NEW YORK - Players on teams that advance to the final stages of the first baseball World Cup would not be with their major-league teams for most of spring training next year.
Under the proposal being formulated by the commissioner's office, the 16-nation tournament would start March 4 in Asia and begin in the United States and Puerto Rico on March 9, the Associated Press reported.
There would be four groups of four nations in the first round, and the top two teams in each group would advance, according to documents distributed to team officials.
In the second round, there would be two groups of four teams, with the top two in each moving to the semifinals. The semifinals and the final would be one-game knockouts, with the championship game played around March 21 in the western United States.
The plan probably will go to owners for a vote within a month.
ALL-STAR VOTING: A day after hitting his 500th home run, Ken Griffey solidified his spot in fan voting for NL starting slots in the July 13 game in Houston.
Griffey, Barry Bonds and Sammy Sosa are tops among outfielders. If they're elected, it would mark the first time three players with 500 homers would start in the same All-Star outfield.
GIANTS: Left-handed reliever Jason Christiansen went on the 15-day disabled list retroactive to Saturday with mild tendinitis in the front of his pitching shoulder.
PADRES: Catcher Ramon Hernandez is expected to be out two to three weeks with an injured left knee.
PHILLIES: Right-hander Vicente Padilla will be sidelined indefinitely with biceps tendinitis and elbow inflammation in his pitching arm.
