Willy Aybar To Play For Dominican Republic in 2009 World Baseball Classic

by Tommy Rancel on Feb 24, 2009 6:36 PM EST

Just saw that Willy Aybar was selected to the final roster for the Dominican Republic. Aybar was not on the DR's provisional roster, so his addition comes as a surprise. The world's greatest backup should see significant time at first base with the Dominican both missing Albert Pujols and Carlos Pena.

This means Rays fans will get a real good look at Adam Kennedy at second base this spring as well as Morgan Ensberg at first base at least until Carlos Pena is recovered fully from abdominal surgery. On paper, Kennedy and Jason Bartlett give the Rays their best combination of middle infielders.

As expected, Akinori Iwamura and J.P. Howell were on their teams final rosters and Evan Longoria was not on the final roster for Team USA.

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lame

Evan Longoria and David Price - the fight for my heart

by joeybw on Feb 24, 2009 7:58 PM EST reply actions

It's almost like the Rays had foresight.

This means Rays fans will get a real good look at Adam Kennedy at second base this spring as well as Morgan Ensberg at first base at least until Carlos Pena is recovered fully from abdominal surgery. On paper, Kennedy and Jason Bartlett give the Rays their best combination of middle infielders.

by R.J. Anderson on Feb 24, 2009 11:10 PM EST reply actions

Im thrilled about this

Aybar has to be one guy who this is a positive for.

I thought about Aybar making the team, but wasnt too surprised when he didnt initially

Aybar is NOT starting this year. He will not platoon anywhere either. He might get a start a week at DH, maybe a couple starts in RF at some point, and he’ll get occassional starts for Aki, Pena and Longo (all of whom will play mostly everyday)

Aybar isnt really needed for chemistry purposes for the next few weeks, we arent going to be hampered by missing him. He can catch on when he gets back, he’ll already have some work in from the playing time he’ll get in the WBC so he wont be rusty. It wont take him long to ease into his bench role

Meanwhile, he gets to get some semi-meaningful at bats in games that are taken more seriously than spring training. He’ll get to showcase his skills on an international level. I really like his, and I cant wiat to watch him

by Rays4242 on Feb 25, 2009 12:49 PM EST up reply actions