Ed. Note: The following article first appeared in The Taipei Times Saturday, May 25th.
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In 2002, former LA Dodgers and current La New Bears star Chen Chin-feng (陳金鋒) became the first Taiwanese baseball player to don a Major League uniform. Shortly thereafter, the first four Taiwanese players signed to MLB contracts— including Chen, Yankees starter Wang Chien-ming (王建民), Royals pitcher Tsao Chin-hui (曹錦è¼) and Dodgers reliever Kuo Hong-chih (éƒæ³“å¿—) — all earned spots on professional clubs.
The success of the first four Taiwanese signings — with Dodgers shortstop Hu Chin-lung (胡金é¾) following in their footsteps shortly afterwards — has resulted in a multiplying number of MLB scouts hired in the quest to recruit Taiwan’s next wave of talent. The Minnesota Twins, Texas Rangers, Cleveland Indians and Detroit Tigers have all added part-time scouts within the last year, and more are likely on the way.
At least 10 of the 30 MLB teams now have part-time or full-time scouts residing in Taiwan, working on a continuing basis to try to find the next big signing.
These scouts are usually reinforced by international cross-checkers who come through periodically during major tournaments, as the MLB teams’ increasing scrutiny of Taiwan generates increasingly fierce competition for talent here.
In addition to growing competition from their US peers, Major League teams scouting in Taiwan have to contend with international competitors as well.
Japanese professional teams have far more flexible guidelines regarding free-agent signings under the age of 16, while MLB rules compel teams to wait until players are 16 (or in certain cases 17) before they can offer them contracts.
Rumor has it that certain Japanese teams begin scouting players as early as elementary school — especially in eastern Taiwan, where the majority of the nation’s baseball talent originates — and have signed a number of top Taiwanese prospects well before their 16th birthday.
Seattle Mariners scout Jamey Storvick, who began scouting Taiwan in 1999, said he believes he was the only scout living in Taiwan on a permanent basis when the gold rush started. When he started out, there were only six to eight teams scouting the country intermittently, with a few local scouts helping out here and there.
“In the late 90s, interest in Taiwan got hot as a group of three solid arms came out of here in a short period of time,” he said, referring to Wang, Kuo and Tsao, whose electric fastball drew huge attention from MLB teams.
The salad days of the late 90s appear to be over, however, forcing MLB scouts residing in Taiwan to dig deeper and become more resourceful in their search for prospects.
In certain instances, unfortunately, this has meant stretching the boundaries of acceptable protocol in order to remain competitive and ensure their prospects aren’t snatched up by other clubs.
Rumors of illegal signings, teams hiding players and hidden contracts abound, as well as whispers of a maze of secret arrangements between scouts and agents that further alter the landscape of negotiations and player signings.
To make matters more complicated, some scouts in Taiwan lament certain coaches’ overuse of pitchers, citing an increased risk of injury to their coveted prospects before they can make the jump overseas.
Despite these hurdles and strategic advantages held by Japanese clubs, Taiwan is still viewed as a top target for MLB scouting departments because of the high level of play and organization, and the passion for the game found among players, fans and coaches.
Storvick believes that as players who have gone abroad and learned from the US return to Taiwan, it can only mean good things for the future of Taiwanese player development.
“Players who went pro to other countries will come back and bring [a lot of] knowledge back to the game in Taiwan. It can only get better when that starts happening,” he said.
Regardless of the direction the game takes, there will be no lack of competition bidding for the right to sign the next generation of young Taiwanese players hungry for their shot on the game’s biggest stage.
Jackson Broder is a scout for a Major League franchise.
12 responses so far ↓
1 Shinsano // May 25, 2008 at 10:06 pm
Good stuff Jackson. The young talent from Taiwan has definately outpreformed that of the other Asian “powerhouses” Japan and Korea). No stop to that beat either…Hu and Y.C. Chen are going to solid as well…if not great.
2 IronChef // May 25, 2008 at 11:30 pm
I want Scott Boras to sign the top 100 high school baseball players in the country, and hire a legion of lawyers to watch every game these kids play. And then if a coach overuses an arm, they get sued for child abuse.
