From Jeff Passan:

Just look at the players who already have declared themselves unwilling to join Team USA at the second incarnation of the tournament in March.

Josh Hamilton? No. Ryan Howard? Sorry. Alex Rodriguez? Nope, he defected to the Dominican team. CC Sabathia, Brandon Webb, Cole Hamels, Josh Beckett, A.J. Burnett and Brad Lidge? Nein, non, lo, nyet, nei and na. Respectively.

And the exodus won’t end there. Before the Jan. 19 preliminary roster deadline, Tim Lincecum, Roy Halladay, Jake Peavy and Ben Sheets are expected to turn down invitations, too, in spite of the personal pleas of manager Davey Johnson.

Kind of lame that our national pastime again won't be represented by anything close to the best team we could theoretically field. Expect another lame showing out of the U.S. club, just like 2006. Everyone find a rooting option. Go China!