Angels News: 25% of Halos Roster Will Be Playing in the World Baseball Classic

Ten members of the Angels 40-man roster have been named to World Baseball Classic rosters, including nine who are expected to make the Opening Day roster.

The World Baseball Classic rosters were released on Thursday, and 10 members of the Angels' 40-man roster will be participating in the tournament, including nine who are expected to be on the 26-man Opening Day roster. The Halos also have eight minor-leaguers on WBC rosters.

Mike Trout is the only Angel on Team USA, while fellow superstar Shohei Ohtani is the only Halo on Team Japan. Team Venezuela is the lone country with multiple 40-man Angels, with infielders Luis Rengifo and Jose Quijada representing that country.

Six countries have one 40-man Halo each: Panama (Jaime Barria), Dominican Republic (Carlos Estevez), Italy (David Fletcher), Mexico (Patrick Sandoval), Colombia (Gio Urshela), and Isreal (Zack Weiss).

Five of those countries also have Angels minor leaguers: pitcher Glenn Albanese for Italy; catcher Gustavo Campero for Colombia; pitcher Jake Kalish for Israel; pitcher Gerardo Reyes for Mexico; and pitcher Cesar Valdez for the Dominican Republic. The other three minor leaguers from the organization are pitcher Alan Carter (China), outfielder D'Shawn Knowles (Great Britain), and outfielder Aaron Whitefield (Australia).

Catcher Max Stassi had originally intended to play for Team Italy, but he opted to stay with the Angels in spring training instead.

The WBC kicks off on March 7, with the championship game scheduled for March 21 at LoanDepot Park in Miami. According to Jeff Fletcher in the Orange County Register, Angels general manager Perry Minasian said the team will invite more minor leaguers than usual to spring training to make up for the missing players.

This will be the first World Baseball Classic for all 18 Halos. In 2017, the last time the WBC was held, only five Angels were on rosters: Andrelton Simmons (Netherlands), Samuel Holland (Australia), Jose Alvarez (Venezuela), Deolis Guerra (Venezuela), and Yusmeiro Petit (Venezuela).