Team Canada's chances at the WBC

[Scott57]

Canada's starting pitching could be pretty good in the future, with Jameson Taillon, James Paxton and Scott Diamond all having the chance to be pretty good (or really good, in Taillon's case).

It is pretty weak right now though.

True, but the same thing could have been said 10 years ago with Adam Loewen, Jeff Francis, Erik Bedard, Ryan Dempster and Rich Harden along with others.

[Pride]

Taillon is for the most part American. His parents are Canadian, but he was born and raised in the states. I'd assume someone of his talent would eventually get the nod for Team USA.

[bomber0104]

Taillon is for the most part American. His parents are Canadian, but he was born and raised in the states. I'd assume someone of his talent would eventually get the nod for Team USA.

yeah not counting on Taillon to ever suit up for Canada

[ciaban]

Canada's starting pitching could be pretty good in the future, with Jameson Taillon, James Paxton and Scott Diamond all having the chance to be pretty good (or really good, in Taillon's case).

It is pretty weak right now though.

Except he is an American, and from the south so he more than likely has a lot of american pride since were really big on that here.

Taillon is for the most part American. His parents are Canadian, but he was born and raised in the states. I'd assume someone of his talent would eventually get the nod for Team USA.

yeah i feel the same way, i mean if me and an American woman got married and had a kid in Canada, or even had a kid here then moved to Canada that child is probably more likely to feel more loyal to Canada than America.

[ciaban]

I do have a question how do you Canadians feel about your best players turning down an opportunity to represent Canada, I personally get annoyed when Americans such as Trout turn down opportunities to play for our Country, hell, we could field a team of only born AND raised Californians and it would be a lot better than most countries.

[adid727]

I do have a question how do you Canadians feel about your best players turning down an opportunity to represent Canada, I personally get annoyed when Americans such as Trout turn down opportunities to play for our Country, hell, we could field a team of only born AND raised Californians and it would be a lot better than most countries.

We do get pissed off even more than you, since in the states, if trout turns down an invitation to the wbc, you would still have someone like Adam Jones step in and play. But in our case, if ryan dempster turn down an invitation to play, then we are stuck with AA starting pitcher at best, so it really hurts canada a lot more than the US when players decline to join the roster.

[13Lawrie13]

True, but the same thing could have been said 10 years ago with Adam Loewen, Jeff Francis, Erik Bedard, Ryan Dempster and Rich Harden along with others.

Very true.

[scottythegreat1]

Since the WBC puts us in the same pool as the US and Mexico, we are going to have to be on our game. Its going to be interesting playing the US in the final game in our pool.

[Farsight]

I love Taillon, and hes one of my favourite prospects. But if he becomes a great pitcher, i dont see why he would pitch for Canada over the United States. His parents are Canadian, but he was born and raised in America.

[Farsight]

Very true.

Canada actually had some great pitching talent, but most of the pitchers had been plagued with injuries throughout their careers (except Dempster). At one point in time, Bedard, Harden, Loewen, and even Francis were good pitchers, than injuries diminished there skills

[ciaban]

I love Taillon, and hes one of my favourite prospects. But if he becomes a great pitcher, i dont see why he would pitch for Canada over the United States. His parents are Canadian, but he was born and raised in America.

You know i was thinking about this, i doubt the pirates want tallion to pitch for anyone, i wonder what interest he personally has, but i could see him pitching for canada early in his career and then America when he gets good.

[ciaban]

We do get pissed off even more than you, since in the states, if trout turns down an invitation to the wbc, you would still have someone like Adam Jones step in and play. But in our case, if ryan dempster turn down an invitation to play, then we are stuck with AA starting pitcher at best, so it really hurts canada a lot more than the US when players decline to join the roster.

Yeah, that's kind of a role reversal with hockey, if US stars don't join we pretty much don't have anyone to replace them.

[Farsight]

You know i was thinking about this, i doubt the pirates want tallion to pitch for anyone, i wonder what interest he personally has, but i could see him pitching for canada early in his career and then America when he gets good.

Currently, as a prospect it is doubtful he partakes in the world baseball classic. As a matter of fact, you really dont see any prospects partaking. This might be a result of the event taking place in spring training. Teams want to analyse and develop players. Moreover, they are probably more weary of prospects getting injured as counter intuitive as it sounds.

You never know, it would not be the first time players switched to play for different national teams. I really do like Taillon, as a player. If he ever suits up for Canada, i will be purchasing his jersey

[jmoney23]

Since the WBC puts us in the same pool as the US and Mexico, we are going to have to be on our game. Its going to be interesting playing the US in the final game in our pool.

Doesn't it always feel like it comes down to Canada or Mexico? We always get the U.S. and Mexico in the same pool and we tend to lose to the U.S., then beat some below average team, and then go on to play Mexico to decide who moves on.

[2009mvp]

^^IIRC they lost to Italy last time around