The Texas Rangers' contingent of middle infielders Elvis Andrus and Rougned Odor and starting pitcher Martin Perez are included on the preliminary list of players who will make up Team Venezuela for next spring's World Baseball Classic, according to several media reports.

Andrus and Odor are among 14 infielders. Andrus and Kansas City's Alcides Escobar are considered the top candidates to start at shortstop. Houston's Jose Altuve is the favorite to start at second, ahead of Odor.

Perez is among a group of starters that includes Seattle's "King Felix" Hernandez, Cleveland's Carlos Carrasco and Boston's Eduardo Rodriguez.

The fourth WBC will be played in March 2017. The Rangers, with a strong international flavor to their organization, expect numerous players to be invited to participate. The decision rests with the players.

"Are there times that interests from the organization come into play?" general manager Jon Daniels said. "Or course. Are we allowed to act on them? Technically, no."

According to Daniels, the Rangers are most concerned about young players competing for a spot on the opening-day roster and pitchers leaving the club during spring training to participate in the WBC.

Having veterans such as Andrus perform in the WBC can also cause a headache for teams in that it gives them less time to get the front-line players ready for the regular season and adds to their workload for the year, Daniels said. Those players have to be ready to play important nine-inning games in March rather than ease into the season with exhibition play.

"It's a great honor for all of these guys to have an opportunity to play," manager Jeff Banister said. "There is some different planing when you have guys who are going to play. The process of getting ready for the season is a little different.

"When you start adding games in the WBC, we have to respect that and plan for that as well."