DALLAS, Dec. 5 (UPI) -- Former Toronto manager Buck Martinez was chosen Monday to lead Team USA in next March's World Baseball Classic.
Martinez will lead a group of outstanding major-leaguers this coming spring. Preliminary rosters were announced on the opening day of the annual Winter Meetings in Dallas.
Team USA is expected to include San Francisco's Barry Bonds, Houston's Roger Clemens, the New York Yankees' Derek Jeter and 2005 MVP candidate Derrek Lee of the Chicago Cubs.
Four groups made up of four teams will play a round-robin format with the top two teams from each advancing to the second round. Two more four-team groups will then play another round-robin schedule with the top two teams from each moving on to the single-elimination semifinals.
The tournament will convene March 3, when Pool A -- comprised of Asian nations Japan, Korea, Taiwan and China -- begins play at the Tokyo Dome in Japan.
