Baseball World Cup Power Rankings

I'm curious to see how everyone would rank all of the countries of the world if there were to be a tournament that would allow MLB players to play for their national teams.

Obviously USA would be number 1, and I think Japan would be number 2, but beyond that??? The Dominican?? Cuba?? Canada?? Korea??

There should be a World Cup where MLB players can play! I hate that it's only junior players in the Olympics!! :banghead: :shakehead :shakehead :banghead:

There should be a World Cup where MLB players can play! I hate that it's only junior players in the Olympics!! :banghead: :shakehead :shakehead :banghead:
There might be one next year, besides, the tournament would be no contest. As good as some nations are, this alone would stop the US from losing.


Johnson
Schilling
Hudson
Prior
Mulder


The world cup would simply put, be over then and there. not to mention this....


Damon
Boone
Rodriguez
Bonds
Griffey
Chavez
Varitek
Mientkiewicz
Pitcher

or you could throw in Jim thome as a dh if there is no pitcher. There are various superstars froma round the world, but the fact is, only the rest of the world combined could compete.

Here's SI's projections which they made last April for a World Cup in 2005. Note that the writer says the Dominican Republic, not the US, would be his favorites to win the tournament. He says Japan and Puerto Rico would probably round out the top 4.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/si_online/news/2003/04/22/bb/

I'm curious to see how everyone would rank all of the countries of the world if there were to be a tournament that would allow MLB players to play for their national teams.

Obviously USA would be number 1, and I think Japan would be number 2, but beyond that??? The Dominican?? Cuba?? Canada?? Korea??

I disagree about the US being #1 ..... I would take the Dominican over them ANY day.

My rankings :

1. Dominican
2. USA
3. Puerto Rico
4. Japan
5. Cuba
6. Canada :D

Damn, the Dominican IS pretty good!!

Why wouldn't Puerto Rico be included in the United States?

I disagree about the US being #1 ..... I would take the Dominican over them ANY day.

My rankings :

1. Dominican
2. USA
3. Puerto Rico
4. Japan
5. Cuba
6. Canada :D

id agree with this totally

id agree with this totally
How can you say Dominican is better? The sheer fact that the US will throw 5 hall of fame pitchers at you is where the world cup would begin and end.

How can you say Dominican is better? The sheer fact that the US will throw 5 hall of fame pitchers at you is where the world cup would begin and end.

A.Pujols,C.Delgado - 1b

A.Soriano,Luis Castillo -2b

M.Tejada,Angel M. Berroa ,Rafael Furcal, -ss

A.Beltre,Aramis Ramirez -3b

Vladimir Guerrero,Jose Guillen ,M.Ramirez,S.Sosa in the OF

P.Martniez, Bartolo Colon ,Ramon Ortiz ,Odalis Perez as sps

Antonio Alfonseca,Armando Benitez ,Jose Valverde as rps


youre talking a very strong team & the fact i omitted a few players
just shows the domincan republic has alot of talent...

thats why i agree with that list

How can you say Dominican is better? The sheer fact that the US will throw 5 hall of fame pitchers at you is where the world cup would begin and end.

Agreed.

The Dominican, has better position players, but pitching is what wins and loses games, and the US has better pitching than anyone else, without question.

I agree that the US's pitching is deeper but I think that Pedro and Colon are just as good top 2 guys as anyone around. But imagine an order of:

Soriano
Beltre
Tejada
Pujols
Guerrero
M.Ramirez
Sosa
A.Ramirez
Gullien
:eek:

the USa vs Dominican republic
would be the classic pitching vs Hitting matchup




now if Puetro Rico was on the USA side [which it wasnt in that list]
......USA would win ...way too much talent

Here's my U.S. lineup:

Outfield:
Bonds
Edmonds
Green

Infield:
Helton
Boone
A-Rod
Rolen

Catcher:
Piazza

Starting Pitchers:
Prior
Clemens
Zito
Hudson
Schilling


Closer:
Smoltz


Pretty filthy if you ask me.

