2008 Olympics: Canadian National Team Breakdown

The Canadian National Team is an interesting collection of journeymen minor league players sprinkled with a few extremely bright prospects. Picture an old standby dish, something like spaghetti and meatballs, where the meatballs are replaced by something like coconut-crusted truffles, and you get the idea. Actually, they call this type of cooking “fusion” out in BC, and all the trendiest restaurants are doing it in all the trendiest neighborhoods. So maybe Team Canada is onto something—maybe their roster is actually cutting edge….destined for greatness and profitability…a real trendsetter....

Or maybe their roster is a desperate collection of players who just happen to be eligible to play this year (where art thou Adam Loewen?). Bottom line is, as their offense goes, so go the Canadians. Their pitching staff is terrifying, and the Canadian starters won’t be able to feast on patsies like Spain or Mexico in Beijing. They’d be happy finishing in the top half—personally, I’d consider fourth place an overachievement.

CATCHER: David Carrente, Dunedin Blue Jays and Chris Robinson, Canadian National Team. Catcher looks to be a true time-share between Carrente and Robinson—at least that’s how it played in the 2008 Olympic Qualification Tournament. They’re both righties though, so I’m not sure quite how they’ll end up sharing time. Carrente, a High-A prospect in the Toronto Blue Jays’ system, has hit .246/.270/.557 in limited action after being demoted from AAA in 2007. Robinson spent three years in the Detroit Tigers’ and the Chicago Cubs’ farm systems, and played as a back-up catcher for Canada in the 2006 WBC.

FIRST BASE: Scott Thorman, Richmond Braves. Thorman won the first base starting job with the Atlanta Braves in 2007, but the much-maligned lefty was never able to develop beyond a platoon role. He’s spent the entirety of 2008 in the International League, where he’s putting up a Craig Wilson-esque line of .249/.282/.468 with 18 homers and an almost 8-1 K/BB rate. He still can’t hit lefties, apparently. But he’s also still one of Canada’s best sources of power.

SECOND BASE: Stubby Clapp, Canadian National Team. Fearless prediction: Clapp’s jersey will be the hottest selling item at the 2008 Olympics. He caught a cup of coffee with the St. Louis Cardinals in 2001. At an imposing 5’8”, Clapp became immensely popular in Memphis while playing for the AAA affiliate there. He was known as “The Mayor of Memphis” and even had his #10 jersey retired—the first number ever retired by the Redbirds. Of course, Clapp became immensely unpopular when a rumor circulated that its only known cure was to slam a window on the infected member….

THIRD BASE: Matt Rogelstad, Harrisburg Senators. This twenty-five-year-old middle infielder figures to start for Canada at 3B, where he has a .933 Fielding Percentage and a 2.29 Range Factor in about a season’s worth of games in the minor leagues. Canada needs his lefty bat in the lineup; he was hitting .274/.320/.442 at High-A Potomac before being called up to AA at the beginning of July. He was selected as the starting second baseman in the 2008 Carolina/California League All-Star Game in 2008. He hit .400 in the Olympic qualifying tournament in March.

SHORTSTOP: Brett Lawrie, Brookswood SS. Baseball America named eighteen-year-old Lawrie as one of the most pro-ready prep bats in North America before the 2008 amateur draft. The Milwaukee Brewers selected him in the first round, sixteenth overall. ESPN projects him as a five or six-hole hitter. Scouts rate him as having plus power and think he may just have the quickness and athleticism to play catcher in the bigs. He can also play middle infield, third and left. He’ll most likely play shortstop for Team Canada, for lack of any better options.

LEFT FIELD: Jimmy Van Ostrand, Salem Avalanche. This twenty-three-year-old righty has made a steady climb up the Houston Astros’ farm system. He was a 2007 Futures Game Selection and a 2008 Carolina League mid-season All-Star. He’s currently at .306/.373/.453 for AA-Salem and leads the league in batting average. He’ll anchor the heart of Team Canada’s batting order.

CENTER FIELD: Adam Stern, Norfolk Tides. This hard-nose outfielder has seen sporadic big league call-ups over the last three years as a prospect in the Baltimore Orioles’ system. In the 2006 WBC he was a double short of the cycle in support of a winning effort against the United States—arguably the biggest upset of that tournament. He batted leadoff for Team Canada in the 2008 Qualifying Tournament, but hit only .200. He’s the second Jewish player from Canada in the history of the majors, and incredibly, he has his own fan site here.

