Hendry Q&A:

[NCCubFan]

I can promise as a general manager, I have zero worries that between Tim Wilken, and Fleita, and [scouts] Paul Weaver and Steve Wilson in the international market we will have a continual flow of Major League players.

I realize it's a common name, but this doesn't happen to be Steve Wilson the Cubs LHP from the early 90's does it?

Yes it is. He was a Cub from 89 through part of 91; he came from the Rangers along with Mitch Williams and others in the trade for Rafael Palmeiro and others.

[nilodnayr]

everyone should read the whole article. made me feel a little better about jimbo.

 

I didn't see anything in there about increasing OBP, so until then, he's got a ways to go.

 

He's had a lot of quotes over the last year where he mentions about how he wants to increase the teams OBP, in addition to the fact that when he sent Pie down he was quoted as the one thing he wanted Pie to work on was plate discipline. It may not have come into fruition on the roster yet (which ultimately is what matters if Hendry wants to keep his job) but Hendry's quotes from the first of the year on to that subject have been dramatically different from previous years.

 

I do agree that this article was very nice for him. For example, he was asked the question about situational hitting where it would have been very easy to simply agree with the question but instead he made sure to disagree with it. He showed faith in some of his young players like Hill and Soto, and everything in the article indicated that he's taking the whole season as more important than the small 3 game playoff sample. All of those were criticisms of Hendry in the past both in his actions and his words (making too many decisions because of small samples, no faith in young players, focusing on the wrong things) and it's nice to see that his words have changed. Hopefully he'll show this offseason that his actions have continued to change as well.

 

It was a nice article, but I am amazed by posters who dislike Hendry making a big deal about what he didn't say. He didn't say Pie would start in CF, he didn't say tha Soto was absolutely the starter for 2008, he didn't say anything about improving the OBP, etc. It seems to me that Soto and Pie playing regularly is a decision that the manager makes and not the GM. As for the OBP, it might improve with an off season acquisition or possibly with additional coaching by Gerald Perry.

 

But its the GMs job to decide whether or not to go out an acquire someone, so yeah hes important in the decision as to how much time the young guys get.

[Guest]

I was talking to Jon about this. Can someone help me out?

 

I can promise as a general manager, I have zero worries that between Tim Wilken, and Fleita, and [scouts] Paul Weaver and Steve Wilson in the international market we will have a continual flow of Major League players.

 

Paul Weaver is listed as a Special Assistant to the General Manager on cubs.com, is Hendry saying Weaver is an int'l scout like Wilson?

 

I think he's the equiv. to an International supervisor, where Wilson is more of an area guy and Weaver is a crosschecker. With that role of assistant GM, it's wide open as far as his job duties, I assume being in charge of (non-Latin) international scouting is one of them.

 

Ok, thanks. I wasn't sure if it was the sentence structure or if they were saying Weaver was international too.

[Mephistopheles]

That's a loaded statement, most japanese players don't come over here until after their prime {Ichiro, Matui(s) and Matsuzaka are the exception).

 

That said they've got quite a few good players here right now. There's a lot of young talent in Japan right now (especially on the pitching side of the game)

 

Yuki Saito

Yu Darvish

Masahiro Tanaka

Yoshinori Sato

 

All of these pitchers have the potential to be in the front half of a major league rotation, with Sato and Darvish being potential elite pitchers (Darvish could wind up being the best pitcher on the planet). There are several other guys who could be at that level, but more than likely middle of the rotatino guys (Uehara, Saito, Sugiuchi, etc). Pitchers from Japan have thrived, it's the offensive side of the game where they haven't. Jojima has done well and so has Ichiro as well as Iguchi. The Matsuis haven't.

 

I would love some background on Yu Darvish, because that is so not a Japanese surname.

 

Meph did a write up on him and a couple other (I don't remember which forum), but hes half Iranian IIRC. He let up like 129 hits in 207 innings or something insane like that.

 

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f189/kctigers23/JapanTop_2.png

[Backtobanks]

everyone should read the whole article. made me feel a little better about jimbo.

