2008 Industrial/College Draft Results
Discussion in the NPB News forum
Comments
Re: 2008 Industrial/College Draft Results
[ Author: Guest | Posted: Nov 24, 2007 12:23 PM
]
Who are the "Industral" guys? I can understand drafting from college, but are the guys from Toyota and Hitachi on some kind of company team?
Re: 2008 Industrial/College Draft Results
[ Author: westbaystars | Posted: Nov 24, 2007 2:40 PM
| YBS Fan
]
Yes, they're on company teams. But these company teams are very competitive, and are considered by many to be semi-professional. Companies like Toyoda, Nissan, Nippon Sekiyu, Sumitomo Heavy Industries, etc. actively recruit baseball players out of high school and college. While they're officially office workers or sales people, baseball is often their main "duty."
Re: 2008 Industrial/College Draft Results
[ Author: Guest: pegasus22 | Posted: Nov 25, 2007 9:57 AM
]
I am surprised to see that Yukinaga Tanaka was not drafted. He won the triple crown for college hitting. Can anyone tell me why he was not selected?
Re: 2008 Industrial/College Draft Results
[ Author: Deanna | Posted: Nov 25, 2007 12:58 PM
| NIP Fan
]
Dunno, but that's a really good question (hehe, I kept calling him "Tanaka Yukio" during Soukeisen because his name was on the Jingu scoreboard as 田中幸). I wonder if it's something similar to why Keio's catcher Yoshihiro Okazaki didn't get drafted last year; I was never clear on whether he chose to go into the Industrial Leagues or just didn't get drafted, but for some of these guys, maybe it's a lot more attractive to have more job security at a big company after they finish playing baseball?
(I noticed with Okazaki that there are a whole lot of Keio OB on the team at JFE Higashi-Nihon, so maybe that had something to do with it too, at least. But he also won several Big 6 batting titles and had played at Koshien with Chiben Wakayama, and he profiled as being pretty similar to Tomoya Satozaki, so I was pretty confused at the time.)
(I noticed with Okazaki that there are a whole lot of Keio OB on the team at JFE Higashi-Nihon, so maybe that had something to do with it too, at least. But he also won several Big 6 batting titles and had played at Koshien with Chiben Wakayama, and he profiled as being pretty similar to Tomoya Satozaki, so I was pretty confused at the time.)
Re: 2008 Industrial/College Draft Results
[ Author: BigManZam | Posted: Nov 25, 2007 6:38 PM
| CLM Fan
]
Maybe he just didn't seem too enticing to pro scouts? I have no idea. I was wondering where he was in the draft, too. A lot of teams didn't even use their later draft picks.
You know how drafts can be sometimes. A kid can win a whole bunch of awards, but if he doesn't run fast enough or isn't tall enough, his success at the high school or college level means absolutely nothing to pro teams. I hate that kind of thinking because a winner is a winner, in my opinion. Kids can't be great pitchers just because they're really tall.
Overall, I was very disappointed with 95% of the draft picks being pitchers. I know pitching is important, but this kind of drafting is why a lot of these young kids on these teams have absolutely zero power and completely suck when they even attempt to bat against top tier pitchers. I think a lot of that also has to do with Japanese baseball culture prioritizing pitchers above position players at the amateur level. There needs to be way more focus on the development of top quality position players, rather than just using them to back up the ace pitchers.
There also really need to be more draft picks and a deeper farm system. Some of these batters will only get so far with the current farm system. They need to get a lot more at bats. Bobby Valentine said it best. In a country in which so many young kids are playing baseball, it's really a shame that so few get a chance to become pros.
You know how drafts can be sometimes. A kid can win a whole bunch of awards, but if he doesn't run fast enough or isn't tall enough, his success at the high school or college level means absolutely nothing to pro teams. I hate that kind of thinking because a winner is a winner, in my opinion. Kids can't be great pitchers just because they're really tall.
Overall, I was very disappointed with 95% of the draft picks being pitchers. I know pitching is important, but this kind of drafting is why a lot of these young kids on these teams have absolutely zero power and completely suck when they even attempt to bat against top tier pitchers. I think a lot of that also has to do with Japanese baseball culture prioritizing pitchers above position players at the amateur level. There needs to be way more focus on the development of top quality position players, rather than just using them to back up the ace pitchers.
There also really need to be more draft picks and a deeper farm system. Some of these batters will only get so far with the current farm system. They need to get a lot more at bats. Bobby Valentine said it best. In a country in which so many young kids are playing baseball, it's really a shame that so few get a chance to become pros.
Re: 2008 Industrial/College Draft Results
[ Author: Guest: Observer | Posted: Mar 13, 2008 5:34 AM
]
I realize that this is an old thread, but I just need to add this.
I was also wondering the same thing and asked an associate that talks to pro scouts. Tanaka is not a five tool player. He lacks speed and arm strength. Fielding is just average. He is a slugger and would end up playing 1st base. NPB has plenty of players who can play first base and slug. I'm sure Tanaka will be very happy to play for a company. Who knows. We may see him in NPB in a few years.
I was also wondering the same thing and asked an associate that talks to pro scouts. Tanaka is not a five tool player. He lacks speed and arm strength. Fielding is just average. He is a slugger and would end up playing 1st base. NPB has plenty of players who can play first base and slug. I'm sure Tanaka will be very happy to play for a company. Who knows. We may see him in NPB in a few years.
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There's only one guy I couldn't find anything for quickly. Most of the height/weight info is from Shube, so it might be different on official sites, who knows.
I'm pretty amused that the Fighters got Kazuhito Tadano, but I think it's a good thing for us. I'm also happy that most of the "top" guys went to lower teams, Katoh going to Yakult and Hasebe going to Rakuten. On the other hand, Softbank picking up Ohba AND Kume to add to their already stacked pitching is pretty frightening!