White Sox sign Po-Yu Lin

by The Cheat on Dec 4, 2006 2:25 PM CST in White Sox Minors

It's pretty easy to understand how I missed the signing of 20-year old Taiwanese pitcher Po-Yu Lin last week. The only outlet to report it was the Taiwan Baseball blog. And I only found it on Soxtalk after someone had seen it on WSI.

See, I'm always right on top of the news. It might be 3rd or 4th hand, but I've always got the scoop. ;)

According to Taiwan Baseball, the Sox signed Lin to a bonus of around $300K, which probably wouldn't even crack the top 30 bonuses handed out to international players this year. Still, it's nice to see the Sox finally starting to make an effort overseas.

We won't know what we have in Lin until the end of spring training when minor league assignments are handed out. I suspect he'll get his first action in Rookie ball, but if he earns a full-season assignment, we might have ourselves a nice prospect here.

YouTube video of Lin pitching in HS after the jump.

Update [2007-3-31 19:55:11 by The Cheat]: Noticed some increased traffic on this page lately, so I thouht I'd include an update. Po-yu Lin has disappointed the Sox -- at least initially -- as he didn't come close to reaching the advertised 90MPH this spring.

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Comments

I like it.

Sox Machine

by Sox Machine on Dec 4, 2006 2:35 PM CST reply actions

I agree

With the commentators

by illinikrush on Dec 4, 2006 2:45 PM CST reply actions

Wow!

a 144 km/h fastball!

Just.Win.

by hawksview on Dec 4, 2006 3:58 PM CST reply actions

The hitter in the video isn't a day over 12.

Viking God, Bears Fan

by Toonderstrook on Dec 4, 2006 4:00 PM CST reply actions

What's the stateside equivalency...

of Koreah high school ball? Double AA?

Whatever. Echo the cheat: I'm glad to see the Sox making inroads and effort. The success of said pitching "prospect" is second.

by Stealfirstbase on Dec 4, 2006 4:01 PM CST up reply actions

Doesn't matter...he is Taiwanese.

I agree with your sentiment. Until the Sox can (or will) play Daddy Warbucks like the Yanks, BoSox, Dodgers, and Cubs, they must stay ahead of the curve in finding creative ways to sign unheralded players internationally.

Viking God, Bears Fan

by Toonderstrook on Dec 4, 2006 4:18 PM CST up reply actions

So if we're loking internationally

out of our normal comfort zones can we also use the same cliches we generally reserve for Carribean players - "walks don't get you off the island", "free-swinger", etc. and modify them for the Far Eastern prospects? Creative minds can play with the stereotypes and modify them from the Latin role-models.

Al Campanis would have a field day (as would John McCain).

by winningugly on Dec 4, 2006 6:21 PM CST up reply actions

What is this, Face the Nation?

Viking God, Bears Fan

by Toonderstrook on Dec 4, 2006 6:31 PM CST up reply actions

When we devote space to a $300K signing

the information/speculation market is thin. This is like saying "Imagine every Chinese person buying a GE light bulb" as I heard in 1995, as the reason to invest in emerging markets (ot GE, for that matter). I'm sure the 12 year old our new property struck out in the video was the Toonder of Taiwan, but I must say to extrapolate that the Sox now are "on the ground" in Asia is quite a stretch.

by winningugly on Dec 4, 2006 7:42 PM CST up reply actions

$300K

is the equivalent of a second to third round signing bonus. It's noteworthy.

AIM: SouthSideCheat

by The Cheat on Dec 4, 2006 8:58 PM CST up reply actions

I don't delve as deeply as most

on this site re: minor league prospects (actually, you guys are amazing at your ability to keep abreast of the lower leagues)- I'm sure you are correct re: noteworthiness. Seeing the BoSox spending $51MM to just talk with a prospect, which is around 170 of our prospect, makes the $300K seem somewhat less significant.

But you're right - we gotta start somewhere in a new market, and you never know...

by winningugly on Dec 4, 2006 9:19 PM CST up reply actions

well technically

Lin is an amateur. He had played in Alaska (who knew they had a league), a collection of amateur all-stars, and his college team. (He could be the Sox second decent prospect with ties to Anchorage, AK, Cunningham being the other.)

Matsuzaka had been a pro since '97, I believe. The only reason he's a "prospect" is that he's yet to pitch an inning of MLB ball. He's about a sure of "prospect" as there has ever been.

AIM: SouthSideCheat

by The Cheat on Dec 4, 2006 9:39 PM CST up reply actions

From Rosenthal:

"# The Nationals, embarking upon a rebuilding program, are busy collecting draft picks. They gained another one when they offered arbitration to outfielder Jose Guillen, anticipating that he was close to signing with the Mariners.

Including the two picks they will receive from Soriano signing with the Cubs, the Nats will have their own first-round pick -- the sixth overall selection -- plus two sandwich picks and two second rounders."

Wouldn't that be nice. The extra picks, not the 6 pick because we did horrible.

Just.Win.

by hawksview on Dec 4, 2006 4:24 PM CST reply actions

Ray Poitevint's handiwork, I assume

Wonder what kind of budget he has to work with.

by asinwreck on Dec 4, 2006 4:39 PM CST reply actions

youtube video

in other stories where the youtube video is on the main page, mozilla chokes for 5-10 seconds or so
this works great
anyone else with the same experience?

HEY THIS IS JI
JIM THOME
THE PEORIA POUNDER

by The Wizard on Dec 4, 2006 8:35 PM CST reply actions

HS?

If the gun on the youtube clip is right, he maxed there at 89 mph. His curve was impressive, but that's only two pitches. Presumably he's gotten bigger since, though he didn't look all that tall there. If he can add a third pitch and a couple MPH, then I'd call that a legit prospect.

by colintj on Dec 4, 2006 9:12 PM CST reply actions

Well...

What's the usual projection of speed increases from a high school senior to the big leagues? I'd think that a high schooler making out around 90mph would translate to at least 95+ in the bigs. Then again, I have no statistics or really any knowledge to back this up, it just seems like common sense to me that an 18-year-old kid would grow and mature, adding power to his pitches.

We'll have to see what Coop can do with him. For $300k, I like this signing. He's only 20 years old (the same age as me!), and we're not paying him much. Then again, how much are we paying him? I'm not sure I quite understand this $300k "bonus" deal.

by mjthor on Dec 4, 2006 10:24 PM CST up reply actions

Re: projecting fastball

The speed of your fastball is largely dictated by your frame and this guy's only 6 foot even, so I would say he'd max out in the low 90's. Obviously, there are exceptions to the rule, but if he was one, he'd have shown it in HS.

by colintj on Dec 5, 2006 1:34 PM CST up reply actions

Some info

According to an article in Taiwan, his fastball tops at 91-92 mph right now. I will guess he'd max out in low to mid 90's. Comparing to average Taiwanese, he has quite a good frame. The guy who suggested to sign him thought he has about 90% chance to get to the big league and has a potential to be a 500M /yr pitcher.

by Mobi on Dec 5, 2006 1:48 PM CST reply actions