Mark Teixeira said today he would not be playing for the United States in the World Baseball Classic. CC Sabathia and A.J. Burnett said the same thing when they signed.

At the moment, the only Yankees involved for sure are Derek Jeter (United States) and Alex Rodriguez (Dominican Republic).

Robinson Cano has said he wants to play for the Dominicans. But at some point the Yankees will remind him that he was a howling dog in 2008 and needs to stay in camp and take care of business.

Because they finished last season on the disabled list, the Yankees can prohibit Chien-Ming Wang, Jorge Posada and Hideki Matsui from playing.

Mariano Rivera showed no interest in playing for Panama the last time and is coming off surgery. He’s out.

Is there anybody else who would take the team? Xavier Nady? One of the relievers? It could be a break for the Yankees to keep the bulk of the team together.

From The LoHud Yankees Blog. Please read the complete article and let us know what you think below.