U.S. releases initial roster for Classic

NEW YORK -- Alex Rodriguez was missing from the initial United States roster for the World Baseball Classic on Monday night, and the two-time MVP had one day left to decide whether to participate.

As expected, Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Derek Jeter and Ken Griffey Jr. were the biggest names among the 42 players picked by Team USA on Monday.

Provisional rosters of up to 60 players for each country are due today at 4 p.m. CST, and the final 30-man rosters for the tournament will be chosen from those 60-player pools.

Any player not on a provisional roster today cannot participate in the event, so Rodriguez was running out of time to decide which country to play for -- or whether to play at all.

The New York Yankees third baseman, eligible to play for the United States and the Dominican Republic, said last month that he intended to play for the Dominican team, then said he wouldn't play at all because he didn't want to offend either country.

Gene Orza, the No. 2 official of the players' association, said he would attempt to persuade Rodriguez to play, and baseball officials and the union held a conference call with him early last week.

Team USA manager Buck Martinez said Monday night he still had no feel for what Rodriguez planned to do.

Plenty of other stars have signed on for Team USA: Lance Berkman, Johnny Damon, Roy Halladay, Tim Hudson, Chipper Jones, Derrek Lee, Brad Lidge, Andy Pettitte, Mark Teixeira, Billy Wagner and Dontrelle Willis were all included on the initial roster.

The starting staff might include Clemens, Willis, Halladay, Pettitte, Hudson and Jake Peavy, while the bullpen could feature Wagner, Lidge, Huston Street, Chad Cordero and Joe Nathan.

The initial U.S. roster included 19 pitchers, 10 infielders, six outfielders and six catchers.

The final 30-man rosters don't have to be chosen until just before the start of the 16-nation tournament, scheduled for March 3-20.

Puerto Rico's initial roster Monday night included Carlos Beltran, Carlos Delgado and Ivan Rodriguez.