[ESPN]
"Unfortunately, I've decided to withdraw from the squad," Iguchi said while training in Japan's southernmost island of Okinawa, Kyodo News agency reported.
Mark Buehrle had a similar statement on 670 The Score this morning, saying he wanted to be ready for the season. Update [2006-1-8 1:15:9 by The Cheat]: Chisox.com has the Buehrle quote
"This is the second year of my two-year contract with the White Sox. The team expects more from me than in the first year, so I would have to be in spring training."
"I turned down to play in the World Baseball Classic," Buehrle told host Chris Rongey on Saturday morning. "The main reason is that I want to be ready for the season, and I don't want to cheat our fans and my teammates.
"With me going into the Classic, I'm taking a chance of getting hurt. It's such an honor to even be asked to go play there, and that's why I really thought about it a lot. But I talked to Buck Martinez the other day, and told him I'm going to have to turn it down this year."
It's unclear whether they made this decision on their own, or if organizational pressure had anything to do with their decision.