A look at the World Baseball Classic

It's real baseball before opening day. The games count and they keep the standings. A champion will be crowned. All-Stars will take the field. Several Orioles will as well.

Will this be the year that Team USA wins the World Baseball Classic? In three previous tries, the United States team made the semi-finals just once and has never played in the championship game.

The fourth edition of the competition begins in March. Japan won the event in 2006 and 2009, and the Dominican Republic took the championship in 2013.

The WBC is a 16-nation competition that runs from March 6-22. It begins with four pools of four teams each and two from each pool will advance to the second round of pool play. Dodger Stadium then hosts the semi-finals and championship game. Team USA is in a first-round pool with Colombia, Canada and the Dominican Republic.

Marlins outfielder Giancarlo Stanton announced this week that he will join a USA outfield that already featured the Orioles' Adam Jones, the Pirates' Andrew McCutchen and Miami's Christian Yelich.

Others expected to play for what is shaping up as a strong Team USA are Buster Posey, Eric Hosmer, Paul Goldschmidt, Ian Kinsler, Brandon Crawford, Daniel Murphy, Nolan Arenado, Alex Bregman, Marcus Stroman, Chris Archer, Andrew Miller and the Orioles' Mychal Givens. Jim Leyland is the USA manager.

Odds to win the WBC from VegasInsider.com:
5-2: Dominican Republic
14-5: USA
3-1: Japan
10-1: South Korea
15-1: Venezuela

The four longshots at 100-1 are listed as Australia, China, Colombia and Israel.

In addition to Jones and Givens, two other Orioles are planning to play in the WBC, with Manny Machado on the Dominican Republic squad and Jonathan Schoop playing again for the Netherlands. In 2013, even before his major league debut, Schoop hit a long three-run homer in a big win for the Netherlands over Cuba.

Current Orioles minor leaguer Gui Yuan Xu is likely to play for China. He is on a preliminary roster right now, with the final rosters to be set on Feb. 6. Signed by the Orioles in July 2015, Xu is trying to become the first player from mainland China to make it to the major leagues. He was the first player signed from one of Major League Baseball's three youth developmental centers in China. In his first pro season in 2016, he played for the Orioles' Rookie-level Gulf Coast League team. In 33 games, he hit .247/.271/.284.

Right-hander Yeizer Marrugo from the O's farm is currently on the Colombia roster. He was signed out of Cartagena by the Orioles in November 2011. Last season in the GCL, he went 3-2 with a 3.22 ERA. In his career spent mostly in the Dominican Summer League to date, he is 19-12 with an ERA of 2.15 in 251 innings. Marrugo may not make the final roster

By the way, former Orioles first-round draft pick Adam Loewen is on the Canadian roster. The O's top pick in 2002, Loewen went 1-0 with an ERA of 15.00 in eight games last season for the Arizona Diamondbacks.

For me, the WBC is a fun event to watch and we get to some great players. But we can't say it proves which nation has the best talent or team. How could we say that when we will see pitchers on pitch counts in the competition and we won't see all the best players. While the Team USA roster looks strong, I don't see Mike Trout, Clayton Kershaw or Justin Verlander playing.

What is your take on the WBC?