RIGHT FIELD: Ryan Radmanovich, Somerset Patriots. This Canadian league mainstay caught a cup of coffee with the Seattle Mariners in 1998, and since then has represented the Canucks at the 2004 Olympics, the 2006 World Baseball Classic, and the 2008 Olympic Qualifying Tournament. A three-time Atlantic League All-Star and perennial MVP candidate, he owns a career .290 batting average with the Pats and is the co-owner of the single season home run record for Somerset (28). The first Calgary native to ever play in the major leagues, he’s penciled in as the cleanup hitter.

STARTING PITCHERS: Likely Chris Begg and pray for rain.

RELIEF PITCHERS: A solid bullpen led by David Davidson, Chris Reitsma and Rheal Cormier.

Mike Saunders will likely DH.

The Canadian National Team slugged their way to a 6-1 record in the Olympic Final Qualifying Tournament, putting ten or more runs on the board four times and scoring four or more runs in all but one of the affairs, a 2-1 extra-inning victory over Germany in the final game.

Canada finished fourth at the 2004 Olympics. In the 2006 WBC they failed to make it out of the first round—despite upsetting America 8-6 in Game 2. Unfortunately, the WBC squad is potentially much stronger than the team they’ll bring to Beijing…. Their impact prospects are still a year or two away from really helping out the national team.

2008 Olympics: Dutch National Team Breakdown

Back in third grade my best bud was a Dutch kid named Goose. Not only was that his real name, it gave him a certain street cred because Top Gun was huge back then and, because we were best buds, if he was Goose that made me Tom Cruise. Third grade came and went, and Goose moved with his family back to the Netherlands. We exchanged a few letters, but soon forgot all about one another as fourth grade arrived and with it the pressure of learning division, armpit hair, and of course, choosing which instrument to drive our parents crazy with for band class.

I mention this because I have no idea where Goose is now or what the fates had in store for him. I can only hope the fates saw fit to make him a baseball fan, and that he has a helluva good time rooting for his homeland’s heroes. Sidney de Jong, Yurendell de Caster, Dirk Van ‘t Klooster—ok, maybe these are not exactly household names, but they are good ballplayers, and they give the Netherlands a fighting chance heading into the 2008 Olympic games.

The Netherlands are home to the most successful national baseball team in Europe—which is a little bit like being the only dude at a Melissa Etheridge concert: You’re not Mr. Sensitive, you’re just pussy-whipped. But the Netherlands have won 20 gold medals and seven silver medals in thirty years of the European Championships. They also stepped into the spotlight (briefly) during the 2006 World Baseball Classic, when their pitcher, Shairon Martis, threw a no-hitter against Panama. It wasn't enough, as the Dutch finished third in their pool and did not advance into the second round.

So here's their 2008 Olympic starting lineup, as I see it:

CATCHER: Sidney de Jong, Amsterdam Pirates. The only player on the Netherlands who needs no introduction, de Jong is a veteran member of the Netherland National Team, having logged over 100 games for the Orange . He was the catcher for Martis’ no-hitter in the 2006 WBC, during which he hit .455. Owner of a .452 career OBP, his slugging percentage in playoff competition is .537. He also threw out nearly 40% of would-be base stealers in 2008.

FIRST BASE: Sharnol Adriana, San Luis Potosi. Mexican league star Sharnol Adriana is no stranger to international competition; he was named to the all-tournament team in the 2006 Intercontinental Cup, where he batted .405/.511/.568 with 11 RBI in nine games. Thirty-eight years old, he still stole 22 bases in 2007. A member of both the 2000 and 2004 Netherland Olympic squads, he’ll add punch and some much-needed veteran leadership to an otherwise defensive-minded and young national team.

SECOND BASE: Yurendell de Caster, Columbus Clippers. A prospect in the Washington Nationals’ farm system, de Caster started the season at AA Harrisburg and was promoted after just 69 at-bats. He is currently batting .256/.324/.424 for AAA Columbus. He caught a cup of coffee with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2006. He was Winter League Player of the Year in 2005-2006, playing in the Venezuelan league. At twenty-eight years old, his time as an MLB prospect is almost over, but as a veteran of the 2004 Olympic team and the 2006 WBC, he’ll add international experience to the 2008 Dutchmen. For some unkown reason, you can watch him shop at Wal-Mart here.

THIRD BASE: Raily Legito, DOOR Neptunus. Legito hit .400/.571/.600 in the 2006 WBC, for a team-high 1.171 OPS. A veteran of the Dutch leagues, he’s been a mainstay of the Dutch National Team since 1999. We could talk about his stats or his stocky build, but I’d rather you watch this bizarre video featuring Mr. Legito. I don’t speak Dutch, so I’m left with three burning questions: Is this a Dutch soap? Has Legito written the Smoking Man the longest greeting card ever? And is the Netherlands the only place in the world where smoking is still considered cool?

