Freeman, O'Neill headline Canada's roster for upcoming World Baseball Classic

Six-time all-star Freddie Freeman will lead Canada at the upcoming World Baseball Classic.

Freeman, who won the 2020 National League MVP award and the 2021 World Series with Atlanta, was one of 30 players named to Canada's roster Thursday by manager Ernie Whitt.

Freeman, born in Fountain Valley, Calif., to Canadian parents, also represented Canada at the 2017 World Baseball Classic.

Canada's roster features 10 players who appeared in Major League Baseball last season, including two-time Gold Glove outfielder Tyler O'Neill of the St. Louis Cardinals.

Nick Pivetta of the Boston Red Sox and Cal Quantrill of the Cleveland Guardians will lead the pitching staff, while Matt Brash (Seattle), Otto Lopez (Toronto), Bo Naylor (Cleveland), Abraham Toro (Milwaukee), Jared Young (Chicago Cubs) and Rob Zastryzny (Pittsburgh) were also named to the team.

Former big leaguers representing Canada include Andrew Albers, Phillippe Aumont, John Axford, Adam Loewen, Scott Mathieson and Jacob Robson.

Canada's roster features eight players who previously participated in the World Baseball Classic including Albers (2013, 2017), Aumont (2009, 2013), Axford (2013), Freeman (2017), Loewen (2006, 2013), Mathieson (2006, 2013, 2017), O'Neill (2017) and Pivetta (2017).

"The honour of representing Canada and managing these players is something that means a great deal to me," Whitt said in a release. "There's nothing better than international baseball and the intensity of the World Baseball Classic.

Joining Whitt on the coaching staff are Baseball Hall of Famer Larry Walker, former MLB all-stars Russell Martin and Paul Quantrill, former big leaguer Denis Boucher, former Toronto Blue Jays first-base coach Tim Leiper and Baseball Canada's director of national teams Greg Hamilton.

Canada will compete in Phoenix as part of Pool C in the first round along with Colombia, Great Britain, Mexico and the United States. Canada opens against Great Britain on March 12.

Trout, Betts, Ohtani among 8 MVPs in tournament

The United States' Mike Trout and Mookie Betts, Japan's Shohei Ohtani and Venezuela's Miguel Cabrera and Jose Altuve are among eight Major League Baseball MVPs on rosters for the tournament.

Americans Paul Goldschmidt and Clayton Kershaw also are on the rosters announced Thursday for the 20-nation tournament, to be played from March 8-21.

Cy Young Award winner Sandy Alcantara of the Dominican Republic is also headed to the tournament, to be played in Tokyo; Taichung, Taiwan; Phoenix; and Miami.

The 600 players include 67 major league all-stars, 35 of them from last season. There are seven Rookies of the Year: Trout, Pete Alonso and Devin Williams of the United States; Ohtani; Venezuela's Ronald Acuna Jr.; the Dominican Republic's Julio Rodriguez; and Mexico's Randy Arozarena.

Judge skipping tournament

Players skipping the tournament include major league home run champion Aaron Judge, New York Yankees teammate Luis Severino of the Dominican Republic and Minnesota shortstop Carlos Correa of Puerto Rico.

Japan's roster includes first baseman Munetaka Murakami, winner of the Central League's last two MVPs; right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto, winner of the Pacific League's last two MVPs; along with San Diego pitcher Yu Darvish and Chicago Cubs outfielder Seiya Suzuki.

Former New York Mets outfielder Yoenis Cespedes is on Cuba's roster, which includes active major leaguers for the first time. Among those are Chicago White Sox third baseman Yoan Moncada and outfielder Luis Robert, who are joined by outfielder Alfredo Despaigne, a former star in the Japanese major leagues.

Israel's roster includes Joc Pederson, Dean Kremer and Richard Bleier along with Ty Kelly, Ryan Lavarnway, Danny Valencia and Shlomo Lipetz of last year's Olympic team.

Brothers Edwin Diaz of the New York Mets and Alexis Diaz of Cincinnati will play for Puerto Rico.

Cabrera and Mexican 41-year-old left-hander Oliver Perez each will be in their fifth WBC.

Each team must include at least 14 pitchers and two catchers.

A pitcher is limited to 65 pitches during a first-round game, 80 in a quarterfinal and 95 in the championship round, though a limit can be exceeded to finish a plate appearance. A pitcher may not pitch in games on three consecutive days. There must be one day off after throwing 30 or more pitches and two days off after throwing 50 or more pitches.

Netherlands plays Cuba in the tournament opener.

Pools, format

First-round groups are:

A: Taichung, March 8-13 — Cuba, Italy, Netherlands, Taiwan, Panama

B: Tokyo, March 9-13 — Australia, China, Japan, South Korea, Czech Republic

C: Phoenix, March 11-15 — Canada, Colombia, Mexico, United States, Great Britain

D: Miami, March 11-15 — Dominican Republic, Israel, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, Nicaragua

The top two teams in each group advance to quarterfinals, at Tokyo on March 15-16 and at Miami on March 17-18. The semifinals on March 19 and the final will be at Marlins Park.

This will be the fifth edition of the WBC following victories by Japan in 2006 and '09, the Dominican Republic in 2013 and the U.S. in 2017. A scheduled 2021 tournament was called off because of the coronavirus pandemic.