Here's my U.S. lineup:

Outfield:
Bonds
Edmonds
Green

Infield:
Helton
Boone
A-Rod
Rolen

Catcher:
Piazza

Starting Pitchers:
Prior
Clemens
Zito
Hudson
Schilling


Closer:
Smoltz


Pretty filthy if you ask me.

put Berkman in Greens spot
;)

Ramirez, Guerrero, Pujols, Sosa :eek: :eek: :eek:

Scary, scary Dominican's.

Dominican's are just too much

A.Pujols,C.Delgado - 1b

A.Soriano,Luis Castillo -2b

M.Tejada,Angel M. Berroa ,Rafael Furcal, -ss

A.Beltre,Aramis Ramirez -3b

Vladimir Guerrero,Jose Guillen ,M.Ramirez,S.Sosa in the OF

P.Martniez, Bartolo Colon ,Ramon Ortiz ,Odalis Perez as sps

Antonio Alfonseca,Armando Benitez ,Jose Valverde as rps


youre talking a very strong team & the fact i omitted a few players
just shows the domincan republic has alot of talent...

thats why i agree with that list

1b: bagwell, thome, mientkiewicz. hell the us could start throwing guys liek edmonds, griffey, berkman and sheffield at first. US no question

2b: kent, boone. even

ss: Garciaparra, A-Rod US hands down

3b: Chavez, Rolen US hands down

C: Varitek US hands down

P: US by an infinite margin

OF: Bonds, Griffey, Edmonds, Sheffield, countless others. US is not only superior on the mound, but in the field too. Like I said, team worl vs USA would be a lot more even.

Team Japan
(If you don't recognize the name, they play in Japan)

Pitching:
SP
Daisuke Matsuzaka
Hideo Nomo
Kazuhisa Ishii
Tomo Ohka
Koji Uehara

LRP
和田毅(I don't know his name in English, sorry.)

MRP
Shingetoshi Hasegawa
Otusuka

SU
Kobayashi
Toyoda

Closer
Kazuhiro Sasaki

IF
1b Matsunaka
2B 井口
SS Kazuo Matsui
3B Osagawara
Bench: 二綱，小久保

OF:
Ichiro
Hideki Matsui
Takahashi
Tani
Taguchi

1b: bagwell, thome, mientkiewicz. hell the us could start throwing guys liek edmonds, griffey, berkman and sheffield at first. US no question

2b: kent, boone. even

ss: Garciaparra, A-Rod US hands down

3b: Chavez, Rolen US hands down

C: Varitek US hands down

P: US by an infinite margin

OF: Bonds, Griffey, Edmonds, Sheffield, countless others. US is not only superior on the mound, but in the field too. Like I said, team worl vs USA would be a lot more even.

1st base and the outfield would be the Dominican hands down. Pujols at first and Vlad, Sosa, and Manny in the outfield is as good as it gets. You would have 4 of the top hitters in all of baseball. The only hitter in the same league of Pujols, Manny, and Vlad on the US team would be Bonds and possibly A-Rod.

In my opinion the best all around offensive players in baseball would go
1. Bonds
2. Pujols
3. Manny
4. Vlad
5. Arod
But keep in mind with that list I am just talking offense, not who are the top five players.

Here's my U.S. lineup:

Outfield:
Bonds
Edmonds
Green

Infield:
Helton
Boone
A-Rod
Rolen

Catcher:
Piazza

Starting Pitchers:
Prior
Clemens
Zito
Hudson
Schilling


Closer:
Smoltz


Pretty filthy if you ask me.

It is a good lineup, but I would add Vernon Wells and Roy Halladay from Toronto (taking out Shaun Green/Edmunds and Hudson) and also removing Piazza from catcher. Pizza has a big bat, but I think the other teams would abuse him on the base paths. I would probably put Paul Lo Duca in there.

it will come down to pitching as many games do, and I think the US just is to deep and talented!