3 Taiwan » Bullish on Taiwan // May 26, 2008 at 12:50 pm
[...] Competition for Talent Intensifies in Taiwan as Number of Scouts …In 2002, former LA Dodgers and current La New Bears star Chen Chin-feng (陳金鋒) became the first Taiwanese baseball player to don a Major League uniform. Shortly thereafter, the first four Taiwanese players signed to MLB blue sheets— … [...]
4 Joel // May 26, 2008 at 1:40 pm
As a scout in Taiwan…in your professional opinion, is Taiwanese baseball just better than we’ve been led to believe? I feel like I hear about so many more young players signing out of Taiwan than I do Korea or Japan. I’m including here guys that don’t even make it to the majors. What’s going on down there? Is it the water?
5 jackson // May 26, 2008 at 4:32 pm
Joel
That’s a good question….I wouldn’t say that the talent here is better or worse than other international areas. One major factor is that it’s very difficult to convince amateur players in Japan to sign with MLB teams because they can go straight to NPB (in most cases) instead of having to audition in the minors, and the signing bonuses they receive are significantly higher than what they would receive from a MLB club. So they figure why risk going to the U.S. and failing when they can go pro right away in Japan, and then they wait out their 9 years and go pro in the states.
As far as Korea goes, we may have to direct this question to Aaron because he knows more about the proverbial scene there, but it is perplexing to me that fewer players have made it to the big leagues from Korea, given the talent pool there. However, i will defer to my Korea-dwelling scout friend Aaron on this one.
6 Shinsano // May 26, 2008 at 5:14 pm
Hard to say why Korea hasn’t produced more talent. Honnestly, I think it’s just bad luck/random events as much as anything. Both Kim BK and Choi Hee Seop were expected to do much better than they have, and most thought Choo Shin Soo would be starting for the Indians by now. Even Jung Sung-ki, who’s never been as good a prospect as the other three I mentioned, was shelved for two years to do his military requirement.
The talent is here. It’ll eventually bear itself out.
7 Tix // May 26, 2008 at 10:11 pm
If you guys had to pick one of the up and comnig Taiwanese players, who would you pick? Did either of you scout Lin from the Red Sox?
8 simon // May 27, 2008 at 10:34 am
Yeah, the lack of Korean talent in the majors right now is perplexing, but like Aaron said, probably just a randomness of small sample size. And jackson nailed the Japan situation. The more realistic possibilities of making millions (of dollars) while staying in your own country is rather enticing instead of risking it all with an MLB organization in an all or nothing gamble. The very best start play in NPB at age 19, so they’ll be free agents at their peak years from age 28 anyways. Non-elite players gain free agency in their 30s, usually on the downside of their careers, though. But then again you get cases like Takashi Saito, so it’s difficult to generalize.
9 jackson // May 27, 2008 at 5:31 pm
Tix
Lin had signed well before I became a scout.
I can’t get too much into the other questions, but I will say Lin’s chances of advancing to the MLB level are generally seen as fairly high and some predict he will be an everyday contributor.
10 bigdaub // May 28, 2008 at 10:49 am
i’m no scout but i’ll tell you this. the level of play with taiwanese players, from the high school kids to the cpbl players, are on par with the japanese… on a good night, that is. i don’t know why, but it seems that the taiwanese have a hard time to play consistently good at all times. seems like they lack focus, or don’t take things seriously and let their level of play drop. cpbl for example, performs close to aaa level on a good night, but when they are off, the play level drops down to little league level.
11 jackson // May 28, 2008 at 1:12 pm
Big Daub
Thanks for the comment….I don’t think the CPBL’s level of play is the same as NPB’s, but like you mentioned maybe on a good day. Overall the talent level on NPB is significantly higher.
Also, unfortunately I believe that match fixing plays a major role in causing what you astutely observed are sudden dropoffs in the level of play. Said generously, i think it’s a distraction to the players. Said more realistically, I think there’s still a lot more match fixing than anyone wants to admit.
12 bigdaub // May 28, 2008 at 9:40 pm
yeah, i agree with you that the overall talent is better in japan.
i also agree with you that there is more game fixing than anyone willing to admit. something needs to be done about this, or the league will vanish. the people running cpbl is spineless and corrupt that they are unwilling to really clean up the league.
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