2008 Olympics: Canadian National Team Breakdown

The Canadian National Team is an interesting collection of journeymen minor league players sprinkled with a few extremely bright prospects. Picture an old standby dish, something like spaghetti and meatballs, where the meatballs are replaced by something like coconut-crusted truffles, and you get the idea. Actually, they call this type of cooking “fusion” out in BC, and all the trendiest restaurants are doing it in all the trendiest neighborhoods. So maybe Team Canada is onto something—maybe their roster is actually cutting edge….destined for greatness and profitability…a real trendsetter....

Or maybe their roster is a desperate collection of players who just happen to be eligible to play this year (where art thou Adam Loewen?). Bottom line is, as their offense goes, so go the Canadians. Their pitching staff is terrifying, and the Canadian starters won’t be able to feast on patsies like Spain or Mexico in Beijing. They’d be happy finishing in the top half—personally, I’d consider fourth place an overachievement.

CATCHER: David Carrente, Dunedin Blue Jays and Chris Robinson, Canadian National Team. Catcher looks to be a true time-share between Carrente and Robinson—at least that’s how it played in the 2008 Olympic Qualification Tournament. They’re both righties though, so I’m not sure quite how they’ll end up sharing time. Carrente, a High-A prospect in the Toronto Blue Jays’ system, has hit .246/.270/.557 in limited action after being demoted from AAA in 2007. Robinson spent three years in the Detroit Tigers’ and the Chicago Cubs’ farm systems, and played as a back-up catcher for Canada in the 2006 WBC.

FIRST BASE: Scott Thorman, Richmond Braves. Thorman won the first base starting job with the Atlanta Braves in 2007, but the much-maligned lefty was never able to develop beyond a platoon role. He’s spent the entirety of 2008 in the International League, where he’s putting up a Craig Wilson-esque line of .249/.282/.468 with 18 homers and an almost 8-1 K/BB rate. He still can’t hit lefties, apparently. But he’s also still one of Canada’s best sources of power.

SECOND BASE: Stubby Clapp, Canadian National Team. Fearless prediction: Clapp’s jersey will be the hottest selling item at the 2008 Olympics. He caught a cup of coffee with the St. Louis Cardinals in 2001. At an imposing 5’8”, Clapp became immensely popular in Memphis while playing for the AAA affiliate there. He was known as “The Mayor of Memphis” and even had his #10 jersey retired—the first number ever retired by the Redbirds. Of course, Clapp became immensely unpopular when a rumor circulated that its only known cure was to slam a window on the infected member….

THIRD BASE: Matt Rogelstad, Harrisburg Senators. This twenty-five-year-old middle infielder figures to start for Canada at 3B, where he has a .933 Fielding Percentage and a 2.29 Range Factor in about a season’s worth of games in the minor leagues. Canada needs his lefty bat in the lineup; he was hitting .274/.320/.442 at High-A Potomac before being called up to AA at the beginning of July. He was selected as the starting second baseman in the 2008 Carolina/California League All-Star Game in 2008. He hit .400 in the Olympic qualifying tournament in March.

SHORTSTOP: Brett Lawrie, Brookswood SS. Baseball America named eighteen-year-old Lawrie as one of the most pro-ready prep bats in North America before the 2008 amateur draft. The Milwaukee Brewers selected him in the first round, sixteenth overall. ESPN projects him as a five or six-hole hitter. Scouts rate him as having plus power and think he may just have the quickness and athleticism to play catcher in the bigs. He can also play middle infield, third and left. He’ll most likely play shortstop for Team Canada, for lack of any better options.

LEFT FIELD: Jimmy Van Ostrand, Salem Avalanche. This twenty-three-year-old righty has made a steady climb up the Houston Astros’ farm system. He was a 2007 Futures Game Selection and a 2008 Carolina League mid-season All-Star. He’s currently at .306/.373/.453 for AA-Salem and leads the league in batting average. He’ll anchor the heart of Team Canada’s batting order.

CENTER FIELD: Adam Stern, Norfolk Tides. This hard-nose outfielder has seen sporadic big league call-ups over the last three years as a prospect in the Baltimore Orioles’ system. In the 2006 WBC he was a double short of the cycle in support of a winning effort against the United States—arguably the biggest upset of that tournament. He batted leadoff for Team Canada in the 2008 Qualifying Tournament, but hit only .200. He’s the second Jewish player from Canada in the history of the majors, and incredibly, he has his own fan site here.

RIGHT FIELD: Ryan Radmanovich, Somerset Patriots. This Canadian league mainstay caught a cup of coffee with the Seattle Mariners in 1998, and since then has represented the Canucks at the 2004 Olympics, the 2006 World Baseball Classic, and the 2008 Olympic Qualifying Tournament. A three-time Atlantic League All-Star and perennial MVP candidate, he owns a career .290 batting average with the Pats and is the co-owner of the single season home run record for Somerset (28). The first Calgary native to ever play in the major leagues, he’s penciled in as the cleanup hitter.

STARTING PITCHERS: Likely Chris Begg and pray for rain.

RELIEF PITCHERS: A solid bullpen led by David Davidson, Chris Reitsma and Rheal Cormier.

Mike Saunders will likely DH.

The Canadian National Team slugged their way to a 6-1 record in the Olympic Final Qualifying Tournament, putting ten or more runs on the board four times and scoring four or more runs in all but one of the affairs, a 2-1 extra-inning victory over Germany in the final game.

Canada finished fourth at the 2004 Olympics. In the 2006 WBC they failed to make it out of the first round—despite upsetting America 8-6 in Game 2. Unfortunately, the WBC squad is potentially much stronger than the team they’ll bring to Beijing…. Their impact prospects are still a year or two away from really helping out the national team.