SHORTSTOP: Roel Koolen, Corendon Kinheim. Shortstop is really a toss-up between Koolen and Michael Duursma. Both played NCAA Division I baseball; both went undrafted and have since turned into regulars in the Dutch league and international competition. Duursma had the slightly-better college career but seems to have developed an iron glove, so Koolen received most of the PT in the 2007 World Baseball Cup. He followed up that campaign with a 294/.409/.471 line in the 2008 European Cup, and figures to get most of the Olympic at-bats early on.

LEFT FIELD: Eugene Kingsale, DOOR Neptunus. Kingsale might be the only knight in the entire Olympic field; he was knighted by Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands in 2004, along with major leaguers Calvin Maduro and Sidney Ponson. (Who says the Dutch don't take baseball seriously?) Between 1996 and 2003, Kingsale spend time with the Baltimore Orioles, Seattle Mariners, San Diego Padres and Detroit Tigers. A switch-hitter, he hit .251/.307/.319 over his MLB career before joining the Dutch National Team. He led off for the Netherlands in the 2006 WBC, battled injuries in 2007, and hit .318/.503/.523 for Neptunus in 2008.

CENTER FIELD: Dirk van 't Klooster, Corendon Kinheim. Van 't Klooster was the MVP of the Dutch league in 2005, when he hit 403/.459/.597. He's a "major star" in his home country. He hit .350 in the 2000 Olympics (he slugged .650) and led the Neptunus to their sixth-straight title in 2004. In the 2006 WBC he batted .286/.375/.429, returned home, and immediately tested positive for marijuana. (Maybe the ghanja is to blame for the wonky n-space-apostrophe-t in his surname.) Regardless, it wasn't his first positive test, although it led to his first official suspension. But the Dutch are a little more lenient than we are in the States—van 't Klooster returned to hit .360/.419/.424 in 2007 and then .308/.471/.308 in the 2007 European Championships to help the Dutch qualify for Beijing. This past season he was nailed with a 10-game suspension for his part in a huge brawl between Kinheim and his former team, Neptunus. So he's a fighter; he's a pot smoker; he's a nationally-renowned centerfielder...personality to spare, I'd say. How can you not love this guy?

RIGHT FIELD: Danny Rombley, Corendon Kinheim. Rombley spent six seasons in the Montreal Expos' minor league system before joining the Dutch league in 1998. He won the batting title in 2007 (.392) and earned MVP honors in the 2007 European Cup, hitting a blisternig .500/.500/.909 with five runs, nine RBI and two home runs. He hit .417/.481/.542 in the 2007 European Championship to help the Netherlands qualify for the Olympics.

STARTING PITCHERS: Likely Shairon Martis, Rod Cordemans and Leon Boyd.

BULLPEN: There's only one man you need know: 7'1", weighing in at 245 lbs... Minnesota Twins prospect Loek van Mil.

The Dutch team would be even better with the additions of Wladimir Balentien and Greg Halman. Both are prospects in the Seattle Mariners farm system, but the Mariner's front office will not permit them to play. The 2009 WBC will be a different story of course, and with Balentien's power and Halman's raw athleticism added to the mix above (as well as Andruw Jones, if he ever returns to form), the Netherlands just might make some noise.

As it stands now, I don’t think the Netherlands can compete against superior squads from the U.S. or Cuba. However, teams also won't be able to simply look past the Netherlands on the schedule.

For the Dutch, the worst case scenario is a repeat of the 2004 Olympic games, when they finished sixth. But I also think this is a team that could surprise. The Netherlands have finally consolidated their national talent from among Aruba, the Netherland Antilles, and the Netherlands itself, and organized baseball has been around there now for more than three decades. If you're looking for a Cinderella this summer in Beijing, it could easily be the base-ballers from the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

Thanks to knbsb-stats.nl and Baseball-Reference.com for many of the stats and details contained in this post. You can also check out Baseball Fever's take on the Dutch Olympic team here.

2008 Olympics: Cuban National Team Breakdown

Looking ahead to the 2008 Olympics, I want to run through the projected starting lineup of each baseball team to get a feel for how this competition might go. Official rosters don't become available for another week or two, but it's never too early to start speculating. We start with Cuba....

Here’s really all you need to know about the Cuban National Team:

1992: Olympic Gold Medal
1996: Olympic Gold Medal
2000: Olympic Silver Medal
2004: Olympic Gold Medal

Add to that a second place finish in the 2006 World Baseball Classic plus twelve gold medals over the last fifty years in the Pan American Games, and you have something more than just a pretty decent team—you have an international powerhouse.

