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USA Baseball announces Olympic Team Roster, Golden Spikes Winner
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USA Baseball today announced the roster for the team which will represent the United States in the Beijing Olympic Games later this summer. Manager Dave Johnson, who led USA Baseball to its first World Cup Gold Medal in thirty seven years this past Novemeber, ironically also in China, will lead the Olympic squad as well. Johnson, who has World Series rings as both a player and manager, along with USA general manager Bob Watson, used the Futures Game this past weekend as a final assessment on some of the top players under consideration. From a preliminary roster of sixty, Team USA will take a roster of twenty-four to China, with the US scheduled to begin play on August 13th vs. Korea.
Johnson's staff, which has remained intact since the 2005 World Cup, will accompany the team to China and includes Marcel Lachemann, (pitching coach), and Reggie Smith, (hitting coach/first base coach). The remainder are Rick Eckstein (third base coach), and auxiliary coaches Dick Cooke and Rolando de Armas.
Eligibility for consideration is any active professional player not currently on an active, twenty-five Major League Roster. Fourteen of the twenty-four players are currently on Triple A rosters, with others selected from lower minor league classifications and the amateur USA Junior National Team.
The U.S. is returning to the Olympics for the first time since 2000, as they didn't qualify in 2004. Previous results have been; fourth, (1992), bronze, (1996), and gold, (2000).
In a seperate announcement, USA Baseball announced Florida State University catcher Buster Posey has been named winner of the 2008 Golden Spikes Award, given annually to the top amateur player in the country. Posey was selected out of a final group of five players, including pitchers Brian Matusz (University of San Diego), and Aaron Crow,(University of Missouri) and infielders Gordon Beckham, (University of Georgia) and Brett Wallace, (Arizona State University).
The complete roster:
Pitchers
Brett Anderson, Oakland Athletics
Jake Arrietta, Baltimore Orioles
Trevor Cahill, Oakland Athletics
Geno Espinelli,
Kevin Jepsen, Los Angeles Angels
Brandon Knight, New York Mets
Mike Koplove, Los Angeles Dodgers
Blain Neal, Detroit Tigers
Clayton Richard, Chicago White Sox
Jeff Stephens, Cleveland Indians
Stephen Strasberg, San Diego State University
Casey Weathers, Colorado Rockies
Catchers
Taylor Teagarden, Texas Rangers,
Lou Marsden, Philadelphia Phillies,
Infielders
Brian Barden, St. Louis Cardinals
Matthew Brown, Los Angeles Angels
Jason Donald, Philadelphia Phillies
Mike Hessman, Detroit Tigers,
Terry Tiffee, Los Angeles Dodgers,
Outfielders
Dexter Fowler, Colorado Rockies,
John Gall, Florida Marlins
Matt LaPorta, Cleveland Indians
Colby Rasmus, St. Louis Cardinals
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