World Baseball Classic 2013 Bracket: Biggest Threats to USA's Path to Gold

The World Baseball Classic will start up in March for the third time.  Team USA will be looking for their first gold in the WBC, but there are several other teams that will make that a serious challenge.

The current schedule of games can be found on the World Baseball Classic’s site.  The United States will be playing in Pool D, with matchups in the first round against Canada, Italy and Mexico.

Team USA may be ranked No. 2 by the IBAF, but there are still several teams that could pose a serious threat to them.

Cuba

The only team ranked higher than USA coming into the Classic is Cuba.  According to the IBAF, they are ranked No.1 in the world.  In 2006, they lost in the final round to Japan by a score of 6-10. 

Now, they’re looking for the gold.

Cuba is known for having some very good baseball players.  There are currently 18 Cuban players in the MLB, including Aroldis Chpman of the Cincinnati Reds. 

Team USA will need to be looking closely at this team.  They have a lot of young players, and are clearly the most dangerous team in the tournament.

Canada

The United States will be playing against Canada in the first round of Pool D.  They are currently ranked No. 6 in the world by the IBAF. 

The Canada team has a few dangerous players on their roster that Team USA will need to look out for.  Joey Votto might be the most dangerous player on the entire roster.  He batted .337 in the MLB last season, with 14 home runs and 56 RBI.

Jesse Crain is another name that USA will need to watch for.  He is currently a relief pitcher for the White Sox and had an ERA of 2.44 last season in 48 innings pitched.

Canada will be a tough team to play so early on.  If USA wants to be in good position for the second round, they will need to beat this Canadian team.

Japan

The Japanese are another very strong team.  They have been the champions of the first two World Baseball Classics, and are looking to make it three in a row.  They have been the most dominant team in the tournament by far.

The Japanese team is currently ranked No. 3 in the world, behind only USA and Cuba.  They have a lot of talented young players who will look to crush the competition early.

Cuba and Japan are both in Pool A, and will be fighting it out with China and Brazil as well.  Both will likely advance to the second round, but it will be interesting to see who the winner is and who is the runner-up. 

Japan is a solid team.  And should USA make it to the finals, they will likely play either Japan or Cuba.