It is a good lineup, but I would add Vernon Wells and Roy Halladay from Toronto (taking out Shaun Green/Edmunds and Hudson) and also removing Piazza from catcher. Pizza has a big bat, but I think the other teams would abuse him on the base paths. I would probably put Paul Lo Duca in there.
Varitek as catcher.
He is a catcher's catcher and undoubtedly be a very good manager when he retires.
He is the glue that holds the Red Sox together, especially with Trot Nixon still out.

Anyone else find it pleasant that the best reliever is from Panama (Mariano Rivera), and the firemen with the record for consecutive saves is an ex-hockey tough guy defenseman Canjuck, (Gagne).

it will come down to pitching as many games do, and I think the US just is to deep and talented!



Let's face it, the U.S. has enough depth to throw out two or three excellent teams. It's just like Canada in hockey. Other countries have great upper echelon players, but no one comes close to the depth the U.S. has.

1st base and the outfield would be the Dominican hands down. Pujols at first and Vlad, Sosa, and Manny in the outfield is as good as it gets. You would have 4 of the top hitters in all of baseball. The only hitter in the same league of Pujols, Manny, and Vlad on the US team would be Bonds and possibly A-Rod.

In my opinion the best all around offensive players in baseball would go
1. Bonds
2. Pujols
3. Manny
4. Vlad
5. Arod
But keep in mind with that list I am just talking offense, not who are the top five players.
Funny, right now:
- the top 3 in average right now are Americans.
- the top 4 in HR's are Americans.
- 3 of the top 6 RBI men are Americans, #1 / #4 / #6, ( the leading Dominican is BOS 1B David Ortiz, who is quite frankly, the Red Sox co-MVP with reliever Keith Foulke).
- the top 6 in SB's are Americans, ( Dominicans don't show up until 15th).
- the top 4 in OB% are Americans, (Manny Ramirez is 6th)
- the top 3 - 7 of the top 10 - 12 of the top 15 in slugging% are all Americans, (Manny is #4)

- the top 9 of 10 in ERA are all Americans.
- the top 2 - 6 of the top 10 in SO's are Americans.
- the top 6 in the top 12 of saves are Americans, incluiding #1, (Dominicans are #3, #4. #8).

The sheer numbers points to the Americans for depth but after over a third of the way into the season, the US players are #1 in all the main stat categories.....

I disagree about the US being #1 ..... I would take the Dominican over them ANY day.

My rankings :

1. Dominican
2. USA
3. Puerto Rico
4. Japan
5. Cuba
6. Canada :D
Where's Mexico?

Don't forget Korea, Venezuela, Australia, Italy & Holland.

1st base and the outfield would be the Dominican hands down. Pujols at first and Vlad, Sosa, and Manny in the outfield is as good as it gets. You would have 4 of the top hitters in all of baseball. The only hitter in the same league of Pujols, Manny, and Vlad on the US team would be Bonds and possibly A-Rod.

In my opinion the best all around offensive players in baseball would go
1. Bonds
2. Pujols
3. Manny
4. Vlad
5. Arod
But keep in mind with that list I am just talking offense, not who are the top five players.

Todd Helton?

1st base and the outfield would be the Dominican hands down. Pujols at first and Vlad, Sosa, and Manny in the outfield is as good as it gets. You would have 4 of the top hitters in all of baseball. The only hitter in the same league of Pujols, Manny, and Vlad on the US team would be Bonds and possibly A-Rod.

In my opinion the best all around offensive players in baseball would go
1. Bonds
2. Pujols
3. Manny
4. Vlad
5. Arod
But keep in mind with that list I am just talking offense, not who are the top five players.


im still suprised Lance Berkman gets no props :dunno:

Ladies and Gentlemen, the real power house of the tournament...

