|
World Baseball
Classic Roster Breakdown - Australia
Australia has produced some big league talent
in recent years – not surprising given it’s warm climate,
but somewhat surprising given the competition with other sports
such as cricket
Despite this struggle for popularity, Australia has produced
the likes of Dave Nilsson, Graeme Lloyd, and Grant Balfour who
have all been contributors to major league teams
Here’s a look at their 2009 WBC roster
Pitchers
Craig Anderson, Travis Blackley, Adam Bright,
Tristan Crawford, Liam Hendriks, Joshua Hill, Paul Mildren, Damian
Moss, Drew Naylor, Chris Oxspring, Brad Thomas, Rich Thompson,
David Welch, Brendan Wise
Moss is the most successful pitcher in this group – he has
a big league record of 22-19 in four seasons
Blackley, Oxspring, Thomas, and Thompson have limited big league
experience
Drew Naylor is one the Phillies 40-man roster, and David Welch
went 11-4 in 2008 for the Brewers Double A affiliate
Catchers
Andrew Graham, Joel Naughton
Graham has played as high as Triple A in the Tigers farm system,
and Naughton has improved steadily over four minor league seasons
Infielders
James Beresford, Daniel Berg, Michael Collins,
Brad Harman, Justin Huber, Luke Hughes, Ben Risinger, Stefan
Welch
Brad Harman has pretty good minor league numbers and has seen
some time at shortstop for the Phillies
Justin Huber was once a very highly rated first base prospect
with the Mets and Royals organizations
Outfielders
Mitch Dening, Trent Oeltjen, Brett Roneberg
Chris Snelling
Snelling was a top outfield prospect in the Mariners organization
before his career was derailed by injuries
Roneberg has played
as high as Triple A and has 79 homers in the minor leagues while Oeltjen hit .317 in Triple A Tucson (Arizona
affiliate) in 2008
Notable Absences
Peter Moylan, Ryan Rowland-Smith, Phil
Stockman, Dave Nilsson, Grant Balfour
Summary
There’s some talent there to be sure,
but not enough to keep Australia competitive in the 2009 WBC
tournament
They will likely continue to send players to the minor and major
leagues, with a few solid players emerging from the pool
I just don’t see baseball ever becoming dominant enough
in the country to have a major effect on the WBC |
--------------------