Giants teammates happy Posey will skip WBC

Some people get caught up with who's not in the World Baseball Classic rather than who is.

Take the case of Buster Posey. He's not going to play for Team USA, which the San Francisco Giants find comforting after monitoring him so much last season, especially in spring training, when the catcher was coming off a severe ankle injury.

Posey's teammates seem on board with the reigning National League MVP sticking in Giants camp throughout March.

"He's the face of American baseball, and it would be fun to have him on the team," reliever Jeremy Affeldt said. "I can see both sides. But I think he made the wise decision. To make sure he'll be ready to compete at his level, he needs to be with the Giants. They're your employers."

Starter Ryan Vogelsong concurred.

"I'd love to see Buster on that team," he said. "Selfishly, as a Giant, I'm glad he's not playing. With all the rehab, it was a long season for him physically and mentally. He went through a lot. We sometimes forget how demanding it is. He'll have plenty of opportunities to do this."

Affeldt and Vogelsong will pitch for Team USA, among the nine players on the Giants' 40-man rosters committed to the WBC.

The others: Pablo Sandoval, Marco Scutaro and Jose Mijares (Venezuela), Angel Pagan and Javier Lopez (Puerto Rico), Sergio Romo (Mexico) and Santiago Casilla (Dominican Republic).

The five relievers on the list constitute most of the big-league bullpen.