Team Canada
SP- Rich Harden
SP- Ryan Dempster
SP- Erik Bedard
SP- Adam Loewen
SP- Jeff Francis

RP- Chris Reitsma
RP- Rheal Cormier
RP- Vince Perkins
RP- Eric Cyr
RP- Jeff Zimmerman
RP- Paul Quaintrill
RP- Eric Gagne :yo:

1B- Justin Morneau/Matt Stairs
2B- Stubby Clapp
3B- Corey Koskie
SS- Danny Klassen
LF- Aaron Guiel
CF- Jason Bay
RF- Larry Walker
C- Cody McKay
DH- Matt Stairs/Justin Morneau

Bench
C- Pete Laforest
OF- Jeff Guiel
UTIL- Simon Pond
SS- Peter Orr

WOOOOOOOOOOO :yo: :teach: :yo:

im still suprised Lance Berkman gets no props :dunno:

You think Berkman deserves to be on that list ahead of any of those guys? :joker: Berkman is a very good player but come on....

Anyone else find it pleasant that the best reliever is from Panama (Mariano Rivera), and the firemen with the record for consecutive saves is an ex-hockey tough guy defenseman Canjuck, (Gagne).
Smoltz and Percival are better relievers than Rivera.

It is a good lineup, but I would add Vernon Wells and Roy Halladay from Toronto (taking out Shaun Green/Edmunds and Hudson) and also removing Piazza from catcher. Pizza has a big bat, but I think the other teams would abuse him on the base paths. I would probably put Paul Lo Duca in there.
Halladay has a chance, but Schilling and Johnson are gaurentees to the staff, and I cant see Halladay being ahead of guys like Clemens, Hudson, Mulder or Prior. He would be in a group of players with Sabathia, Wood and Zito. Wells has no chance at all.

A.Pujols,C.Delgado - 1b

A.Soriano,Luis Castillo -2b

M.Tejada,Angel M. Berroa ,Rafael Furcal, -ss

A.Beltre,Aramis Ramirez -3b

Vladimir Guerrero,Jose Guillen ,M.Ramirez,S.Sosa in the OF

P.Martniez, Bartolo Colon ,Ramon Ortiz ,Odalis Perez as sps

Antonio Alfonseca,Armando Benitez ,Jose Valverde as rps


youre talking a very strong team & the fact i omitted a few players
just shows the domincan republic has alot of talent...

thats why i agree with that list
Some of them arent even Dominican. Delgado is from Puerto Rico, but since he sucks it doesnt matter anyways. I still dont see how Dominican on offense trumps the US. position for position

Helton vs Pujols: wash
Kent vs Soriano: different types, 2 best in baseball though, wash
A-Rod/Nomar vs Tejada: A-Rod/Nomar
Chavez/Rolen vs Ramirez: Chavez/Rolen
Griffey vs Guererro: slight edge to Vlad
so many choices in rf for the us. Hunter, Edmonds, Anderson, Berkman, but Sosa is better than them all
Bonds vs Manny: Bonds
Varitek/Piazza beats anything the Dominicans have
No point in naming startes, because aside from pedro, none of them are even top 10, maybe not even top 20 on the us side.

Pen: same thing. Dominicans could throw Rivera at you, but he isnt as good as Smoltz or Percival, plus the US has middle relief and set-up men coming out of the ass.

Smoltz and Percival are better relievers than Rivera.

I like Rivera better in big game situations though.

Team Canada
RP- Chris Reitsma
RP- Rheal Cormier
RP- Vince Perkins
RP- Eric Cyr
RP- Jeff Zimmerman
RP- Paul Quaintrill
RP- Eric Gagne

Not a bad bullpen, but we're screwed if Larry Walker retires before this tournament, or if they play any games outside of Denver. :teach:

Kent vs Soriano: different types, 2 best in baseball though, wash
.

I take Markus Gile over Jeff Kent myself.

Btw, what country is Jorge Posada from?

Btw, what country is Jorge Posada from?

Best catcher in the majors IMHO.

Btw, what country is Jorge Posada from?

Best catcher in the majors IMHO.

He is Puerto Rican, if memory serves correctly.

