Mora Says He Might Not Play in WBC

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. Feb. 26 -- For almost a week, Melvin Mora had taken extra batting practice, had fielded ground balls long after most of his Baltimore Orioles teammates had retired to the clubhouse, and accelerated his spring training program simply to get ready to represent his country in the World Baseball Classic.

No one appeared more eager to participate in the inaugural tournament than Mora, who according to a team official had been one of the first players to sign up to play for Venezuela, his home country. Now, unless Venezuelan baseball officials acquiesce and allow Mora to play third base in the tournament, the Orioles' infielder, who unofficially backed out of the tournament when he was told he would play the outfield while the Florida Marlins' Miguel Cabrera would play third base, won't be a part of the WBC, he said Sunday.

"I'm a third baseman. I'm not an outfielder anymore. I'd just like to have a little bit of respect," Mora said. "I don't want to say it's my final decision because it's a long way until the competition, but I keep preparing myself extra here. I was excited. I was working every day for that competition. But when you hear something like that, you get disappointed, you get down."

Mora, who has not played the outfield since 2003, said he blamed the Venezuelan Baseball Federation.

"They never called me to say they were going to put anybody else at third base," Mora said. "They know my number. They know my organization. You can call me here in the clubhouse and you can tell me what you guys are doing. I am not going to hurt my career because you want the team to be better with me in center field. I know the Venezuelan people are going to understand that. I am apologizing. It was a decision that was tough to make."

Mora said he recently spoke to Venezuelan baseball officials and WBC Manager Luis Sojo, who told him the Marlins had petitioned for Cabrera to play third base, though Florida General Manager Larry Beinfest told reporters on Sunday his team did no such thing. In fact, it was the Orioles who had voiced concerns to Major League Baseball about Mora playing the outfield.

"He hasn't played the outfield in [three] years," Orioles Vice President Jim Duquette said. "On top of that, he wouldn't be getting game experience at third base, where he'd be playing the whole year. There's a risk of injury if he's playing the outfield. Once we had heard there was a possibility of that happening, we expressed our concern to Major League Baseball, which I know was expressed to the Venezuelan federation."

Neither Venezuelan baseball officials nor Sojo was available to comment. Mora said he didn't want to risk injury playing an unfamiliar position while trying to negotiate a contract extension with the Orioles.

And while Cabrera may be one of the more talented young players in the game, Mora does not feel he should defer to him. If Edgardo Alfonzo, a third baseman for most of his 11-year career, had been assigned to third base, Mora said, there would be no problem.

"I'm not going to say that I don't respect Miguel Cabrera, but I respect Edgardo because he's played a long time -- more than me as a third baseman," Mora said. "He deserves to play that position instead of me. Maybe I am the top third baseman in the league, but I respect him. He started first. When he decided to play second base, then he said it is my opportunity to play third base."

Mora, who had appeared so energetic for most of the week, seemed somber Sunday. He lounged around in the outfield for several moments, and eventually took batting practice with the last group. After his last swings, Mora returned to the clubhouse, where he spent time with some of his Venezuelan Orioles teammates. Mora can still change his mind before March 2, the day teams must finalize their rosters.

"It's a personal decision," Orioles catcher Ramon Hernandez, a member of the Venezuelan team, said. "It's a bad thing for us because he's a great player. Everybody wants him there. And he wants to be there. We love this game. We love to represent our countries, but we have to take care of ourselves first. I mean, if we don't do it, who is going to do it?"