Japanese Team Trying To Acquire Hayden Penn
by Pensburgh Pirates on Jul 9, 2010 4:07 PM EDT
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Chiba Lotte is closing in on an agreement to bring in Hayden Penn, who is currently playing for the Pirates’ 3A affiliate. Rotation depth is Lotte’s weakness, particularly with Yuki Karakawa on the shelf, and the Marines have a foreign roster spot to allocate, so another starter is a sensible acquisition.
If this goes through, what do you suppose the Pirates can hope for in return? Money? Not having to worry what to do with Penn?
UPDATE by Charlie: Yes, definitely cash.
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Dumb move.
Hayden Penn is doing well for the AAA team of the franchise with the worst MLB pitching in the country. Why would you leave?
And some sushi, maybe
California roll, and Nori Crab?
by Pensburgh Pirates on Jul 9, 2010 4:56 PM EDT up reply actions
Cliff Lee traded to Texas for Justin Smoak +. Definitely a ballsy move there, but you have to take a shot for a title while you can, and they didn’t give up Elvis Andrus or a top pitcher.
It’s an interesting deal. Smoak was probably untouchable until today. Could be tough to see him 20 times a year if things don’t work out with Lee, but they didn’t give up a ton in the other players at least.
Beavan is probably a 4/5 guy who can eat a ton of innings in the future.
Leuke is a 25 year old reliever who missed most of last year after being accused of rape. Good K-rate and mid-90s fastball, but not a great prospect.
Lawson’s just kind of thrown in.
not sold on Beavan at all
Lueke is the only other guy who could be a good back end pitcher… closer/set up man maybe…
but I think Smoak alone was a big price to pay… very very big… could they want Garrett Jones? For Scheppers and uh Beltre, and throw in Chris Davis? Maybe try to get Ogando :P
That crossed my mind, but how bad exactly would the FO let us be in the second half? Also, as far as cheaper rental 1Bs, players like Adam LaRoche with late-season outbursts might be a higher priority to a team like the Rangers to win now this year.
by Adam Reynolds on Jul 9, 2010 6:18 PM EDT up reply actions
it should depend on the return
my big issue with trading Jones is that he s almost our only viable 1B option for some distance… I dont see Pearce/Clement/Hague as being able to play the position at league average in 2 years… and I m not sold on someone like Chris Davis at all… but 1B isnt the only position and we should see what we can do to get back top of the line prospects
This is probably the first-ever reference to Matt Hague as a potential big-league first baseman. Which kind of proves your point.
by Charlie Wilmoth on Jul 9, 2010 6:40 PM EDT up reply actions
Fair or not to Jones, I’m not even sure how viable he’ll be in 2 years at age 30, especially given the production decrease from last season to this season.
by Adam Reynolds on Jul 9, 2010 6:49 PM EDT up reply actions
The trade is as much about Lee not going to the other contenders as it is about Lee going to Texas.
by Adam Reynolds on Jul 9, 2010 6:19 PM EDT up reply actions
its a really high price to pay for that
the Rangers are hoping Lee can help them win in the playoffs as opposed to just getting there… which they are almost assured of…
I still think the Rangers dont last more than 1 round in the playoffs, but we’ll see. That’s precisely the reason I felt they shouldn’t have given up Smoak.
I think Smoak has a very good chance of being at least a solid/average Lyle Overbay 1B the next few years. If that’s all he is, then this deal won’t haunt the Rangers a lot. If he does become another Teixeira for 5 years, then this will be costly even with a WS title.
Certainly Smoak’s skill set lends to a high floor, but the question is how high his ceiling will be.
by Adam Reynolds on Jul 9, 2010 6:55 PM EDT up reply actions
Six games up
at the all-star break doesn’t assure you of anything. But, assumning they get there they now know who is going to start games one and four of a playoff series. They just significantly improved their chances to go deep.
"the Marines have a foreign roster spot to allocate"
Unless something has changed in past year, there is no limit on the number of foreigners a Japanese team can employ on the organizational roster, only the 4-player limit for the top team at any one time. They can have up to three pitchers or position players registered out of the 4, but not all 4 from one or the other.
The Marines probably have an opening with the top team now because their foreign player contingent is pretty weak this year.
Hayden Penn’s foreign competition among the pitchers would consist of Bryan Corey and Bill Murphy. He would definitely get a look-see, but Japanese teams and their fans really dislike pitchers with control problems so….
Anyway, players in Penn’s case generally get a prorated contract for about 40 million yen, or somewhat around the money they could make as a minimum salary in the majors. Sometimes guys brought over in mid-season are given a deal for the next one as well with the thinking that they will either be used to NPB by the next year’s start, or they will probably never pan out.
Bryan Corey:
http://bis.npb.or.jp/players/51855119.html
Bill Murphy:
http://bis.npb.or.jp/players/73175131.html
Kim Te-Gyun:(Korean slugger)
http://bis.npb.or.jp/players/21625131.html
Juan Muniz: (mostly a farmhand the past couple seasons)
Your knowledge of the rules is correct.
Muniz was up briefly in June but demoted a couple of weeks ago. He’s a depth guy. Corey made his first appearance on the top roster since April last week and appears to be getting another look. So the spot that Muniz had occupied is currently free.
I disagree with your statement about the control problems. There’s currently something of a trend for NPB teams to sign guys with good arms who have experienced command issues — Juan Morrillo, Chris Bootcheck, Eulogio de la Cruz, Brian Falkenborg, Chris Resop, Scott Dohmann, Marc Kroon, Colby Lewis, are some recent ones.
by PatrickNewman on Jul 11, 2010 12:58 AM EDT up reply actions
PatrickNewman
From my experiences watching baseball in Japan for 13 years on TV and in person, and from what I heard around me from my Japanese acquaintances over the years, I’d say most Japanese bseball fans-from the casual fan to the people directly involved in NPB-hate to see pitchers who can’t get the ball over the plate, especially from their foreign helpers.
I understand where you are coming from with the names you mention as some guys who’ve had control issues previously in the U.S. Some of them have gone on to bigger and better things in NPB, with a fresh start and different coaching.
But is this a “trend” as you call it, or is it simply a matter of NPB desperately seeking pitching help wherever it can be found? NPB has always sifted through the MLB scrap heap looking for help, and every now and then finds a diamond in the rough. It seems like common sense to me that not a few of the guys they sign are ones who have some potential with their “stuff,” but have command issues.
It’s not like MLB makes a habit of letting pitchers with above-average stuff and command go over to Japan. It stands to reason that they generally keep them around for the 30 teams to get through a 162-game schedule.
Mostly agree.
Inopportune walks drive Japanese fans/coaches wild much more than US fans/coaches. Though Kroon, at least, has managed to become reasonably popular/successful in spite of his command issues.
Penn.....
doesn’t seem to be making much progress in AAA;in fact it seems as though he may be sliding back again since his good June. He’s already 25,has done nothing in MLB,and not a whole lot in AAA. He may possess what’s known as “the million dollar arm and ten cent head”…….
Still,I don’t know about just giving him away for some cash at this point…….That would seem counterproductive.
Tell Chiba Lotte...
they can keep the cash…if they take Ryan Church along with Penn.
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