David Wright will play third base for team USA in the World Baseball Classic come March. Although other Mets will be in the classic, Wright will be the only Met on team USA. The left side of the infield will be Wright at third and Derek Jeter at short, an interesting combination since both these players are New York’s’ darlings for their respective teams.

The reason that Wright was selected is because Alex Rodriguez, the Yankees third baseman, has elected to play for the Dominican Republic. This has riled up the media as if they don’t have enough other things to bash A-Rod about. Let’s face it, everything from the Yankees not winning the World Series in eight years to the economy is being blamed on A-Rod and unfairly so. Now he is being accused of treason almost because he has decided to play for the country of his heritage.

In 2006, no one complained that Mike Piazza played for team Italy. Now you tell me, who should be more qualified to play for their country of heritage? Should it be Florida native A-Rod who speaks Spanish and is the son of parents who are Dominican citizens or Mike Piazza who grew up in Norristown, Pennsylvania with first generation Italian parents?

According to the rules established by the WBC committee, the answer is both. The rules state that as long as one parent was born in a foreign country, the player is eligible to play for that country. Major League Baseball likes this rule and for a very good reason. It allows Major League ballplayers to play for other countries making the competition more even. A competitive tournament is more popular and will help build interest in the Classic and baseball world wide. It would not be good for baseball, or the tournament, if the USA pummeled every country they played.

Italy did not stay in the tournament long in 2006 put having Piazza in the lineup gave the team some credibility. It also helped raise expectations for Italian players and hopefully inspired them to improve for the next tournament. Japanese, Tawainese, and Hispanic major league players all played for their native countries last time and no one seemed to care. But as soon as A-Rod decided to do it, he’s the bad apple again.

As a Mets fan, I have no business defending Yankee Alex Rodriguez. But he never did anything to me and in fairness he should have been a Met. But in 2000, the Mets got cold feet and walked away before ever offering Scott Boras a counter proposal.

The media and Yankee fans love to bash A-Rod. They hold him solely accountable for not winning a World Series. I guess no one bothered to notice that Yankee pitching over the last few years has left little to be desired or that other than A-Rod, no one hit consistently.

While Jeter continues to degrade as he gets older (and I think Jeter is a great Yankee by the way) he still gets a pass from the Yankee faithful while his range at short hurts the team. A-Rod has already won the MVP twice while in a Yankees uniform, but continues to be the lightening rod of Yankee fans’ ire.

A-Rod playing for the Dominican team is a good thing. His status as a national hero there further encourages young ball players to work hard. One day, these inspired young players from all over the world may very well be playing in your home town. Now how is that bad for baseball?