科科科一號機 wrote:
我怎麼算也是五個阿...(恕刪)
一開始好像沒看到土地公........
其他好像是韓國人居多
Pacific Perspectives: Top Asian Prospects
by Michael Street on Wednesday, April 29, 2009 1:57 am EDT | Permanent Link
There are more Asian players than ever in the minor-league system, as teams press farther East in search of new talent. What’s even more exciting is the diversity of the players: the farther down you look in the development process, the more players you find from South Korea and Taiwan.
Who should you watch out for? There’s far too many guys to mention all of them here, but let’s look at the Top 10:
1. Junichi Tazawa, SP. This was the guy who caused all the fuss last year when he dodged the NPB draft to go straight to MLB. They changed the rules in Japanese baseball after that to discourage the loss of such talent, and with good reason. Tazawa features a good fastball/splitter mix, as well as the usual repertoire of breaking pitches you expect from Japanese pitchers, plus the ability to spot them accurately and aggressively. He’s got poise and leadership, venerates Daisuke Matsuzaka (a big reason why he signed with Boston), and should join him in the rotation by 2010. He’ll start this year with the AA Portland SeaDogs, but don’t be surprised to see him in the Boston bullpen before the playoffs start.
2. Che-Hsuan Lin, CF. Another Boston product, the Taiwanese outfielder earned MVP honors at the 2008 Futures Game for his two-run homer in the seventh. Lin is known more for his speed and amazing defense, though his bat is starting to come around. He’s young, his ceiling is high, but you won’t see him patrolling Fenway full-time until 2011 at the earliest. In the meantime, he’s honing his craft with the High-A Salem Red Sox. He’s likely to be the first Taiwanese-born player to crack an MLB lineup in the outfield when he does.
3. Chia-Jen Lo SP. The Astros finally dipped a toe in the Asian talent pool when they signed this Taiwanese righty. He’s pitched well in international play, where he’s been teammates with Fu-Te Ni (see below). More importantly, Lo has a mid-nineties fastball the Astros love, but needs to work on his secondary pitches, a splitter and slider. He’ll start this year with the high-A Lancaster JetHawks, and could make it to the bigs as a starter or reliever, but not for the next few years.
4. Matt Tuiasosopo 3B. Spurning the family (and Samoan) tradition of football, Tuiasosopo opted for baseball, and scouts loved his hefty build and strong arm—unsurprising for a star high-school QB. He’s also shown power, good speed and quickness, but needs to work on his accuracy at the hot corner. He hit .281/.364/.453 last season with the AAA Tacoma Rainiers, where he’ll start this season. If Beltre goes down or departs (as expected) when his contract expires after the season, Tuiasosopo is the heir apparent at third.
5. Hak-ju Lee, SS. The Cubs signed Lee, probably the top South Korean prospect in the majors, and he’s being compared to Ichiro for his blazing speed and hitting ability. He’s got soft hands, a quick release and a cannon for an arm. He also lost all of last year to Tommy John surgery, not an uncommon ailment among South Korean players, who endure punishing workouts. That won’t affect his speed or bat, of course, but it might take a few MPH off that arm. Even if it does, he could shift to the other side of the keystone, and should be the first South Korean infielder in MLB—but not until 2012. This year, he’ll start in rookie ball, and work up slowly from there.
6. Dae-Eun Rhee SP. Rhee was another piece of the Chicago Cubs’ South Korean haul—they have the deepest Korean farm system in baseball. Rhee was the prize pitcher, just like Lee was the prize position player. Rhee dazzled in his debut for single-A Peoria in 2008, until he had to go under the knife for TJS. Assuming he recovers—and let’s face it, TJS is a rite of passage for most pitchers these days, making recovery routine—he should continue to rise through the ranks. He’s got a fastball in the low-to-mid nineties, a great change and a good curve. Only the uncertainty of TJS, and the certainty that he won’t be at full strength this saeson, keeps him this low on the list.
7. Yung-chi Chen UT. The Taiwanese Chen has been around for a while already, which (depending on your perspective) may remove the “prospect” label from him. But he’s still only 25, and when the Mariners tried to sneak him through on waivers last winter, Oakland snatched him up. He’s not a good enough hitter to be a starter—possibly why the M’s took the waiver gamble—but his excellent defense and versatility will make him a great utility infielder. Even though he’s spent the past two years at AAA, the Athletics dropped him down to their AA team, the Midland Rockhounds. I don’t expect that to last, and we might see Chen up with Oakland in 2009.
8. Fu-Te Ni, RP. This Taiwanese lefty is the first player from the Chinese professional leagues to sign with an MLB team, after he declined an invite to the Mariners spring training in 2008. He wanted a major-league deal and got it from the Tigers. He can tickle the low nineties, but mostly throws in the low eighties and works off that fastball to set up his decent array of offspeed pitches. He’s a bit of an experiment to see if this borderline skillset and Chinese league training can fly in MLB. He’s beginning 2009 with the AAA Toledo Mudhens, and could advance to the majors as soon as this year if he can prove himself.
9. Kyeon Kang LF. Though he didn’t make the splash that Tazawa did, Kang was his near-equivalent in Korea, becoming the first Korean to go directly to the majors when Tampa Bay signed him (to be precise, Tazawa is the third Japanese player to go straight to MLB, but he’s far and away the highest-profile). Kang’s meal ticket is his power, but he’s got other skills, though they’re also developing. He’ll work on them at low-A Hudson Valley Renegades, but his ceiling is pretty high. Don’t look for him anytime soon, but he should turn heads once he gets to the bigs.
10. Chin-lung Hu SS. There was a time when Hu looked like a lock to be the first Taiwanese infielder to snag a starting role. His glove was amazing, and his bat seemed to be finally coming around. Then he finally got a chance last year—and failed utterly. As it turned out, he was having blurred vision in his eye, though they never could pin down a cause, and the blurriness mysteriously vanished just as soon as it appeared. Sound strange? The Dodgers thought so, too, and he’s really dropped off their radar screen. He’ll start the season at AAA Albuquerque (with my favorite minor-league team name, the Isotopes) but may only get a shot at the big time as a utilityman—or if he’s traded.
We all know that prospects don’t always pan out, and there are sure to be other future Asian stars who pop up throughout the 2009 season. And I’ll be covering all of them in Pacific Perspectives each Tuesday.
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