The Twins have put a lot of effort in recent years into scouting players internationally and the club has found quite a bit of success with their efforts.
So it comes as no surprise that the organization will be well represented when the 2009 World Baseball Classic takes place this March.
Provisional 45-man rosters for the 16 countries taking part in this year's Classic were released on Monday. The Twins had a total of 18 players from their organization included on those rosters -- the most of any Major League ballclub.
A few of the Twins players listed on the rosters had already announced that they had committed to the event including closer Joe Nathan (USA) and Justin Morneau (Canada). The Twins had also previously said that Francisco Liriano would pitch for the Dominican Republic in the event.
Counting Nathan, Morneau and Liriano, a total of seven players from the Twins' 40-man roster were listed on the rosters released Monday. Jesse Crain (Canada), Nick Punto (Italy), Jose Mijares (Venezuela) and Luke Hughes (Australia) are also slated to take part in the Classic.
The World Baseball Classic is the only international tournament in which players on the 25-man roster of each Major League team can participate. With this being their only chance to play for their country, many players have expressed a strong desire to take part in the event.
"Any time you're out there, and they're playing the anthem, and you look down the line, and you're not the only Canadian in the lineup, it's a sense of pride," said Morneau, who played for Canada in the inaugural Classic back in 2006. "There's a lot of emotion involved. There is emotion involved any time you're playing for your country."
Although there are 18 players from the Twins organization currently named to rosters, they might not all be part of the teams that take the field in March. Each country's final roster of 28 players -- including a mandatory 13 pitchers -- must be set by Feb. 24.
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