Smoltz and Percival are better relievers than Rivera.
Smoltz I would consider his equal but Rivera is unhittable in the postseason, check the stats.
Percival is good but ain't even close to Rivera.
I'll take Rivera anytime, especially this year, even with Smoltz pitching as well as he is right now.

What about the Dutch? They've constantly defended the European title with succes, if that even counts for anything.. Top 10?

Smoltz I would consider his equal but Rivera is unhittable in the postseason, check the stats.
Percival is good but ain't even close to Rivera.
I'll take Rivera anytime, especially this year, even with Smoltz pitching as well as he is right now.
well, Rivera is incredible when the playoffs roll around, but lets not forget he choked harder than Buckner 2 and a half years ago :lol:

What about the Dutch? They've constantly defended the European title with succes, if that even counts for anything.. Top 10?
To relate this to hockey. What abut Mexico, they've constantly had latin and south american success. Mind you, if the Dutch are as good in europe as you suggest, I think they should definatly participate in the tournament, as should 2-3 other european teams, because the idea would be to promote baseball around the world. Obviously in the US, japan and Dominican, this will have a minimal impact on popularity in those nations, it will serve more of a treat to those fans.

To relate this to hockey. What abut Mexico, they've constantly had latin and south american success.

That isn't even close to an adequate comparison. Hockey is a winter sport and is next to impossible to play in the countries you mentioned. The same can not be said for baseball and Europe.

Dutch Baseball = Japanese Hockey :teach:

Mariano Rivera is Panamanian, he's not going to be helping the Dominican close games anytime soon.

Would Manny Ramirez play for the Dominican now that he's an American citizen?

Venezuela has a pretty good team, they're a very underrated up-and-coming baseball country. With their pitching I'd see them competing with the Domincan for second place behind the highly favored Americans.

C- Victor Martinez, Indians - not many people know him, this kid can rake

1B- Andres Galaraga, unsigned - Venezuelans are very, very weak at 1B

2B- Marco Scutaro, Athletics - Another weak spot for Venezuela, could insert Edgardo Alfonzo here

3B- Miguel Cabrera, Marlins - Future NL MVP down the road, much better in field at 3B than his current position, RF

SS- Alex Gonzalez, Marlins - One of the best defensive shortsops in the bigs, has an extremely streaky bat

LF- Bobby Abreu, Phillies - Maybe the most underrated player in MLB

CF- Richard Hidalgo, Astros - What happened to this guy? Should be much better than he is playing right now

RF- Magglio Ordonez, White Sox - Another underrated Venezuelan outfielder

SP- Freddy Garcia, Mariners - Having a great '04, could be in the Bronx soon

SP- Carlos Zambrano, Cubs - Check the NL's ERA leaders, Zambrano 3rd. He's finally putting it all together

SP- Kelvim Escobar, Angels - Completely outpitching the more Angels more heralded offseason acquitsition, Bartolo Colon

SP- Johan Santana, Twins - Great in '02 and '03, not getting it done so far in '04

RP- Ugueth Urbina, Tigers - Streaky closer, great for the Marlins down the stretch last season

RP- Fransisco "K-rod" Rodgriguz, Angels - Best young relief pitcher in MLB, amazing K's per 9 innings ratio

I really like Venzuela's pitching, which is so important in a short series. Their offense is decent, though certainly not in the same league as the USA or Dominican. Cabrera, Ordonez, Abreu, and Martinez are a nice core. The lack of quality first basemen is staggering. Galaragga is a hero in Venezuela and they haven't come up with another great one.

