Braves sign another Japanese hurler
by gondeee on Jan 26, 2009 2:37 PM EST
in Braves Related Free Agents
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PrintThe Atlanta Braves scouting program has produced another international signing from Japan, though this Japanese pitcher is still just a teenager. From the Daily Yomiuri Online:
The Atlanta Braves announced the signing of 18-year-old right-hander Yoshinori Yamarin to a minor league deal on Monday.
The 1.86-meter [aprrox. 6 feet, 1 inches tall], 85-kilogram [187 pound] hurler out of Nissei Gakuen Daisan high school in Hyogo Prefecture, drew attention from the team despite never having appeared in high school tournaments at Koshien Stadium.
The Braves announced the signing and introduced Yamarin at a press conference in Osaka, where the pitcher said he has lofty goals.
"I want to become the kind of pitcher who can throw alongside [Kenshin] Kawakami," an all-star right-hander from the Chunichi Dragons whom Atlanta signed as a free agent earlier this month.
"I always feel like I want to be the best at whatever I do, and I wanted to play baseball where the sport was born."
Yamarin is scheduled to join the Braves instructional league in Australia following his June graduation.
Keep 'em coming. It's not the right reaction to get excited about every one of these types of signings, but the more of these types of guys we sign, the higher the liklihood that one will develop and help the major league club.
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Let the flood gates open
The more areas we have to mine for pitching the greater the chance some will be solid MLBers, like gondeee mentioned. If Japan can produce for us the way Latin America can we can count ourselves lucky. Not every team has successful international scouting and recruiting.
+1
I guess I should be one to talk.
There's nights that I can't even walk.
There's days I couldn't give a fuck.
And in between is where I'm stuck.
by Smoltz's Beard on Jan 26, 2009 4:47 PM EST up reply actions
Here's another photo...
This article says Brave won bidding over Twins for this kid…
BTW Japanese school system (and most of business) annually starts on April 1st and his graduation is in February. In between he will train in Osaka until June.
by dragonsfanatic on Jan 26, 2009 6:46 PM EST up reply actions
Was this signing similar to the Red Sox’ signing of Yu Darvish (in essence breaking the gentleman’s agreement by signing Japanese high schoolers to minor league contracts)?
It was not Yu Darvish that was signed by the Red Sox. Darvish is an ace starter in the Japanese Pro league. He is not a high schooler signed to a minor league contract.
by Dutch Braves Fan on Jan 26, 2009 4:24 PM EST up reply actions
My fault. I meant Junichi Tazawa. Definitely should have fact-checked before I blindly posted that question.
by mattdiaz4life on Jan 26, 2009 5:31 PM EST up reply actions
Ooooh, young guy. Thats gonna piss the Nippon guys off.
SWAGGA LIKE BJONES, SWAGGA LIKE BJONES
JOE-BO FOR THE BENCH IN 09
Yamrin applied...
…for NPB draft back in Nov (all students have to send application if they want to go to pro), but no club picked him up. He also went to a couple of tryouts but finally failed. Don’t know exact reasons why…
by dragonsfanatic on Jan 26, 2009 7:00 PM EST up reply actions
I'm curious
Do teams in Japan routinely draft high school players? If so, is it similar to MLB teams targeting HS kids to fill their minors? Sorry, I’m way behind the curve on Japanese baseball culture.
"Debated ya right not one person agreed with me" by ATLsportsfrk on Dec 27, 2008 6:31 PM EST
Yeah, they draft high school players in Japan
There is a minor league system, though each pro team only has one affiliate club, and there are college leagues and corporate leagues (like Tazawa, who just signed with the Red Sox played in) that players can go to after high school, they’re a pretty big deal, but not as big as high school or pro ball.
Their draft is really different though. IIRC, each team basically picks who they want without picking in any order (in the first round), and then a sort of lottery is used if more than one team picks a particular player, with the teams that miss out then picking someone else, and the process continuing. Once they get into the 2nd or 3rd round they start picking in a set order. And the draft basically keeps going until nobody wants to make anymore picks.
High School baseball is a really big deal in Japan, it’s more like the way we look at College Football or Basketball, with the private schools often heavily recruiting star players away from the public schools and the Tournaments receiving a huge amount of attention on television and in the press.
fatazfoot?
I guess I should be one to talk.
There's nights that I can't even walk.
There's days I couldn't give a fuck.
And in between is where I'm stuck.
by Smoltz's Beard on Jan 27, 2009 9:16 AM EST up reply actions
Don't forget Spruill and DeVall
"…aren’t worthy enough to hold his (Pujols) ass cheeks apart while Playboy models wipe him with thousand dollar bills after he craps out the cure to whatever previously-incurable disease." by royhobbs 1/7/09
by buzzdeadwax on Jan 27, 2009 12:00 PM EST up reply actions
Krull?
That movie was cool.
"…aren’t worthy enough to hold his (Pujols) ass cheeks apart while Playboy models wipe him with thousand dollar bills after he craps out the cure to whatever previously-incurable disease." by royhobbs 1/7/09
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