Season Preview: Taipei Tai Fong

2017 Record: 48-112
Key Additions: SS Jose Reyes, C Kenji Johjima
Key Losses: just respect
2018 Prediction: 69-91

Rudy Ruettinger (2nd overall in 2017) and Theodore Unger (3-12, 5.23 for TAI)are what GM Dylan Goforth has to show for his trading of Roy Oswalt and Antonio Mule. Ruettinger has a ton of pressure on him, not just to live up to the hype of being a #2 pick but to equal or better the performance of Mule, who starts for division rival Kyoto. Are poor personnel decisions the thing of the past for Taipei? Or are the signings of a 34 year-old catcher and a 33 year-old shortstop supposed to be signs of a commitment to winning now? Last year's debacle has left the Tai Fong at the 60M cap mark, fans are disinterested, players are frustrated, yet remarkably, noone was fired for incompetence.
Let's review: 48 wins, the fewest in SLB - every other team had at least 72. Last in runs scored with 591, last in HR, last in OBP - and yet they still managed to hit into 107 double-plays - and last in slugging. They were the worst hitting team versus both LHP and RHP. Maybe the Far East was worse than we thought, as having this Triple A team in your division had to pad those win totals. On the mound, Goforth's team had the second worst ERA, struck out the fewest number of batters, walked the most batters and had the fewest quality starts. Congratulations, you have nowhere to go but up, right?

Batting Order v RHP
SS Jose Reyes
2B Larry Kargel
CF Tom Maple
RF Walt Coon
1B Dan Posedel
C Kenji Johjima
LF Eric Dalton
3B Troy Tulowitzki

On the bench you'll find household names like C Gene Alten, SS George Fair, SS Patrick Greene, CF Jordan Parraz and RF Eric Valent. Opposing managers are trembling with fear thinking about the possible late game heroics about to come from those guys. But hey, they're supposed to be young, right? Building a franchise from bottom up? Well the pressure is on - right now. Because if this team doesn't start winning games right now, they won't be able to afford some of their young talent. Case in point, CF Tom Maple. He's 27, runs, hits, hits for power and can catch everything in the outfield and he's in his walk year. A last place finish means either Goforth lets him walk, and starts yet another rebuild, or Taipei resigns him for big money and hamstrings their budget for the future. Great work so far.

Pitching Rotation: Ron Mexico, Eric Ridener, Chris Fetter, Roy Higuera, Theodore Unger
Closer: Kevin Whelan

Rookie pitchers Chris Fetter and Roy Higuera will get a shot in the rotation this season and they'll probably be 2 of Taipei's best pitchers. Ron Mexico kept his ERA under 4 last season so he's considered an ace. Closer Kevin Whelan throws real hard and is in his walk year. Unger will be a free agent after the season as well.

Six seasons in, Taipei still looks like a first year expansion team. Time to quit making excuses and win some games.

News and Notes: Friday, June 9, 2017

Around SLB this week:

- The 2017 Amateur Draft should be coming up in the next couple of days. Get your lists ready. Three rounds of 16 - the sooner your lists are in, the quicker games can resume.
- OSA fell a little closer to the pack in the Far East, dropping all 3 games to SJ. The Senadores scored 39 runs and gave up 18. Fourteen HR were hit by SJ and GM Bill Gluvna is now lobbying ownership and the league to consider moving the franchise to Japan.
- Just curious: After having their AAA team in Mexico City in 2004-05, HAL was asked to move their AAA franchise because supposedly, the high average (.324 in 2004) and high HR totals (243 in 2005) skewed stats and damaged the integrity of the league. 1B P Fielder of Mexico still holds the minor league record with 43 bombs. Yet the team record for SLB homeruns has been set by OSA (374 in 2014), the individual record by an OSA player (72 in 2014) and the Ronin have led the league in homeruns by 47 (2016), 61 (2015), 142 (2014), and 77 (2013). They are the only team to hit over 300 HR in a season and have done so 4 seasons in a row. The individual HR leader has been from OSA the past 4 seasons as well. Where is the outrage now?
- There are two teams with remarkably low slugging percentages: TAI is at .380, KYO at .393. The Tai Fong's leader in slugging is LF E Dalton (and former Bushido) at .521. LF A Mule of KYO leads his team with his .533 mark.
- KYO took 2 of 3 from ATL , another blow to the Flyers season. ATL is 3.5 games back of third place BAL in the South. "We really spanked Zambrano in the second game," said Manager Bobby Valentine. "I thought we came out a little flat in game three, the guys knew they had the series won and relaxed against Zito. You just can't do that. Savannah comes here next and even though its only June, every game is important."
- Despite getting shutout in 10 innings in Game 1 v LON, BAL took the next two games and are 7-3 in their last 10. The Knights had RHP J Weaver on the mound for Game 2 and saw his typical performance: 7 innings, 13 hits, 2 walks and 7 ER. Weaver has given up 15 HR in 13 starts (68 IP).
- CHNG took 2 of 3 from PHI, the two wins both taking place in extra innings and decided by one run. The Kwaan lost the fina game 9-7 but are just 4 back of OSA. The Fever's loser in both extra inning games was LHP M Buehrle, totalling 2 IP, 5 hits and 2 ER. Buehrle's corpse is now 0-6, 8.62.
- Despite SCO taking 2 of 3 from HAL, PAR is on the verge of running away and hiding with their 7-game winning streak. The Pimpernels swept BED behind CF R Robinson's 8-12, 4 HR, 2 doubles and a stolen base.

