MLB officials are in the process of changing the rules regarding World Baseball Classic rosters "so teams can add two players before the second round, and two more before the semifinals," according to Bill Shaikin of the L.A. TIMES. That could open the doors to pitchers like the Dodgers' Clayton Kershaw, the Giants' Madison Bumgarner and the Red Sox' David Price, as instead of missing up to three weeks of Spring Training, they "could commit to starting the semifinal or final, then join Team USA for the final round, assuming the U.S. gets there." That could reduce their time away from their MLB teams "to two or three days." Kershaw on Saturday said, "They're trying to make it more accessible." He added that he "has not decided whether he would participate." Kershaw: "It would be awesome to get to represent your country. But the priority is always the season." Shaikin noted the U.S. team "has flopped in the three previous editions of the WBC, losing in the semifinals once and failing to qualify for the semifinals twice, in large part because of the reluctance of stars to play" (L.A. TIMES, 4/17).
