Geez. Almost missed this one.
Struggling Lee Seung-yeop of the Yomiuri Giants was relegated to the minor league.
According to a Japanese news agency, the defending Central League champions demoted the 32-year-old lefty swinger after he went 0-for-3 and was taken out in the seventh inning of a game against the Yakult Swallows on Sunday. The Giants called up second baseman Luis Gonzalez to take Lee’s spot.
Lee, who smacked home runs in the opening games of each of the last two seasons, was mired in an 0-for-15 hitting slump earlier the season. Then after notching a hit on April 8, he was riding a 0-for-16 slide before the demotion.
The South Korean-born batter, who combined for 71 home runs the last two years, has a batting average of .135 with seven hits and no homers this season.
I was worried this might happen. Lee’s been awful this season, and in bits of 2007 as well. He’s looked lost at the plate on several occasions. Last year his troubles were largely attributable to a finger injury. I haven’t heard anything about this bothering him during 2008.
That said, I think a demotion is a little harsh. The Giants are 5-8-1, so maybe the team needed a scapegoat.
9 responses so far ↓
1 John M // Apr 15, 2008 at 10:58 pm
Kind of sad. Hasn’t Lee earned the right to have a slump? Giambi and Ortiz should be playing in the NY-Penn League at this point by the Giants’ logic.
2 simon // Apr 16, 2008 at 12:53 am
Well, Lee’s an import and so is Gonzalez, and there are only so many spots available for gaijin, and Gonzalez is smokin’ the ball for an .899 OPS (as a second baseman) in the minors right now. So I can’t fault the Giants for attempting to kick start things by changing it up.
3 Jackson // Apr 16, 2008 at 1:03 am
And to think that the MLB scouting bureau had Lee penned as an MLB ready 60 level player. Guess you can’t always believe what you read even from the top scouts in the business.
4 Dan // Apr 16, 2008 at 5:22 am
jackson,
they had him rated that high? then how come he only got minor league offers when he tried to go to the states before signing in Japan?
5 Shinsano // Apr 16, 2008 at 9:46 am
I agree with you John, although Lee himself admits in the article that he deserved to be sent down and needs the extra reps.
That said, I think the guy who owns the Asian single season record for HRs probably deserves a little more time to work things out.
6 Jackson // Apr 16, 2008 at 10:37 am
Dan
Ha, my guess is that they were trying to justify the tab they racked up during their visit to Asia by bringing back some useful information.
7 John Brooks // Apr 16, 2008 at 11:18 am
That said, I think the guy who owns the Asian single season record for HRs probably deserves a little more time to work things out.
Yeah that’s true, but that aside this is the Yomiuri Giants who are starting to obviously panic with their record after signing many big names this offseason.
I’ll say it again and will repeat it again here, until Yomiuri gets younger as a team I dont like them as a team. Not to mention Uehara is gone next year as he says he’s departing to MLB.
The Giants need to take a page from their counterparts the Yankees, and become younger as a team who have finally I think realized they need to inject some youth into the team.
8 Gary Garland // Apr 16, 2008 at 12:38 pm
Shinnosuke Abe has zero homers and only five RBIs, though he is batting a crispy .600 with runners in scoring position. That is undermined, however, by a .477 OPS. Lee’s OPS is less than .350. Yoshitomo Tani and Ryota Wakiya are even worse. Uehara is being hammered to the tune of a .295 average against and Seth Greisinger .297. Norihito Kaneto is being done to a turn at .368! Kiyoshi Toyoda is done.
No wonder they stink right now.
Given that the Giants have always been quick to push the panic button and Hanshin is 12-3 right out of the gate, the move with Lee does not surprise me.
Now I await the usual childish tantrum from Tsuneo Watanabe over all this. Should be some good unintentional comedy.
9 IronChef // Apr 16, 2008 at 1:47 pm
Lee is a mistake ball hitter. That’s it.
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