Club v Country - The big issue by Richard Meade

There have been a few tests of loyalty already this off-season what with Boston hero CF Johnny Damon choosing to go with the money and become a Yankee and Paul Konerko reportedly turning down more than the $60million five year deal that the White Sox offered him to stay in Chicago.

But the true test of loyalty is now upon us. Last week Hideki Matsui added his name to the list of players that will not be participating in the first World Baseball Classic in March. He cited the fact that he wanted to make sure he kept himself fresh and injury free to achieve his dream of earning a World Series with the Yankees.

The decision follows A-Rod's choice to become a spectator in order to try and repeat his MVP performance for the Bronx faithful. I, as you have probably already gathered, have a problem with this.

Now first of all I understand that the MLB season is long and arduous and that any kind of advantage that you can get over the course of the 162 game marathon can only be good. I also understand that the pressure for success on Yankees players is probably greater than those of any other team but despite this I still can't agree with players' decision.

First of all the World Baseball Classic is under a month in length and there are relatively few games to be played. Also there is an amazing amount of exclusivity connected to this championship. It's the first one ever - how can you turn down the chance to play in the first real global baseball competition ever.

But my biggest problem is the lack of pride these players seem to have. To be selected to play for your country should be an amazing thing, unturndownable if you will.
In almost every other sport the top players are more than happy to be selected for their national team and take pride in putting on their national colours and taking the field, court, track etc. I hope that the fact that no-one is getting paid for the tournament is not putting off these global superstars who have signed multi-million dollar contracts with the world's richest club, but part of me suspects that this is the case.

Don't get me wrong, I'm still looking forward to the event as are some of the biggest stars in the game such as Barry Bonds, David Ortiz, and Ichiro, but international competitions are meant to show off the biggest stars in the game and without them the tournament will feel slightly tainted.