 

I didn't see anything in there about increasing OBP, so until then, he's got a ways to go.

 

He's had a lot of quotes over the last year where he mentions about how he wants to increase the teams OBP, in addition to the fact that when he sent Pie down he was quoted as the one thing he wanted Pie to work on was plate discipline. It may not have come into fruition on the roster yet (which ultimately is what matters if Hendry wants to keep his job) but Hendry's quotes from the first of the year on to that subject have been dramatically different from previous years.

 

I do agree that this article was very nice for him. For example, he was asked the question about situational hitting where it would have been very easy to simply agree with the question but instead he made sure to disagree with it. He showed faith in some of his young players like Hill and Soto, and everything in the article indicated that he's taking the whole season as more important than the small 3 game playoff sample. All of those were criticisms of Hendry in the past both in his actions and his words (making too many decisions because of small samples, no faith in young players, focusing on the wrong things) and it's nice to see that his words have changed. Hopefully he'll show this offseason that his actions have continued to change as well.

 

It was a nice article, but I am amazed by posters who dislike Hendry making a big deal about what he didn't say. He didn't say Pie would start in CF, he didn't say tha Soto was absolutely the starter for 2008, he didn't say anything about improving the OBP, etc. It seems to me that Soto and Pie playing regularly is a decision that the manager makes and not the GM. As for the OBP, it might improve with an off season acquisition or possibly with additional coaching by Gerald Perry.

 

But its the GMs job to decide whether or not to go out an acquire someone, so yeah hes important in the decision as to how much time the young guys get.

 

While Hendry has been the GM, he's had young players lined up to be the starters almost every season, but that was changed by Baker who ended up playing veterans.

[mdwilla]

Trade-wise, we tried to make a trade or two that would've been as significant or more last year than probably any of our free agent signings except [Alfonso] Soriano, and sometimes they don't work out. The other team isn't obligated to trade you their better players.

 

any idea's who would have been a bigger impact than a guy like Lilly was that Hendry was trying to swing a deal for at the deadline.

[Guest]

That's a loaded statement, most japanese players don't come over here until after their prime {Ichiro, Matui(s) and Matsuzaka are the exception).

 

That said they've got quite a few good players here right now. There's a lot of young talent in Japan right now (especially on the pitching side of the game)

 

Yuki Saito

Yu Darvish

Masahiro Tanaka

Yoshinori Sato

 

All of these pitchers have the potential to be in the front half of a major league rotation, with Sato and Darvish being potential elite pitchers (Darvish could wind up being the best pitcher on the planet). There are several other guys who could be at that level, but more than likely middle of the rotatino guys (Uehara, Saito, Sugiuchi, etc). Pitchers from Japan have thrived, it's the offensive side of the game where they haven't. Jojima has done well and so has Ichiro as well as Iguchi. The Matsuis haven't.

 

 

I guess my point is that the Cubs ought to fix their problems drafting and developing American talent as well as focusing on foreign shores. For the time being, the impact of Latin players has been far greater than Japanese or Korean.

[Mephistopheles]

That's a loaded statement, most japanese players don't come over here until after their prime {Ichiro, Matui(s) and Matsuzaka are the exception).

 

That said they've got quite a few good players here right now. There's a lot of young talent in Japan right now (especially on the pitching side of the game)

 

Yuki Saito

Yu Darvish

Masahiro Tanaka

Yoshinori Sato

 

All of these pitchers have the potential to be in the front half of a major league rotation, with Sato and Darvish being potential elite pitchers (Darvish could wind up being the best pitcher on the planet). There are several other guys who could be at that level, but more than likely middle of the rotatino guys (Uehara, Saito, Sugiuchi, etc). Pitchers from Japan have thrived, it's the offensive side of the game where they haven't. Jojima has done well and so has Ichiro as well as Iguchi. The Matsuis haven't.

 

 

I guess my point is that the Cubs ought to fix their problems drafting and developing American talent as well as focusing on foreign shores. For the time being, the impact of Latin players has been far greater than Japanese or Korean.

