O's working on player-training agreement with Japan's Rakatan Eagles

[ChaosLex]

Saw this on Twitter earlier. No one idea what it means, but it seemed newsworthy.

4 of the Japanese reps left Duquette's suite earlier in the evening.

[srock]

Saw this on Twitter earlier. No one idea what it means, but it seemed newsworthy.

4 of the Japanese reps left Duquette's suite earlier in the evening.

This sounds interesting.

Maybe its a minor league thing where we loan players from the minor league system out to Japan? Or vice-versa?

[Spirus]

Interesting, but no idea what it could mean. A crude search turned up nothing on any 'player training agreements' between MLB teams and Japanese teams. It's worth noting that Tohoku is perennially one of the weakest teams in NPB and the tsunami hitting their home city probably hasn't helped.

2012 Team stats in case you want to dream:
http://www.baseball-reference.com/mi...gi?id=359515df

Wishful thinking, but perhaps we could loan them one of the cavalry and get back this guy
http://www.baseball-reference.com/mi...d=tanaka003mas

[clapdiddy]

While I think this isn't a bad thing...of course I have no idea what it means...don't you think this could have been done at a different time? Maybe it's me, but doing this during the Winter Meetings seems a bit strange.

[Spirus]

A wild card thought: it could be something to do with Tsuyoshi Wada. If it's true that he can't be optioned to the minors and the Orioles don't think he's recovered and ready to contribute at the ML level perhaps they've worked something out where he can start in Japan until he's ready to contribute.

Though more likely it's just something insignificant like a joint spring training workout or scouting cooperation or the like.

[Baltoravensrule]

While I think this isn't a bad thing...of course I have no idea what it means...don't you think this could have been done at a different time? Maybe it's me, but doing this during the Winter Meetings seems a bit strange.

He is a gm. He should be able to multi-task. Additionally I'm guessing this had been worked out for the most part before they flew all the way to the US so this was probably more symbolic and finalizing something. Plus it keeps dds international cred going. No idea what it actually means of course.

[JohnnyK27]

While I think this isn't a bad thing...of course I have no idea what it means...don't you think this could have been done at a different time? Maybe it's me, but doing this during the Winter Meetings seems a bit strange.

but O's could purchase contracts of players on that team, send players there if they're willing

This couldnt be bad !

[ChaosLex]

Their ace, Masahiro Tanaka, beat out Yu Darvish In 2011 for the Sawamura Award (NPB equivalent of the Cy Young).

[Coker]

I reached out to Patrick Newman of NPBTracker to get a better idea of what the agreement could be and his thoughts on the matter.

Hi Coker,

Normally a player training agreement would mean that the Japanese club sends players to the US to participate in spring training or to play with the minor league affiliates of the MLB team. For example, Ichiro spent some time in the Mariners camp in 1999 while he was still with the Orix Blue Wave. Occasionally NPB teams will send coaches over as well. It could be something else in this specific case but that's what I would expect. The Orioles hired a guy name Ray Poitevint a year or two ago with deep ties to Japan, so if he's still with the organization a move like this isn't such a surprise.

Thanks, Patrick

[canonfaz]

I reached out to Patrick Newman of NPBTracker to get a better idea of what the agreement could be and his thoughts on the matter.

Thanks a lot for this!

[Coker]

Their ace, Masahiro Tanaka, beat out Yu Darvish In 2011 for the Sawamura Award (NPB equivalent of the Cy Young).

Carrying on with this:

With a high three-quarters delivery Tanaka throws a four-seam fastball that sits in the low 90s (tops out at 96 mph), a hard breaking mid-80s slider, a splitter, and a two-seam fastball.

And it's said that he's been working on his offspeed pitches to try and induce more groundballs.
He dealt with a shoulder injury at the beginning of the year, and then later missed a start due to back stiffness. Looks like there might have been a hip problem too.Injuries this year limited him to 173 IP, averaging nearly a 9:1 K/BB ratio (169k's to 19BBs). Finished the year with a 1.87 ERA.
http://<a href="http://www.youtube.c...cu_tWYNNpA</a>

[Coker]

Carrying on with this: And it's said that he's been working on his offspeed pitches to try and induce more groundballs.
He dealt with a shoulder injury at the beginning of the year, and then later missed a start due to back stiffness. Looks like there might have been a hip problem too.Injuries this year limited him to 173 IP, averaging nearly a 9:1 K/BB ratio (169k's to 19BBs). Finished the year with a 1.87 ERA.
http://<a href="http://www.youtube.c...cu_tWYNNpA</a>

Highlights video on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Acu_tWYNNpA

[DrungoHazewood]

Saw this on Twitter earlier. No one idea what it means, but it seemed newsworthy.

4 of the Japanese reps left Duquette's suite earlier in the evening.

Interesting. I wouldn't think it would be an affiliation, Japanese teams aren't interested in giving up their autonomy or doing anything that would compromise their ability to win. But maybe there will be close enough ties to allow for loans and sales of players between the teams that are mutually beneficial.