Predicting the World Baseball Classic: Round 2

In Round 2 within each newly created pool, each team plays every other team in the pool once. The teams with the top two records from each pool advance to the Semi-Finals. My predictions from Round 1 result in the following teams making each of the pools below.

Pool 1: Japan / Korea / Mexico / United States
It is pretty easy to predict the teams that will advance from this second round pool. The US and Japan will be very strong in all aspects of the game. Korea and Mexico just don’t have enough to keep with the two most prolific baseball countries.

Pool 2: Netherlands / Puerto Rico / Dominican Republic / Venezuela
Team Puerto Rico will put up a fight, and Mulder and Haren of Team Netherlands may make some games close, but they will wither under the onslaught of batting that will be Team DR and Team Venezuela. Let me just take a moment to expand on how loaded the Dominican team is. This lineup should include Willy Taveras, Manny Ramirez, and Vladimir Guerrero in the outfield; Adrian Beltre, Miguel Tejada, Alfonso Soriano, and Albert Pujols around the infield; and to top it off, Big Papi in the DH spot. Not to mention Cy Young award winners Pedro Martinez and Bartolo Colon leading a pitching staff that consists of starters like Odalis Perez and Jorge Sosa, and a relief corps that includes Jose Mesa, Miguel Batista, and Armando Benitez. Absolutely stacked!

. . . Tomorrow, the Simi-Finals’ predictions. . .