2013 World Baseball Classic
 

Finally, some information about the next WBC. Apparently the WBC steering committee met in New York a couple of weeks ago to discuss the tournament's expansion, format & qualifiers. Source: WBC: Talks for 2013 tournament begin | Yakyu Baka

A little more light on the future of the WBC:

Source: http://www.ibaf.org/en/article-detai...9-8ccecef2015b

What should be the level of IBAF involvement at the next WBC?

2013 World Baseball Classic
 

Baseball is one of the most popular sports in the world. For any keen baseball fan, the world baseball classic is the most cherished tournament, since it involves the top teams vying with each other for the coveted title. The tournament where top players from various countries compete against each other takes place every four years and attracts worldwide attention.

The creation of the world baseball classic has been instrumental in increasing the popularity of baseball to further dizzying heights. It is no longer a sport that is confined to the USA. Today there is baseball fans spread throughout the world. The sport is fast spreading in several regions of Asia too. For the game's administrators, Asia forms one of the most important areas, since the continent has a huge population and it is vital for the growth of the game for it to spread in the region.

The advent of television was instrumental in spreading the popularity of the world baseball classic. Millions of fans around the world could now watch the games live and cheer their favorite heroes. In fact, some of the famous players now enjoy celebrity status in their countries, thanks to the television coverage of the sport. With the advent of the Internet, there are scores of online sources too on the sport. Right from finding out about your favorite players to your favorite team, everything is now only a click away.

Guessing 2012 WBCQ and 2013 WBC details
 

I know that all of the details haven't been released by the WBC Steering Committee about the upcoming Qualifiers. Which teams will get an invitation to the next year's WBC Qualifiers? We know the previous winless teams are in (Canada, Panama, South Africa and Taiwan) and I think it's safe to assume that Colombia and Nicaragua are also in. That leaves ten other teams that aren't clear locks for an invite, but here is my guess of what the WBC Qualifiers will look like:

Asia Group host: Taiwan
Commonwealth Group host: Canada
Latin America Group host: Panama
Europe Group host: Germany
If anyone is thinking that Nicaragua and Spain should be swapped, then you may not be familiar with the IBAF rankings. Taiwan, Canada, Nicaragua and Panama are the top IBAF ranked of the teams listed above. Panama is my favorite to host the Latin America group, because they will be hosting a dress rehearsal called the 2011 IBAF World Cup. Nicaragua shouldn't be and won't in the same group as Panama in the interests of having some competitive balance in the WBCQ. Germany has recently applied to host a WBCQ and I believe they will get it. Germany and Canada will probably host in mid October 2012; while Panama and Taiwan will host a little later in 2012.

The WBC itself will look like this:

Group A host: Japan
Group B host: South Korea
Group C host: Mexico
Group D host: Dominican Republic
I'm probably completely off with my predictions, but the WBC Steering Committee's inactivity made me do it.:D

Loved watching the classic last time. Was getting up at 3am or something to watch. Will do it again too...lots of talent all over the world. There was this one Taiwan pitcher that was amazing!

Unfortunately, I missed most of the Asia games live; thank goodness for TiVo. The WBC will only get better in its future editions. The qualifiers will yield a more competetive final 16 teams.

WBC Update
 

Apparently Luis Sojo will be Venezuela's manager for the next WBC, as well as in the upcoming World Cup in Panama and Pan Am Games in Guadalajara, Mexico. Venezuela is also interested in hosting a round 2013 World Baseball Classic.
Here is the source; it's in Spanish- Líder en Deportes - Luis Sojo ratificado para el Clásico Mundial 2013

Other possibilities:

Group Middle America (host: Panama)
Panama
Nicaragua
Netherlands Antilles
Guatemala

Group South America (host: Colombia)
South Africa
Colombia
Brazil
Argentina

Group Europe (host: Germany)
Canada
Germany
Spain
Great Britain / Israel

Group Asia (host: Taiwan)
Taiwan
Thailand
Philippines
Hong Kong

First of all welcome to this baseball forum. You have made an interesting list; especially Colombia as hosts. However Guatemala and Israel are real long shots to get an invite and Hong Kong's relatively high IBAF ranking doesn't reflect their true skill level. Netherlands Antilles is also ranked high, but does the Kingdom of the Netherlands want to break up their national team?