They’ve had a dominant march to Beijing . In 2006, Cuba finished 5-0 to win the Group A Division in the preliminary round of the Americas Qualifying Tournament. In the final round, Cuba tied the U.S. with a 5-1 record, easily securing one of the two open Olympic slots allotted to the two best teams coming out of the Americas.

The scary thing is that this year, Cuba feels it has something to prove. In 2007, the Cuban National Team was denied its tenth consecutive World Cup, falling to the U.S. in the final game 6-3. That’s two second-place finishes in a row for Team Cuba in international play. So heading into the Olympics, Cuba is out for revenge. A Cuban National Team with a chip on its shoulder? Like I said, scary.

Peter Bjarkman reports the forty-three man roster has been announced. For now, I’ll just focus on the projected starters—the big guns—at each position. And yes, there will be some glaring omissions, in the outfield particularly. As follows:

MANAGER: Antonio Pacheco, Santiago de Cuba Avispas. It all starts with the manager. Pacheco has led the Wasps to three of the last four national championships and the last two in a row. He’s a hero from the Cuban national teams of the 1990s; he’s also kind've like Cuba's version of Pete Rose, without the lying and the gambling and the mullet. The career leader in base hits (2,356) and doubles (366), Pacheco is also third in batting average (.344) and fifth in runs scored. Also, like Rose, all Pacheco does is win. (To run with the Rose/Pacheco comparison for a bit, Rose managed the Reds for a few years. So the question becomes, as a baseball manager, would you rather answer to Marge Schott…or Fidel Castro? You decide.) When asked who would appear on the ideal Cuban National Team, Pacheco said (very diplomatically), “The important thing is that the team has its own identity, a seal, that everybody knows as says, ‘That’s the Cuba Team!’” Let’s see who the baseball gods (ie, the Cuba National Commission) decided to grant him.

CATCHER: Rolando Merino, Santiago de Cuba Avispas. Post-season MVP of the 2007-2008 season. Selected as a starter for the All-Star Team. He’s got a career line of .353/.457/.557. He’ll most likely be backed up by Gold Glove winner Ariel Pestano of Villa Clara.

FIRST BASE: Alex Mayetta, Industriales. The slugging hero of the 2007 Central America Games (Colombia), Mayetta is still very young with limited international experience. A great prospect, though.

SECOND BASE: Hector Olivera, Santiago de Cuba Avispas. Hit 353/.467/.542 in 2007-2008. Stole 21 bases, good enough for third in the league, and finished with a sparkling 95% stolen base success rate. Yup. He was only caught once.

THIRD BASE: Yulieski Gourriel, Sancti Spiritus. Arguably the “best” player in Cuba right now, scouts project him as a first-round draft pick were he ever to become eligible for the amateur draft. The 2004-2005 National Series MVP, Gourriel also showcased his immense skills at the WBC where he went 343/.395/.371 with eight runs and four RBI in nine games. For what it’s worth, he’s also a pretty damn good looking guy. If he played stateside, he’d give Grady Sizemore a run for his money—fo’ sure.

SHORTSTOP: Eduardo Paret, Villa Clara Naranjas. The starting shortstop on the 1996 and 2004 Gold Medal Olympic teams, as well as the 2006 WBC, Paret has been compared to Miguel Tejada but without quite as much power. He’s also almost certainly better defensively and has more speed—he ranks among the career stolen base leaders in Cuba. He hit 328/.439/.500 in the 2007-2008 National Series and won the Gold Glove. And he’s thirty-six years old! He’s like Julio Franco—or the age Miguel Tejada actually is in real life.

LEFT FIELD: Freddie Cepeda, Sancti Spiritus. Switch-hitting outfielder Freddie Cepeda has a flair for the dramatic. He hit .385 in the 2006 WBC and a robust .455 in the 2004 Olympics. He’s fifth in career slugging percentage (.547), although his lifetime .322 BA falls well below some of the other Cuban greats. What he is, however, is Mr. Clutch: one of those guys who seems to rise to the occasion, who matches his performance to the size of the stage. Twenty-seven years old, scouts believe he ranks right up there with Gourriel as a can’t-miss major leaguer. At any rate, he made Baseball America ’s “Exclusive Ten” list of best unsigned major league prospects.

