Dodgers' rededication to international scouting something to be excited about

The Dodgers' ownership group promised to refocus and make international scouting a big part of its new regime -- and it has yet to disappoint.

The Dodgers made a huge splash in July by signing Yasiel Puig to a record-breaking contract. They drafted Cuban left-handers Onelki Garcia (third round) and Alfredo Unzue (32nd round). Garcia has a lot of potential. They also nabbed a handful of players during the new international signing period -- most notably 16-year-old Mexican left-hander Julio Urias.

They've been linked to Japanese right-hander Shohei Otani, whose situation won't likely be resolved until the spring. And they just landed the rights to sign Korean left-hander Hyun-Jin Ryu after a $25.7 million posting fee this past weekend.

It's obvious the Dodgers are ramping up the scouting and player acquisition in this department -- and that couldn't be better.

Now that they seemingly have more money than God, it just makes things easier.

Oh, and all this was done before bolstering their international scouting staff, which happened on Monday.

"Two weeks ago the Dodgers hired Bob Engle as vice president of international scouting and Monday they brought on six of his Mariners staff -- Pedro Avila, Gene Grimaldi, Patrick Guerrero, Pat Kelly, Jamey Storvick and Mike Tosar."

For a self-proclaimed prospector, this is extremely exciting news. The Dodgers' farm system, since the likes of Matt Kemp, Clayton Kershaw and Chad Billingsley all graduated, hasn't been anywhere near that good. They've had a bottom-third farm system for the last few years (save one year) and with the recent additions, they're pushing Top-20 territory. That's really saying something, as they've added some quality international prospects.

My hope is the Dodgers will reassert themselves in the Dominican Republic. Roughly 11 percent of players in Major League Baseball are from the Dominican. That doesn't even include minor-leaguers who have yet to debut in the majors. Venezuela would be another great place to scout heavy, as about 7.7 percent of MLBers hail from the country, including the game's best hitter (Miguel Cabrera) and one of its best right-handed pitchers (Felix Hernandez).

The Dodgers have also been trailblazers in East Asia (Japan, Korea, Taiwan), and making international scouting a priority rather than an afterthought could not mean better things for the Dodgers -- now and in the future.

Image credit: CIA World Factbook

Graphic by: Dustin Nosler, Feelin' Kinda Blue

Podcast: 'Dugout Blues' Episode 11 - Dodgers, League, Otani, other news

At long last, "Dugout Blues" is back on the air. I know our tens of listeners were wondering where we went.

This week, Jared Massey (L.A. Dugout) talk about the Brandon League signing, the big trades the Dodgers made during the season (Hanley Ramirez, Adrian Gonzalez) and about Japanese phenom Shohei Otani.

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Look for new episodes of "Dugout Blues" every Wednesday at 12 p.m.

Dodgers' news: Kenley Jansen, Shohei Otani, Yunel Escobar, Andres Santiago

Kenley Jansen underwent successful heart surgery on Tuesday. His recovery time will be three to four months.

Hopefully, this solves Jansen's issues, as he's missed time the last two seasons with this. Barring anything unforeseen, he should be ready to go for 2013. And the Dodgers are going to need him anchoring the bullpen.

Otani update

Chad Moriyama has a great breakdown of the Shohei Otani situation.

The Dodgers need to land this kid. His potential is off the charts. But he might not even be the best pitching prospect in Japan.

Ben Badler of Baseball America had a look at Otani as a prospect and wrote there's an even better pitching prospect in Japan (subscription required).

Baseball America also released its report card for the Dodgers' 2013 draft class (subscription required).

Yunel Escobar for shortstop?

Mike Petriello wonders if the Dodgers should take a run at Yunel Escobar.

It's definitely an out-of-the-box idea, but it also seems like an idea that was better suited during the McCourt era. Still, you can't fault Petriello for thinking about it. Many don't want Hanley Ramirez to be the Dodgers' shortstop come Opening Day 2013. I can't say I blame them, but I also think his offensive potential at the position outweighs his defensive shortcomings (and I can't believe I just typed that).

Of course, I could change my tune come the end of April and Ramirez has butchered multiple plays at shot.

Santiago shines in AFL Wednesday

Andres Santiago made his third start of the Arizona Fall League season and had his best outing by far: 5 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB (both in the first inning), 5 K.

The only negative part about his performance was his strike percentage. He threw 70 pitches, but just 41 strikes -- good for a 56.3 percent strike rate. He had a 61 percent strike rate in 26 Southern League innings, so it's something he'll have to work on going forward.

Dugout Blues

Look for new episodes of the Dodgers' podcast "Dugout Blues" in the not too distant near future.

Photo credit: Dustin Nosler, Feelin' Kinda Blue

Shohei Otani elects for free agency, Dodgers a possible destination

Get used to the name Shohei Otani, folks. You'll be hearing it for a long time. The Japanese right-hander today announced he will pursue a career in Major League Baseball.

What makes this situation different is he's just 18 years old. Usually, Japanese players are bound to play for the Nippon Professional Baseball League until their mid-to-late-20s, so to get a player of Otani's ability while he's still a teenager could mean great things for him and his team.

Here is some footage of Otani in action.



Otani seems to be excited about the prospect of playing Major League Baseball.

"'I think I will start in the minor leagues but I want to challenge in the majors. It's been my dream since entering high school.'"

The long-term imapct of Otani's decision on the NPB is unknown, but his decision could be the start of something new in Japan.