 

thats because the best latin players dont stay in latin america

[Guest]

That's a loaded statement, most japanese players don't come over here until after their prime {Ichiro, Matui(s) and Matsuzaka are the exception).

 

That said they've got quite a few good players here right now. There's a lot of young talent in Japan right now (especially on the pitching side of the game)

 

Yuki Saito

Yu Darvish

Masahiro Tanaka

Yoshinori Sato

 

All of these pitchers have the potential to be in the front half of a major league rotation, with Sato and Darvish being potential elite pitchers (Darvish could wind up being the best pitcher on the planet). There are several other guys who could be at that level, but more than likely middle of the rotatino guys (Uehara, Saito, Sugiuchi, etc). Pitchers from Japan have thrived, it's the offensive side of the game where they haven't. Jojima has done well and so has Ichiro as well as Iguchi. The Matsuis haven't.

 

 

I guess my point is that the Cubs ought to fix their problems drafting and developing American talent as well as focusing on foreign shores. For the time being, the impact of Latin players has been far greater than Japanese or Korean.

 

thats because the best latin players dont stay in latin america

 

ok, so how are players that are staying in japan useful?

[Blizzau]

Trade-wise, we tried to make a trade or two that would've been as significant or more last year than probably any of our free agent signings except [Alfonso] Soriano, and sometimes they don't work out. The other team isn't obligated to trade you their better players.

 

any idea's who would have been a bigger impact than a guy like Lilly was that Hendry was trying to swing a deal for at the deadline.

 

Parla usted ingles?!

[Mephistopheles]

That's a loaded statement, most japanese players don't come over here until after their prime {Ichiro, Matui(s) and Matsuzaka are the exception).

 

That said they've got quite a few good players here right now. There's a lot of young talent in Japan right now (especially on the pitching side of the game)

 

Yuki Saito

Yu Darvish

Masahiro Tanaka

Yoshinori Sato

 

All of these pitchers have the potential to be in the front half of a major league rotation, with Sato and Darvish being potential elite pitchers (Darvish could wind up being the best pitcher on the planet). There are several other guys who could be at that level, but more than likely middle of the rotatino guys (Uehara, Saito, Sugiuchi, etc). Pitchers from Japan have thrived, it's the offensive side of the game where they haven't. Jojima has done well and so has Ichiro as well as Iguchi. The Matsuis haven't.

 

 

I guess my point is that the Cubs ought to fix their problems drafting and developing American talent as well as focusing on foreign shores. For the time being, the impact of Latin players has been far greater than Japanese or Korean.

 

thats because the best latin players dont stay in latin america

 

ok, so how are players that are staying in japan useful?

 

they dont have a choice. you can get them after nine years if they want to come over (a lot dont) or you can try to sign them before they go pro (Yuki Saito is probably going this route. and he'll be the biggest international amateur prospect since Kendry Morales).

 

Anyways, in other news I love the Cubs recent run in Latin America. I mean they've really committed down there. This summer just one team signed less international prospects than the Cubs, the Giants. The Mets on the other hand singed like 14, incuding a shortstop named Miguel Tejada from the DR (lol).

 

http://www.baseballamerica.com/online/prospects/news/265060.html

[CuseCubFan69]

Best part of that whole thing is that Soto is the starter. That could have a really wonderful trickle-down effect on the rest of the team insomuch as it frees up some cash to spend on position(s) (RF? SS?) where we don't have internal solutions.

 

Well he did only say he has a "great chance" not that is was a given he was the starter.

 

True but great chance with Lou is a heck of a lot better than a great chance with Dusty. I think Baker has made a lot of us a little pessimistic about the chances of young guys playing.

[the splendid splinter]

That's a loaded statement, most japanese players don't come over here until after their prime {Ichiro, Matui(s) and Matsuzaka are the exception).

