October 1, 201411 yr I have a question, with what happen last yr with Tanaka and whether he is 100 %. Should the sox invest in Kenta Maeda esp with knowledge that has thrown a lot of pitches. what was it that some site said he threw?
October 1, 201411 yr I question Maeda's long term durability based on he's 26 with 1300 IP, 6' and 154 lbs. Plus he's not used to starting 33 games per year. I'm hoping the Sox look elsewhere for help in the starting rotation.
October 1, 201411 yr If we even consider signing him, it better be at a decent price... i.e. don't sign him and go for James Shields.
October 1, 201411 yr EVERY ONE GO ON THEIR COMPUTER & LOOK UP SHOHEI OHTANI http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shohei_Ohtani http://youtu.be/9utx2BPIYlU He wants to come over to the states soon and the Sox need to jump all over him.
October 1, 201411 yr I also think you HAVE to distinguish between Japanese pitchers and Taiwanese/Korean, their workloads, their respective professional leagues and the military service requirements in Korea, etc. You can't just say Latin pitchers when you have Mexico, DR, PR, Venezuela, Panama, Colombia, etc.
October 1, 201411 yr QUOTE (LDF @ Sep 30, 2014 -> 07:09 PM) I have a question, with what happen last yr with Tanaka and whether he is 100 %. Should the sox invest in Kenta Maeda esp with knowledge that has thrown a lot of pitches. what was it that some site said he threw? I wouldn't bother with him. Let some other team overpay to put him on the FL for most of the length of the contract. He will break down with that much of a workload. The question is when. Bob
October 1, 201411 yr QUOTE (Joshua Strong @ Sep 30, 2014 -> 08:15 PM) EVERY ONE GO ON THEIR COMPUTER & LOOK UP SHOHEI OHTANI http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shohei_Ohtani http://youtu.be/9utx2BPIYlU He wants to come over to the states soon and the Sox need to jump all over him. This was from two years ago... Japanese pitcher Shohei Otani announced that he will play for Japan’s Nippon Ham Fighters rather than sign with a MLB team this winter, according to Yasuko Yanagita of Hochi Shimbun (via Twitter). The 18-year-old hurler seemed likely to come stateside for quite some time but recently started leaning towards remaining in Japan. The Dodgers, Rangers, and Yankees were among the teams known to be in on Otani. The Dodgers reportedly would have been “shocked” if the right-hander signed with an MLB team other than them, but they were skeptical that he would come stateside at all. The Nippon Ham Fighters have come out as the victor after selecting Otani with the first overall pick in the NPB draft. The 6’4″ right-hander was often compared to Yu Darvish by MLB scouts. Otani boasts a strong fastball that has been clocked in the 99-100 mph range and could have been the first top NPB draft pick to make the direct jump from high school in Japan to the U.S.
October 1, 201411 yr 2013 Ohtani made his debut in the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters' season-opening match on March 29, 2013, playing as right outfielder. He was voted as an outfielder in the 2013 All-Star Game. 2014 During the 2014 Mazda All-Star Game, he pitched a career-high 162 kph (101 mph) at the bottom of the 1st inning, again setting a new record for the fastest official pitch thrown by a Japanese pitcher, beating the record set by the Yakult Swallows’ Yoshinori Sato in 2010 (161 kph/100 mph).[8] The jersey he wore during the game sold for 1,752,000 yen, making it the top-seller at the All-Star 2014 Charity Auction, and the proceeds were donated to three Tohoku earthquake children's relief funds.[9] Throughout the entire season, Fighters manager Hideki Kurayama made Ohtani do double-duty as pitcher and outfielder to utilize his strong throwing arm, as well as his unusually impressive batting skills. As a hitter, he batted at .283 average (as of September 7), with 26 extra-base hits (including 10 home runs), 31 RBIs and a .869 on-base plus slugging percentage in 191 at-bats. As a pitcher, he is 10-4 with a 2.46 ERA in 21 starts and has struck out 162 in 139 innings. In the September 7 match against the Orix Buffaloes, he homered to straightaway center at Kyocera Dome to become the first Japanese player to reach double digits in both home runs and wins.[10][11] He tossed a 1-0 shutout against Orix on September 13, and became the first pitcher out of high school in franchise history to record a 1-0 shutout victory within his first two years in the NPB since Toshiaki Moriyasu in 1967 (September 23). He also became the first pitcher out of high school to notch two shutout victories within his first two years in the NPB since Yu Darvish.[12] With all that said, no way he doesn't go to the Dodgers, Yankees, Angels, etc. If I was the Mariners (Japanese ownership), he would be the ONE guy I would be targeting to help put them over the top, and you could bring Ichiro back for one more season to mentor him, along with Iwakuma. Edited October 1, 201411 yr by caulfield12
October 1, 201411 yr IF Otani comes to the US, it's a no brainer to go balls deep into trying to get him on the south side. I'm not sure it has been confirmed that he'd come over just yet though. Dude sounds legit.