CENTER FIELD: Alfredo Despaigne, Granma Alazanes. Only twenty-two, this kid’s a stud, a five-tool, perennial All-Star. As a twenty-year-old rookie in 2004-2005, Alfredo Despaigne was fifth in homers, fifth in total bases, fifth in slugging, and fourth in RBI. In 2007-2008 he set a new National Series record with 58 extra-base hits to go along with his .364/.474/.714 line. Still relatively unknown on the international stage, I can’t get wait to get wowed by his athleticism and skill.

RIGHT FIELD: Alexei Belle, Santiago de Cuba Avispas. Led the league in 2007-2008 with a record-breaking 31 home runs and 113 RBI. Averaged an RBI every three at-bats. His career batting average is .334. Another young one—only twenty-four—his international experience has also been limited.

So that's my projected starting lineup for Team Cuba. And who knows, maybe Cepeda moves to first base and Yoandry Urgelles (career .356/.440/.545) plays left. We won’t know for a couple more weeks. But this team is absolutely stacked; clearly the favorite heading into the games.

Boras Chimes In on FBI Investigation

Uberagent Scott Boras added his two cents about the ongoing FBI investigation into MLB's signing of players from the Dominican Republic, as reported in the New York Daily News:

"The Dominican government really needs to address the protection of their youth. An easy course is contracts for these kids are prohibited until they are 18 years old. And that buscones (Spanish for "finders," or street agents) can't offer these kinds of contracts. Or that (contracts from buscones) are not enforceable if the kids sign them because you're having a minor without any benefit of representation in any form."

Boras is an authority on everything from divorce (A-Rod) to the DR, apparently. But both of these ideas are easily enforceable and more likely to be accepted by the player's union than a worldwide draft.

MLB New Import Tracker (Jul 7-14, 2008)

Kosuke Fukudome, RF—#1—Chicago Cubs
Birthplace: Kagoshima, Japan
It was a quiet week for Kosuke Fukudome—his July average stands at .167 with 15 Ks and only three walks. (He hit .264 in June, but with a robust .384 OBP.) He was given two days off over the weekend, missing the Giants’ Matt Cain and Tim Lincecum. It was probably for the best: The last thing a slumping batter needs is to run into either of those two monsters twice in three days.

Oddly enough, the downturn in his batting eye (.222 OBP this month so far) has coincided with his move to the top of the order. He’s been hitting either first or second over the last twenty games, and he hasn’t exactly risen to the challenge. Maybe what we’re witnessing is the Alfonso Soriano Syndrome but in reverse; Soriano claims he can’t hit anywhere but leadoff—maybe Kosuke can’t hit anywhere but behind Aramis Ramirez. I’m sure the pitch selection is a lot better when he’s batting fifth than first, that’s for sure.

It may also be a matter of the “second time around the league.” Teams are starting to adjust, and it will take some time for Kosuke to adjust to their adjustment, so to speak. Something tells me it won’t be long before this three-time Japanese batting champion comes around.

In the meantime, he’ll be enjoying the All-Star festivities in New York. One of eight—strike that nine—Cubs chosen to represent the National League, I’m sure Kosuke will be soaking it all in. If he can get through all the Japanese media and find his way to the field, that is.

Kazuo Fukumori, RP—#14—Texas Rangers
Birthplace: Osaka, Japan
Demoted to AAA-Oklahoma.

Masahide Kobayashi, RP—#30—Cleveland Indians
Birthplace: Yamanashi, Japan
One week into the closer’s role and Masa Kobayshi has made three appearances, notched a save, allowed no runs, and lowered his ERA to 3.05.

There’s not much to say here. Even the Tribe’s blogosphere seems to be gasping for air. The break couldn’t have come at a better time for Cleveland, who can bask in their four-game sweep of the floundering (no pun intended) Tampa Bay Rays. For the next couple of days at least.

Hiroki Kuroda, RP—#18 —Los Angeles Dodgers
Birthplace: Osaka, Japan
Holy Kuroda! He was this close to perfection. Hiroki Kuroda pitched seven perfect innings on July 7 before giving up an eighth inning, leadoff double to the Braves’ Mark Texeira. He ended up going the distance, allowing only that one hit and striking out six. And this came on the heels of a seven-inning shutout performance against Houston on July 2! That’s 16 scoreless innings in his two games back from the DL.

It came to an end though in the first inning of his start on July 12, but he still managed to pitch a gutsy 6 2/3, allowing three runs on six hits and a walk. He ended up with a no decision, despite pitching well enough to win.

His ERA stands at 3.43; his WHIP at a very tidy 1.20. He’s just not walking anybody. (He’s not striking out anybody either, but I quibble.) In his near-perfect game he threw exactly 2/3 of his pitches for strikes. Kuroda says, “Here it is boys, hit it.” And lately, they haven’t been.

