Okinawa!/Taiwanese signing

Greetings from Okinawa!  I haven’t really gotten used to the fact that I’m half a world away from where I was about 72 hours ago yet, so I’ll probably be putting that ! in whenever I mention the name of the Japanese prefecture for awhile.  Okinawa!  It’s tough to say without getting excited.

This one slid under my radar, which is why we’re so fortunate to have guys like the Taiwanese Terror combing news feeds and milking inside connections to bring us the latest news from the Pacific Rim.  The Colorado Rockies have inked a 6′4″ Taiwanese pitcher named Sheng-An Kuo, who’s apparently a former high school teammate of current maddeningly talented but underperforming Rockies’ prospect Ching-Lung Lo.  According to the TT, Kuo received a bonus somewhere between $150-200k.

As a Mariners fan it pains me to admit it, but the Rockies probably have the best overall international scouting department in the majors.  Well, at least right now.  The Ms cast a wider net more effectively, leaving no stone unturned by scouting places like the Netherlands, Italy, South Africa, and apparently El Salvador, but the Rockies cast a relatively wide net while boasting a VERY successful Latin American program (without spending huge money)  to give them some of the best depth in international talent in the minors.

I want to say the track record for highly touted Taiwanese pitchers the last few years isn’t that great, and their injury rate tends to be pretty high, but not paying all that close attention to the couple dozen Taiwanese players in the minors, don’t hold me to it if it turns out I don’t know what I’m talking about.