World Baseball Classic 2023

[Vote4Pedro]

6 minutes ago, fathom said:

Just please don’t sign with the Cubs next offseason 

To think the Sox were trying to acquire him a couple seasons ago….why can’t we acquire good things ugh ?  

[chw42]

1 minute ago, pettie4sox said:

Japan is an elite team.  They are fundamentally sound and don't make mistakes.

They also have the best player on the planet. Their pitching was easily the best in the tournament. I was surprised to see such great stuff from just about every Japanese pitcher. 

[Autumn Dreamin]

Pfft, striking out Trout is light work. We have Shohei at home:

[Buehrle>Wood]

2 minutes ago, Autumn Dreamin said:

Pfft, striking out Trout is light work. We have Shohei at home:

Trout thinking, damn I just made that amateur players career.

[Quin]

3 minutes ago, Autumn Dreamin said:

Pfft, striking out Trout is light work. We have Shohei at home:

Closé Ruiz szn be upon us.

[pettie4sox]

6 minutes ago, chw42 said:

They also have the best player on the planet. Their pitching was easily the best in the tournament. I was surprised to see such great stuff from just about every Japanese pitcher. 

Yep, in the end Japan brought their best, and the US tried to bully their way through the tournament.

[chw42]

4 minutes ago, pettie4sox said:

Yep, in the end Japan brought their best, and the US tried to bully their way through the tournament.

Our pitchers didn't want to pitch, but from what I saw, there were no major injuries to pitchers from actually pitching. Just Edwin Diaz getting hurt from celebrating. 

[Quin]

4 minutes ago, pettie4sox said:

Yep, in the end Japan brought their best, and the US tried to bully their way through the tournament.

Guided by none other than Mark DeRosa.

Hopefully this is the wakeup call Team USA needed to take its s%*# seriously. The other countries are getting better.

[pettie4sox]

1 minute ago, Quin said:

Guided by none other than Mark DeRosa.

Hopefully this is the wakeup call Team USA needed to take its s%*# seriously. The other countries are getting better.

I don't think the US cares tbh.  Smoltz was pretty insufferable all night saying that the US was this and that, instead of just giving Japan their due.  They were the best team in the tourney.  They didn't lose one game.  Their dream team can crush teams with no pitching acumen, but I think most people knew they had their hands full with Japan.

[Tnetennba]

23 minutes ago, Harold's Leg Lift said:

He's gonna be a Dodger.

That would be my guess too. 

[Quin]

2 minutes ago, pettie4sox said:

I don't think the US cares tbh.  Smoltz was pretty insufferable all night saying that the US was this and that, instead of just giving Japan their due.  They were the best team in the tourney.  They didn't lose one game.  Their dream team can crush teams with no pitching acumen, but I think most people knew they had their hands full with Japan.

That's why I said this needs to be a wakeup call.

And John Smoltz fucking sucks as a broadcaster. 

[Tnetennba]

 

[caulfield12]

6 minutes ago, Quin said:

Guided by none other than Mark DeRosa.

Hopefully this is the wakeup call Team USA needed to take its s%*# seriously. The other countries are getting better.

Really impressed with the overall competitiveness of Australia, Italy, Colombia, Panama, etc.

Venezuela still is highly-competitive despite all the political/economic issues surrounded with their country, same with Puerto Rico.

Korea and Taiwan under-performed a bit...but expectations were sky high with home games so close.  

Cuba just doesn't have the pitching talent anymore, and Moncada/Robert alone are not enough.

[Tnetennba]

 

[caulfield12]

Sasaki and Murakami would be Top 25-30 players in MLB right now.

A number of Japanese high leverage relievers are going to get the St. Louis/Red Sox offers that predominated over the last two decades.

Was also impressed by Okamoto at 1B and Kondoh in the OF.

 

And that doesn't even count Yoshida, who was on of the three best players on the field throughout the entire tournament and who was almost universally-questioned as a bad contract.

Of course, the Cubs' Japanese phenom wasn't even on their roster, too.  Same with Senga/NYM and Maeda/Tanaka.

[Tnetennba]

 

[caulfield12]

 

[Eminor3rd]

2 hours ago, caulfield12 said:

How has Murakami looked defensively?  He's pretty darned big for that spot.

He’s become surprisingly passable at third after looking horrendous in his rookie year (at first!), but I don’t think anyone thinks he can stick there long term. He’s a 1B/DH when he comes over here.

[Eminor3rd]

Yoshinobu Yamamoto is most likely coming next, rumored this coming offseason. It’s a shame the Sox are “maxed out” because he looks every bit as good as Tanaka when he came over, possibly better. A little less size, but a wider arsenal and the same great command. 

[Tnetennba]

 

[caulfield12]

 

 

Edited March 22, 2023 by caulfield12

[bmags]

7 hours ago, Eminor3rd said:

Yoshinobu Yamamoto is most likely coming next, rumored this coming offseason. It’s a shame the Sox are “maxed out” because he looks every bit as good as Tanaka when he came over, possibly better. A little less size, but a wider arsenal and the same great command. 

Even if we weren’t maxed out he’d need to be in a 4 year 72 million range to be considered

[bmags]

I gotta tell ya...this was awesome.

I also can't remember the last time baseball fans were like "THIS IS AWESOME YOU GOTTA SEE THIS" and not "Yeah well it's an acquired taste"

[caulfield12]

Roki Sasaki MLB posting timeline

Sasaki wants to play for an MLB team. According to the Associated Press, when he was asked about playing in MLB, he called it "my dream."

But while it's easy to dream on Sasaki reaching the majors, the reality is that it could be a little while. If he waits until 2027, when he will be 25, he can leave for MLB as an international free agent and would not be impacted by the posting system.

There is the possibility that he could come over earlier, however. If he requests to be posted by his Japanese team Chiba Lotte, and the team agrees to his request, an MLB team can try and negotiate a deal with the team first to acquire the rights to negotiate with him. If that happens, Sasaki can reach the majors much sooner.

 

But that would require him to go through the posting process, which is complicated, to say the least.

https://www.sportingnews.com/us/mlb/news/roki-sasaki-posting-mlb-japan-timeline/ljewldo00sktps0q22iuaslh

Edited March 22, 2023 by caulfield12

[caulfield12]

https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=yamada000tet
Tetsudo Yamada

 

Yamada, 28, is one of the best hitters in Japan, is an excellent defensive second baseman, and could wind up posted this offseason if his NPB team feels like his price tag will be reasonably high. The rubs there are both the pandemic (we have no idea what teams are going to be willing to pay for guys like Kim and Yamada this offseason) and the change to the posting system that made payments to NPB teams much lower. Even if Yamada landed a $40+ million contract – no sure thing in this environment – his team might receive only $10 million, or half what a major posted player would’ve netted them just a couple years ago. His club might simply decide it is worth it to keep a superstar.

But let’s say Yamada’s team decides to post him, or he strenuously asks for it and they oblige. Like Kim, Tetsuto can be an international free agent after next season, so maybe his team decides something now is better than nothing next year.

Is he a guy the Cubs should be in on?

Well, I mean, he’s a 28-year-old second baseman who plays good defense, has great speed, and has been one of the best bats in the competitive NPB for a half-decade now, so … obviously yes? Right?

We can’t translate stats perfectly, and he’s obviously seen a blip here in the shortened 2020 season, but generally, Yamada rakes:

 

https://www.bleachernation.com/cubs/2020/10/21/if-japanese-star-second-baseman-tetsuto-yamada-is-posted-should-cubs-go-that-route/

Edited March 22, 2023 by caulfield12