Thought Seattle had this in the bag. Congrats to the Angels for signing Ohtani, glad it wasn't the cubs.

Jon Morosi‏

@jonmorosi

 

#Cubs fans, know that Theo Epstein and his staff did all they could to impress Shohei Ohtani: Their presentation included a Virtual Reality experience of his possible life as a Cub. @MLB @MLBNetwork

 

 

 

https://twitter.com/jonmorosi/status/939240097077190656

I don't know how people read that and think "the cubs are cool" instead of "god the cubs are insufferable"

I don't know how people read that and think "the cubs are cool" instead of "god the cubs are insufferable"

Amen!

Yay

I don't know how people read that and think "the cubs are cool" instead of "god the cubs are insufferable"

 

Makes me think Theo needs to stop watching Ballers

Makes me think Theo needs to stop watching Ballers

 

LOL, and also the idea that that is "pulling out all the stops".

LOL, and also the idea that that is "pulling out all the stops".

 

Maybe I'm crazy, and admittedly I have never seen him play, but are these japanese league stats THAT impressive to warrant such lofty scouting reports? I mean Eric Thames absolutely destroyed japanese league pitching, far more than Otani ever has.

 

I'm not knocking pro japanese baseball, but the competition level is far below the MLB. His 3.3 BB/9 is merely average supposedly for japanese league pitchers as well.

 

Pitching grades: Fastball: 80 | Slider: 65 | Curveball: 50 | Splitter: 65 | Changeup: 50 | Control: 50 | Overall: 70

 

Hitting grades: Hit: 50 | Power: 65 | Run: 65 | Arm: 80 | Field: 50 | Overall: 60

 

I'm by no means calling him a bust, but I think there will be much more of a learning curve for him than is being projected.

Maybe I'm crazy, and admittedly I have never seen him play, but are these japanese league stats THAT impressive to warrant such lofty scouting reports? I mean Eric Thames absolutely destroyed japanese league pitching, far more than Otani ever has.

 

I'm not knocking pro japanese baseball, but the competition level is far below the MLB. His 3.3 BB/9 is merely average supposedly for japanese league pitchers as well.

 

Pitching grades: Fastball: 80 | Slider: 65 | Curveball: 50 | Splitter: 65 | Changeup: 50 | Control: 50 | Overall: 70

 

Hitting grades: Hit: 50 | Power: 65 | Run: 65 | Arm: 80 | Field: 50 | Overall: 60

 

I'm by no means calling him a bust, but I think there will be much more of a learning curve for him than is being projected.

 

Eric Thames did not destroy Japanese league pitching as he has never played in the Japanese league.

Japanese baseball >> KBL and is considered a form of AAAA.

 

Yeah, some stars from there come here and fail, but some AAA stars go to the MLB and fail too.

Eric Thames did not destroy Japanese league pitching as he has never played in the Japanese league.

 

That was Korea, my bad

 

But my point is how well does japanese production translate to MLB?

Maybe I'm crazy, and admittedly I have never seen him play, but are these japanese league stats THAT impressive to warrant such lofty scouting reports? I mean Eric Thames absolutely destroyed japanese league pitching, far more than Otani ever has.

 

I'm not knocking pro japanese baseball, but the competition level is far below the MLB. His 3.3 BB/9 is merely average supposedly for japanese league pitchers as well.

 

Pitching grades: Fastball: 80 | Slider: 65 | Curveball: 50 | Splitter: 65 | Changeup: 50 | Control: 50 | Overall: 70

 

Hitting grades: Hit: 50 | Power: 65 | Run: 65 | Arm: 80 | Field: 50 | Overall: 60

 

I'm by no means calling him a bust, but I think there will be much more of a learning curve for him than is being projected.

 

You're crossing up the KBO, which is usually seen as between A+ and AA, and NPB, which is usually considered to be between AAA and MLB caliber. Thames annihilated the KBO, but offense is generally high in that league. Ohtani is an amazing talent, bar none.

Maybe I'm crazy, and admittedly I have never seen him play, but are these japanese league stats THAT impressive to warrant such lofty scouting reports? I mean Eric Thames absolutely destroyed japanese league pitching, far more than Otani ever has.

