World Cup players might miss most spring training

The Associated Press reports that players participating in Major League Baseball's proposed World Cup next year would miss much of spring training for the tournament.

The current plan is for a football-style tournament beginnning with a group stage consisting of four groups of four teams, which will start on 4 March in Asia and in the United States and Puerto Rico on 9 March. Italy and the Netherlands are among the teams being considered for participation. The two two teams in each group will progress to a second group round with two groups of four teams, with the top two teams in each reaching the semi-finals, which, like the final, would be a one-game knockout. The final will be held around 21 March somewhere in the western United States.

Not all the players and MLB managers are excited by the opportunity to represent their country, thinking that the sping schedule will be too disruptive to spring training.