 

That said they've got quite a few good players here right now. There's a lot of young talent in Japan right now (especially on the pitching side of the game)

 

Yuki Saito

Yu Darvish

Masahiro Tanaka

Yoshinori Sato

 

All of these pitchers have the potential to be in the front half of a major league rotation, with Sato and Darvish being potential elite pitchers (Darvish could wind up being the best pitcher on the planet). There are several other guys who could be at that level, but more than likely middle of the rotatino guys (Uehara, Saito, Sugiuchi, etc). Pitchers from Japan have thrived, it's the offensive side of the game where they haven't. Jojima has done well and so has Ichiro as well as Iguchi. The Matsuis haven't.

 

 

I guess my point is that the Cubs ought to fix their problems drafting and developing American talent as well as focusing on foreign shores. For the time being, the impact of Latin players has been far greater than Japanese or Korean.

Hopefully that's what Tim Wilken and his staff are here for and acquiring American talent.

[CubinNY]

That's a loaded statement, most japanese players don't come over here until after their prime {Ichiro, Matui(s) and Matsuzaka are the exception).

 

That said they've got quite a few good players here right now. There's a lot of young talent in Japan right now (especially on the pitching side of the game)

 

Yuki Saito

Yu Darvish

Masahiro Tanaka

Yoshinori Sato

 

All of these pitchers have the potential to be in the front half of a major league rotation, with Sato and Darvish being potential elite pitchers (Darvish could wind up being the best pitcher on the planet). There are several other guys who could be at that level, but more than likely middle of the rotatino guys (Uehara, Saito, Sugiuchi, etc). Pitchers from Japan have thrived, it's the offensive side of the game where they haven't. Jojima has done well and so has Ichiro as well as Iguchi. The Matsuis haven't.

 

 

I guess my point is that the Cubs ought to fix their problems drafting and developing American talent as well as focusing on foreign shores. For the time being, the impact of Latin players has been far greater than Japanese or Korean.

Hopefully that's what Tim Wilken and his staff are here for and acquiring American talent.

I hope so too. But then again perhaps their two best position prospects; Colvin and Vitters are just as hack happy as everyone else and haven't seemed to change once they got to the minors.

 

Hendry kind of downplayed the roll of player development, when, IMO that is the Cubs real downfall. I don't buy the argument that a player cannot learn plate discipline.

[Mephistopheles]

beane believes it.

[Soul]

That's a loaded statement, most japanese players don't come over here until after their prime {Ichiro, Matui(s) and Matsuzaka are the exception).

 

That said they've got quite a few good players here right now. There's a lot of young talent in Japan right now (especially on the pitching side of the game)

 

Yuki Saito

Yu Darvish

Masahiro Tanaka

Yoshinori Sato

 

All of these pitchers have the potential to be in the front half of a major league rotation, with Sato and Darvish being potential elite pitchers (Darvish could wind up being the best pitcher on the planet). There are several other guys who could be at that level, but more than likely middle of the rotatino guys (Uehara, Saito, Sugiuchi, etc). Pitchers from Japan have thrived, it's the offensive side of the game where they haven't. Jojima has done well and so has Ichiro as well as Iguchi. The Matsuis haven't.

 

 

I guess my point is that the Cubs ought to fix their problems drafting and developing American talent as well as focusing on foreign shores. For the time being, the impact of Latin players has been far greater than Japanese or Korean.

Hopefully that's what Tim Wilken and his staff are here for and acquiring American talent.

I hope so too. But then again perhaps their two best position prospects; Colvin and Vitters are just as hack happy as everyone else and haven't seemed to change once they got to the minors.

 

Hendry kind of downplayed the roll of player development, when, IMO that is the Cubs real downfall. I don't buy the argument that a player cannot learn plate discipline.

 

Well he talked about it being scouting, and he talked about the commitment in Latin America. It sort of sounds like he thinks it's more front-loaded. I don't agree with that completely. Young players like that -- it's got to be coaching too, not just picking talent from some Latin American playground. They need to be able to teach at that level.

[Guest]

That's a loaded statement, most japanese players don't come over here until after their prime {Ichiro, Matui(s) and Matsuzaka are the exception).

