Chipper Jones Does Not Approve of the WBC's Format

It seems that with each passing day Team USA is losing another player from its roster in the WBC as everybody tries to follow in the trailblazing footsteps of Chipper Jones. Jones was the first player to leave the team thanks to a strained oblique muscle and is now back with his teammates in Braves camp.

At the moment, Chipper is pretty sure his injury is going to be fine by Opening Day and though he isn't upset about being hurt while playing in the WBC, he does feel there are some things that the tournament can do to make the experience better and possibly eliminate the string of ailments. More specifically, eliminate all the boredom.

"There's some serious problems with the WBC setup," said Jones, who will skip the rest of the tournament. "I wouldn't trade the experience for anything. But I wouldn't do it again under the current format. There's way too many days off. This tournament could be over by now."

"Just way too many days off. We stayed in Toronto for a week and played three games. I don't know if you ever stayed in Toronto, but it's not exactly Las Vegas. To say that we were plucking our eyebrows out one at a time would be an understatement."

Jones has a very good point. While I enjoy watching and following the WBC, there really is way too much down time between games. During spring training players are used to having a game to play every day, and when they go to the WBC they play a game, sit around for a few days, then play a game. It's actually somewhat counterproductive for a guy who is trying to get ready for the grind of a 162-game schedule.

The WBC can probably be played in its entirety much quicker, which would not only help keep the players loose, but would also allow them to get back to their teams earlier. If that were the case, maybe teams would be more willing to let their players participate.