New Carp Foreign Players

Scott Seabol can play second and third. If I were the Carp, I would put Seabol at second, Kurihara at third, and Kida at first.

I don't think Seabol can hit. That's my opinion. I hope I'm wrong.

I also hope Hiroshima wasn't looking only at his recent seasons, which were inflated by playing at Albuquerque and in the Pacific Coast League in general.

It won't matter if Nagakawa keeps blowing saves at the rate he did last season. He was, dare I say - LaTroy (Hawkins)-esque in 2007. (I don't know the official number of blown saves, but it was about 14 or 15.)

In 2006 Seabol played in 48 games with the KIA Tigers in South Korea. He hit only .163 with 6 HRs and 14 RBIs.

I'm familiar with Scott Seabol from his days as a top prospect in the Yankee organization. He's a gritty player who plays hard, plays good defense, and knows how to handle the stick. Whether or not that translates well to NPB we'll have to wait and see. But if I were to guess, I'd say he does a representable job for the Carp.

Do NPB rules still limit teams to 3 gaijin? I haven't seen anything on a rule change, but it seems teams are signing more and more foreign players lately. Thanks.

- Do NPB rules still limit teams to 3 gaijin? I haven't seen anything on a rule change, but it seems teams are signing more and more foreign players lately. Thanks.

NPB teams limit teams to 4 foreign players per team who can be on the ichi-gun (top team) at any time. What many NPB teams do is send foreign starting pitchers down to ni-gun (farm team) after starts to free up the roster spot until their next start.

So essentially, there isn't a limit on how many foreign players can sign, just a limit on how many can be with the top team at one time. Also, the NPB has exempted one Asian player (Korean or Taiwanese, not sure about Mainland China) from the foreign player limit.

Sorry, geo3b4, but Seabol was bever a "top prospect in the Yankee organization." He was brought up to the majors for the proverbial cup of coffee as a bench warmer and never did anything for them (played in one game). Unlike many, many other Yankee rookies who come highly touted (even if they don't have Major League talent), no one ever made much of a mention of Seabol. I'm not saying he isn't a great guy; heck, I'm not even saying he can't be a productive ballplayer; but I am saying he was never a top prospect for the Yanks.

Looks like the Carp have added RHP Colby Lewis, LHP Ben Kozlowski and RHR Mike Schultz [Chugoku Shimbun - in Japanese] to go along with Alex and Scott Seabol. The article also mentions that they may also consider bringing Sean Douglass back. Lewis dominated the "hitter friendly" Pacific Coast League in 2007 but had his struggles in the big leagues.

Rob, Seabol was a Top 10 Yankee prospect back in the late '90s when the Yanks had the top ranked system. He never got the chance because of being blocked by Brosious, and then eventually Drew Henson took over as the top 3B prospect. Even though he didn't do much in his brief call up, and was gone a year or two after, coming up through the ranks of the system, he was very highly regarded. I'll see if I can find a link to verify.

Some info on the new Aka-Heru Suketto. Colby Lewis was 8-3 with a 1.88 ERA in Sacramento last season. In 95.2 innings he surrendered only 70 hits, had 23 BBs and 97 Ks while allowing batters to hit just .202 . I know it's not the big leagues, but that's pretty darn impressive.

Scott Seabol is a .287 career minor league hitter and has had OPS of .895, .837, .998 and .943 his last 4 seasons in AAA.

Ben Kozlowski, a 6'6" southpaw had an even 3.00 ERA in Scranton, allowing 71 hits in 81 IP while striking out 80 and walking 31, batters hit .236 - very solid.

6'7" Mike Schultz compiled a 3.92 ERA in Tucson and allowed 85 hits in 78 IP. Schultz had 50 K, 36 BB and BA against was a rather healthy .285. Maybe his height will prove more effective in Japan, we'll see.

These guys need to perform extremely well to offset the loss of Kuroda and Arai.

- Seabol was a Top 10 Yankee prospect back in the late '90s when the Yanks had the top ranked system.

Yeah of course, that doesn't mean much since by the late '90s the Yankees' minor league system was a total disaster. When your top draft picks from 1997 to 2001 are Tyrell Goodwin, Andy Brown, David Walling, David Parrish, and John-Ford Griffin it doesn't mean much to be on that list.

As for Seabol, as long as Hiroshima doesn't hope for him to hit like he did in Albuquerque they'll be fine. If they expect him to knock the cover off the ball they'll likely be in for a disappointment.

As for my question regarding the rules pertaining to the amount of foreign players allowed on a team, just to clarify, a team can sign as many foreign players as they wish, but can only have 4 active at a time? Is there a limitation on foreign players with the farm club? How about limitations on promoting/demoting players? I know in the States a player with Minor League options left cannot be called up less than 10 days following a demotion, unless in case of an injury.

I'm fascinated to gain a better understanding of rules and procedure in NPB. Also, am I crazy or was the rule at one point indeed that teams clubs were limited to 3 gaijin?

As far as the Yankees and the quality of their farm system, there is no denying that from about 2002-on it was terrible. Not only did they trade away their best young prospects, they lost a lot of draft picks too by signing big money Type A & B free agents. I know for a fact that at one point in the late '90s the Yankees farm system was ranked #1 by Baseball America. I am not a registered member on the site ($65 a year is a little much, IMO), so I can't access rankings prior to 2001, but as recently as 2001 the Yankees' system was ranked 7th. To say that the Yankees system in the late '90s into the early 21st century was disastrous isn't fair. The fact that the players were never given the opportunity to play in the bigs because of being blocked by high-paid veterans, and that they were all being shipped out as if the Yankees were UPS is the reason for the colossal disaster that the Yankees' Minor League system became in the 2000s. But prior to that we did have a lot of quality prospects in the system.

geo3b4: Nearly everything you ask about is explained under the second question in the FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions).

- As for my question regarding the rules pertaining to the amount of foreign players allowed on a team, just to clarify, a team can sign as many foreign players as they wish, but can only have 4 active at a time?

Taken from the FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions):

Only 4 foreign players are allowed on the 25-man game roster, with a maximum of 3 position players or 3 pitchers. There can not be 4 position players or 4 pitchers at one time. 3 position players and 1 pitcher, 1 position player and 3 pitchers, or 2 of each are all possible.

There is no limit to how many foreign players a team can sign. You could have an unlimited amount of gaijin, they just couldn't be guaranteed to play.

- Also, am I crazy or was the rule at one point indeed that teams clubs were limited to 3 gaijin?

Yes, you remember right, until 1995 teams could only have 3 in the organization.

- As far as the Yankees and the quality of their farm system, there is no denying that from about 2002-on it was terrible.

What about Hughes, Chamberlain, and Kennedy? I guess they don't count?

- I know for a fact that at one point in the late '90s the Yankees farm system was ranked #1 by Baseball America.

I'm not denying that Baseball America had them ranked #1. All I'm saying is that their draft picks didn't pan out very well from 1997 to 2003. The Yankees as a team failed here. They were better at signing international players outside of the draft.

Their drafts were a disaster from 1997 to 2003. Name one player picked by the Yankees between that period that went on to have a great career?

I meant from 2002 onward to around the time that Cashman and Oppenheimer regained control of the draft in 2004, which is when they drafted Hughes. But until the emergence of Cano, Wang, Hughes, Joba, etc. it was considered a very weak farm.

As for the FAQ, sorry guys. I have looked through it in the past, but for some reason it slipped my mind yesterday. Thanks for all of your help anyway.

So, back to foreign players with the Carp, has Alex Ochoa officially signed with them yet?

It appears Ochoa has in fact signed back [Carp official site - in Japanese].