WBC and pitchers

[CubFan]

How do you feel about MLB pitchers pitching in the WBC? Would you protect/draft a pitcher who participates? How much would you knock down his value?

Personally from a fantasy and even real life position I dread it. IMO the risks of injury outweigh the benefits of competition. I think we all agree that except for the studs, pitching from a fantasy standpoint is a crapshoot. And even the studs are not immune from getting hurt.

From my roster I was going to protect James Shields and sign him to a 1 yr contract. But when I recently found out that he was going to pitch in the WBC a red flag flew up. The extra post-season innings and now the WBC makes me uneasy in protecting him.

Just wanted to see what others have to say about pitching and the WBC and how you view it in the context of drafting a pitcher.

[Todd Zola]

There are some studies out there, people trying to get an edge, but quite frankly I feel it is much ado about nothing. The sample of one previous WBC is too small a sample to base anything on. I am not even considering it in my evaluations.

[cwk1963]

I posted this in a different thread FWIW

I have heard Davey Johnson and especially Marcel Lachemann interviewed at length on XM about the very concern of over-working pitchers this time around. He was very specific about working very closely with each MLB team who had pitchers in the WBC to keep them as close to their normal ST schedule as possible. He said this would not be a one time conversation but that it would be ongoing. Team USAWBC realizes the potential impact to each MLB team and indicated they would not be taking the same approach with each pitcher but would tailor it to what that team's coaching staff wants.

Now, obviously, this does not address what Team DR or PR, etc are going to do but it's the mantra being put out there by the USA.