World Baseball Classic 2017: Canada has a very tough road ahead

From now until the World Baseball Classic begins on March 6, we’ll be helping you get to know each team involved in baseball’s global tournament. Today’s entry: Canada.

What to make of Canada in the 2017 World Baseball Classic? On one hand, the Canadians have some names you’ll definitely recognize. On the other hand, they’re almost all past their prime.

We’re talking about a team on which Ryan Dempster and Eric Gagne are playing after more than 10 years combined away from the game. More telling, though: Canada’s pitching staff might actually need them.

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Many of Canada’s best players are sitting this one out, including Cincinnati Reds star Joey Votto, Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Jameson Taillon, Philadelphia Phillies outfielder Michael Saunders and Toronto Blue Jays catcher Russell Martin. Martin actually isn’t playing for the team, but will join Team Canada during the tournament for moral support.

If they were playing, maybe we’d be thinking of Canada as a team with sleeper potential, but with a depleted roster and two very tough first-round matchups, the odds are stacked against Canada heading into the tournament.

Schedule details: Canada opens Pool C play in Miami on March 9 and Game 1 will be a tough one. Team Canada will play the Dominican Republic, the defending champs. From there, Canada faces Colombia on March 11 and the U.S. on March 12.

’13 finish: The Canadians went 1-2 in the 2013 tournament. That included losses to the U.S. and Italy. Canada’s lone win came against Mexico.

Biggest stars: Freddie Freeman is undoubtedly the biggest name on Canada’s roster. The Atlanta Braves star first baseman will hold down the middle of Canada’s lineup, play a dependable first base and be the team’s leading hugger. There are some other recognizable names on Canada’s roster — such as Eric Gagne, Ryan Dempster and Justin Morneau — but Freeman will be expected to lead the offense.

Notable absence: It’s Joey Votto, who is arguably Canada’s most recognizable baseball player. Votto chose to skip the tournament and focus on his MLB season ahead with the Cincinnati Reds. “There were some aspects of my performance in 2016 that I have decided were lacking,” Votto said in a statement in late December.

Player you should get familiar with: Tyler O’Neill has a chance to prove himself in the WBC. He’s the Seattle Mariners’ No. 2 prospect, according to Baseball America, and is coming off a Double-A season in which he hit .293 with an .882 OPS, that included 24 homers and 102 RBIs.

Do they have a chance to win? Ehh, not really. Canada has talent but pulling off an upset in Pool C is going to be a tough task. Canada has to play both the U.S. and Dominican Republic, who very well could be the two best teams in the tournament. Baseball’s an any-given-day type of sport, so it could happen, but it looks tough for Canada.

THREE BIG QUESTIONS ABOUT CANADA

Is there enough pitching? Canada has enough offense to pull off an upset, the question is whether it has the pitching. The roster of pitchers is … wow … pretty rough. Outside of the retirees, the names you may know on Team Canada include John Axford, Andrew Albers and Jim Henderson. Most of the big-league pitchers on Canada’s roster are relievers, so they’ll either need to depend on Dempster to start or call on a few minor-league guys, such as Nick Pivetta (from the Phillies farm system) or free agent Chris Leroux to get them threw a few innings before calling the ‘pen.

How will the old guys fare? The most interesting storyline on Team Canada is Dempster and Gagne. Dempster was a serviceable MLB starter in his day, but he hasn’t pitched since 2013. Gagne, 41, has been away even longer. He last pitched in MLB in 2008. Then there’s Morneau, whose bat may still have pop at 35, but injuries have messed up his career so much, it’s hard to tell. He played 58 games last year with the White Sox and hit .261 with six homers.

Can Russell Martin will them to victory? Proud Canadian Martin — the starting catcher for the Blue Jays — will be involved with the team this time around. Martin was set to fill in as Team Canada’s shortstop in 2013, but backed out of the event after the team failed to meet his wishes. Rather than completely sitting things out this year, he’ll join the team to add “insight and support.” So he’ll be their Yoda, basically? Team Canada could certainly benefit from using The Force, so here’s hoping Martin can coach these guys up as quickly as Yoda did Luke Skywalker.

Also in this series:
— Australia
— China
— Chinese Taipei
— Colombia
— Cuba
— Dominican Republic
— Israel
— Italy
— Japan
— Korea
— Mexico
— Netherlands
— Puerto Rico
— United States
— Venezuela

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Mike Oz is the editor of Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at mikeozstew@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @MikeOz