A-Rod Going Benedict Arnold Will Benefit the US World Baseball Classic Team

Earlier today on Yahoo Sports, it was reported that according to David Ortiz, Alex Rodriguez will opt to play for the Dominican Republic team in the World Baseball Classic, instead of for the United States as he did in 2006.

According to the article, the Yankee slugger will announce his intentions at a golf outing this weekend hosted by Ortiz. The two players are close friends, and although Oritz has said that he hasn't talked to Rodriguez about it recently, he said that he spoke to A-Rod at the All-Star Game, and he expressed a desire to play for the Dominicans. 

For those of you who aren't familiar with the story, Rodriguez came within hours of playing for neither nation in the inaugural WBC in 2006. His parents were both born in the Dominican Republic, and he has US citizenship, and didn't want to dishonor either nation.

After last second pleas from commissioner Bud Selig, A-Rod decided to play for the United States, and played relatively well, hitting .333 with no home runs, three RBI, and struck out seven times.

His contributions didn't seem to matter much, however, as the United States lost in the second round of the tourney, with Mexico serving up the exit papers.

I'm sure that a large chunk of the American sporting public is going to be up in arms about Alex switching allegiance. A tournament that is supposed to be all about playing for country, and not money, should be something that players hold in high priority. Some would even call him a traitor to leave the US high and dry.

I disagree with this assessment.

I believe that the US team is going to be a lot better off without Alex. I'm not saying that they won't miss his capacity for driving the ball a long way, or his at least serviceable defense at third base, but there are four reasons why I think that neither of those contributions will be missed that badly.

The first reason is the depth of the squad. Judging by the last WBC team, A-Rod's offensive numbers were barely a blip on the radar when it came to contributing.

For instance, Ken Griffey Jr came from relative obscurity off of injuries and hit a fantastic .524, with three homers, 10 RBI, and had a staggering OPS of 1.631. Derrek Lee also had an outstanding event, with an average of .357 and three homers and eight RBI. His OPS was 1.071, which is also solid.

Chipper Jones, the other third baseman on that squad, had a pretty good tournament, while hitting .353 and notching an OBP of .476, which was third-best on the team (behind Griffey and Derek Jeter).

The second reason is the avalanche of young talent that has hit the scene that would be more than willing to replace Rodriguez.

For instance, Evan Longoria plays a solid defensive third base, is a fantastic hitter, and oh yeah, won the Rookie of the Year award for the World Series runner-up.

David Wright is also coming off of an outstanding season, where he hit 33 HR and drove in 124 runs. He also won a Gold Glove and a Silver Slugger award to go along with these gaudy numbers.

Finally, you have Ryan Braun. Sure, he isn't the steadiest fielding of players, but he came up as a third baseman, and he hit 34 HR and 97 RBI in the 2008 season.

The third reason is A-Rod's propensity for choking in big situations.

Any time you turn on ESPN during the months leading up to the playoffs, the topic will inevitably come up: Alex Rodriguez is not good when October rolls around. The stats tend to back this up.

In the postseason, Alex has a .254 batting average, and he has coupled his 24 hits with 23 strikeouts in 93 ABs in the postseason. He also has only three home runs and seven RBI in 25 career postseason games, which doesn't exactly scream "clutch".

The pressure that players feel in the World Baseball Classic may not be comparable to the pressure of the Major League Baseball playoffs, but it isn't as though A-Rod has lit it up when the lights are the brightest.

Another issue that he may encounter in terms of "crumbling under pressure" is that for the first round, the United States will not be playing in the US. They will be playing in Toronto as opposed to Arizona.

The fourth reason is simple. A team loaded with superstars isn't exactly the best way to go about winning international gold.

Just look at the example of last year's World Baseball Classic. The team was loaded to the brim with players like Roger Clemens, Ken Griffey Jr., and A-Rod were only able to manage three victories in six games against Canada, Mexico, South Africa, Korea, and Japan.

Granted, Korea and Japan made it to the final round, but South Africa, Canada, and Mexico? Seriously? If you can name me ONE player from the South African team, I will give you two fan bonus points.

The two teams that made the finals of the event were Cuba and Japan. These teams are predicated on playing solid base-to-base fundamental baseball and good pitching. They weren't based on slugging the ball out of the park, and the fundamental approach seems to win games more often than slugball.

A-Rod is a premiere player, but he is a slugball player. The US would be better off if they moved away from this approach, and I think that they will if they are serious about winning this event.

I know that it's a little premature to be talking about an event that is still three months away, but this was an issue that I felt needed to be brought to the Bleacher Report community's attention.

It is my opinion that Alex should be allowed to play for whatever team he wants, and I think that the US can survive pretty easily without him. I think that we will have a lot better chance this coming year without the distractions provided by guys like Clemens and A-Rod.