"Otani was expected to go in the first round of Thursday's amateur draft in Japan.

If he signs with a major league team, Otani would become the first potential top draft pick to make the direct jump from a Japanese high school to the U.S."

However, I'd expect the NPB to fix whatever loophole may be present to prevent too many of these situations in the future.

Signing Otani won't come down to which team offers him the most money. Otani falls under the international spending limits from MLB's new Collective Bargaining Agreement, and the Dodgers have already tapped into some of that budget. It's going to come down to who's the best salesman.

Assistant General Manager Logan White understands that and has been actively on the case for more than a month now.

"The Los Angeles Dodgers will be/were the first to meet with Otani today. They had actually scheduled an appointment to drop by Hanamaki Higashi before they knew that he was going to file his letter of intent. Logan White (Assistant GM, Amateur and International Scouting), Acey Kohrogi (Executive Director, Asian Operations and Scouting), and Keiichi Kojima (scout) are expected to attend the meeting. The Red Sox are also said to be interested.

Dodgers could be front runners for Otani: scout Kojima has been keeping track of Otani since he was a first year high school student and assistant GM White was in Japan in March to watch him pitch in a practice game. Otani will not attend the meeting.  Hanamaki Higashi manager Hiroshi Sasaki will represent him. At least five MLB teams, including the Rangers and Red Sox are said to be interested."

The Dodgers are not shy when attempting to sign Japanese players.

• Hideo Nomo was the biggest get back in 1995.
• Kazuhisa Ishii, seen as a solid pitcher at the time, wasn't that great.
• Takashi Saito, however, was great for the Dodgers. It's too bad he didn't make it to the majors until his late-30s. He could have been something special.
• Hiroki Kuroda, who I wouldn't mind seeing back with the Dodgers next season, was the most recent prominent player the Dodgers signed out of Japan.

Oh, and who could forget Norihiro Nakamura -- No. 66 in your programs and, well, probably No. 66 in your hearts.

The Dodgers will do whatever they can to get Otani to agree to play in Los Angeles. As I wrote last week, this would be a great acquisition for the Dodgers. I didn't see it as likely (not many did), but now that Otani has elected for free agency, it's exciting to think of the possibilities.

Dodgers have interest in Japanese phenom Shohei Otani, acquisition unlikely

I haven't been this excited about an 18-year-old prospect since, well, Corey Seager. But Shohei Otani has a chance to be an incredible prospect -- and the Dodgers are interested in him.

I'm not going to lie: I had no idea who this kid was before Friday. Thankfully, Mike Petriello and Chad Moriyama kicked all kinds of ass breaking down the kid and what it would take to get him.

From Petriello:

"As you can imagine from an 18-year-old high school kid from the Pacific Rim, there’s not a whole lot of actual scouting out there on him, and I’d be lying to you if I said that I’d heard of him before a few hours ago. Still, 18, touching triple digits. It’s enticing, to say the least.

But let’s clarify what this is and isn’t. This isn’t Daisuke Matsuzaka, who cost the Red Sox a $51.1m posting fee in 2006. This isn’t Yu Darvish, for whom the Rangers paid $51.7m last year. And he’s not Hiroki Kuroda or Takashi Saito, who came to the Dodgers with no posting fee at all. Per the rules of NBP, the major professional Japanese league, players are bound to their teams for nine years after being drafted. If they ask to play in the United States, a team may “post” them, accepting the largest blind bid from a MLB team in order to allow the player to move. In the cases of Kuroda & Saito, they had put in their nine years (or more) and didn’t come to the States until their 30s.

For Otani, it’s a little different. He’s not yet been drafted by NBP, so he’s not technically subject to the nine year rule. However, it’s excessively rare for a high school player to skip Japanese ball and go right to America. In fact, the only player I can find who has done that is Junichi Tazawa, who’s pitched in 46 games for Boston around Tommy John surgery since making his debut in 2009. (And, now that I look at it, he was outstanding this year, with a 45/5 K/BB in 44 innings.) But Tazawa’s case is unique as well, since he went undrafted by NBP out of high school and spent several seasons pitching for an unaffiliated team in Japan."

From Moriyama:

"It’s unlikely that the primary obstacle here will end up being money. Otani’s decision will likely revolve around his willingness to leave home for a foreign land as a teenager, his ability to deal with becoming a trailblazer and breaking tradition, and perhaps most importantly, the ramifications his decision will have on the relationship between him and the NPB, the MLB and the NPB, and the Dodgers and the NPB.

Unlike Korea and Taiwan, who inexplicably (IMO) let MLB teams pilfer their amateur talent, the NPB still has a handshake agreement in place with the MLB regarding their amateur players. And while I don’t have an inside track on how this all shakes out, given Otani’s immense talent, if he decides he wants to sign overseas, the strength of that agreement will be put to the test."

There aren't many 18-year-olds who legitimately touch 100 MPH on the gun. Otani already possesses a major league body at 6'4, 190 pounds. He would be a hell of a get for the Dodgers.

Unfortunately, the Dodgers can't use their incredible monetary advantage to land Otani, so it really depends if he wants to go against the grain of the NPB.

Here's some video of the phenom.



The Dodgers have done quite well on the international market this season. Everyone knows about Yasiel Puig, but the Dodgers also inked Mexican lefty Julio Urias, who was considered to be a top prospect on the international market. Adding Otani would be -- at this point -- unbelievable.

We'll see what happens, but I'm not exactly penciling him in on my Dodgers' prospect list anytime soon.