RISING TALENT. Asian professional baseball players are climbing the minor-league ladder to the majors. Baseball fans in Portland will have an opportunity to see several prospects when they play at PGE Park against the Portland Beavers, including 30-year-old Katsuhiko Maekawa, a veteran of Nippon Professional Baseball who currently plays for the Memphis Redbirds. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

From The Asian Reporter, V19, #18 (May 5, 2009), page 10.

By Mike Street

Special to The Asian Reporter

There are more Asian professional baseball players than ever in America, most of them climbing the minor-league ladder to the majors. Asian sports fans here in Portland will have a front row seat to see several prospects when they come to play our Beavers.

Our first chance to see an Asian minor-leaguer is right around the corner, but he’s not what anyone would call a prospect. Thirty-year-old Katsuhiko Maekawa, a veteran of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB), became the St. Louis Cardinals’ first foray into the Asian talent market when they signed him in the offseason.

Maekawa never pitched all that well in Japan, posting a career ERA of 5.26 and a 31-45 record in his nine-year career. But the Washington Nationals saw promise in him and invited Maekawa to spring training in 2008. Visa problems kept him from coming then, but he had no such problems this time around, so the Cardinals assigned Maekawa to the Memphis Redbirds to see how he does against minor-league competition. Since he’s unlikely to prove himself before the Redbirds come to town May 25 through 28, there’s an excellent chance of seeing the former Nippon Professional Baseball hurler in action.

Taiwanese glove wizard Yung-chi Chen was a top Mariners prospect, but Seattle put him on waivers last winter and the Oakland Athletics snapped him up. Chen played the last two seasons with the AAA Tacoma Rainiers, but the Athletics have sent him down to their AA Midland Rockhounds for reasons that aren’t entirely clear.

The Rockhounds are already loaded with infielders and the AAA Sacramento River Cats aren’t, and Chen did well at AAA the last two seasons. Until I find out why he’s with Midland, I’m inclined to believe the demotion is a temporary one, giving Chen an excellent shot of being on the Sacramento roster when they come to town August 1 through 4.

The Kansas City Royals have been one of the worst teams in baseball for far too long, and their front office has responded by importing Eastern talent. The team’s current manager, Trey Hillman, is a former NPB manager, and the Royals have two Asian players, one of them a homegrown American product.

Kila Ka’aihue is a rarity — a Hawaiian native who plays professional baseball. But as we’ve seen from former New York Met Benny "Hawaiian Punch" Agbayani and current Philadelphia Phillie Shane "The Flyin’ Hawaiian" Victorino, the Pacific Islands make up for quantity with quality.

Ka’aihue, a first baseman for the AAA Omaha Royals, combines awesome power with excellent plate discipline. He’s not much defensively, so he could always become a designated hitter (DH), but Kansas City has several major-league first base/DH types already. His problem is our reward, however, since — barring a trade — we can look forward to seeing the brawny Hawaiian when Omaha comes to town August 14 through 17.

When they do, they’ll likely also have Yasuhiko Yabuta with them. Yabuta, a former top-notch starter for the Chiba Lotte Marines, was signed by the Royals in 2007. He failed to impress at the major-league level in 2008, however, so they demoted him to Omaha, where he also struggled. Here, too, we benefit from his poor performance, as Yabuta’s also likely to be on the hill when Omaha comes to town.

Only two Asia-born players have won World Series titles in major-league baseball, and one of them is currently with the AAA Iowa Cubs: So Taguchi. The Cubs signed Taguchi to a minor-league contract to help Kosuke Fukudome settle in during spring training, and then assigned him to their minor-league affiliate. Unless injuries at the major-league level bring him up before then, Taguchi should be on the field when Iowa visits August 18 through 21.

Portland’s last chance to see a minor-league Asian star is August 26 through 30, when the Tacoma Rainiers come to town. Their third baseman, Matt Tuiasosopo, is familiar to Northwesterners because his brother, Marques, was a star quarterback for the Washington Huskies. Matt could have followed in his brother’s footsteps, but he chose baseball instead.

As a Samoan, Tuiasosopo bucks the football stereotype. He has moved quickly up the minor-league ranks, settling in with Tacoma last year. He hit well last season, but didn’t make the big-league club out of spring training. Unless Adrian Beltre (who is signed through this season) gets traded, Tuiasosopo shouldn’t be up with the Mariners until 2010. That makes him our last, and one of the best, chances to see young Asian talent on the diamond.

You can still root for the Beavers, but check out some of the rising Asian athletic talent this year at PGE Park.

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