 

That said they've got quite a few good players here right now. There's a lot of young talent in Japan right now (especially on the pitching side of the game)

 

Yuki Saito

Yu Darvish

Masahiro Tanaka

Yoshinori Sato

 

All of these pitchers have the potential to be in the front half of a major league rotation, with Sato and Darvish being potential elite pitchers (Darvish could wind up being the best pitcher on the planet). There are several other guys who could be at that level, but more than likely middle of the rotatino guys (Uehara, Saito, Sugiuchi, etc). Pitchers from Japan have thrived, it's the offensive side of the game where they haven't. Jojima has done well and so has Ichiro as well as Iguchi. The Matsuis haven't.

 

 

I guess my point is that the Cubs ought to fix their problems drafting and developing American talent as well as focusing on foreign shores. For the time being, the impact of Latin players has been far greater than Japanese or Korean.

Hopefully that's what Tim Wilken and his staff are here for and acquiring American talent.

I hope so too. But then again perhaps their two best position prospects; Colvin and Vitters are just as hack happy as everyone else and haven't seemed to change once they got to the minors.

 

Hendry kind of downplayed the roll of player development, when, IMO that is the Cubs real downfall. I don't buy the argument that a player cannot learn plate discipline.

 

How can you tell how how hack-happy Vitters is?

[CubinNY]

That's a loaded statement, most japanese players don't come over here until after their prime {Ichiro, Matui(s) and Matsuzaka are the exception).

 

That said they've got quite a few good players here right now. There's a lot of young talent in Japan right now (especially on the pitching side of the game)

 

Yuki Saito

Yu Darvish

Masahiro Tanaka

Yoshinori Sato

 

All of these pitchers have the potential to be in the front half of a major league rotation, with Sato and Darvish being potential elite pitchers (Darvish could wind up being the best pitcher on the planet). There are several other guys who could be at that level, but more than likely middle of the rotatino guys (Uehara, Saito, Sugiuchi, etc). Pitchers from Japan have thrived, it's the offensive side of the game where they haven't. Jojima has done well and so has Ichiro as well as Iguchi. The Matsuis haven't.

 

 

I guess my point is that the Cubs ought to fix their problems drafting and developing American talent as well as focusing on foreign shores. For the time being, the impact of Latin players has been far greater than Japanese or Korean.

Hopefully that's what Tim Wilken and his staff are here for and acquiring American talent.

I hope so too. But then again perhaps their two best position prospects; Colvin and Vitters are just as hack happy as everyone else and haven't seemed to change once they got to the minors.

 

Hendry kind of downplayed the roll of player development, when, IMO that is the Cubs real downfall. I don't buy the argument that a player cannot learn plate discipline.

 

How can you tell how how hack-happy Vitters is?

I'm going by what I've read here (from scout's analysis) and his stats in a very limited number of ABs.

 

Pardon me for not trusting the Cubs to develop any patience with Vitters. I guess time will tell.

 

http://minors.baseball-reference.com/players.cgi?pid=33742

[Guest]

Who cares about 51 AB when he's clearly rusty and hasn't played in 3 months?

 

As for the scouts, they've mostly said he has ok place on his plate discipline. Perfect Game is one of the best at scouting for the draft and they gave high marks for his plate discipline:

 

Josh Vitters 3B Sr. R-R 6-3 190 Cypress HS Anaheim (Arizona State) 8-27-89

His pitch recognition is very good; he knows what he wants to hit, and what he can and cannot hit. When Vitters’ brain says swing, his hands do it and it is a very impressive thing to see.

 

It's just too early to compare Vitters plate discipline abilities to Colvin.

[SABR Gamer]

That's a loaded statement, most japanese players don't come over here until after their prime {Ichiro, Matui(s) and Matsuzaka are the exception).

 

That said they've got quite a few good players here right now. There's a lot of young talent in Japan right now (especially on the pitching side of the game)

 

Yuki Saito

Yu Darvish

Masahiro Tanaka

Yoshinori Sato

 

All of these pitchers have the potential to be in the front half of a major league rotation, with Sato and Darvish being potential elite pitchers (Darvish could wind up being the best pitcher on the planet). There are several other guys who could be at that level, but more than likely middle of the rotatino guys (Uehara, Saito, Sugiuchi, etc). Pitchers from Japan have thrived, it's the offensive side of the game where they haven't. Jojima has done well and so has Ichiro as well as Iguchi. The Matsuis haven't.

