Daisuke Matsuzaka starred for Japan at the 2006 World Baseball Classic. What if he got the chance to duplicate that success in the Olympics? AP

Here's a look at what might have been in the Olympics this year. And it's a close approximation of what we'll see next spring in the WBC from four of the strongest baseball-playing nations in the world:

JAPAN

C -- Shinnosuke Abe. Considered best catcher in Japan, had 33 homers for Yomiuri in '07

1B -- Takahiro Arai. Solid hitter (.311, .378 OBP) for Hanshin Tigers; also plays third

2B -- Kaz Matsui. In his fifth year in MLB, first in Houston, a .275 career hitter

3B -- Shinya Miyamoto. Yakult veteran sixth in Japan's Central League with a .327 average

SS -- Tsuyoshi Nishioka. Speedy 23-year-old, a WBC vet, is hitting .301 with Chiba Lotte

LF -- Hideki Matsui. A .297 career average, .373 OBP in 5-plus years with Yankees

CF -- Ichiro Suzuki. .331 lifetime hitter, seven 200-hit seasons with Seattle

RF -- Kosuke Fukudome. Cubs right-fielder has .366 OBP in first year in U.S.

DH -- Takahiko Sato. Seibu star sixth in Pacific League with 21 HRs, fifth with .309 avg.

SP -- Daisuke Matsuzaka. Boston ace (14-2, 2.74 ERA) in second year in the U.S.

SP -- Yu Darvish. 22-year-old Nippon star (11-4, 2.07 ERA) is Japan's best starter

SP -- Toshiya Sugiuchi. Fukuoka lefty leads Pacific League in strikeouts

CL -- Kyuji Fujikawa. Best closer in Japan has 32 saves for Hanshin

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

C -- Miguel Olivo. K.C. backup has 11 homers in just 58 games as catcher and DH

1B -- Albert Pujols. Gold Glove defense, power, smarts and a .348 average, too

2B -- Alfonso Soriano. Cubs' slugging left fielder could play second on this team

3B -- Aramis Ramirez. On his way to third straight 100-RBI season with Cubs

SS -- Hanley Ramirez. Florida star's defense shaky, but power (27 HRs), speed make up for it

LF -- Manny Ramirez. Ex-Boston star, now with Dodgers, on his way to Hall of Fame

CF -- Melky Cabrera. Just demoted with Yankees, but he's still young (23) and has promise

RF -- Vladimir Guerrero. Famed bad-ball hacker has nine 100-RBI seasons, 398 career HRs

DH -- David Ortiz. Boston's Big Papi has power and patience (a lifetime .382 OBP)

SP -- Ervin Santana. Angels' righty (13-5, 3.49) second in AL in strikeouts

SP -- Francisco Liriano. Young lefty a phenom in '06, returning from elbow surgery in '08

SP -- Pedro Martinez. Future Hall of Fame righty has career 2.86 ERA, best among active starters

CL -- Francisco Cordero. Cincinnati closer had 44 saves last year with Milwaukee

CUBA

C -- Ariel Pestano. '02 Cuba athlete of year was member of gold medal winner in Athens

1B -- Alexander Malleta. Has four RBIs in six games he's played in Beijing

2B -- Yunel Escobar. Atlanta SS has played second; hit .326 as rookie in '07

3B -- Michel Enriquez. Beat the U.S. with a two-run single in extra innings in Beijing

SS -- Yuniesky Betancourt. A .280 career hitter in fourth season in Seattle

LF -- Frederich Cepeda. His solo homer beat Chinese Taipei earlier in the Games

CF -- Giorbis Duvergel. Slugger hit a grand slam in 17-1 win over China in Beijing

RF -- Alexei Bell. Had two hits in team's 5-4 win over U.S. in Beijing, hitting .520 in Beijing

DH -- Alfredo Despaigne. Slugger hitting .333, 2 HRs, 11 RBIs in seven games in Beijing

SP -- Jose Contreras. Played for Cuba in 2000 Olympics; appeared in 163 MLB games

SP -- Vicyohandri Odelín. Veteran of '01 and '03 World Cup teams, '04 Olympics, '06 WBC

SP -- Norge Luis Vera. 37-year-old has started two games in Beijing, 2.25 ERA

CL -- Pedro Luis Lazo. Big veteran reliever has been on two gold medal teams with Cuba

UNITED STATES

1B -- Lance Berkman. Houston switch-hitter has career .303 average, .414 OBP

2B -- Dustin Pedroia. Big-swinger for Boston beats out Texas' Ian Kinsler on defense

3B -- Alex Rodriguez. Yanks' '07 AL MVP may challenge Bonds' career HR record

SS -- Jimmy Rollins. Off year for Phillies sparkplug, but he's defending NL MVP

C -- Brian McCann. Quiet Atlanta backstop leads all Cs with 21 HRs, .924 OPS

DH -- Milton Bradley. An OPS over 1.000, 20 HRs, 27 doubles for Texas

LF -- Matt Holliday. Lifetime .322 hitter loves home field in Denver

CF -- Grady Sizemore. Speed, patience at plate help him beat out Texas' Josh Hamilton

RF -- Jermaine Dye. Veteran has 29 HRs, 32 doubles for division-leading White Sox

SP -- Roy Halladay. Big Toronto righty won a Cy in 2003, should be in discussion in '08

SP -- Cliff Lee. Cleveland lefty (17-2, 2.43) is on his way to the AL Cy Young this year

SP -- Brandon Webb. Arizona sinkerballer (18-4, 2.85) should win the NL Cy in '08

CL -- Joe Nathan. Minnesota closer has best ERA (1.02) of any reliever with 50 IP

Would this U.S. team be strong enough to avenge its embarrassing play at the WBC in 2006? Would the Japanese squad defend the title it won two years ago in the WBC? Or would the Dominican, loaded with some of the biggest names in the game, rise up to claim Olympic gold for a nation that is rarely among the best in any sport in the Olympics? Whether it makes sense for MLB to not send its best players to the world's biggest sporting event or not, we may never know the answers to the questions above. And that may be the most unfortunate part of all.