Pirates Sign Two Pitchers From India

by jonoz13 on Nov 24, 2008 3:37 PM EST Comment 21 comments

The Pirates signed Indian pitchers Dinesh Patel and Rinku Singh to minor league deals. They were finalists in something called "the Million Dollar Arm" contest in India. Like the signing of Mpho Ngoepe, the South African shortstop, these guys may never pan out, but its good to finally see the Bucs going after international talent. The Bucs need to be looking for talent where ever they can find it; signing these guys can only help.

UPDATE by Charlie: Check out this USA Today article for the background here. This story is incredibly strange.

Singh and Patel threw the javelin in India, and Singh played some cricket. When they came to the USA in May, Singh and Patel had no idea how to play catch, let alone use a water fountain. The first time they played catch, they threw the ball, and when it came back, they dropped their gloves and caught barehanded.

The first time they saw a baseball game, watching USC play Washington State, Patel was confused.

"What did the shortstop do wrong?" he asked.

House: "Why do you say that?"

Patel: "He's the only one in the infield without a base."

These guys sound like they're more raw than tomatoes that haven't come out of the ground yet. Singh can throw 87 without a problem and, of the two, has the best control; Patel throws harder, but apparently doesn't throw strikes. Expect some serious mental errors if and when they play minor league ball for the Pirates. One scout quoted in the article gives both of them a good chance of making the majors, but I don't think that will happen. Singh, who's supposed to be the strike-thrower of the pair, hit five batters in an inning as recently as July. Really, this is about establishing a presence in a region where talent might emerge later.

0 recs | Comment 21 comments

Story-email Email Printer Print

Comments

Hey they might make the rotation next year

from what I see, they are just as good anybody else, but it is good to spread baseball globally,

by therayspartyleader on Nov 24, 2008 4:42 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Read their blog

Seriously. http://www.themilliondollararm.com/blog/ I cannot WAIT to hear their opinion of the Pirates organization.

by EmmaOMG on Nov 24, 2008 5:25 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

I tried to comment on their blog

but I have no idea how to use wordpress.

by camoseven on Nov 24, 2008 10:00 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Cool.

Nice to get a foothold in India, both for marketing and talent extraction, and the two guys seem pretty nice from what I’ve read in the past. Be great to see one or both make it.

by Vlad on Nov 24, 2008 5:40 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Good article about the pair...

…here.

by Vlad on Nov 24, 2008 6:01 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Good

The pirates are expanding the farm system. That can never be bad.

The Trade-Maker

by dasox313 on Nov 24, 2008 9:16 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

This is totally awesome.

I love international signings, and I think it’s amazing that we were the first to sign someone from India. I hope they make it to AAA so I can watch them here in in Indy.

by camoseven on Nov 24, 2008 10:01 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Yeah, but it’ll take you about five minutes to get sick of the who’s-on-first jokes involving the word “Indians.”

by Charlie on Nov 24, 2008 10:06 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Attention shortshop:

All your base are belong to us.

It’s great to see the franchise is taking chances on guys like these. Now lets take a chance or two in the Rule 5. Its going to be fun to follow Patel & Singh. I hope the front office lets them keep blogging.

by Chad Bahamas on Nov 24, 2008 10:06 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

You don't suppose

the Pirates did this fish-out-of-water deal just to peddle the film rights to Hollywood/Bollywood?

by bucdaddy on Nov 24, 2008 11:50 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Yes!

Patel and Singh are the new Harold and Kunar!

by thegunner on Nov 25, 2008 12:42 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

A Bollywood movie about the Pirates?

I might spontaneously expire from geek-glee.

by Vlad on Nov 25, 2008 8:58 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Too late

The definitive movie about the Pirates has already been done.

by WTM on Nov 25, 2008 9:02 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Kumar!

by thegunner on Nov 25, 2008 12:42 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

Yummy

I love it. Keep signing these international turds. One of them is bound to pay off and they dont cost anything.

BRING BACK TIKE REDMAN

by omar moreno on Nov 25, 2008 9:03 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

Comments from NH

Some related and interesting comments from a guy who normally says even less in his Q/As than DL did:

Dave. As evidenced by our recent signings of a player from South Africa and two players from India, we are expanding our worldwide scouting operations. We have recently hired or are in conversations to hire scouts to help us cover Europe, Asia, Australia, Taiwan, Korea and several other countries. Additionally, Rene Gayo, our director of Latin American scouting, continues to make inroads in the lower-profile Latin American countries to help us acquire talent across the world.

Covering Australia, Taiwan and Korea has the potential to pay off now rather than way down the road, like the Indian and S. African signings. And the last sentence is definitely true. The Pirates in recent years have had interesting signings from Nicaragua, Panama and El Salvador. If you look at the Indian signings along with all the other efforts they’re making, it’s clear this isn’t a PR stunt but instead is part of a broader strategy.

by WTM on Nov 26, 2008 7:57 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

WTM - What About Somalia?

Some of the great Pirates in the world are “playing” in Somalia. They have probably never played baseball, but they are excellent and very brazen at taking over ships - tantamount to being good javelin throwers. Most of these Somali Pirates are maiking good money now and also gaining great notoriety.

But the money in baseball, if they could just make it to Pittsburgh, would be good money and they would be making an “honest” living.

I think that this is an area that we need to explore further.

by thegunner on Nov 27, 2008 1:28 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Yes, and maybe they can sign Johnny Depp, too. Har har.

by WTM on Nov 27, 2008 9:38 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Not A Bad Idea!

It would be ANOTHER great publicity stunt for both the Pirates and Depp, and he would probably sign for a dollar. They should take him to spring training, although I doubt that he has EVER played the game, either.

by thegunner on Nov 27, 2008 11:56 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Better still

Let’s have . . . lemme think here . . . Pierogie Races!!!

Oh . . . wait . . . .

by WTM on Nov 27, 2008 12:33 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Huntington Why?

I disagree with anyone who says this is a good idea….lets waste money (although very little) on someone who has never picked up a baseball until recently…..reaks of the type of crap we were used to with Littlefield……..we need to sign foreign players with potential not foreign players who can barely throw faster than a high schooler…..dumb strictly dumb

by cmeiers on Dec 5, 2008 9:32 AM EST reply actions 0 recs