 

Dude, where do u get this stuff "The Matsuis haven't"....uhhhhh, the Matsuis were extremely productive this year, hideki has been great since he came over, and Kaz had a very good year too, thats just a stupid statement and its obvious that you just didnt look at the numbers before posting this. Kaz outhit Iguchi this year. You don' really think that Iguchi and Johjima were more productive that Hideki Matsui, do you? Come on, if your going to make bold statements don't contradict them with bad info.

[CubinNY]

That's a loaded statement, most japanese players don't come over here until after their prime {Ichiro, Matui(s) and Matsuzaka are the exception).

 

That said they've got quite a few good players here right now. There's a lot of young talent in Japan right now (especially on the pitching side of the game)

 

Yuki Saito

Yu Darvish

Masahiro Tanaka

Yoshinori Sato

 

All of these pitchers have the potential to be in the front half of a major league rotation, with Sato and Darvish being potential elite pitchers (Darvish could wind up being the best pitcher on the planet). There are several other guys who could be at that level, but more than likely middle of the rotatino guys (Uehara, Saito, Sugiuchi, etc). Pitchers from Japan have thrived, it's the offensive side of the game where they haven't. Jojima has done well and so has Ichiro as well as Iguchi. The Matsuis haven't.

 

Dude, where do u get this stuff "The Matsuis haven't"....uhhhhh, the Matsuis were extremely productive this year, hideki has been great since he came over, and Kaz had a very good year too, thats just a stupid statement and its obvious that you just didnt look at the numbers before posting this. Kaz outhit Iguchi this year. You don' really think that Iguchi and Johjima were more productive that Hideki Matsui, do you? Come on, if your going to make bold statements don't contradict them with bad info.

He said they were the exception.

 

Reading is fundamental.

[ConstableRabbit]

That's a loaded statement, most japanese players don't come over here until after their prime {Ichiro, Matui(s) and Matsuzaka are the exception).

 

That said they've got quite a few good players here right now. There's a lot of young talent in Japan right now (especially on the pitching side of the game)

 

Yuki Saito

Yu Darvish

Masahiro Tanaka

Yoshinori Sato

 

All of these pitchers have the potential to be in the front half of a major league rotation, with Sato and Darvish being potential elite pitchers (Darvish could wind up being the best pitcher on the planet). There are several other guys who could be at that level, but more than likely middle of the rotatino guys (Uehara, Saito, Sugiuchi, etc). Pitchers from Japan have thrived, it's the offensive side of the game where they haven't. Jojima has done well and so has Ichiro as well as Iguchi. The Matsuis haven't.

 

Dude, where do u get this stuff "The Matsuis haven't"....uhhhhh, the Matsuis were extremely productive this year, hideki has been great since he came over, and Kaz had a very good year too, thats just a stupid statement and its obvious that you just didnt look at the numbers before posting this. Kaz outhit Iguchi this year. You don' really think that Iguchi and Johjima were more productive that Hideki Matsui, do you? Come on, if your going to make bold statements don't contradict them with bad info.

He said they were the exception.

 

Reading is fundamental.

 

For the record, your correction was incorrect.

 

Meph was saying the Matsui's were the exception for most Japanese players coming over after their primes. Then he says that Japanese pitchers have thrived, whereas offensive players haven't. The exceptions being Ichiro, Jojima, and Iguchi.

 

A-Ram was disputing Meph's statement that the Matsui's have not thrived.

[SABR Gamer]

That's a loaded statement, most japanese players don't come over here until after their prime {Ichiro, Matui(s) and Matsuzaka are the exception).

