8 replies to this topic

[Coker]

News broke earlier today that Duquette spoke with representatives from NPB's Rakuten Golden Eagles about a possible cooperative player-training agreement.
I reached out to Patrick Newman of NPBTracker to get a better idea of what the agreement could be and his thoughts on the matter.

Hi Coker,

Normally a player training agreement would mean that the Japanese club sends players to the US to participate in spring training or to play with the minor league affiliates of the MLB team. For example, Ichiro spent some time in the Mariners camp in 1999 while he was still with the Orix Blue Wave. Occasionally NPB teams will send coaches over as well. It could be something else in this specific case but that's what I would expect. The Orioles hired a guy name Ray Poitevint a year or two ago with deep ties to Japan, so if he's still with the organization a move like this isn't such a surprise.

Thanks, Patrick

I can only assume that this will help our international presence in Japan and perhaps give us an edge in any posting or free agents from the Golden Eagles. It at least helps spread the Orioles brand throughout Japan (hopefully!)

[Moose Milligan]

Gotta like this move.

Obvious question is, do the Golden Eagles have anyone that'd be a similar case to Ichiro? A stud player who can come train with the Orioles and then maybe we can acquire him in 2 years?

[Coker]

Gotta like this move.

Obvious question is, do the Golden Eagles have anyone that'd be a similar case to Ichiro? A stud player who can come train with the Orioles and then maybe we can acquire him in 2 years?

Look no further than their 24yo ace, Masahiro Tanaka. In 2011, he won the Sawamura Award (NPB equivalent of the Cy Young) edging out Yu Darvish 3-2.

With a high three-quarters delivery Tanaka throws a four-seam fastball that sits in the low 90s (tops out at 96 mph), a hard breaking mid-80s slider, a splitter, and a two-seam fastball.

And it's said that he's been working on his offspeed pitches to try and induce more groundballs.

But, as is always the case, he's had a hell of a workload and injuries are a concern. He dealt with a shoulder injury at the beginning of the year, and then later missed a start due to back stiffness. Looks like there might have been a hip problem too. Injuries this year limited him to 173 IP, averaging nearly a 9:1 K/BB ratio (169k's to 19BBs). Finished the year with a 1.87 ERA.

Edit: Highlights clip on youtube, since I can't get embedding to work: Acu_tWYNNpA

[Moose Milligan]

Look no further than their 24yo ace, Masahiro Tanaka. In 2011, he won the Sawamura Award (NPB equivalent of the Cy Young) edging out Yu Darvish 3-2.

And it's said that he's been working on his offspeed pitches to try and induce more groundballs.

But, as is always the case, he's had a hell of a workload and injuries are a concern. He dealt with a shoulder injury at the beginning of the year, and then later missed a start due to back stiffness. Looks like there might have been a hip problem too. Injuries this year limited him to 173 IP, averaging nearly a 9:1 K/BB ratio (169k's to 19BBs). Finished the year with a 1.87 ERA.

Edit: Highlights clip on youtube, since I can't get embedding to work: Acu_tWYNNpA

That looks pretty awesome.

I'd still look at a guy like that, despite the injury concerns.

And, to offset the workload I'd make him a swing guy of sorts, someone who could give a 5 inning spot start, maybe close a game here or there and provide middle relief. It's not a sexy role like a starting pitcher but to have a talent like that would be really nice.

EDIT: You also have to love the ridiculous control that he has. That's a sick k/bb ratio and it seems like every Asian pitcher we've had has had exceptional command. Whatever they teach over there in order to get those type of results, I'd love to know how we could incorporate it here.

[You Play to Win the Game]

Thanks for this update Coker, good stuff. Hopefully this pays dividends for us in the near and long term.

Also, what the hell - did you have your Twitter rigged to wake you up if the words #Orioles and #Agreement were used in the same tweet? An update at 3:21 AM - that's dedication Holmes!

[Tucker Blair]

This is essentially like the Orioles agreement with the AFL (Australian League), except it sounds like NPB players are going over instead of the Orioles players.

It's a nice agreement and surely something will come out of it. The AFL has brought back guys like Allan de San Miguel. He isn't a great prospect, but a capable minor league catcher whom is one of the best AFL hitters. NPB has much more talent so this is nice.

[JeffLong]

News broke earlier today that Duquette spoke with representatives from NPB's Rakuten Golden Eagles about a possible cooperative player-training agreement.
I reached out to Patrick Newman of NPBTracker to get a better idea of what the agreement could be and his thoughts on the matter.



I can only assume that this will help our international presence in Japan and perhaps give us an edge in any posting or free agents from the Golden Eagles. It at least helps spread the Orioles brand throughout Japan (hopefully!)

Thanks Coker. I spoke to Patrick as well and will be posting something tonight about what we can expect from this.

[Coker]

Thanks Coker. I spoke to Patrick as well and will be posting something tonight about what we can expect from this.

Awesome, I was hoping that somebody reached out to him. Or this post would have reminded somebody to contact him

Anyways, I asked him if this could possibly be a move to get a more hands-on experience with some of the players like Masahiro Tanaka in hopes of free agency/a future posting.

Maybe, but he's a few years away from posting/FA, so it depends on the duration of the agreement. But you could be on to something. The A's had a working agreement with Rakuten before they bid on Iwakuma.

So that's now two teams that have had these player-training agreements that I don't remember hearing about.

[JeffLong]

Here's my piece with quotes from Patrick Newman. Some of the same info Coker has conveyed but interesting nonetheless:

http://baltimorespor...-golden-eagles/