News and Notes: Monday, May 15, 2017

Around SLB this week:

- BAL was 18-7 early this season. That seems so long ago, as the Panthers dropped 15 straight before winning their final game v PAR Sunday night. BAL has scored the 7th most runs but have the 5th worst ERA (4.94), in which most of the embarrassing performances are coming from the bullpen. Among the starters though, LHP Oliver Perez has just 2 QS in 8 opportunities.
- TAI continued their strategy of "Winning? Not interested, thanks" after dealing RP F Rodney (3.27 ERA)to ATL in a multi-player swap. After the trade was announced, SP R Mexico went ballistic in the dressing room. "Let's face it, we're a farm team. We'll draft guys and when they develop, trade them to a real team. I know I'll be out of here too - if they don't trade me I'll walk at the end of the year. We should change our team colors to all-white 'cause from management on down, we just @#*%ing surrender."
- The Nick Swisher experiment has ended in BED. After going 2-7 with a double and HR in three games v CHNG, GM Rich Gin traded their big free-agent signing to SCO for AAA 3B R Zimmerman. Zimmerman was hitting .312 in Stockholm while Swisher was hitting .250 with 5 HR for the Crunch.
- At 15-25, ATL is 12.5 back of red hot SJ. SJ is 17-2 in their last 19 buy GM J Masters of the Flyers isn't backing down. Sources inside the Flyers head office say Masters is going ahead with plans to print tickets for not just the playoffs but the World Series as well. "We think it's premature but he's confident in his team. He's dug himself a hole ... but with Zambrano getting his ERA down (4.11 ed) he thinks we're a lock. If we disagree with him in private or in public, he sacks us."
- In HAL's 2 game sweep of ATL before sweeping doormat TAI, the Sailors lost 2B (and RHOY favourite) for 4-6 months. Reporters couldn't get GM Lars Cain to comment but did hear constant sobbing coming from the GM's office.
- KYO's 2 big free agent signings aren't faring too well. RF J Reed (8M per) is hitting just .234 with a .649 OPS on a team that needs him desperately to provide offense. And 35 year-old SP J Peavy has a 5.80 ERA with 74 baserunners in 50 IP.
- Preseason favourite LON was the latest victim of SJ and has now lost 5 straight. After winning 97 games last year and adding RF D Young, the Knights are now last in the Euro, 6 games back of SCO.

News and Notes: Friday, May 5, 2017

Around SLB this week:

- Although LON's SS J Reyes was struggling to start the season, the Knights certainly didn't want to be without him for any length of time. But in Wednesday's win against PAR, Reyes fractured his hip sliding safely into second base (his 3rd double of the game). Reyes, a career .302 hitter with 496 SB's, is out for 2-3 months. "Not what the team needed right now," said Reyes. "And I'm a free agent after this season and really wanted to put up some numbers to help the team win." Look for Knights GM Sean O'Hallaran to explore the trade market rather than go with 24 year-old T Hernandez, a career .218 hitter with a .267 slugging percentage.
- TAI has the second worst team ERA (5.49) due to horrible, and not entirely unexpected, showings by pitchers T Unger, T Redding, J Palm, P Tsamis, J Davis and T Johnson, all of whom have ERA's 5.40 or greater. "That makes it tough to win ballgames," said Manager Billy Heywood. "But when you get shutout twice in the last four games, that doesn't help either." The Tai Fong scored a total of 6 runs in their past 4 games.
- TAI has hit 25 HR as a team. OSA's C Rockwell and T Montana have hit a combined 24. The Ronin, 6-4 in their last 10, are just a half game back of KYO in the Far East.
- As expected, KYO's LF A Mule is raking for the Bushido (.328, 8 HR) but he can't make up for the miserable performances by SS B BooYa (.234), 3B E See (.225) and RF J Reed (.246). The bench players aren't providing any help either, and KYO is 14th in runs scored.
- BAL's slide (6 straight losses) has coincided with SJ's hot streak (8-2 in their last 10). SJ is now a game up in the South. The Senadores have a huge lead in the SB department, with 69. CHNG and LON are tied for 2nd with 39 apiece.
- Despite a whopping 5.82 ERA, PAR is tied for 1st in the Euro. The Pimpernels have scored the most runs in SLB (188) and are second to OSA in HR with 51.
- Last in runs scored so far is .... ATL (111)? The 9-21 Flyers (last in the South) are getting a monster season out of CF D Lemming (1.137 OPS) who may still be a candidate for MVP even if the Flyers continue to flounder.
- BED continues to mash (46 HR and 4th in RS)and now has a 1.5 game lead in the North. CF T Johnson is the only player to appear on both the HR leader list (T-3rd) and SB leader list (T-7th). In fact, the only categories where Johnson doesn't appear are: doubles, RBI's, walks and strikeouts.

