Dominican All Star Vs. Japan All-Star

Now that would be a good series. I can't wait!

Man this line-up looks terrific. They can beat anyone with this. Just to have Pedro pitch can guarantee lots of "0" for the opposition.

Yeah but would the Red Sox even let Pedro pitch? They probably wouldn't because of past injuries.

Remember everybody, if the Red Sox don't allow Pedro to pitch, the Dominican Team can put Bartolo Colon (Expos), Pedro Astacio (Mets), Odalis Perez (Dodgers), Ramon Ortiz (Anaheim), etc. on the mound. In the bullpen we'll have Armando Benitez (Mets), Jose Mesa (Phillies), Antonio Alfonseca (Cubs), Jose Jimenez (Rockies), Octavio Dotel (Astros), Felix Rodriguez (Giants), Francisco Cordero (Rangers), Julian Tavarez (free agent), Joaquin Benoit (Rangers), etc. No problem with pitching.

No problem with pitching.

I agree, as long as you keep the ball out of Antonio Alfonseca's hands.

Sure would have been nice if the Cubs had bid for Otsuka, eh, 1908? I'd much rather have Otsuka on the mound in the late innings than Alfonseca...

Yep, I would've loved to see Otsuka in Cubbie blue. (I'd rather have just about anybody on the mound in the late innings than Alfonseca, though.) I also think the Cubs should've taken a look at Nakamura at least. I wonder if losing Leon Lee to Orix had anything to do with them ignoring Japanese options?

Don't get me wrong, I'm not fond of how Alfonseca performed last year, but I felt like he could still be capable of turning things around in '03. My initial thought was "At least he wasn't the second coming of Mel Rojas." But, some research lead me to lower my perception of Alfonseca even more.

In '97, Rojas in pitching for the Cubs at age 30, was 0-4 with 13 saves in 59 innings of work. He gave up 54 hits (11 HR) issued 30 walks, had 61 strikeouts with a 4.42 ERA.

In '02, Alfonseca, at age 30, was 2-5 with 19 saves in 74 innings pitched. He gave up 73 hits (5 HR)allowed 36 walks and had 61 strikeouts with a 4.00 ERA.

I hope Alfonseca is not on the same slide that Rojas rode to the bottom. I agree, the Cubs should've gone after Otsuka!

I disagree, Alfonseca needs to spend the entire winter running around and getting down to a respectable weight. He is much more of a "fat toad" than Hideki Irabu. The Cubs missed their chance to sign Ugueth Urbina, another Dominican, if I am not mistaken.

Ugeth Urbina is from Venezuela, not the Dominican Republic.

According to Peter Gammons' Jan. 10th column on ESPN's website, Alfonseca has "slimmed down" by 25 pounds.

I agree about Alfonseca. It is better if him remains "resting" in his house next November.

Pedro is the best pitcher in the world, period, but the Red Sox wouldn't chance him.

Even so, that is an immensely strong Dominican team - I imagine that team would even give an American team a tough ride.

If there's ever an Olympic Games with each nation at full-strength in baseball, Japan-US-Dominican Republic would probably be the medal table, although in which other I do not know. If Pedro's pitching the gold medal game, the Dominicans are winning the gold medal no matter what team they play against.

I don't know, how about Randy Johnson... He seems to be just as good as Pedro over the past couple of years, and has been more durable. Now if Johnson and Martinez are the aces for US and DR respectively. Who's the ace for Japan? The best Japanese MLB pitcher last season was Hideo Nomo, but he relies more on his craftiness and experience these days, not stuff. I would think you can find some guys pitching in Japan who are above Nomo's level. Koji Uehara? Kei Igawa? I haven't seen enough of those guys to say either way. I saw Matsusaka on Seibu's webcast, and wasn't terribly impressed...

Naturally, I'd like to say Igawa (he being a good Hanshin boy and all), but in reality, he's not up to being Japan's "ace" yet.

He had a brilliant season for most of 2002, but there was a slump which he couldn't get himself out of. You could tell he was getting desperate, and was really clutching at straws, and for a while there, nothing he tried worked. At one stage, Hoshino-kantoku took him out of the starting rotation and put him in the bullpen. He finally made it back to a starting position, and got a last win or two at the end of the season, but when he was down, he was really down, and his inability to do anything about it - to try something different to stop the rot - showed a lack of depth.

Also, he was manhandled a bit by the MLB All-Stars in October.

While Nomo might be relying on his experience these days, and while experience alone might not qualify a pitcher to be his country's ace, Igawa could certainly use some of Nomo's experience before he's ready for that job.

Having said that, I have high hopes for the lad (I mean, geez, he's only 23). He shows improvement each season, and he's also developing physically. His thighs and hips were noticeably more pronounced this spring. Perhaps one of these days he'll be Japan's leading pitcher. Who knows?

For my money, the best Japanese pitcher right now is Koji Uehara. Matsuzaka, when healthy, was dynamite, but I don't know if he still has an arm left...

This brings us one step closer to seeing what so many want, a World Cup of Nations. I sure hope that it will happen soon.

- This brings us one step closer to seeing what so many want, a World Cup of Nations. I sure hope that it will happen soon.

Yes, it should happen. Meanwhile you can check out the probables here. I spent the last 4-5 weeks to gather stats from all around the world. [Link - CrystalBall.jp]