1B Tyler Austin signs with Yokohama DeNA Baystars

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

 

Austin did some nice things in his limited playing time at the end of the year, but IMO his skill set is easily replaceable. Still, he was a contributor to the Brewers' September playoff push. Best of luck to him overseas.

[brewmann04]

I agree on that statement

[liveforoctober]

I do understand it is a big move to go play in Japan/Korea, etc .. but for a fringe MLB player this seems like such a reasonable career choice. They pay well, likely much much better than an AAA/AAAA salary and you will likely get consistent reps against good competition. If you were having a hard time breaking into the big leagues ... this will either be the confidence/ability boost you need to get back (Thames) or will be the financial security you need if your career doesn't work out in MLB.

 

Am I wrong?

[MrTPlush]

Japanese league limits two foreign players as a max per team...I believe to Korean league is 3 players. I am not sure how many of those spots are filled on any given year. I was checking various Japanese teams and it looks like they all carry their max foreign player limit. I kept finding three per team, but I swear the limit was 2. Maybe some don't get classified as foreign...who knows. I didn't check Korean rosters...so not sure if they also typically carry their limit.

 

Regardless, many players do exactly what you are talking about...but thus, limits exist from those countries being taken over by foreign talent.

 

EDIT: I checked the Korean league. They have 10 teams and there were about 37 foreign players the past season that saw the field. So it seems they also carry the max. So basically any player willing to do it has to wait for a limited spot to open up.

[wntrtxn21]

Japanese league limits two foreign players as a max per team...I believe to Korean league is 3 players. I am not sure how many of those spots are filled on any given year. I was checking various Japanese teams and it looks like they all carry their max foreign player limit. I kept finding three per team, but I swear the limit was 2. Maybe some don't get classified as foreign...who knows. I didn't check Korean rosters...so not sure if they also typically carry their limit.

 

Regardless, many players do exactly what you are talking about...but thus, limits exist from those countries being taken over by foreign talent.

 

EDIT: I checked the Korean league. They have 10 teams and there were about 37 foreign players the past season that saw the field. So it seems they also carry the max. So basically any player willing to do it has to wait for a limited spot to open up.

 

From what I read each Japanese team can have 4 foreign players on the 25 man roster. 3 position players max or 3 pitchers max. All 4 cannot be pitchers or all 4 cannot be position players. I believe they can also have one Korean or asian player that does not count as one of the 4.

[Jopal78]

Japanese league limits two foreign players as a max per team...I believe to Korean league is 3 players. I am not sure how many of those spots are filled on any given year. I was checking various Japanese teams and it looks like they all carry their max foreign player limit. I kept finding three per team, but I swear the limit was 2. Maybe some don't get classified as foreign...who knows. I didn't check Korean rosters...so not sure if they also typically carry their limit.

 

Regardless, many players do exactly what you are talking about...but thus, limits exist from those countries being taken over by foreign talent.

 

EDIT: I checked the Korean league. They have 10 teams and there were about 37 foreign players the past season that saw the field. So it seems they also carry the max. So basically any player willing to do it has to wait for a limited spot to open up.

 

From what I read each Japanese team can have 4 foreign players on the 25 man roster. 3 position players max or 3 pitchers max. All 4 cannot be pitchers or all 4 cannot be position players. I believe they can also have one Korean or asian player that does not count as one of the 4.

 

I guess I was aware of those rules but never really gave it much thought. Imagine if MLB said 21 of the 25 players on a roster had to be natural born Americans.

[jerichoholicninja]

Japanese league limits two foreign players as a max per team...I believe to Korean league is 3 players. I am not sure how many of those spots are filled on any given year. I was checking various Japanese teams and it looks like they all carry their max foreign player limit. I kept finding three per team, but I swear the limit was 2. Maybe some don't get classified as foreign...who knows. I didn't check Korean rosters...so not sure if they also typically carry their limit.

 

Regardless, many players do exactly what you are talking about...but thus, limits exist from those countries being taken over by foreign talent.

 

EDIT: I checked the Korean league. They have 10 teams and there were about 37 foreign players the past season that saw the field. So it seems they also carry the max. So basically any player willing to do it has to wait for a limited spot to open up.

 

From what I read each Japanese team can have 4 foreign players on the 25 man roster. 3 position players max or 3 pitchers max. All 4 cannot be pitchers or all 4 cannot be position players. I believe they can also have one Korean or asian player that does not count as one of the 4.

 

I guess I was aware of those rules but never really gave it much thought. Imagine if MLB said 21 of the 25 players on a roster had to be natural born Americans.

 

The reason is teams in those countries would be 90% failed North American and Latin American MLB'ers and hardly any native players. Hard to grow the sport in your country when the vast majority of professionals in the country are foreign. I do understand how on the surface it seems rather odd and there's no way a rule like that would ever work in the states.

[Jopal78]

Baseball has been a ‘thing’ in Japan since even before 1945. Their pro-league pre dates WWII so literally spanning multiple generations. I doubt it has much to do with growing the sport, as opposed to simply Japanese baseball for Japanese people.