Red Sox have bevy of stars in next WBC

December 6th, 2016

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. -- The Red Sox could be well-represented in the upcoming World Baseball Classic.
All-Star shortstop is a confirmed participant for the Netherlands, it was announced Monday. revealed a few days ago that he plans on playing for the Dominican Republic, though an official confirmation has not reached the Red Sox yet.
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Right fielder , center fielder and lefty are all on the preliminary roster for Team USA.
, fresh off winning the American League Cy Young Award, declined his invitation to participate.
Left-hander and catcher have been invited to play for Venezuela.
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"We're certainly not going to stand in the way of a player that chooses to play and wants to play for their countries," said Red Sox manager John Farrell. "I will say this: There is always some concern with the intensity of games at that time of the year. That's why we're doing everything we can in the interim to ramp them up to get them close to -- it's not going to be midseason form -- but get them in game shape as best we can before they depart for their tournament."
has the option of playing for Italy, but he's more likely to prioritize having a full Major League Spring Training for the first time.
This year's WBC begins March 6, and games will be played in Guadalajara, Mexico; Tokyo, Japan; Seoul, South Korea; Miami; and San Diego, with the championship round taking place at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles from March 20-22.