October 1, 201411 yr Author QUOTE (gosox41 @ Oct 1, 2014 -> 02:29 AM) I wouldn't bother with him. Let some other team overpay to put him on the FL for most of the length of the contract. He will break down with that much of a workload. The question is when. Bob a discussion can be made that all pitchers runs the risk of an arm injury. however I am with you and others who says no. my reason is they are overused in japan.
October 1, 201411 yr will he be higher or lower priced than tanaka? Either way, the Sox are probably going to be outbid by the Yankees or Red Sox or even Dodgers.
October 1, 201411 yr QUOTE (chitownsportsfan @ Sep 30, 2014 -> 10:06 PM) will he be higher or lower priced than tanaka? Either way, the Sox are probably going to be outbid by the Yankees or Red Sox or even Dodgers. Kenta? Much lower. Otani when he comes over? Probably higher.
October 1, 201411 yr Author QUOTE (chitownsportsfan @ Oct 1, 2014 -> 03:06 AM) will he be higher or lower priced than tanaka? Either way, the Sox are probably going to be outbid by the Yankees or Red Sox or even Dodgers. way lower then Tanaka.
October 1, 201411 yr QUOTE (StRoostifer @ Sep 30, 2014 -> 10:57 PM) Ohtani isn't eligible to post! I've read in Baseball America that he wants to come stateside
October 1, 201411 yr QUOTE (Joshua Strong @ Sep 30, 2014 -> 11:18 PM) I've read in Baseball America that he wants to come stateside Won't happen without his Nippon approving first and with the new posting system not being nearly as lucrative for the posting team as it used to be so its highly doubtful Nippon would agree. Nippon would only get 20M compared to the 51M they got for Darvish thanks to the new posting system. Don't get me wrong, I would be all for it but Nippon would probably lose more money than they would gain from posting the kid.
October 1, 201411 yr Agreed...the kid's only 21 or 22 and has all the ability in the world as a hitter and pitcher. There's just not the "greed-based" incentive there used to be to sell his rights off with the new system. He's worth more to them staying in Japan, for sure.
October 1, 201411 yr Holy cow! I just looked Ohtani up and he just turned 20 on July 5th! The kid is just getting ready to finish his 2nd season. He's not going anywhere for probably another 5 years. Nippon did not post Darvish and Tanaka til they had played for 7 seasons first.
October 1, 201411 yr This thread got me thinking. What's the hardest throwing Asian pitcher we've seen in the MLB? Is it Tanaka? I think he sits around 93-94? Seems like there has never been a flamethrower, at least that I can remember. They seem to teach finesse.
October 1, 201411 yr QUOTE (scs787 @ Sep 30, 2014 -> 10:08 PM) Kenta? Much lower. Otani when he comes over? Probably higher. If he comes over at a young age he will get a HUGE contract. It will blow away Tanaka.
October 5, 201411 yr QUOTE (Chilihead90 @ Oct 1, 2014 -> 04:31 AM) This thread got me thinking. What's the hardest throwing Asian pitcher we've seen in the MLB? Is it Tanaka? I think he sits around 93-94? Seems like there has never been a flamethrower, at least that I can remember. They seem to teach finesse. Darvish, easily.
October 6, 201411 yr QUOTE (scs787 @ Sep 30, 2014 -> 07:49 PM) IF Otani comes to the US, it's a no brainer to go balls deep into trying to get him on the south side. I'm not sure it has been confirmed that he'd come over just yet though. Dude sounds legit. Jesus. Wet dream.
October 24, 201411 yr Author QUOTE (Joshua Strong @ Oct 1, 2014 -> 02:15 AM) EVERY ONE GO ON THEIR COMPUTER & LOOK UP SHOHEI OHTANI http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shohei_Ohtani http://youtu.be/9utx2BPIYlU He wants to come over to the states soon and the Sox need to jump all over him. UPDATE a nice article on Shohei Ohtani http://www.baseballamerica.com/internation...1-mph-fastball/ he still wants to get posted so he can come to USA.
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.