Shohei Ohtani

[dogknot17@yahoo.co]

Williams is a great tweeter. Very funny guy.



Huntington was on The Fan and said they are going all in on Ohtani. Of course, so are many other teams. It seems like Ohtani can pick any team he wants to go to and he might be leaning towards a team that doesn't have a Japanese connection so he can make a name for himself.



Maybe the Kang signing helped the Pirates to attract other foreign league players? More players should reach out to him...for real.

[johnfluharty]

Supposing for a sec that we got him. We would likely have to agree to let him play the field a few days a week at least. Where would we put him? Right field?

[dogknot17@yahoo.co]

515453555D574E535A494F423B0 wrote: Supposing for a sec that we got him.  We would likely have to agree to let him play the field a few days a week at least.  Where would we put him?  Right field?




He is an outfielder. He has an arm. I am not sure how fast he is. I would assume he would be eased in as a back up to get him adjusted better. He also could mean a player being traded at the deadline or sooner.



I would assume he would be tried as a Starter with his powerful arm (he throws 100 mph). If so, he wouldn't be playing the field either the day before his start or day after?



These are all assumptions on my part. He is a very interesting player. Let's get him first and worry about his role later!

[SammyKhalifa]

Looks like in Japan he played 57 games in RF and 7 in left.



403 games total, and 85 pitching so I'm assuming the rest were DH? 



edit--it also looks like all but eight of those OF appearances were in 2013 (his rookie year), with no outfield play any of the past three seasons.  There's gotta be a reason for that, right?

[Bobster21]

182A26263200232A27222D2A4B0 wrote: Looks like in Japan he played 57 games in RF and 7 in left.



403 games total, and 85 pitching so I'm assuming the rest were DH? 



edit--it also looks like all but eight of those OF appearances were in 2013 (his rookie year), with no outfield play any of the past three seasons.  There's gotta be a reason for that, right?
Probably just like MLB, his Japanese team wanted to take no chances on their pitcher getting injured. It's a nice story but, realistically, he's not coming to the Pirates, he's not playing OF in MLB if he's a pitcher and he likely goes to an AL team that will occasionally use him at DH. Maybe just a few times as a novelty unless he hits too well to discontinue it.

[dogknot17@yahoo.co]

0E232E3F38293E7E7D4C0 wrote: Looks like in Japan he played 57 games in RF and 7 in left.



403 games total, and 85 pitching so I'm assuming the rest were DH? 



edit--it also looks like all but eight of those OF appearances were in 2013 (his rookie year), with no outfield play any of the past three seasons.  There's gotta be a reason for that, right?
Probably just like MLB, his Japanese team wanted to take no chances on their pitcher getting injured. It's a nice story but, realistically, he's not coming to the Pirates, he's not playing OF in MLB if he's a pitcher and he likely goes to an AL team that will occasionally use him at DH. Maybe just a few times as a novelty unless he hits too well to discontinue it.




That is one of his issues/demands coming over. He wants to be a two way player. I don't know if that means just hitting (DH) or actually playing the field. I keep hearing NL teams being the most interested.



Here were his other "requests":



•“An evaluation of Shohei’s talent as a pitcher and/or a hitter;

•“Player development, medical, training and player performance philosophies and capabilities;

•“Major League, Minor League, and Spring Training facilities;

•“Resources for Shohei’s cultural assimilation;

•“A detailed plan for integrating Shohei into the organization;

•“Why the city and franchise are a desirable place to play;

•“Relevant marketplace characteristics.”



*Source: SBnation.com

[SammyKhalifa]

Talent Evaluation seems like a strange request

[dogknot17@yahoo.co]

467478786C5E7D74797C7374150 wrote: Talent Evaluation seems like a strange request 


That is his playing both ways request. He wants to do both.

[johnfluharty]

43717D7D695B78717C797671100 wrote: Talent Evaluation seems like a strange request 


An assessment of his skills may be his way of seeing how much time/effort the team has spent on him- e.g. had eyes on him directly.

[SammyKhalifa]

Haha, that makes more sense. I was reading it that he wanted a team with talent evaluation and medical treatment and training facilities available.