Jaime Garcia won’t pitch in WBC, and that’s good for St. Louis Cardinals

Whenever the World Baseball Classic rolls around, questions abound about who will participate in the tournament and whether or not that compromises their preparation, and later success, in the regular Major League Baseball season. The St. Louis Cardinals will have those questions about their four players who were selected to World Baseball Classic rosters, which were announced Thursday, but the biggest news came from the Cardinals player who isn’t on a WBC roster. Mitchell Boggs will pitch for Team USA, and Carlos Beltran and Yadier Molina will both play for Team Puerto Rico. Fernando Salas will pitch for Team Mexico, but his Cardinals teammate Jaime Garcia won’t join him. Garcia had been on a preliminary roster for Mexico earlier in the offseason, but his participation was contingent on the health of his injured left shoulder that caused him to miss much of the second half of the 2012 season. It would be unfair to jump off a ledge and say Garcia won’t pitch for Mexico because his ...