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Pettitte notched the first win of the season with eight strong.

WBC roster announced, no Pettitte

Photo courtesy of mlb.com

Nervous Yankee fans breathed a sigh of relief Thursday when Team USA’s roster was announced without Andy Pettitte’s name on it. As of now, the left-hander will not pitch in this year’s World Baseball Classic, contradicting reports earlier in the week that the soon-to-be 41 year old would participate. However, the roster only has 27 of a possible 28 players. Pettitte could still join the team, as that one roster spot is reserved for a starting pitcher. Teams have until Feb. 20 to finalize formal rosters.

The Yankees would like for Pettitte to focus solely on Spring Training and being healthy for the upcoming season. Historically, the organization doesn’t like to send their players to compete in these “exhibition” games if they don’t have to.

Also, according to a column by Bob Klapish, tournament eligibility is based upon guaranteed insurance coverage in the event of an injury. Therefore, insurers tend to shy away from players over 38 with history of injuries. 

Here is the provisional roster for Team USA:

Manager: Joe Torre

Position players:

C/1B- Joe Mauer MIN
C- J.P. Arencibia TOR
C- Jonathan Lucroy MIL
1B- Mark Teixeira NYY
2B- Brandon Phillips CIN
SS- Jimmy Rollins PHI
3B- David Wright NYM
UT- Ben Zobrist TB
UT- Willie Bloomquist ARI
OF- Ryan Braun MIL
OF- Adam Jones BAL
OF- Giancarlo Stanton MIA
OF- Shane Victorino BOS

Pitchers:

LHP- Jeremy Affeldt SF
LHP- Tim Collins KC
LHP- Derek Holland TEX
LHP- Glen Perkins MIN
RHP- Heath Bell ARI
RHP- Mitchell Boggs STL
RHP- Steve Cishek MIA
RHP- R.A. Dickey TOR
RHP- Luke Gregorson SD
RHP- Craig Kimbrel ATL
RHP- Kris Medlen ATL
RHP- Chris Perez CLE
RHP- Vinnie Pestano CLE
RHP- Ryan Vogelsong SF