Here's the rosters for all 16 teams

As Larry posted earlier, the Mariners have several players that will participate. But besides the seven players that would be on the 25-man roster: Adrian Beltre (Dominican Republic); Ichiro Suzuki and Kenji Johjima (Japan); Felix Hernandez, Carlos Silva, Endy Chavez and Jose Lopez, there are also several minor leaguers participating ..

P Phillippe Aumont, Canada
IF Alex Liddi, Italy
OF Greg Halman, Netherlands
P Manuel Campos, Panama
IF Anthohy Phillips, South Africa

There are also some former Mariners players or farmhands playing including closer J.J. Putz, who made the U.S. Team.

Also Travis Blackley and Chris Snelling are playing for Australia. Snelling, who is still a free agent, will use the WBC as an audition.

Alex Rodriguez is playing for the Dominican Republic. Phil Barzilla, who pitched for the Rainers, will compete for Italy, while Jorge Campillo will pitch for Mexico.

Also Ashley Scott, who plays locally for Tacoma Community College will suit up for South Africa.

The Seattle Mariners made it clear to third baseman Adrian Beltre that the decision whether to play for the Dominican Republic in the World Baseball Classic was all his – though they had their preference.

On Tuesday, Beltre was placed on the 28-man roster for the Dominican team, but the Mariners still hadn’t heard Beltre’s decision. Being on the roster doesn’t necessarily mean the player has agreed to play.

“We give them our opinion, and we’ve discouraged him that from a health standpoint to make sure he’s 100 per cent,” manager Don Wakamatsu said. “He feels awfully good. He’s judging whether it’s going to help him or hurt him. My discussion with him was to be awfully smart.”

Coming off season-ending injuries and surgeries to his left thumb and shoulder, Beltre came to camp aching to play in the WBC. Just as clearly, the Mainers wanted him not to, but didn’t force the issue.

“I would prefer that he stays in camp because of the injuries he had last year. It’s important that he take it a little bit slower,” Wakamatsu said. “I prefaced it with ‘This is going to be your decision.’ From a managing standpoint, as someone who cares about his health and his future, I wouldn’t recommend it.”

Beltre was listed on the WBC roster released today, along with seven other players on the 40-man roster – Ichiro Suzuki, Kenji Johjima, Endy Chavez, Carlos Silva, Felix Hernandez, Jose Lopez and Greg Halman.

That will put a serious dent in the depth chart beginning March 1, when the non-Asian WBC teams begin working out.

“We’re trying to bring the club together a little bit and create the work ethic,” Wakamatsu said. “You always like to be able to conrol your on destiny and with them not here I think they’re a little bit removed from that.”

For now, the team is scrambling to find out what Beltre has decided. They may not know until he shows up for work Wednesday morning.

TNT file photo

Baseball America has released its annual top 100 prospects in baseball list. And the Mariners placed four players in the list - outfielder Greg Halman (57th), outfielder Michael Saunders (65th)(pictured above), shortstop Carlos Triunfel (89th) and pitcher Phillippe Aumont (93rd).

Greg Halman

Their top prospect is Baltimore catcher Matt Wieters with Tampa Bay lefty David Price No. 2. And just to note, right-hander Chris Tillman, who the Mariners gave up in the Erik Bedard trade, is ranked No. 22.

Here's the complete list.

To some it may seem a little odd to see Halman and Saunders ahead of Triunfel, who many people consider to be the top prospect in the organization. But remember these lists are based on a person's opinion and projection. ESPN's Keith Law had Triunfel at No. 22 and Halman at No. 98 in his top 100 list with Aumont and right-hander Juan Ramirez just missing the top 10. Baseball Prospectus also released a top 100 list earlier and has Halman at No. 42, Aumont at No. 61, Saunders at No. 75 and Triunfel not in the top 100.

Carlos Triunfel

Not on any of the lists was catcher Adam Moore, who most of the Mariners organization was raving about earlier this season.

Halman, Saunders and Moore will most likely all start the season off at Triple A Tacoma, and may get late seasons call ups, but really are a year or two away from being big league ready. Triunfel will probably head to Double A West Tennessee and Aumont, who recently said he plans to throw for Canada in the WBC after saying he wasn't going to a month ago, will be with one of the Class A squads.

Bryan LaHair spent an entire off-season working to strengthen his core muscles in order to deal with a herniated disc in his back, and has come to spring training with the thought of winning a job.

A first baseman by trade, he’s found the field a crowded one.

“Everywhere I look, there’s a first baseman,” he said, and laughed.

He wasn’t kidding. Russell Branyan, Mike Carp, Mike Sweeney, Chris Shelton, Jose Lopez and Mike Morse have all played the position, and the Mariners are getting a first basemans glove for catcher Jeff Clement, too.

