With Team USA trials scheduled later than they’ve ever been, everybody involved is in uncharted territory. Even USA Baseball, whose hand was apparently forced by some scheduling factors, doesn’t love the situation.
In terms of the Cape League, many USA invitees have been playing on the Cape since day one, which is a major departure from the norm. But if they go to the trials, they’ll be leaving relatively soon. The trials are scheduled to start July 6.
I’ve read some things that indicate once a player leaves for USA, that’s that, since the Cape League’s final rosters are due before the USA roster gets released. But League Commissioner Paul Galop confirmed to me this week that an adjustment has been made. His e-mail:
Since Team USA does not start their tryouts until July 5th, and they are not selecting their team until July 11th, we face an interesting dilemma that we have not had before. So, since we have almost all of the Team USA invitees on our rosters, we have decided to do something unique. The date for submission of our final rosters is July 1st. This year, that doesn’t really help anyone. So, we have backed up that date until 11:59 PM on July 11th so we can bring the players back that either do not make the Team USA roster or would rather play here. We are hoping this provides enough flexibility to help out these players as well as our team rosters.
I think that’s a smart move. A significant number of players will not make Team USA. For them, for the teams, and for us as fans, it’s great that they’ll have a chance to come back to the Cape, if they so choose.