Eleven members of the Kansas City Royals' organization will participate in the 2017 World Baseball Classic tournament, Major League Baseball announced Wednesday.
Six of the players are members of the Royals' 40-man roster: Drew Butera (Italy), Danny Duffy (USA), Alcides Escobar (Venezuela), Eric Hosmer (USA), Salvador Perez (Venezuela) and Joakim Soria (Mexico).
The other players are catcher Allan De San Miguel (Australia) and shortstop Mauricio Ramos (Colombia), who both played at Northwest Arkansas in 2016; left-handed pitcher Jake Kalish (Israel), who was at Wilmington last season; Lexington right-handed pitcher Gabe Cramer (Israel); and Idaho Falls catcher Meibrys Viloria (Colombia).
This year's tournament will be the third for Butera, who played with the Netherlands in 2009 and was a member of Team Italy in 2013. Hosmer, Perez and Soria will be participating in their second tournaments. Duffy and Escobar will be making their first WBC appearances.
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