Pirates sign three from Taiwan

Kam Fong as Chin Ho.

These are the guys Neal had on his radar for years.

Neal is going to trade Rinku and Dinesh for a goat and two llamas.

The goat has a power arm and the llames have a downward plane on their pitches.

         CHI WILL FILL US WITH GLEE!

         HONG WILL MAKE US BREAK OUT IN SONG!

         HSU HOPEFULLY HAS A CLUE!

I'm not accustmed to those type of names and could not say them 10 times fast.

Wouldn't be great if some of these guys made it to the bigs?

I hear that Hong has a plus slider and above average command. His favorite foods are steamed vegetables and dog.

If you can set aside the racial slurs for a minute, there's some info about these guys here:

taiwanbaseball.blogspot.com

HONG IF YOU LOVE THE BUCS!

Demery

What's with the racist comments?  Sort of uncalled for, in my opinion.

Demery your comments demonstrate ignorance and are very Beltran like, grow up.

WTM

Excellent link, thanks.  From the site...Hung is 18 and throws 91 with a 158 pound frame.  Let's get some meat on those bones, son!  Hsu is a 17 year old lefty that throws in the 80s and has pop in his bat (not sure if we're signing him to pitch or not).  Chi turned 18 yesterday, and is a small, speedy leadoff hitting outfielder.

What is unusual is that the Taiwan little league teams were power houses for years and yet to my knowledge not many players in USA Pro ball, if any.

I have often wondered what happened to these guys? You would think some of them would have developed.

From gameday thread I posted

Aroldis Chapman has defected from Cuba!

21 yr. old (although how reliable are Cubano birth certs), 6'4'' LHP, who routinely throws 100 mph, and has topped out at 102.

Here's a link to the article:

www.theyankeeuniverse.com

Here's quite the power arm the NH loves and covets....

Maybe they were waiting on this to spend their money??

Chapman and Sano????????????

NO WAY!  HAHAHAHAHA

Sorry, bad attempt at humor.

leadoff

Not a lot. Chien Ming Wang is the national hero, but not many outside of him.  Hong Chi Kuo is pretty solid, I guess.  

www.baseball-almanac.com/.../birthplace.php  has the whole list.

Chapman will get into a bidding war and his end price tag will probably be between 30-60 million.

I see from the quote in the game thread that Russell has yet to figure out that one reason the bullpen has improved is the ABSENCE of Tyler Yates.

Just wanted to ask a quick question:

How is it a racial SLUR to say that his favorite food is steamed vegetables and dog (and BTW, since they don't have an abundance of cows, they eat dog (or cat, or rat/mouse)...it's a fact)?  Or saying he will trade Ringku and Dinesh for a goat and two llamas?

And you've probably never made fun or someone (or something) that was different from you.  I forgot, WTM, you're perfect.

Everyone needs to lighten up.

Have a coke and a smile :)

Demery,

Don't apologize.  Nothing you said was wrong or racist.  Like I said, people need to lighten up!

I'm guessing that Chi-Wei Hsu isn't being pegged as a pitcher. Says he's a lefty with some pop. Call me crazy, but a lefty with some pop might do well at PNC Park. I'm no expert. I never played the game, so forgive me Ian, but I'm just sayin'.

Here's a fangraphs.com piece on Chapman

www.fangraphs.com/.../introducing-aroldis-chapman

Pretty cool to see the Bucs reaching into new markets. Is anyone familiar with how the Australian academy works? Is it mostly instructional - or does each MLB team have a full squad? Also, I wonder if there are any timelines to get them overseas?

Why

Just because you don't have a problem with the comments doesn't mean they were okay.  I think Demery's intent was to go for a cheap laugh at the expense of stereotypes.  He acknowledged that, and apologized.  No one was saying he was being clearly malicious, it was more of "Hey, you didn't mean to be racist there, right?"   And he replied confirming that the joke may have gotten away from him and he apologized if people were offended.  I think that's pretty reasonable.  No one needs to "lighten up" really, because no one really lost their cool to begin with.

Juniata

Funny comment re: Ian.  After the Van Benschoten debacle, I never assume a guy is not going to pitch until I'm told. ;-)

@Why Didn't . . .,

If you don't see it, there's really no use explaining it to you.

@aso513

The dog bit falls in the category of "joke." Hope that clears things up for you.

