WBC will show foreign talent is where it's at
Ranking the best teams at scouting for players overseas
NATIONAL LEAGUE WEST
1. Los Angeles: No organization in MLB has been more successful — and more progressive — internationally than the Dodgers, who were among the first to build an academy in the Dominican Republic and successfully scout the Far East and Eastern Europe. Among the first Asian-born players to sign with an MLB team were the Dodgers' Hideo Nomo (Japan); Chan Ho Park (South Korea); and Ching-Feng Chen (Taiwan).
They was also among the first teams to sign Russian talent. In Latin America, Los Angeles first signed Dominican Pedro Martinez, and of course, few in Dodger Blue can forget “Fernando Mania,” Mexican southpaw Fernando Valenzuela. Many also forget that the Dodgers were the first team to sign Puerto Rican and Hall-of-Famer Roberto Clemente.
The Dodgers today are a melting pot of non-U.S. born homegrown talent, from Russell Martin (Canada) to Hiroki Kuroda (Japan) and Chin-Lung Hu and Hong-Chih Kuo (both from Taiwan).
They’ve also surrendered top original sign talent of late, including Mexican Joakim Soria now with the Royals, and Dominican Carlos Santana, now with the Indians. Still Dodger fans can look forward to a possible future that includes Dominican pitcher Pedro Baez and shortstop Ivan Dejesus, Jr., son of former big leaguer Ivan Dejesus.
2. Arizona: The Diamondbacks have been no strangers to scouting the international waters, with the likes of Erubial Durazo (Mexico) and Byung-Hyun Kim (South Korea) original signs that helped them win the 2001 title. Pitchers Vicente Padilla (Nicaragua), Duaner Sanchez (Dominican), Javier Lopez (Puerto Rico), Jorge De La Rosa (Mexico), as well as Dominican infielder Emilio Bonifacio, are now helping other clubs.
Arizona still has homegrown Mexican Edgar Gonzalez, Dominican Tony Pena and Venezuelan Miguel Montero in the fold, and the future is high on Dominicans, outfielder Gerardo Parra, and pitchers, Cesar Valdez and Pedro Ciriaco, plus Puerto Rican shortstop, Reynaldo Navarro.
3. San Francisco: The Giants have long been kings of progressive international scouting, going back to the days of the Alou brothers, Manny Mota and Hall-of-Famer Juan Marichal from the Dominican Republic, not to mention Puerto Rican Orlando Cepeda and Dutch sign Rikkert Faneyte.
These days, the Giants hope their recent due diligence abroad pays off soon. To support homegrown Puerto Rican southpaw Jonathan Sanchez, San Francisco has stars around Venezuelan Pablo Sandoval’s eye-popping .396 average this past winter in his country’s winter league. The Giants also are high on Dominican infielder Angel Villalona, outfielder Rafael Rodriguez and pitcher Waldis Joaquin. Venezuelan infielder Ehire Adrianza is still yet another player to watch for in the Giants pipeline.
4. Colorado: The Rockies continue to delve into the non-U.S. born market for talent, seeing the success of Canadian Jeff Francis, Panamanian Manny Corpas and Dominican Ubaldo Jimenez, and hoping to see the fruits of their labor in Venezuelan Franklin Morales and Dominican Hector Gomez.
Colorado has had limited success in Asia, with Taiwan’s Chin-Hui Tsao never able to overcome arm injuries. They still have hope however for Taiwanese pitcher Ching-Lung Lo. Their Latin American scouting efforts are definitely on the up. Venezuelan hurler Jhoulys Chacin went 18-3 last year with a 2.03 ERA, and Dominicans, catcher Wilin Rosario and pitcher Esmil Rogers, are also top Rockies prospects.
5. San Diego: When CEO Sandy Alderson steps down once new owner Jeffrey Moorad takes over, his lasting legacy will be having improved the Padres Latin American scouting operations. San Diego has been behind the eight ball for some time, with only Mexican Oliver Perez a notable recent original sign.
The glory days of signing Puerto Ricans like Roberto and Sandy Alomar, Benito Santiago, Carlos Baerga, Jose Valentin, Joey Cora and Venezuelan Ozzie Guillen seem like an eternity ago. The Padres have had more success in the Asian market, like signing Akinori Otsuka, and still scout Australia, having signed Chris Oxspring and now Corey Adamson.
It signed its first South African in pitcher Alessio Angelucci (San Diego). The club’s new facility in the Dominican Republic, which opened last year, is the key and the club has become more aggressive, signing a pair of Venezuelans, pitcher Adis Portillo and outfielder Luis Domoromo, and Dominican shortstop Alvaro Aristy. Colombian Ernesto Frieri and Panamanian Luis Durango could also help the Padres in the future, along with Dominican Jackson Quezada.
Joe Connor is a freelance writer who has visited more than 30 baseball countries on six continents. He’s the author of “A Fan’s Guide To The World Baseball Classic,” which is available for purchase exclusively at his Web sites: www.modernerabaseball.com and www.mrsportstravel.com.
© 2012 NBC Sports.com Reprints ![]()
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