MLB unveils roster, TV sked for series in Japan

Robinson Cano will lead off a team of MLB All-Stars in Japan next week. (USATSI)

For the first time since 2006, MLB is sending a team of players to Japan this winter to play a five-game series against the Japanese national team. They played the series every other year from 1988-2006 before the brief hiatus. MLB is 9-1 in 10 series all-time and 48-20 in individual games. Japan won the 1990 series.

The 2014 All-Star Series will begin next Wednesday with the first game of the five-game series. The two sides will also play a pair of exhibition games, one before the series and one after. All seven games will be broadcast on MLB Network. Here’s the broadcast schedule:

MLB has officially announced the final roster as well. Bits and pieces have been trickling out for weeks, and now that the postseason is over, MLB was able to finalize the roster. Here are the 29 players and six-man coaching staff heading to Japan:

Albert Pujols and Bryce Harper were scheduled to participate in the event at one point, but apparently both have dropped out. Filling out the pitching staff must have been difficult — guys have either not pitched competitively since September or thrown a ton of innings in the postseason.

Real live competitive baseball in November? I’ll take it!

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