Bay Area

Wow. I didn't think about that. I'll have to find his stats because if Chi-Wei Hsu is a really, really good hitter, then yes, they signed him as a pitcher!

Ahhh not going to get into racial stuff as this is a baseball thread, just wanted everyone to know that this world has become to freakin PC.

"O you shouldn't say that..." or "That's going to far..." or ahhh well you get my picture.

And while it looked as if I was pointing fingers, I meant that everyone needs to lighten up, and not take everything so seriously (like everybody in the world).

Again, don't wanna get into anything racial here, I was just trying to show that no racial SLURS were being thrown around by Demery that's all.

Woooo.  Wow, heavy stuff.  Let's just move forward and pick up that 4th win from the earlier series.  Pull out ya brooms.....

SWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP (for real this time).

Does anyone think we have > 0% chance of actually signing Sano?  I don't, and it's going to be a public relations disaster.  The front office did an amazingly poor job of managing expectations on this one.

Constantion

I think the FO might have painted themselves into a corner on this one. They did nothing to refute the perception of the Pirates being front-runners for Sano. If they don't sign him now, they're going to get ripped apart by the fan base. For that reason, I think we have a pretty good chance of signing him.

Racist comments have nothing to do with being PC or people having to lighten up. They simply have no place, especially on a baseball blog.

@Demery:

Objectionable, perhaps, but I still laughed.  

Good rain delay material.

still no offer. WTF?

DK

What's too good to be true?

Why Didn't I

Not so much PC as common decency --the Guide to Commenting has the PG's rules this blog, and it is their blog so they get to set the rules.

Why..  wrote:

And you've probably never made fun or someone (or something) that was different from you.

______________________________________

Well, yeah.  I admit I have.  But if my parents were in earshot, I got my mouth washed out with soap and/or a swift slap in the face.  They didn't make excuses for me to the others out there who didn't appreciate me being a juvenile smarta**.  They did that because I did something worng.  It doesn't matter that I was trying to be funny; they were there to teach a larger lesson.

I trust that Demery was making a bad joke that he regrets making.  I'm pretty sure  he's not a racist; just a jokester.  One final thought regarding whether it's "too PC" to call somebody out on what you think is an inappropriate slur before I suggest we all move on:  Wiser men than me, They Might Be Giants, suggested that "you can't shake the devil's hand and say you're only kidding."

Going for a "cheap laugh at the expense of stereotypes" does not deserve an apology.  In fact, this methodology forms a major basis of the genre we sometimes collectively refer to as "humor".  Lighten up.

Demery, I've got tears running down my face.  I will steal that line and claim it as my own.

A quick review of the guide to commenting, and I realize my endorsement of such humor was also out of place.

Nutting immediately traded Chi, Hong and Hsu for a couple of used ski lifts...

Anyone else hope for a moment upon seeing this video that Bingo Bob had sold the team and it was being relocated to Taipei?

look what I started......

Well....actually....Demery started it.....

St. Louis announced they signed Wagner Mateo for a cool $3M.  The article says he was widely regarded as the second best Dominican prospect behind Sano.  I'd say this will set Sano up to be in to $4M+ range (not that we weren't expecting that).

mlb.mlb.com/.../article.jsp

i almost cried laughing Demery.  I knew someone would complain.  these are the same people who ruined little league by saying we shouldn't keep score because it would sadden the losing kids.  

America is known as the over touchy nation. oh well, if it was racist and i don't see it. so be it.  

If the Pirates don't sign Sano, I'm officially done with the Pirates.  This just points to Nutting's inability to damage his profit margin.  Honestly, why does anybody care anymore?  Any prospect in our system is gone as soon as they are a FA.  I hope Baltimore signs him, somehow that willl make the Weiters pass hurt even more.  

Sorry I started all this. I guess I crossed the Nutting Hostage line. Thanks for all the support. Just trying to be funny and didn't think it was racist. I'm always a jackass. :)

Dog is actually considered a delicacy in Korea and is eaten for stamina.  I haven't been to Taiwan, so I don't know for sure, but it's not typically eaten in China.

So everyone, let's unbunch our panties.  It made me chuckle and I lived in Asia.  Don't worry...they think we're all fat.  Does that make them racist?

Hello - I'm with JAL here...what is "Too good to be true...", DK? Don't toy with us!

