According to Jose de Jesus Ortiz of the Houston Chonicle Jose Valverde will not participate in this years World Baseball Classic. 

Ortiz writes that “Cooper’s eyes lit up when Valverde used colorful, forceful language to make clear that he will not participate in the World Baseball Classic.  Valverde, who is on the Dominican Republic’s provisional roster, hasn’t officially withdrawn his name from WBC consideration. But he was quite clear when his manager asked.”

Here is what Cecil Cooper had to say about Valverde’s decision and the World Baseball Classic: “He’s a big part of what we do,” Cooper said of Valverde. “He is the stabilizer. He is the anchor. That’s great that he wants to be here and be a part of this and not be concerned with going to pitch over there. That’s great. He’s committed to us and our season, and that’s great.

“Not that it’s not important to pitch for the WBC, but that shows his commitment here. He looks in pretty good shape, too. He looks in good shape. Yeah, great shape. You can tell he’s pretty excited. He’s already thrown a bullpen already, so I’m sure he’s probably happy to have all that contract stuff behind him also.”

This is good news for Astros fans in that it shows Valverde’s commitment to the team.  I hope that this will carry over to the end of the season when his contract will be up.  Also, it will give fans the chance to compare Valverde’s performance with Oswalt’s as Roy is pitching in the classic this year.  (which I think is awesome)  Some people think that playing in the WBC can affect a player’s season.  So I guess we will have to wait and see.