Angels: Andrelton Simmons To Compete In The WBC
The World Baseball Classic is three months away from beginning. For the Angels, more than one player is likely to participate in this event.
The Angels are wrapped up in the Winter Meetings right now. There’s a ton of news, notes, and rumors surrounding this team and free agents. Most fans would rather not see Mike Trout and company compete in the World Baseball Classic.
While there’s no official word on Trout’s involvement, Andrelton Simmons will participate for his home country of the Netherlands. The native of Curacao was traded to the Halos from the Atlanta Braves on November 12th, 2015. As a result, the Angels got the shortstop they have been needing for years.
Simmons has played for the Netherlands before, most recently, in 2013. The World Baseball Classic begins in March with the United States playing Canada in pool C from Miami Florida. The Netherlands are in pool A, they’ll face Chinese Taipei from Seoul South Korea.
While all eyes will be on Trout to see if he competes in this event, it’s good to see Simmons representing his country at the World Baseball Classic. The last team to win the WBC was the Dominican Republic in 2013. A team which had Robinson Cano, who was the MVP of the tournament.
More from Halo Hangout
Aside from the Dominican Republic, Japan has also been dominant in this event winning the 2006 and 2009 WBC. The MVP of those two championships was Daisuke Matsuzaka. The WBC isn’t going to be a massively watched event in the United States. Although, it resembles the Olympics to the rest of the world. This will be a huge deal for Japan and the Dominican Republic.
Still, the WBC will be something people check in on. Especially if Trout is among the American players involved. The roster has yet to be officially announced, stay with Halo Hangout for more on this event.