Feb. 25, 2009

Former Tennessee Volunteers shortstop and current Arizona Diamondbacks infielder Augie Ojeda was placed on the final roster for the Team Mexico in preparation for the World Baseball Classic.

The 5-foot-9 switch-hitter played for the Vols in 1996 and joined former UT pitcher R.A. Dickey as members of the USA Olympic team that took home the Bronze medal that same year.

Ojeda was a 1993 graduate of Pius X High School in Downey, Calif., and played two seasons at Cypress (Calif.) College where he earned All-America honors in 1995 before transferring to Tennessee where was selected First-Team All-SEC.

He made his major league debut on June 4, 2000, with the Chicago Cubs. He joined the Diamondbacks in 2007 as a non-roster invitee and made the club shortly after spring training.

The defensive specialist is a .235 career hitter with six home runs and 60 RBI in 340 major league games. He played a career-high 105 games with the D-Backs last season while batting .242 with 17 RBI.

His 2007 postseason highlights included three National League Division Series starts against the Cubs, batting .444 (4-for-9) with a run scored, double, RBI and walk. He also started 3 NL Championship Series games vs. Colorado, batting .167 (2-for-12).

The second edition of the 16-team World Baseball Classic, which opened to widespread acclaim in 2006, will begin March 5 and end in Los Angeles on March 23 with the finals at Dodger Stadium. All 39 games are slated to be televised this year by ESPN and MLB Network, including 16 on the Network.

The first round opens March 5 in Tokyo, with defending 2006 champion Japan facing China. Mexico City, Toronto and San Juan, Puerto Rico, host the other three first-round brackets, as follows:

• Tokyo (March 5-9): Japan, China, Chinese Taipei and Korea

• Toronto (March 7-11): USA, Canada, Venzuela and Italy

• San Juan (March 7-11): Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Netherlands, Panama

• Mexico City (March 8-12): Mexico, Cuba, South Africa, Australia

It's a double-elimination format this time in the first two rounds. The winners from Toronto will meet the winners from Puerto Rico in the second round at Miami's Dolphin Stadium, while the winners from Tokyo will meet with the winners from Mexico City in San Diego's PETCO Park.

The semifinals and finals are on March 21 and 23 at Dodger Stadium.