 

That said they've got quite a few good players here right now. There's a lot of young talent in Japan right now (especially on the pitching side of the game)

 

Yuki Saito

Yu Darvish

Masahiro Tanaka

Yoshinori Sato

 

All of these pitchers have the potential to be in the front half of a major league rotation, with Sato and Darvish being potential elite pitchers (Darvish could wind up being the best pitcher on the planet). There are several other guys who could be at that level, but more than likely middle of the rotatino guys (Uehara, Saito, Sugiuchi, etc). Pitchers from Japan have thrived, it's the offensive side of the game where they haven't. Jojima has done well and so has Ichiro as well as Iguchi. The Matsuis haven't.

 

Dude, where do u get this stuff "The Matsuis haven't"....uhhhhh, the Matsuis were extremely productive this year, hideki has been great since he came over, and Kaz had a very good year too, thats just a stupid statement and its obvious that you just didnt look at the numbers before posting this. Kaz outhit Iguchi this year. You don' really think that Iguchi and Johjima were more productive that Hideki Matsui, do you? Come on, if your going to make bold statements don't contradict them with bad info.

He said they were the exception.

 

Reading is fundamental.

 

For the record, your correction was incorrect.

 

Meph was saying the Matsui's were the exception for most Japanese players coming over after their primes. Then he says that Japanese pitchers have thrived, whereas offensive players haven't. The exceptions being Ichiro, Jojima, and Iguchi.

 

A-Ram was disputing Meph's statement that the Matsui's have not thrived.

 

Yes, ConstableRabbit, you have it right, I was referring to the last statement CubinNY, so it looks like reading IS fundamental.

[David]

That's a loaded statement, most japanese players don't come over here until after their prime {Ichiro, Matui(s) and Matsuzaka are the exception).

 

That said they've got quite a few good players here right now. There's a lot of young talent in Japan right now (especially on the pitching side of the game)

 

Yuki Saito

Yu Darvish

Masahiro Tanaka

Yoshinori Sato

 

All of these pitchers have the potential to be in the front half of a major league rotation, with Sato and Darvish being potential elite pitchers (Darvish could wind up being the best pitcher on the planet). There are several other guys who could be at that level, but more than likely middle of the rotatino guys (Uehara, Saito, Sugiuchi, etc). Pitchers from Japan have thrived, it's the offensive side of the game where they haven't. Jojima has done well and so has Ichiro as well as Iguchi. The Matsuis haven't.

 

Dude, where do u get this stuff "The Matsuis haven't"....uhhhhh, the Matsuis were extremely productive this year, hideki has been great since he came over, and Kaz had a very good year too, thats just a stupid statement and its obvious that you just didnt look at the numbers before posting this. Kaz outhit Iguchi this year. You don' really think that Iguchi and Johjima were more productive that Hideki Matsui, do you? Come on, if your going to make bold statements don't contradict them with bad info.

He said they were the exception.

 

Reading is fundamental.

 

Ummm...

[CubinNY]

That's a loaded statement, most japanese players don't come over here until after their prime {Ichiro, Matui(s) and Matsuzaka are the exception).

 

That said they've got quite a few good players here right now. There's a lot of young talent in Japan right now (especially on the pitching side of the game)

 

Yuki Saito

Yu Darvish

Masahiro Tanaka

Yoshinori Sato

 

All of these pitchers have the potential to be in the front half of a major league rotation, with Sato and Darvish being potential elite pitchers (Darvish could wind up being the best pitcher on the planet). There are several other guys who could be at that level, but more than likely middle of the rotatino guys (Uehara, Saito, Sugiuchi, etc). Pitchers from Japan have thrived, it's the offensive side of the game where they haven't. Jojima has done well and so has Ichiro as well as Iguchi. The Matsuis haven't.

 

Dude, where do u get this stuff "The Matsuis haven't"....uhhhhh, the Matsuis were extremely productive this year, hideki has been great since he came over, and Kaz had a very good year too, thats just a stupid statement and its obvious that you just didnt look at the numbers before posting this. Kaz outhit Iguchi this year. You don' really think that Iguchi and Johjima were more productive that Hideki Matsui, do you? Come on, if your going to make bold statements don't contradict them with bad info.

He said they were the exception.

 

Reading is fundamental.

 

Ummm...

my bad.