Puerto Rico plans to avoid coming up short

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — Puerto Rico finished second in the 2013 World Baseball Classic. It will bring a better team to the 2017 Classic.

How can this be? Two completely proven veterans, catcher Yadier Molina and outfielder Carlos Beltran, will return for Puerto Rico. They will be joined by three magnificent young talents, shortstops Francisco Lindor and Carlos Correa, and infielder Javier Baez.

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There is a serious surplus of talent at short. Who will play there, Lindor or Correa? The real answer is both, over time.

“We have to win some ballgames, but also we have to get them ready for the season,” Puerto Rico’s manager, Edwin Rodriguez said Monday at a media session during the Winter Meetings. “Lindor won the Gold Glove so he should be starting at shortstop, but either one can be playing at shortstop, and they both know that. They’re very good friends, and they know the situation.”

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Puerto Rico’s successful run to the Classic’s championship game, which was won by the Dominican Republic, was in part a tribute to Molina’s handling of a young pitching staff. That sort of thing will be required again, …

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