News

DUNEDIN, FLORIDA – Baseball Canada announced, today, that Seattle Mariners prospect Matt Rogelstad will replace injured shortstop Danny Klassen on Team Canada’s World Baseball Classic roster.

Klassen, a member of the Canadian National Senior Team which finished fourth at the 2004 Athens Olympic Games, injured his knee Monday, while back peddling for a fly to shallow left field during the Houston Astros’ training Camp in Kissimmee, Florida. This marks the second time in less than a year that an injury has prevented Klassen from joining Team Canada in international competition. Klassen was unable to join Baseball Canada’s 2005 World Cup squad in Holland in September after suffering a wrist injury.

Rogelstad, Klassen’s replacement, is a very reliable player both offensively and defensively. In the infield, Rogelstad played errorless baseball for three of his first four professional clubs. At the plate, he's a consistent contact hitter, striking out more than once in only seven games in 2005. In fact, Rogelstad played 90 of 111 games in 2005 without striking out. 2005 was by far his best season to date. Rogelstad started the season with a 13-game hitting streak and went on to set career highs in games, at-bats, runs, hits, doubles, RBI and walks. He finished the campaign by hitting .304 with 133 hits in 111 games.

The 6’3, 190-pound Coquitlam, B.C native brings with him a fair amount of experience on the international stage, having played on Canada’s 1999 Junior National Team, as well as having represented Canada at the 2000 World Junior Championships, the 2005 World Cup, and the 2005 CONCEBE Baseball Regional Olympic Qualifier.

THE WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC

The World Baseball Classic, a 16-team tournament sanctioned by the International Baseball Federation (IBAF), will run from March 3* - 20.  The inaugural event will feature many of the best players in the world competing for their home countries and territories for the first time ever.  The 16 teams invited to participate have been divided into four pools of four teams for the first round of play.  The four Round 1 pools will be play in a round robin format at venues in Japan (Tokyo Dome - Tokyo), Puerto Rico (Hiram Bithorn Stadium - San Juan) and the United States (Chase Field - Phoenix, Arizona; Scottsdale Stadium - Scottsdale, Arizona; The Ballpark at Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex - Orlando, Florida).  Round 2 will feature two pools of four teams in a round robin format and is scheduled to be played in San Juan, Puerto Rico (Hiram Bithorn Stadium) and Anaheim, California (Angel Stadium).  The Semi-Finals and Final will be played at PETCO Park in San Diego, California on March 18 and 20, respectively.

The World Baseball Classic will feature a bracket-style format with the 16 teams competing in four groups: Pool A - China, Chinese Taipei, Japan and Korea; Pool B - Canada, Mexico, South Africa and United States; Pool C - Cuba, Netherlands, Panama and Puerto Rico; Pool D - Australia, Dominican Republic, Italy and Venezuela.

World Baseball Classic, Inc. is a company created at the direction of Major League Baseball (MLB) and the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA) to operate the World Baseball Classic tournament.  The tournament, which is sanctioned by the International BAseball Federation (IBAF), is supported by MLB, the MLBPA , Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB), the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO), their respective players associations and other leagues and players from around the world.