Mark DeRosa Should Never Manage Team USA Again After Admitting The Unthinkable

Look, I'm a huge Mark DeRosa fan. Love the guy. I think he's one of the best studio analysts in sports. There's a reason his show, MLB Central, wins an Emmy every year. 

He's an excellent MLB analyst, was a very good player, and – up until last night – was a relatively decent Team USA manager. 

All that being said, he should probably be fired. Like, today. Right now. Five minutes ago, actually. What he did this week – what he ADMITTED to – is completely inexcusable. 

DeRosa, for those who were asleep Tuesday night, admitted to entering the team's final pool game against Italy NOT knowing that Team USA had NOT yet clinched a spot in the knockout round of the World Baseball Classic. 

He thought his team had already punched their ticket to the next round. He said as much in an interview with MLB Network earlier Tuesday. He sat guys like Bryce Harper and Alex Bregman. He sent scrub pitchers to the mound. 

Italy then stunned America, 8-6, and now the US is staring down the barrel of one of the most embarrassing WBC eliminations in the history of not only this tournament, but any tournament ever. 

Yep. Fire him. Today!

Just inexcusable from Mark DeRosa on all levels 

First of all, DeRosa didn't "misspeak." Watch the first video. He literally thought this was a throwaway game. He said as much. 

"I misread the calculations."

He didn't know the rules, which, to be fair, are very stupid. All the tiebreaker rules for this tournament are ridiculous. You need a PhD from Harvard to figure them all out. I failed high school Algebra. I wouldn't stand a chance against them. 

BUT, I'm also not the manager of what's been billed to us as the "dream team." It's Mark DeRosa's job to know the rules. And if he can't figure them out, it's his job to hire people and surround himself with people who do. 

He failed. And now, the US needs a mini miracle to advance in this tournament. That's right. The heavy favorite. The dream team. The ‘greatest US baseball team ever assembled.’ 

They may be eliminated less than a week into the tourney. 

It would be – and I'm not being hyperbolic here – the most embarrassing thing to happen to a US team, on a national stage, in a long time. 

All because Mark DeRosa – and, apparently, the rest of the US staff – thought they'd already locked up a spot in the next round and punted on Tuesday's game. 

He sat Bryce Harper, who, to be fair, hasn't been great. But still. He sat Bryce Harper and Alex Bregman and Cal Raleigh and Brice Turang … and played guys like Paul Goldschmidt and Ernie Clement. 

He pitched guys like Ryan Yarbrough … in a World Baseball Classic game! Ryan Yarbrough. At one point, DeRosa had Clayton Kershaw warming up. 

Clayton. Kershaw. 

Clayton Kershaw!!!!!!!!

It's an inexcusable blunder, a shocking admission, and, most likely, a fireable offense. Which is a shame, because I like Mark DeRosa. 

Anyway, here's how the US gets in. They need a lot of things to go their way. Not impossible. But not easy.