September 17, 2022 – 02:11
“We are going to compete as equals,” said Salta coach Rolando Arnedo. Argentina will travel to Panama on Saturday the 24th and on the 30th they will debut with Pakistan.
On Friday, September 30, the Argentine baseball team, Los Gauchos, will have its historic debut in the World PreClassic at the Rod Carew stadium in Panama against Pakistan, starting at 10:00 p.m. (Argentine time). The competition is organized by the World Baseball Classic, Inc (WBCI), created by Major League Baseball and the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA).
With a roster of 28 players, the Argentine delegation will travel to Panama on Saturday the 24th to compete in the qualifiers along with Pakistan, New Zealand, Brazil, Nicaragua and the local team.
Rolando Arnedo, main manager, advanced how the previous work was, what are the expectations of this tournament that grants two tickets to the 2023 World Classic and advanced: “We are going to compete as equals.” César Rafael Salinas, president of the Argentine Baseball Federation, detailed why Los Gauchos will play this edition that will be historic for the national sport.
Arnedo from Salta, manager in the Arizona Diamondbacks organization, returns as main manager to Argentina after Los Gauchos participated in the Lima 2019 Pan American Games. Marcelo Alfonsín, Gabriel Sansó, Eduardo Capdevila, Nicolás Solari and Federico Bisbal.
“Representing the National Team means for me a feeling of joy, happiness, returning to a place where I feel I belong and that is very familiar to me because of the environment,” said the manager.
Regarding this historic participation for Los Gauchos, he said: “It is an unprecedented scenario and a great responsibility to put Argentina in the eyes of the world and that the Major Leagues have our country on their radar.”
Although the final list of players has not yet been confirmed by the organization, Arnedo announced how the search was carried out, taking into account that children or grandchildren of Argentines and also residents of the country are eligible through the regulations.
“The selection of players was quite difficult, especially moving to find them and be on the regulations of the Major Leagues. It was a good opportunity to strengthen the team, to complement the best we have and put some pieces in the different areas.
It was based on scouting, we moved a lot to get options, calling universities and players like Daniel Castano and Yennier Cano, but they can’t because they are Major League players,” he argued.
“We began to see position options, we knew that we had to reinforce the pitching and it was not easy. For those who live in the United States, I followed their numbers to see if they are effective, I also met and had lunch with some of them. On the other hand, also I was talking with each of the staff members at the venues in Argentina to keep the players active with a work plan.
Finally, he said he was “very satisfied with the roster, the bullpen starters and we are going to compete as equals in the contest, despite the fact that details have to be adjusted, the pieces moved. That is going to be our job,” closed the Salta native.