Bottom line is, he’s pitched much better than his 5-6 record would indicate. His K/9 is right in stride with his career K/9 in Japan. His ERA is now below his career average of 3.69. Kuroda has always been a workhorse: He averaged 194 innings over the last three years. So I don’t see him wearing down as the season progresses. A good buy-low guy for you fantasy players, as the Dodgers are still in the thick of a really weak NL West.

Alexei Ramirez, OF/2B—#10—Chicago White Sox
Birthplace: Pinar del Rio, Cuba
OK, I’ll say it. Alexei Ramirez made the best play I’ve ever seen a second baseman make in Saturday’s game against Texas.

Bottom of the ninth, White Sox up 9-7 but steadily hemorrhaging runs. Texas has already scored three times in their half of the inning. It’s a full-on Arlington rally. There’s a man on second and two outs. Josh Hamilton, the AL RBI leader, is at the plate representing the tying run. Hamilton rips a grounder up the middle to the right of second base. Hawk Harrelson, the White Sox’ play-by-play broadcaster, says, “And there’s a base hit to centerfield.” Camera 2, positioned along the rightfield line, follows the trajectory of the ball into centerfield. Everyone thinks it’s a hit as soon as it leaves the bat—except the ball never makes it past an outstretched Alexei Ramirez, who somehow, like the Flash, moves to his left, makes a backhand stab, turns and fires off his back foot and nabs the runner at first by inches.

It was truly an unbelievable play—Ramirez came out of nowhere. Everybody was fooled. Hawk Harrelson…even the cameraman, who yanked the camera back toward the infield to catch the rest of the play. John Dewan’s Plus/Minus System has him at -6 for the year so far at second base, including -1 to his left, but I’ve never seen a second baseman make a play like that.

If you can’t tell, I’m fully on the Alexei Ramirez bandwagon. Oh—he also went 3-for-5 in the game to bring his average up to .312. Since June 1 he’s hitting .367 with five home runs and 22 RBI, mostly hitting in the eighth and ninth spot.

He still doesn’t walk at all, and his baserunning needs some work (he was picked off in the same game), and as a complete product he’s still somewhat unrefined. But the skills are there, and he’s exciting as hell to watch. He, along with Orlando Cabrera, has lit a fire under the White Sox. Theirs is exactly the kind of energy and moxie the Sox were missing last year.

Yasuhiko Yabuta, RP—#27—Kansas City Royals
Birthplace: Osaka, Japan
Optioned to AAA-Omaha.

Jim Bowden and Jose Rijo Under Investigation by the Feds

From ESPN.com:

Federal authorities and Major League Baseball are investigating Washington Nationals general manager Jim Bowden and special assistant Jose Rijo for their possible roles in a growing financial scandal involving the signing of players from the Dominican Republic.

Jim Bowden told the Associated Press that neither he or Rijo has been implicated, and that they are not connected with or accused of any wrongdoing. According to Bowden, the Feds are talking to a ton of people throughout baseball--scouts, management, players etc.--and their visit with the FBI was simply part of that broader "conversation."

This in direct conflict with what the Washington Post reported over the weekend: That the Nationals are under investigation specifically for their 2006 signing of sixteen-year-old shortstop Esmailyn Gonzalez. The Nats signed Gonzalez for a whopping $1.4M, more than double the amount of the next highest bidder (according to the original SI.com report).

All of which underscores how ridiculous the international market has become. On Sunday, the New York Times reported that several front office members throughout baseball expect the inquiry to "push MLB into creating greater order on the internatioanl talent front." The obvious solution would be to establish a worldwide draft, replacing the current system that is best described as "eat what you catch."

Although, as the Times pointed out, this is easier said than done. MLB teams have invested millions of dollars in acadamies and scouting personnel throughout the world; teams like the New York Mets, who scout extensively in places like the Dominican Republic, would be reluctant to give up any advantage they now hold. And of course, any change to the amateur draft would have to be passed through the player's union.

The Bowden/Rijo investigation does appear to be connnected to the Dave Wilder investigation, which we covered here.

Jim Bowden was the youngest GM In the history of baseball when he was hired by the Cincinnati Reds in 1992. He ran the Reds with decidedly mixed results before being canned. He was then tapped by MLB to run the Nationals and basically rebuild the franchise from the ground up. Jose Rijo, a native of the DR, is probably best remembered as the 1990 World Series MVP, when the Cincinnati Reds swept the heavily-favored Oakland A's.

