TORONTO – Over the summer, as Cal Quantrill and Tyler O’Neill encountered fellow Canadians around the majors, the upcoming World Baseball Classic invariably came up.
The Cleveland Guardians right-hander and St. Louis Cardinals outfielder are all-in on the first edition of the spring-time tournament since 2017 and their message to others can be summed up succinctly as – let’s go.
“We are a talented baseball country,” Quantrill said during an August conversation. “We don’t necessarily have as many players as some other places. I think it is important to turn out, if possible, if you're at a point in your career where you can afford to do it. If we put our best 20 on the field, we have as good a chance as anyone to win it. I haven't really had to do much begging. Most guys really would love to play if given the opportunity.”
“We can field a good team if we're healthy and everyone's committed,” O’Neill added during a late July interview. “It would be really fun to see some guys commit to the national team and maybe put on a run out there.”
The Canadian national team is certainly on track to field a much stronger squad in 2023 than the one that went winless at the 2017 edition, thanks to a wave of new talent making big-league impact.
Quantrill and O’Neill are among the headliners on the 50-players-of-interest each national team had to submit to tournament organizers, a first step before 35-man provisional rosters are due Jan. 6 and final rosters are set Feb. 7.
All-star Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman, who suited up for Canada in ’17 and said in July that he’s “100 per cent in” if asked to play again is also on that list and headlines a potential infield that could also include Abraham Toro (Mariners) at second base, Otto Lopez (Blue Jays) at shortstop and Charles Leblanc (Marlins) at third base, with Bo Naylor (Guardians) and Kellin Deglan (Blue Jays) behind the plate.
Josh Naylor (Guardians), Jared Young (Cubs), Jacob Robson (Tigers) and perhaps even rising prospect Edouard Julien (Twins) are candidates to join O’Neill in the outfield or serve as DH.
Joey Votto (Reds) is another candidate for both first base and DH but his availability is uncertain after major surgery in August on the torn rotator cuff in his left shoulder, and questions around health and usage will play a major role in who pitches alongside Quantrill, as well.
James Paxton (Red Sox), for instance, is working his way back from Tommy John surgery while Atlanta GM Alex Anthopoulos made it sound like Mike Soroka, returning from a twice-ruptured right Achilles tendon, probably won’t be available.
“My initial reaction is just with health and everything else, I don’t see it,” Anthopoulos, a Montreal native, said in an interview earlier this month. “I just think in light of his injuries and what he’s had, coming in and competing for a spot, I can't see it.”
The free agency of righty Jameson Taillon further clouds the pitching picture, as it could be difficult for him to leave a new team after signing a big contract.
Still, Nick Pivetta (Red Sox) could be there alongside Quantrill to help front the rotation, Matt Brash could be a significant difference-maker if the Mariners are comfortable with him pitching at the tournament while Rowan Wick, Rob Zastryzny and Zach Pop are strong bullpen options, provided they don’t feel the need to remain at their big-league camp.
All-star Blue Jays closer Jordan Romano, meanwhile, plans to play for Italy again.
As they did in 2017 with Ryan Dempster and Eric Gagne, the Canadians could very well augment their pitching staff with experienced vets like John Axford, Adam Loewen, Phillippe Aumont, Scott Mathieson and Andrew Albers, provided they’re healthy enough.
Pitching prospects like Jordan Balazovic (Twins) and Adam Macko, recently acquired by the Blue Jays from the Mariners in the Teoscar Hernandez trade, could find themselves in the mix depending how the roster shakes out and what their usage would look like.
Given Canada’s lack of depth relative to countries like the United States, the Dominican Republic, Japan and Venezuela, a lot is at stake with each top-flight option. And all of those factors make the pitching end of the Classic especially complicated for national teams and major-league clubs alike.
“When it comes to position players, they know what they need to do so from a WBC standpoint, I'm not at all concerned with them,” John Mozeliak, president of baseball operations for the Cardinals, said earlier this month. “The pitching thing is really about usage. You think about spring training games and if an outing isn't going well or what have you, you can audible, whereas in the WBC, games matter, games count. You don't have quite that flexibility. I don't know really how you plan for that or prep for that. You almost become more reactionary to what actually happens there and then decide how you want to deal with it when you get (the player) back.”
Quantrill understands the tenuous spot the tournament’s timing puts pitchers in by requiring them to compete at a high level far earlier than usual, and believes the concern of clubs “is fair.”
Yet he also feels that workarounds are very possible.
“You do have to be smart. You do have a full season ahead of you,” he said. “That being said, at least as far as I know, Team Canada has always been very fair with their pitchers, how they use them, respecting what the general manager and manager of the team would like from that guy and what's expected and kind of balancing that with trying to compete. We'll have a plan and I'll prepare myself to be ready for that moment that and if it's a little earlier (than usual), we’ll take a small break in spring. But it really is a special opportunity to get to play in the WBC. I've never gotten to do it. I've played on the junior national team. Anytime you can wear your country's name across your chest, you've got to find a way to do it.”
The Canadians, led again by manager Ernie Whitt, will play out of Pool C at Phoenix’s Chase Field with the United States, Mexico, Colombia and Great Britain, with the top two teams advancing to the quarter-finals. Beforehand, they’ll train at the Cubs’ spring facility in Mesa, Arizona and play exhibition games against their hosts March 8 and the Mariners in Peoria on March 9.
For team officials and players alike, the countdown is on.
“I love playing for Canada, wearing that Maple Leaf,” said O’Neill. “Opportunities like that don't come too often. The last WBC is going to be six years removed and hopefully they get back to every four years. But every opportunity I can get to play for Team Canada, I'm there. Obviously there's lots of international play that Major League roster guys can't go to and unfortunately, I'm not able to do those. But when we do have the opportunity like the World Baseball Classic that’s MLB sponsored, it's tough to pass up, in my opinion.”
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