2013 and the USA in 2017 showed, having a consistent lineup is a recipe for success in the WBC.  And that consistent lineup would look something like this: LeMahieu-2B, Seager-SS, Trout-CF, Harper-RF, Goldschmidt-1B, Rendon-DH, Bregman-3B, Tucker-LF, d'Arnaud-C.