Sano too good to be true?

He wrote that over an hour ago...so he heard something but could substantiate it...OR he was just being flippant about the rain delay.

Comet

I asked about that, not JAL.  And I think DK is just teasing us for something to do.  

kpleary

Judging by yesterday's fitness reports released about the state of obesity in America, they're right.

DK, I'm assuming you meant the signing of 3 Taiwan players was too good to be true.  Not that Sano was involved right?

Come on, the pirates are up 5-0 on the Mets.  Take the 5 seconds to comment on your blog :)

Sorry BAB - is there dogmeat in your Primanti sandwich Avatar?

WTF, Maholm??? Giving up a lot of hits while he's ahead in the count....

Comet

FYI, there are a bunch of folks commenting on the game on the GameDay thread.

Maholm is throwing lots of pitches and getting hit hard and often.

BAB - planned on maintaining this line of discussion but looked over to see what was happening and didn't want to hop from one thread and back to make one comment....I'm done commenting on the game...

DK - thanks for the clarification. MIght have jumped the gun a litte there...but that's neat regardless that the Pirates are showing up everywhere to find talent...

And Wisereader - if you want to comment on the game, you know where to go! :-)   Just kidding, BAB!

Man what is up with Maholm?

I picked up Maholm in my fantasy league the week Peavy went on the dl, and he got bombed twice. I dropped him like a bad habit and I'm sure glad I did.

The only reliable starters on the Pirates right now are Duke & Ohlendorf. (by the way, anybody saying the Nady trade wasnt good and Ohlie is nothing more than a 5th starter obviously didn't follow the Pirates last year. His pitching is a true breath of fresh air and NOT easy to come by).

-------

I think DK was saying "Too good to be true" because they were starting the game after the delay...but I still wonder.

I bet I'm not the only one here who was thinking "Yes! I hope the next sentence is 'Bucs Sign Sano'".

But I'll tell you, I don't think Sano is the next coming of Clemente like some commenters here seem to think.

Tim Redding is doing terrible (today against the Pirates and all year).  I remember him saying that the Pirates offered him a contract and signed with the Mets instead (1 year, $2.2 mil).  Thank you, Tim Redding for turning us down.  

I also see that Daniel Cabrera did awful for the Nationals and got released.  I think we outbid them, but he wanted to stay in the Washington/Baltimore area (1 year, $2.6 mil).  Thank you, Daniel Cabrera for turning us down.

On another note, I think Luis Vicaino has been cut twice this year.  I think we outbid or at least matched Colorado for his services in the 2007-08 off-season, but lost out (2 yrs/$7.5 mil).  I think they sent him to the Cubs.  They cut him.  The Indians picked him up and then cut him.  Thank you, Luis Vicaino for turning us down.

Normally, I like when the Pirates sign just about any free agent.  At least, Hinske and Ramon Vazquez were/are capable reserves for us.  Pitchers are more iffy.  Throwing money at pitchers with a bad track record wouldn't have worked with these guys.  It would have been better to just bring more minor league free agents into spring training than these guys.  In these cases, it's a good thing that these guys didn't want to play in Pittsburgh.

Anyway, I just saw Tim Redding's name in today's boxscore and went off on a tangent there.

Comet

Got it.  You can obviously comment wherever you want. Just making you aware that, unlike in many cases, there were multiple active threads going today.

Ants Marching, Sano News ======================

PIRATES SIGN SANO, trade him to Colorado.

PITTSBURGH (AP) -- The Pittaburgh Pirates announced today the signing of international amateur baseball star Miguel Angel Sano.

Fifteen minutes after making the Sano acquisition, Pirates General Manager Neal Huntington reported Sano had been traded to the Colorado Rockies for 14 ski racks, 52 pairs of rental skis and rights to retired third baseman, Vinny Castilla. Huntington said the cost-cutting move had to be made or Pirates President Frank Coonelly "was going to cut my allowance."

Shortly afterward Huntington was sent to his room for talking back to Coonelly.

As someone who's lived in S. Korea b4, dog meat is very tender and flavorful, somewhat gamey, and not cheap.

All that I got from the Taiwan video clip is that it looks like the stock markets was "up" in Taiwan.

As for the Pirates' three signees, I hope that someone is able to figure out how to put some meat on their bones.