Average Salary by Nationality

The latest issue of Sports Illustrated has a chart for "Average Salary by Nationality" in the major leagues. As follows:

Country	Average Salary
Australia	$500K
Canada	$4M
Colombia	$10M
Cuba	$5M
Curacao	$7.5M
Dom. Republic	$4M
Japan	$5M
Mexico	$2M
Netherlands	$500K
Panama	$6M
Puerto Rico	$5M
South Korea	$500K
Taiwan	$1.5M
United States	$3M
U.S. VI	$500K
Venezuela	$3.5M

In a very general sense, this is an interesting chart, although some of these averages are a bit misleading. Ichiro Suzuki's $17.1M per year salary goes a long way toward bolstering the average salary for Japan, although Hideki Matsui ($13M) and Kenji Johjima ($5.5M) also contribute. Likewise for Curacao: That $7.5M average salary is mostly courtesy of Andruw Jones ($9M), with Jair Jurrjens ($390K) and Wladimir Balentien ($380K) serving as economic dead weight. Without them, this Dutch province would be Number 1! You know that Governor Frits Martinus de los Santos Goedgedrag is pissed.

In case you're wondering why Colombia boasts the highest average, a large portion is due to archnemeses Orlando Cabrera and Edgar Renteria, who each make $10M per.

MLB New Import Tracker (June 30-Jul 6, 2008)

Kosuke Fukudome, RF—#1—Chicago Cubs
Birthplace: Kagoshima, Japan
Following in the footsteps of Ichiro Suzuki, Cubs right-fielder Kosuke Fukudome was named to the National League All-Star Team in only his first season in the bigs. He’ll join fellow Cub rookie Geovany Soto, and a (somewhat ludicrous) five other Cubs for the All-Star Game in New York, July 15.

So are Kosuke’s numbers All-Star worthy? His .391 OBP is fourth in the NL among outfielders with more than 275 ABs; his .287 batting average puts him in the top ten in that category. He’s fourth among outfielders in runs scored (58) and, according to John Dewan’s Plus/Minus System, he’s ranked 13th among right-fielders in all of baseball with +2. Also taking into account the Cubs’ won-loss record (best in the NL); the way Fukudome-mania is sweeping Chicago’s North Side (the likes of which Chicago hasn’t seen since Sammy Sosa was run out of town); and the international attention (not to mention profit) Fukudome’s appearance is sure to garner, and it looks like the fans may have gotten this one right. At the very least, Fukudome’s appearance is less subjective than some of the other players voted in for 2008—Dustin Pedroia, for example (over Ian Kinsler?) or Alfonso “Hop-Scotch” Soriano, who’s been hobbled or flat-out hurt half the year.

But Japanese baseball fans will have a thrill next Tuesday watching both Fukudome and Suzuki man right-field for their respective teams. Fukudome, who just edged out heart-string favorite Ken Griffey, Jr. in the fan balloting, was third among NL outfielders with 2.99 million votes; Suzuki was third in the AL with 2.01 million.

Kazuo Fukumori, RP—#14—Texas Rangers
Birthplace: Osaka, Japan
Demoted to AAA-Oklahoma.

Masahide Kobayashi, RP—#30—Cleveland Indians
Birthplace: Yamanashi, Japan
Well, the Angel of Death finally appeared for Indians closer Joe Borowski. The thirteen-year veteran led the league in saves in 2007, but so far this year he sports a 7.56 ERA, a 9/8 K/BB ratio, and has blown four saves while battling a variety of nagging injuries that seemed to sap his velocity.

What this means for Masa Kobayashi is less clear. Kobayashi took the loss on July 2, giving up a walk-off, tenth-inning home run to White Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski (as a side note, watching Pierzynski round the bases, I could almost hear the death knell signaling the end of the Indians’ season. Progressive Field has a new slogan: Abandon Hope, All ‘Ye Who Enter Here—until next year). The Tribe hasn’t actually been in a save situation since then, but Kobayashi will reportedly get the bulk of the work at closer, for now.

Personally, I think Eric Wedge will mix and match between Kobayshi, Rafael Betancourt and Rafael Perez, all of whom we broke down in the last MLB New Import Tracker. It doesn’t seem like Wedge wants any of these guys—including Kobayashi—to close for the long-term, however.

Hiroki Kuroda, RP—#18 —Los Angeles Dodgers
Birthplace: Osaka, Japan
See? That’s all that was bothering him: a little bit of shoulder pain. It’s all taken care of now.

Hiroki Kuroda bounced back from the disabled list in a big way, shutting out the Houston Astros over seven innings, fanning one, walking one, and allowing only five hits. He may never be a big strikeout pitcher—he’s struck out more than five in one game only once this season—but he’s the kind of pitcher that will play perfectly in Dodger Stadium. He uses his defense, induces groundballs, gives up the occasional hit, and as a result may, like Greg Maddux or Jaime Moyer, pitch until he’s fifty.

