01-23-2009, 02:13 AM
<!--quoteo-->QUOTE <!--quotec-->St. Louis Cardinals slugger Albert Pujols wants to play in the World Baseball Classic in March, but an insurance issue could prevent him from representing the Dominican Republic in the tournament, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports.
"I'm real excited, looking forward to it, but I guess there are a couple things about the injury list - there is something going on with the Classic and Major League Baseball," Pujols said. "I don't know if I'm even going to be on the roster right now because of the insurance. Something weird is going on with the whole thing. It's not just myself. It's a lot of different players from different countries. I guess insurance doesn't want to take the chance to cover us because we come from surgery."
Major league teams' policies on players do not cover participation in exhibitions such as the WBC, the newspaper reports. A corporation formed by MLB and the Players Association obtains insurance to cover players in the WBC, but finding that coverage for a player who has had surgery since last season is a challenge.
Pujols had surgery three months ago to move a nerve near his right elbow. Pujols also has a strained ligament near the same elbow that was operated on. Pujols says his rehab was finished a month ago and he is ready to play. He said he would not jeopardize the Cardinals by playing in the WBC ad anything less than 100 percent strength.
"If I get down to spring training and I feel any tweak - any kind of tweak - I'm not going to go," he told the Post-Dispatch. "That's the only thing that's going to stop me. Right now I'm feeling really good. I'm looking forward to representing the Dominican Republic."<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
"I'm real excited, looking forward to it, but I guess there are a couple things about the injury list - there is something going on with the Classic and Major League Baseball," Pujols said. "I don't know if I'm even going to be on the roster right now because of the insurance. Something weird is going on with the whole thing. It's not just myself. It's a lot of different players from different countries. I guess insurance doesn't want to take the chance to cover us because we come from surgery."
Major league teams' policies on players do not cover participation in exhibitions such as the WBC, the newspaper reports. A corporation formed by MLB and the Players Association obtains insurance to cover players in the WBC, but finding that coverage for a player who has had surgery since last season is a challenge.
Pujols had surgery three months ago to move a nerve near his right elbow. Pujols also has a strained ligament near the same elbow that was operated on. Pujols says his rehab was finished a month ago and he is ready to play. He said he would not jeopardize the Cardinals by playing in the WBC ad anything less than 100 percent strength.
"If I get down to spring training and I feel any tweak - any kind of tweak - I'm not going to go," he told the Post-Dispatch. "That's the only thing that's going to stop me. Right now I'm feeling really good. I'm looking forward to representing the Dominican Republic."<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
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