It’s a position where the competition is deep, and LaHair – despite a new-found power swing – is down the depth chart a bit. He’s impressed hitting coach Alan Cockrell and infield coach Bruce Hines, but with all those other first basemen, making the opening day roster is a long shot.

That’s the situation at other positions, as well.

There are plenty of outfielders, infielders, catchers and relievers in camp. Too many starting pitchers. And it was designed this way – that’s why there are 63 players in camp, with outfielder Wladimir Balentien yet to report.

“We want competition for every position,” general manager Jack Zduriencik said. “We want options, we want depth within the organization, we want versatility.”

They’ve got it, and it’s going to make for tough decisions in another month or so.

Mike Morse and Balentien, for instance, are out of minor league options. If they don’t make the 25-man roster, they go on waivers for any team to claim. Morse is a right-handed hitter who can play the first base, third base, shortstop and – in a pinch – the outfield.

There are more candidates for utility jobs than there are first baseman.

So even though it’s early in camp, there are players looking around and doing the math. More than 35 players here won’t be heading for Minnesota when Seattle opens the regular season.

LaHair knows the odds. Morse knows them, too. So do Jamie Burke, Rob Johnson and a half dozen relievers. Jobs are scarce, competition considerable.

“We all have the opportunity,” LaHair said. “All you ever want is that chance to show them you can help the team now, and everyone here has that. It’s not supposed to be easy. I’ve gotten stronger in the off-season and lost weight. I’m quicker at first base and strong enough to hit for power.

Can he make this team?

“I think so,” LaHair said.

Ok, my shift as the Reader Representative mercifully came to an end on Friday. Hopefully, I can post a little bit more. But it's tough to do much since I'm not in Arizona yet, and hopefully that will change in a week or two, and Larry and I can double up on the coverage.

But something that needs to be cleared up now for further reference. The pointless sniping at Larry or myself or other posters needs to stop. A little bit of ribbing or teasing in good humor is fine, and I welcome it. But, I think we all know what I am talking about here. And some stuff has moved beyond anything good-natured. Look, it's one thing to have complaints about something we write or didn't write, but if you do, voice them with a fair amount civility or just e-mail us privately. I assure you, your concerns will be taken into consideration.

Either Larry or I would be the first to admit that we are different in many ways as we approach the beat and the blog. We have different levels of experience, different writing styles, different senses of humor and different approaches to how we do things. I think those differences bring a nice variety to the blog and dual voices and points of view to often the same subject.

Maybe Larry's posts aren't what some people want, and perhaps others find my consistent use of sarcasm and sixth-grade humor juvenile. We each have our fans and our detractors. But we are consistent in who we are or what we do. This blog is about the Mariners and baseball and giving readers a forum to get news and discuss it - passionately, but rationally.

But with that said, we are not above being criticized. It's something we signed up for when we got into this business. We understand it well, and we accept it. Beyond criticism, we are always looking for ways to improve the blog. We'll gladly take suggestions to make this product better. Neither of us are ignorant to the fact that it's become a major element to the expected beat coverage of the Mariners. So any improvements to it to help readers are important.

Specifically, Snydro, you know I love your passion for the Hawks, the Mariners and the TNT. You're loyal to all the things we do. You've also been a big supporter of mine for quite a while, and I appreciate it. But at the same time, let's not go around calling people out about losing their jobs. I'm not looking to replace Larry or anybody else on staff. I certainly would never want to see anyone forced out of the business before they are ready, myself particularly. Yet, it's happening to people I know at the P-I, and it's horrible. I can't begin to fathom what it would be like to be them.

I could be my usual self and use the Rodney King quote of "Can't we all just get a long?"

But this isn't a request. It's a demand. You expect a lot of us, and in turn we want to expect a certain level of respect from you.

And now that I've done my best impersonation of Sister Angela - my grade school principal - let's get to a few links.

Here's Larry's story on Mark Lowe finding out that he's diabetic.

The Associated Press' Gregg Bell had this story on Endy Chavez. And yesterday, he had this story on Ken Griffey Jr.

The NY Times had this story on Junior and Jason Giambi returning to the organizations where they started their careers with.

Let's go around baseball ...
Bellarmine Prep grad Jon Lester is helping the fight against cancer.

Indians outfielder David Dellucci told reporters that he had been bitten by an alligator, and they believed him.

Rangers outfielder Josh Hamilton has given up chewing tobacco this season. It's not an easy task to do.

Former Mariners shortstop Omar Vizquel is now with the Rangers and mentoring young prospect Elvis Andrus.

The A's believe they are gaining on the Angels.

The A's also halted plans on building a new stadium in Fremont.

Columnist Ray Ratto checks in with his thoughts on the situation.

Yankees outfielders Johnny Damon and Xavier Nady and Mets first baseman Carlos Pena are having trouble with their finances because of a scandal in the firm where they invested their money. Damon says he can't pay his bills.

The blog "Big League Stew" has some team-by-team previews of the World Baseball Classic.