The Week Ahead: 11/13-11/20

11/13/2005
So many issues, so little time.
That's a well-worn way to describe the proceedings at the recently completed general managers meetings in Indian Wells, Calif., Major League Baseball's most significant event of the previous week.
And aside from wondering who will be the next GM of the Boston Red Sox and Los Angeles Dodgers, or whether there will be instant replay in games next year (there won't), three inescapable buzz words kept popping up and will undoubtedly continue to surface in the week -- and weeks -- ahead.
World Baseball Classic, anyone?
Last week provided some hard news on the inaugural 16-team world tournament that will be played from March 3-20 in Japan, Puerto Rico and the United States and has promised to deliver hundreds of top Major Leaguers into inspired competition for national pride.
We got the official word that second-round games will be played in Angel Stadium in Anaheim from March 12-16, where the Asian and U.S. brackets will be combined. The other two brackets will meet in Hiram Bithorn Stadium in San Juan, P.R., with the second-round winners moving on to San Diego's PETCO Park for the semifinals and finals from March 18-20.
Other things were set in concrete, too, namely the fact that there will be pitch counts, the numbers of which will be released at a later date. Also we heard that Carlos Delgado, the slugging first baseman who might or might not still be a member of the Florida Marlins next year, will definitely be a member of the Puerto Rican team at the WBC.
Aside from that, there's still a lot we don't know, and those things will be ironed out as we get closer to the event.
The announcement of rosters, for one, is pending the players union receiving approval from individual players. Sixty-man rosters for each team must be submitted to the International Baseball Federation 45 days before the start of the tournament, which is mid-January.
One thing that's definite right now is the fact that general managers and managers are concerned about injuries in a competition that's guaranteed to be a bit more high-strung and hard-fought than your typical split-squad Grapefruit or Cactus League games.
"We're all collectively worried about people getting hurt and being out of camp," said Cubs GM Jim Hendry. "But hopefully, it'll be great for the game and the global effect of the game and what this entire tournament intended."
So maybe this week will bring us more information, and it's possible that the first order of business will be picking a manager for the American team. Bob Watson, MLB's vice president of on-field baseball operations and Team USA general manager, said his search for this manager could be concluded by the end of the week, with Buck Martinez, Lloyd McClendon, Art Howe, Davey Johnson, Bob Boone and Don Baylor among the top contenders.
"It's down to the top two or three," Watson said on Monday. "We'll have meetings here and probably come up with a decision."
As for other issues that could be determined in the next seven days, here are a top five:
1. Free at last: Legendary closer Trevor Hoffman reportedly walked out on a meeting with the Padres, the Angels reportedly said they won't pursue catcher Bengie Molina, Javier Vazquez formally declared that he wants out of Arizona, and even Ichiro Suzuki is rumored to be unhappy in Seattle.
This sets up what figures to be a week of hurried negotiations now that the free agent signing period is in full swing. Many players will wait until the Winter Meetings (Dec. 5-8 in Dallas) to let bidding wars simmer and markets expand, but some, like Troy Percival last year, could decide as early as Monday that they've got a pretty good fit with their first offer.
2. Devil Rays decision Joe Maddon is expected to be named the new manager of the Devil Rays Tuesday. By selecting Maddon over Rays bench coach John McLaren, the Rays continue to distance the organization from the past.
3. Manny happy returns? Nobody's arguing that Manny Ramirez will be Manny, but there's all of a sudden a lot of speculation of where that "being" will take place.
The three years and $57 million remaining on the contract of Boston's mercurial slugger make it a tough trade, but the Angels and Mets are reportedly interested, depending on how much money the Mets (who love Rafael Furcal and Billy Wagner) and Angels (who love Paul Konerko) fork over to free agents.
Maybe this week we'll learn who will be hired as Boston GM, and that will expedite Manny's exit from Beantown. Then again, maybe Manny will be Manny again and decide to stay with his bestest buddy, David "Big Papi" Ortiz.
4. Rocket fuel: Delving into the "this happens every year at about this exact time" file, ageless Roger Clemens filed for free agency and will now decide if he wants to pitch again in 2006.
The Astros will have the first option to sign Clemens, who had one of the best years of his career in 2005, with a 13-8 record and a 1.87 ERA for an Astros club that was shut out nine times in games he started. Clemens did not allow a single run on the road until mid-June, when he yielded a solo homer in hitter-friendly Coors Field.
Unfortunately for GM Tim Purpura and friends, Clemens usually waits until January or so to get the family talks done and to get that fire back in his belly. Here's an out-on-the-limb guess that he'll come back.
5. An Olympic-size effort: The U.S. was embarrassed by failing to qualify for the 2004 Athens Olympic Games, but the Americans can turn the tables and get a good jump on qualifying for the 2008 Games in Beijing by finishing in the top four in the five-day CONCEBE Regional Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Phoenix, which starts Tuesday.
Six countries from North and Central America are slated to compete in Arizona, with the top four finishers advancing to the Americas Olympic Qualifier in Havana, Cuba, in August 2006. In that event, the four teams representing CONCEBE will compete against the top four regional qualifiers from the Caribbean and South American regions for two bids to the Beijing Games. The third- and fourth-place finishers in Cuba will advance to a secondary Olympic qualifying event to be held sometime in 2007.
The U.S. team this week features a multitude of big-league prospects, including outfielder Lastings Milledge of the Mets organization, Colorado Rockies infielder Ryan Shealy and a quartet of Angels farmhands: Brandon Wood, Howie Kendrick, Jered Weaver and Jeff Mathis. Davey Johnson will manage.

Source: http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/