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Canada's World Baseball Classic Roster Is Equal Parts Bizarre and Amazing

Russell Martin at short. Eric Gagne and Ryan Dempster on the pitching staff. Could we see a Fergie Jenkins comeback next?
Photo by Lou Dematteis/Reuters

Canada's World Baseball Classic roster is shaping up to be a throwback.

While Joey Votto, Brett Lawrie and young Pirates right-hander Jameson Taillon (a dual Canadian-American citizen) have all turned down invitations, players you would have never guessed are lining up to join the team.

In a tweet from Sportsnet's Shi Davidi that looked like it was from 2006, we found out this weekend that retired pitchers Eric Gagne and Ryan Dempster plan to pitch for Canada at the WBC. For real?

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Come on down Erik Bedard and Larry Walker! Still looking for an arm? Heard Fergie Jenkins might be available. Need a cleanup hitter? Surely Team Canada can lure New Brunswick's very own Matt Stairs out of retirement.

Seriously, though, Gagne and Dempster are fun additions, if nothing else. To expect them to provide much if any value at all would be a stretch, but the pickings are slim.

We told you last week that pitching and a stacked first-round group were gonna be the team's biggest challenges. Since then, presumptive ace James Paxton has been ruled out, leaving Canada with a veteran-heavy staff that's long past its best-before date.

READ MORE: Larry Walker Belongs in Cooperstown

There's no clear-cut ace. No high-upside flamethrowers that would make shutting down a powerhouse American or Dominican Republic team seem possible. But Canada will have to find a way to beat at least one of those teams if it hopes to advance to the second round for the first time in its WBC history.

John Axford. Jim Henderson. Adam Loewen (perhaps he can hit, too). Dustin Molleken. Scott Mathieson. They, along with Gagne and Dempster (if he's not starting), will make up the bullpen, according to Davidi. Scott Richmond, Chris Leroux, and Andrew Albers could round out the pitching staff. It's a veteran group—all over the age of 30—that doesn't exactly scream juggernaut.

Dempster, 39, hasn't pitched since 2013, while the 41-year-old Gagne has toiled around in independent leagues but hasn't thrown a pitch in the majors since 2008, five years after he won the National League Cy Young Award with a 55-save season for the Dodgers.

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And if and when those two take the mound, they won't be throwing to Russell Martin. The Blue Jays' starting catcher will play shortstop, the position he wanted to man in 2013 before bowing out of the WBC. It was a big thing at the time, if you don't remember. American-born Freddie Freeman, meanwhile, will play first. It's an odd team that will have to hit its way past any of the heavyweights.

When they let you play shortstop this time around. Photo by Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Freeman and Martin give Canada two strong bats for the top of the order, while Justin Morneau, Michael Saunders (who signed a one-year deal with the Phillies on Monday, pending a physical) and Dalton Pompey add some more major-league experience. The top part of the order is capable of hitting good pitching—it's not hard to envision Canada putting up some runs. If a few guys get on base and someone like Freeman runs into one, Canada could prove to be a tough first-round opponent provided the pitching is somewhat competent.

Padres farmhand Josh Naylor, a 2015 first-round pick of the Marlins, will also suit up for Canada, according to Davidi, as well as top Mariners prospct Tyler O'Neill, who provides some additional power to the lineup (he had 24 homers and an .882 OPS at the Double-A level last season).

With quality players like Votto and Paxton declining invites, Canada, which has a small pool to choose from to begin with, needs all the help it can get. The additions of Gagne and Dempster, with Martin at short, may have required a second look. But there's nothing to lose here for a Canadian team universally expected to get knocked out in the group stage.

At the very least, this should be fun.