Rodriguez in doubt for Dominicans in WBC

NEW YORK: The status of Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez on the Dominican Republic team remained up in the air ahead of today's launch of baseball's highest-level international competition, the World Baseball Classic.

Rodriguez, the highest paid player in MLB at $27.5 million a year, was seeing a Colorado hip specialist on Wednesday about a nagging condition that put his participation in the 16-nation, 19-day tournament in doubt.

Some other top players are missing from the rosters as they recover from injury or get acclimatized to new teams following trades, yet a formidable crop of great hitters and pitchers will be playing for patriotic pride in the second WBC.