1. USA
2. Domincan Republic
3. Venezuela
4. Puerto Rico
5. Japan
6. Cuba
7. South Korea
8. Mexico
9. Canada
10. Panama

Should be fun if it ever comes together.

well, Rivera is incredible when the playoffs roll around, but lets not forget he choked harder than Buckner 2 and a half years ago :lol:
An anomaly, but I guess Smoltz has never blown a save?

btw, stats in games that mean something, (Since Smoltz became a reliever)....
divisional series:
............w..l...era......g....sv.....ip....h... r..er..hr..bb...k
Rivera.....1..0...0.27..21...13...33.1...14..2..1. .1....3...25
Smoltz....1..0...3.56...7......3...10.1...9...9..4 ..2....2...11

league championship:
Rivera....4...0...0.85..20.....8...31.2..22..3..3. .0....3...23
Smoltz...0...0...0.00....2.....0....3.0....0...0.. 0..0...0.....1

world series:
Rivera....2...1...1.16...20....9...31.0...24..5..4 ..1....6...29
Smoltz...---------------------------------------------------------

and the regular season:
Rivera..43..29..2.42..546..309..685.1...543..198.. 184...38..190...610
Smoltz...6...8...2.71..197..119..229.1...183...63. ...59...17...43...244

....plus Rivera is 2 years younger.

Sorry friend, but I'll still go with Rivera.

Gagne= better than Rivera and Smoltz :yo:

Gagne= better than Rivera and Smoltz :yo:

So all team Canada has to do is take a lead into the 9th inning. :joker:

Mariano Rivera is Panamanian, he's not going to be helping the Dominican close games anytime soon.

Would Manny Ramirez play for the Dominican now that he's an American citizen?

Venezuela has a pretty good team, they're a very underrated up-and-coming baseball country. With their pitching I'd see them competing with the Domincan for second place behind the highly favored Americans.

C- Victor Martinez, Indians - not many people know him, this kid can rake

1B- Andres Galaraga, unsigned - Venezuelans are very, very weak at 1B

2B- Marco Scutaro, Athletics - Another weak spot for Venezuela, could insert Edgardo Alfonzo here

3B- Miguel Cabrera, Marlins - Future NL MVP down the road, much better in field at 3B than his current position, RF

SS- Alex Gonzalez, Marlins - One of the best defensive shortsops in the bigs, has an extremely streaky bat

LF- Bobby Abreu, Phillies - Maybe the most underrated player in MLB

CF- Richard Hidalgo, Astros - What happened to this guy? Should be much better than he is playing right now

RF- Magglio Ordonez, White Sox - Another underrated Venezuelan outfielder

SP- Freddy Garcia, Mariners - Having a great '04, could be in the Bronx soon

SP- Carlos Zambrano, Cubs - Check the NL's ERA leaders, Zambrano 3rd. He's finally putting it all together

SP- Kelvim Escobar, Angels - Completely outpitching the more Angels more heralded offseason acquitsition, Bartolo Colon

SP- Johan Santana, Twins - Great in '02 and '03, not getting it done so far in '04

RP- Ugueth Urbina, Tigers - Streaky closer, great for the Marlins down the stretch last season

RP- Fransisco "K-rod" Rodgriguz, Angels - Best young relief pitcher in MLB, amazing K's per 9 innings ratio

I really like Venzuela's pitching, which is so important in a short series. Their offense is decent, though certainly not in the same league as the USA or Dominican. Cabrera, Ordonez, Abreu, and Martinez are a nice core. The lack of quality first basemen is staggering. Galaragga is a hero in Venezuela and they haven't come up with another great one.

1. USA
2. Domincan Republic
3. Venezuela
4. Puerto Rico
5. Japan
6. Cuba
7. South Korea
8. Mexico
9. Canada
10. Panama

Should be fun if it ever comes together.

What about Omar Visquel? I'd rather have him than Gonzo.

What about Omar Visquel? I'd rather have him than Gonzo.They're still close even though Gonzalez is younger than Vizquel by 10 years. I think Gonzo has a better glove at this point, despite Omar's amazing Range Factor season in 2003. If Gonzalez could learn to talk a walk every once in a while he'd be a more valuable player. He was really good at the plate last season before the All-Star break. His glove never went away.

So all team Canada has to do is take a lead into the 9th inning. :joker:

pfft... no. They have to take the lead into the 5th and hope Gagne can last till the 9th. :teach: