Over the past year there have been quite a few interesting developments concerning baseball and baseball players outside of the United States. From the World Baseball Classic to the signing of Daisuke Matsuzaka, the interest in baseball spreads far beyond the usual confines of Major League Baseball.
Japanese Imports
Matsuzaka was one of the more interesting storylines this offseason. The MVP of the World Baseball Classic, helping to propel the Japanese team to the inaugural WBC championship, Matsuzaka signed a six-year, $52 million deal with the Boston Red Sox. When you tack on the posting fee in excess of $51 million, you have over $100 million that the Red Sox invested to land this young international star in the making.
Will Matsuzaka be worth it? Who knows, as his performance on the field will ultimately determine that, and he certainly will be diagnosed and scrutinized more than most players, but he definitely has the talent to live up to the lofty expectations. In fact, the entire Red Sox starting rotation certainly won’t be short on talent.
However Matsuzaka isn’t the only Japanese ballplayer making the jump to the states. Left-handed pitcher Kei Igawa and versatile infielder Akinori Iwamura will also make their Major League debuts next spring.
Igawa will be doing so for the New York Yankees, who reportedly are close to signing Igawa to a five-year, $20 million deal after the Yankees won the right to negotiate with him by posting approximately $26 million. Igawa isn’t as immensely talented as Matsuzaka is, but he’s still plenty young (27 years old) and has enjoyed significant success pitching for the Hanshin Tigers with a career 3.15 ERA.
The Tampa Bay Devil Rays surprised a lot of people by winning the right to negotiate with Akinori Iwamura with a $4.55 million bid. They recently signed Iwamura to a three-year, $7.7 million deal, and intend to use Iwamura, who played third base almost exclusively in Japan, all over the field, from third, second and first base and he may even see some time in the outfield. He has hit 188 home runs during his Japanese career with the Yakult Swallows, although most believe he will be more of a gap-to-gap hitter as a Major Leaguer.
Dominican and Venezuelan talent continues
Before the offseason hit when half of the teams out there re-defined the meaning of the word spending, there was one of the better crops of Dominican and Venezuelan talent to be had.
The 2005 crop was considered thin, with Fernando Martinez, who is quickly rising up the organizational ladders in the Mets organization, receiving the highest bonus at $1.4 million. Three players this year made as much or more than Martinez did a year ago, with another making $100,000 less. Once again the strength was in the positional players, as third baseman Angel Villalona made the most of the international free agents by signing with the Giants for $2.1 million, just edging catcher Jesus Montero, who signed for the Yankees for $2 million.
Shortstops Esmailyn Gonazlez and Carlos Truinfel signed with the Nationals ($1.4 M) and Mariners ($1.3 M) respectively. Francisco Pena, son of former big-leaguer Tony Pena, ended up with the Mets.
Throw a South Korean into the mix as well, as right-handed pitcher Young Il-Jung signed for a cool million dollars with the Angels.
In total, the top ten international non-drafted free agents signed for over $11 million dollars, which averages to over $1.1 million per player. That is what amounts to a supplemental round in early parts of the draft, and adds more fuel to why some believe a worldwide draft is a necessity.
Cuban Defectors
There were a couple of internet rumors floating around earlier this year that talented Cuban infielder Yuliesky Gourriel had defected. Those rumors were quickly proven false, although if Gourriel had defected, we likely would have seen him sign to an equally astounding contract similar to Matsuzaka’s.
And while the talent level among the Cubans that had defected wasn’t that great overall, the biggest story had more to do with a couple of teams that signed a couple of the better players available, minus the gaudy posting fee.
The Milwaukee Brewers proved they’re serious about being players on the Latin American market a year after they signed Dominican right-handed pitcher Rolando Pascual by signing Cuban shortstop Yohannis Perez. The speedy and sure-handed Perez has not played for two years now, but has a relatively advanced approach to the game and is expected to make his debut at AA. He has been compared to fellow Cuban shortstop Yuniesky Betancourt, who is the starting shortstop for the Seattle Mariners.
The Pittsburgh Pirates decided to join their small-market peers by signing right-handed pitcher Yoslan Herrera. While the Brewers signed Perez to a minor league deal, giving him a bonus comparable to a third-round draft pick, the Pirates inked Herrera to a big-league deal for three years, and he is a darkhorse to make the Pirates rotation out of spring training.
What happened to Puerto Rico?
Maybe it is just me, but Puerto Rico doesn’t seem to cultivate the baseball talent it once did. During the 1990s, I remember hearing so much about how Puerto Rico was a deep and seemingly endless hotbed for talent, producing stars such as Ruben Sierra, Ivan Rodriguez, Juan Gonzalez, Roberto Alomar and Bernie Williams. There are still several native Puerto Ricans that are legitimate stars in Major League Baseball, including Carlos Delgado, Carlos Beltran and Javier Vazquez, but that pipeline seems to be slowing down.
The highest drafted Puerto Rican in the 2006 draft was second baseman Hector Pellot, taken in the fourth round by the Mets. Second round pick Ivan DeJesus, Jr., son of former big-leaguer Ivan Sr., was the highest Puerto Rican selected in 2005. Luis Atilano, traded to the Nationals last season from the Braves, was a supplemental first-rounder in the 2003 draft, and is the highest drafted Puerto Rican before DeJesus. Brewers farmhand Charlie Fermaint, a fourth-round pick in 2003, receives a lot of attention as well as a few unfair comparisons to Andruw Jones for his combination of speed, power and defense.
The talent coming out of Puerto Rico hasn’t been the same since Puerto Ricans became subject to the draft in 1989. Sierra, Rodriguez, Gonzalez, Alomar and Williams were all signed as 16 or 17-year olds as non-drafted free agents. But that isn’t enough reason as to why the talent has slowed.
Most teams have instructional camps in the Dominican Republic and Venezuela, something no team has in Puerto Rico. Former big-leaguer Edwin Correa has established the Puerto Rico Baseball Academy in the hopes of revitalizing that talent. The Baseball Academy as well as two other teams did field squads at this past year’s WWBA World Championship in Jupiter this past October, as they have done in past years.
The problem could be as simple as being cyclical. Before the immense talent that emerged in the 1980s, Major League Baseball had not seen star power from Puerto Rico since Roberto Clemente and Orlando Cepeda emerged in the 1950s. Correa is trying to ensure that it doesn’t take another 30 years before the next surge of impact talent comes along, and Major League Baseball has made some efforts to institute some state-side academies for Puerto Rican players, although the plans have been in the works for years now with little to show for it.
Looking ahead to the 2007 draft, keep an eye on Angel Morales, a true five-tool talent that attends the Puerto Rico Baseball Academy that turned plenty of heads at the Jupiter tournament.
Work Visas to Increase
A new law is about to be passed in which baseball players will be re-classified in regards to work visas that will pretty much allow for an endless amount of foreign players to play state-side over the spring, summer and fall months.
Since 9-11, those work visas were extremely limited, and teams had to pick and choose which international players would be given the opportunity to play for their in-state affiliates. This didn’t affect the Latin American players as much, since most teams have Dominican and Venezuelan camps in those respective countries to help those players hone their skills.
However, this did have a profound affect on Canadian players, as the number of draftees north of the border has dropped over the past few years. This not only effects Canadian prep players, but it also effects native Canadians playing at colleges and junior colleges across the United States.
Since the draft and follow process will be effectively eliminated with the upcoming draft, this is a glimmer of good news for Canadian players in particular now that their potential signings aren’t as restricted.
Baseballers Bowling
With the college football Bowl season upon us, I thought it would be fun to take a look at a few notable college football players that had an equally promising baseball career not so long ago (a few of them still do have a promising baseball career).
Pat White was drafted by the Angels in the fourth round of the 2004 draft as a speedy, toolsy centerfielder. Now he is a speedy and strong-armed, dangerous option quarterback for the West Virginia Mountaineers, who are set to play Georgia Tech in the Gator Bowl on New Year’s Day. White beat Georgia last year in the Sugar Bowl as a red-shirt freshman, and seems to have given up his baseball career, at least at West Virginia.
DeSean Jackson is one of the nation’s most dangerous all-around scoring threats as a receiver and as a returner playing for the Cal Bears. He has electrifying speed that generated a little first-round buzz during the 2005 draft. Jackson’s intent to play football as one of the nation’s most highly recruited wide receiver prospects was too much for him to be swayed away from. Cal plays Texas A&M on December 28th in the Holiday Bowl.
Jeff Samardzija has already begun his professional baseball career, receiving a record-breaking deal from the Cubs that allowed him to continue to play wide receiver for the Fighting Irish. Samardzija has had a big year for Notre Dame, highlighted by his game-winning touchdown against UCLA. Look for him in the Sugar Bowl versus LSU on January 3rd.
Speaking of LSU, they have a pretty notable two-sport star in wide receiver Jared Mitchell, although Mitchell hasn’t played much this year. The former Aflac All-American was considered a possible first-round pick this past June, but like Jackson, his football career made him too difficult of a sign.
Riley Cooper joined Mitchell as one of the better pure athletes available for the 2006 draft, but his two-sport career, compiled with some off-the-field concerns, caused Cooper to honor his commitment to play for the Florida Gators. While Cooper only caught four passes this past year, three of those were for touchdowns. Look for Cooper in the biggest of all of the Bowl games, the BCS Championship Game versus the Ohio State Buckeyes on January 8.
Not a huge baseball name, but one that had legitimate pro talent coming out of high school, John Stocco followed in Joe Mauer’s 2001 footsteps as the best high school quarterback and baseball player to come out of the state of Minnesota in 2002. The fifth-year senior that once threw consistent, heavy low-90s heat as a right-handed pitcher looks to end his impressive career as Wisconsin’s quarterback on a high-note versus the Arkansas Razorbacks in the Capital One Bowl on New Year’s Day.
Merry Christmas. May peace find you with warmth and happiness this holiday season.
The thoughts and opinions listed here do not necessarily reflect those of Perfect Game USA. Patrick Ebert is affiliated with both Perfect Game USA and Brewerfan.net, and can be contacted via email at pebert@brewerfan.net.