Dan Duquette says Orioles will not sign Seong Min-kim

[MrOrange82]

I'm not the guy who runs down cars doing 10MPH over the limit.

Sent from my EVO using Tapatalk 2

You are the guy in the Kevlar.

Uhh...remind me never to speed through Malike's jurisdiction while transporting a distributable trunk-full of heroin and/or dead hooker?

[Ampontan]

I think the kid is a victim in this, sure. The O's scout(s) screwed up. That's why that didn't resign him, IMO. Whether the O's should have still signed him for the original contract or signed him at all is a more gray area. MLB and the O's should talk to the Korean baseball federation on his behalf.

There might be another reason we didn't sign him. The Sun's beat writer Encina had a short post on this a few weeks ago:

However, the Orioles did bring Kim to the club?s minor-league facility in Sarasota early last month for a workout, according to an industry source. Among those in attendance were professional scout Bruce Kison, Florida operations coordinator Dave Schmidt and pitching rehab coordinator Scott McGregor.

By early last month, he means May. In other words, they had three former pitchers / pitching coaches look at him, and then they sent him home.

Encina does say that one reason they might not have signed him is for protocol considerations.

However, I think it is also possible that the three evaluators took a look at him and said, "What did you sign this kid for?"

If they thought Kim was as good as his original hype, would the organization still be so concerned about protocol? An interesting thought-experiment.

If we are talking about holding people responsible, I suggest (a) Mr. and Mrs. Kim, (b) the scout who signed him, perhaps (but maybe not) Ray Poitevint, and © the man responsible for the scout, Dan Duquette. One mitigating factor is that Fred The Shark Ferreira says that when you see someone you like, you have to jump before other teams find him. We jumped too quickly.

Duquette hints in the interview that the Orioles can scout there again. I suspect Kim will be allowed to play baseball in Korea again, perhaps after being graduated from high school.

One factor overlooked in this incident, and I realize this could breach what is considered proper etiquette in public discussions these days, is that there is a strain in Korea of what some people might use the term vindictiveness to describe a local attitude, particularly in regard to non-Koreans who displease them, and more particularly in regard to non-Koreans who behave in a way that some Koreans think offends their national honor. The actor Leonardo DiCaprio felt compelled to apologize publicly to Koreans several years ago, after a rumor spread that he had made a disparaging remark about Koreans privately on a movie set. There was no evidence that he said anything of the sort, but DiCaprio thought discretion was the better part of valor and tried to keep his and his employers' box office prospects in that country viable. Meg Ryan had to make a similar apology after she made an offhanded joke about the strangeness of something she had to say in the script for a TV commercial in that country. (She actually did say it.)

It isn't always foreigners, either, and people interested in the subject could use the search engine of their choice and enter the terms South Korea, subway, and "dog poop girl".

Given the same set of circumstances, I am fairly certain that the Japanese or Taiwanese response to the Orioles would have been much more restrained.

Sorry for the tangent, but again, I think we're probably back scouting in Korea, Kim will pitch again, and this time next year people will have largely forgotten about it --- by September, if we're still in the pennant race.

[WEAVERMAN]

This may have already been suggested, but maybe PGA may have contacted DD after the workout and instructed him not to sign the kid because of the protocal violation. In other words, PGA received word from Selig that the signing would not look good. Obviously, 1) I'm just speculating and 2) I'm not blaming Angelos, just suggesting what could have happened. You never know....

[Lucky Jim]

Oh, please. He'll absolutely pitch again. Get off it.

I asked Encina about what the Orioles did to insure this was the case. If the answer is nothing, then the Orioles are inept cowards.

[Can_of_corn]

Oh, please. He'll absolutely pitch again. Get off it.

First a disclaimer. Since none of the local media seem to care about this story from the kid's point of view I have no idea what the status of his ban is. It is conceivable that it has already been lifted and he is pitching in Korea as I type.

How can you be sure that he will "absolutely pitch again"?

Korea isn't the US, you can't just assume they will do things a certain way because that is how we would do it in the US.

The KBO isn't in good shape right now. If MLB teams were to descend upon it and pick away their top 16-18 year old talent then it's very existence could be in jeopardy. I can certainly see, with that backdrop, the KBO sacrificing Kim's career as a lesson to all the other prep players out there considering a jump to MLB. Right now they have a very effective tool to keep young players in line.

Aside from his value as a player, what does the KBO have to gain by reinstating Kim?

[Ampontan]

How can you be sure that he will "absolutely pitch again"? Korea isn't the US, you can't just assume they will do things a certain way because that is how we would do it in the US.

He pays the penalty by sitting out for awhile, and then making an abject apology in public, and then the status quo ante is restored. That's not how they do it in the US, but that's how they do it in Northeast Asia.

[Can_of_corn]

He pays the penalty by sitting out for awhile, and then making an abject apology in public, and then the status quo ante is restored. That's not how they do it in the US, but that's how they do it in Northeast Asia.

That does sound like what would happen in Japan. We will see about South Korea. I think the KBO has more to gain by standing firm.

[OFFNY]

So they ruined this poor kid's professional career.

This makes me very angry.

Oh, please. He'll absolutely pitch again. Get off of it.

He may pitch again, but that isn't the point. This whole case has put a severe dent in the kid's baseball career. To look at it from a perspective of what may be a similar scenario, imagine if a high school junior in the United States was told that he is permanently ineligible to play amateur baseball ever again. That would mean that the kid could not play varsity baseball as long as he was in high school, and that he could not play college baseball after he graduated from high school, either. Might the kid catch on with a minor league team and eventually work his way to the majors by the time that he graduates from high school ??? Sure he might. But his options and his development as a player (sitting out at least one full season, maybe more) would have been severely limited and altered, of which we would never really know what the long-term affect that it may have/may have had on his career and on his life overall.

[Can_of_corn]

I asked Dan@MYKBO about the situation and this was the reply.

Dan ‏@MyKBO

@ved45 the ban still in effect, he's not able to pitch in Korea right now. It will be up to the KBO/KBA to decide if they will ever lift it

I am following him on Twitter and I imagine that if the situation changes he will make mention of it.

This is his website.

http://www.mykbo.net/

[CA-ORIOLE]

I asked Dan@MYKBO about the situation and this was the reply.

Dan ‏@MyKBO

I am following him on Twitter and I imagine that if the situation changes he will make mention of it.

This is his website.

http://www.mykbo.net/

Wow, that's a pretty good reference/site.

[xian4]

Retweeted from Roch on Twitter

From @DanielKimW: Orioles scouts are still banned from stadiums in Korea according to a KBA official.

[Lucky Jim]

Retweeted from Roch on Twitter

rom @DanielKimW: Orioles scouts are still banned from stadiums in Korea according to a KBA official.

[Can_of_corn]

Looking back at Kim and Chong I want to send the KBA a gift basket.

[weams]

Why, we are still banned from their stadiums. I guess the Orioles just spend their Korean money elsewhere.

[weams]

Billy Rowell was transferred to Aberdeen. I guess his suspension is over. Billy will not report. According to Tim Murray.