Kuroda had this to say to MLB.com after his start:

"I don't think I'm 100 percent. I'm not as sharp as against Chicago, but I was able to get help with [catcher] Russell Martin and had great defense and that really helped. As of now, I'm fine. Come the day after, we'll see how I feel."

No news is good news. Kuroda will make his next start on Monday, July 7, at home against the Atlanta Braves.

Alexei Ramirez, OF/2B—#10—Chicago White Sox
Birthplace: Pinar del Rio, Cuba
I love watching Alexei Ramirez play. He’s got this child-like exuberance that reminds me this is just a game after all. He walloped a game-tying home run in the tenth inning on July 1 and clapped his hands together a couple times as he rounded the bases, grinning ear to ear. He scored the go-ahead run the next night in the bottom of the seventh, stepped on home plate, then jumped on the plate with both feet, just like a little kid scoring the winning run in his T-ball league. Maybe if I didn’t know his background I might find his small celebrations a little bit obnoxious (although I must admit, I like my players to have a bit of attitude, a snarl if you will), but right now it reads like this kid is the happiest guy on the planet.

Both Chicago newspapers seemed to notice at exactly the same time how thin Ramirez is. The Sun-Times headline read “Stick Man.” On the same day, the Chicago Tribune quoted Fox Sports Ken Rosenthal, “He’s the skinniest White Sox player I’ve seen since Michael Jordan.”

Officially, Ramirez is listed at 6’3”, 185 pounds, but he looks closer to 150. He says he eats normally, but admits to having a weakness for Krispy Kreme doughnuts. Ah, nothing says American cuisine like Krispy Kreme I guess—the franchise could be a great ambassador for our neighbors in the southern hemisphere, apparently. A staple of the American South, and one of the main reasons a state like Mississippi leads the nation in heart disease, Krispy Kreme is certainly the right diet plan to gain weight, if it’s gaining weight he’s after.

Don’t look now, but Ramirez leads all American League rookies in batting average and he’s fourth in the AL in multi-hit games. And it’s not like he played every game in the first half—not by a long shot. Let’s get that ROY campaign machine up and running.

Yasuhiko Yabuta, RP—#27—Kansas City Royals
Birthplace: Osaka, Japan
Optioned to AAA-Omaha.

Little Leaguers to Play Cuban Youth Teams

Sports Illustrated reports that the Twin State Peregrines, a Little League all-star team from Vermont and Western New Hampshire, will fly to Cuba for a 10-day tour where they will play a different Cuban youth team each day. After three rejections, the US Department of Treasury finally approved the trip, which received backing from the likes of Vermont lieutenant governor Brian Dubie.

Due to the US embargo, in place since 1961, Little League International won't sanction the trip. So the Peregrines (a type of North American falcon, apparently, also known as a "duck hawk") are hoping to raise $45,000 to cover travel expenses and solicit donations of "uniforms and equipment." As of July 1, they've raised $11K, so they've a ways to go. You can support the Peregrines--and pass along a little international good karma-- here.

The trip takes place August 9-18. The kids will be staying in a resort, where they'll be bused to the different venues. Not sure how much "sight-seeing" they'll be doing (and I say that with my tongue firmly in cheek) but there's no question this trip will be mind-bending for the American coaches and their eleven- and twelve-year-old charges. Kudos for all their hard work and persistence in making this happen.

Moreno and Perez on U.S. Soil?

I have another completely unsubstantiated report that two additional Cuban baseball players have defected to the United States, both from Isla de la Juvent: shortstop Juan Carlos Moreno and outfielder Felix Perez. Particulars and details are not available at this time.

Moreno lined up with the Cuban National Team in the 2006 World Baseball Classic. He played in only one game, reaching via an error in his only plate appearance and scoring a run. A mainstay on the national team, he made his first appearance in an international tournament in 1998—when Cuba won the World Championship. Thirty-three years old, I could see him catching on somewhere as a utility player and spot starter. He boasts a lifetime batting average of .288 with 100 HRs. I don’t have enough info to calculate his OBP, but his K/BB ratio is 1.24.

Felix Perez is an unheralded outfielder for Isla de la Juvent. The most recent stats I could find on him (2006-2007) show him at .287 in 223 ABs with one HR and 24 RBI. His 52/17 K/BB ratio is somewhat alarming.

In 2008, Isla de la Juvent finished in second place in Group A with a 40-50 record.

I’ll post more as this story develops.