WBSC announces groups for inaugural Premier 12 tournament

This morning the World Baseball and Softball Confederation has presented the pairings of the two groups for the first ever Premier 12 tournament that will be held later this year.

One thing that catches my eye is that the USA has been paired to Japan and Korea. So obviously, the WBSC has struck a deal with the USA/MLB about participatiing, something I was not aware of.

Another thing that catches my eye is that Italy and the Netherlands are in the same group, so the rivalry continues here. Of course every team that you will face on a tournament like this, is tough, but I really think that the Dutch have drawn well. They are not paired to Korea, Japan and the USA and they are in the same group as Cuba. Somehow the Dutch like to play against them. When you look to the World rankings, it could have been a lot more worse for the Dutch. The top two countries are in the other group.

The tournament will be a showcase for baseball to return to the 2020 Olympics.

The Premier 12 tournament will be played from November 8 through November 21. Japan will send their pro players who are playing in the NPB for sure. It remains to be seen if the other countries can send their best players. It all depends on if MLB allows them to participate. Players like Kenley Jansen have made clear that they would like to join the Netherlands in this tournament. Since it wasn’t even clear if the USA would participate, I have some good faith now that MLB 40-man roster players will be allowed to join. Jeremy Guthrie, pitcher of the Kansas City Royals, said in an interview with Fox Sports in January, that he would be the first to join team USA if they will partiicpate.