Yesterday, Baseball Canada unveiled the roster for the upcoming 2017 World Baseball Classic.
The roster includes former Cy-Young award winner Eric Gagne (Free agent; Montreal, QC), Justin Morneau (Free agent; New Westminster, B.C), John Axford (Oakland Athletics; Simcoe, ON) and Dalton Pompey (Toronto Blue Jays; Mississauga, ON).
Notable omissions from the team include Blue Jays catcher Russell Martin, former Blue Jays Michael Saunders and Brett Lawrie as well as Cincinnati Reds first baseman Joey Votto.
Saunders' bat will be sorely missed, as he was named to the All-WBC team and led the tournament in batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage and OPS the last time the tournament was played in 2013.
Canada is in group C for the 2017 WBC, which includes Colombia, the Dominican Republic and the United States.
The 16-team tournament will get underway March 6th, with Canada's first game coming on the 9th against the defending champions, the Dominican Republic.
Canada was eliminated in the first round in the 2013 World Baseball Classic after posting a 1-2 record.