 

I'm not knocking pro japanese baseball, but the competition level is far below the MLB. His 3.3 BB/9 is merely average supposedly for japanese league pitchers as well.

 

Pitching grades: Fastball: 80 | Slider: 65 | Curveball: 50 | Splitter: 65 | Changeup: 50 | Control: 50 | Overall: 70

 

Hitting grades: Hit: 50 | Power: 65 | Run: 65 | Arm: 80 | Field: 50 | Overall: 60

 

I'm by no means calling him a bust, but I think there will be much more of a learning curve for him than is being projected.

Put it this way, Ohtani was destroying the league and won the MVP when he was only 21! He is probably going to get better in the coming years.

 

From a stats translation perspective, at a younger age he was better at pitching than Darvish or Tanaka and was a better hitter than Matsui.

 

From a tools perspective he has legit 80 grade pure speed (rated at 65 due to being slow out of the box and not a great base stealer), huge power (literally hit a ball out of the roof), and has hit 102mph while pitching.

 

There are obviously some risks: he has a history of soft tissue injuries, some think his fastball runs too straight, and people wonder if the bat will be able to develop taking so many days off. But from a talent perspective, he is the best all around player to come into the MLB in a long time. Its possible he fails (sure thing prospects fail all the time) but the excitement over what he can do is totally justified.

Jon Morosi‏

@jonmorosi

 

#Cubs fans, know that Theo Epstein and his staff did all they could to impress Shohei Ohtani: Their presentation included a Virtual Reality experience of his possible life as a Cub. @MLB @MLBNetwork

 

 

 

https://twitter.com/jonmorosi/status/939240097077190656

Hah - what a trip

Angels sign Rymer Liriano to a minor league deal. Big week in Anaheim.

Angels sign Rymer Liriano to a minor league deal. Big week in Anaheim.

 

Whoa, slow down Angels.

Baltimore is just bizarre.

 

Craig Calcaterra‏Verified account @craigcalcaterra 5h5 hours ago The Baltimore Orioles did not try to get Shohei Ohtani . . . out of principle http://mlb.nbcsports.com/2017/12/11/the-baltimore-orioles-did-not-try-to-get-shohei-ohtani-out-of-principle/ …://http://mlb.nbcsports.com/2017/12/11...of-principle/ … via @HardballTalk

 

 

Angels sign Rymer Liriano to a minor league deal. Big week in Anaheim.

 

Didn't realize he was a FA.

Baltimore is just bizarre.

 

Craig Calcaterra‏Verified account @craigcalcaterra 5h5 hours ago The Baltimore Orioles did not try to get Shohei Ohtani . . . out of principle http://mlb.nbcsports.com/2017/12/11/the-baltimore-orioles-did-not-try-to-get-shohei-ohtani-out-of-principle/ …://http://mlb.nbcsports.com/2017/12/11...of-principle/ …://http://mlb.nbcsports.com/2017/12/11...of-principle/ … via @HardballTalk

 

Lets be honest, there was no chance Otani was going to sign with the Orioles anyway

Lets be honest, there was no chance Otani was going to sign with the Orioles anyway

 

Same goes for about 20 other teams that actually made presentations.

Same goes for about 20 other teams that actually made presentations.

 

Everyone had to figure West Coast teams had a huge advantage. The Angels are a surprising winner, especially when the Astros have a stranglehold on that division moving forward.

News: Los Angeles Angels star Shohei Ohtani has a damaged ulnar collateral ligament in his pitching elbow, according to a physical obtained by Yahoo Sports. Details: yhoo.it/2C9PDCe

 

News: Los Angeles Angels star Shohei Ohtani has a damaged ulnar collateral ligament in his pitching elbow, according to a physical obtained by Yahoo Sports. Details: yhoo.it/2C9PDCe

Yikes

News: Los Angeles Angels star Shohei Ohtani has a damaged ulnar collateral ligament in his pitching elbow, according to a physical obtained by Yahoo Sports. Details: yhoo.it/2C9PDCe

 

Did he pitch in that big high school tourney that the whole country follows? If so, an injury would be expected given how much they overwork them in that tourney.

is that the same one that Tanaka has been pitching with?