Taipei Keeps Pace With Atlanta in Week 1

The Tai Fong are neck and neck with the Atlanta Flyers early in this 2017 season, matching them win for win. "We're thrilled to be at the same level as a defending division champion," manager Billy Heywood told reporters. "Who would have thought that Ron Mexico would have as many wins as Homer Bailey, Larry Kargel the same number of homers as John Twain, and Kevin Whelan the same number of saves as K-Rod?

"We're right where we want to be, competing day in and day out and matching the mighty Flyers win for win."

Brown not dead, still pitching for Taipei

TAIPEI, TAIWAN – Andrew Brown, thought to have died during a tumultuous 2016, is actually alive and pitching for the Far East’s Taipei Tai-Fong.

Coaches, teammates and even some family members were shocked to find that Brown, a nine-year veteran, was not only still alive, but had in fact never gone missing.

“I really thought that he was dead,” said Chris Fetter, a pitcher for the Lander Calrissians, Taipei’s AAA affiliate. “I’m pretty sure that I went to his funeral. If it wasn’t his then I don’t know whose it was.”

Despite the now incontrovertible evidence that Brown is in fact, not deceased, Taipei pitching coach Henry Rowengartner remains unconvinced.

“I’ve seen no evidence that would convince me that he is still alive,” he said while looking through a stack of team photos taken last season, some of which include shots of he and Brown standing next to each other. “I remain unconvinced.”

Brown, who claims to not have died last season, just to have “not pitched well for most of the year”, is in fact slated to be the Tai-Fong’s No. 4 starter, news that came as a surprise to teammate Ron Mexico. Mexico had been working under the impression that Brown died during a game last August.

“When he died, it was such a shock and a loss to all of us,” said Mexico, who shares a locker with Brown. “His death was felt up and down the organization, from the owner all the way down to our AAA guys. It was devastating.”

“Did you hear the news,” he later said to a passing Brown, who he had confused for a locker room attendant. "Brown is still alive.”

When reached for comment, Taipei General Manager Dylan Goforth was quoted by a local television station as saying that team would first have to verify that he was still alive, and that if he was, he would be “virtually assured a spot on the 40-man roster, unless something unfortunate were to happen.” He then twirled his mustache manically, before whisking a black cape over his face and disappearing into dark alley.

“This makes no sense,” said Brown in an interview with the Associated Press. “Didn’t they re-sign me just this offseason?”

Sources inside Taipei management that are close to the situation confirm that the $4.5 million committed to Brown last winter was assumed to be for funeral costs. “We thought it was an exchange rate issue,” one source said. “To be honest, we’re still not really sure about how the money works out here.”

Taipei committed $17 million to free-agents during the recent Auction period.

HSH - Taipei

HSH - Taipei






2016 Record - 57-103
Projected Record - 60-100
Key Additions - Justin Morneau (free agent), Fernando Rodney (free agent), Scott Hodges (free agent), Eric Dalton (free agent), Eric Valent (free agent), Theodore Unger (trade)
Key Losses - Roy Oswalt (trade), Antonio Mule (trade), Nick Swisher (free agent)

It's a tough time to be down in the World League. With the heavily unbalanced schedule, a team has to face high-powered offenses like Chiang-Mai, Kyoto, Osaka, London and Paris over and over again, and when your pitching is as bad as the Tai Fong.....let's just say that it's like being the Baltimore Orioles in the AL East.

As Taipei enters it's 5th year in the league, what has it accomplished? One third place finish and a bunch of pain. Now we hear they are going to rebuild again, but start by trading stud 24-year old Antonio Mule to division rival Kyoto (along with ace Roy Oswalt). Sure, they cleared a lot of cap space and nabbed the #2 pick in the draft, but is this the way to go? A lot of high draft picks haven't resulted in a ton of major leaguers (outside of Mule, their most productive draft was 2013). So what can we expect?

The offense scored a measly 628 runs (dead last in the league) and OPS'ed .739. Now, without Mule, might it be worse? A lot of new faces here, including former all-star hitters like Morneau, Dalton and Hodges, but will they succeed here? A rebound from Dalton (remember when he was hitting 50+ HR?) coupled with further development by Maple/Posedel/Alten would go a long way, as this offense HAS to score runs to be successful.

Why? Because this pitching is rough. Roy Oswalt was an interesting experiment, and despite losing 18 games (thanks, offense!) he posted a 3.64 ERA with 248 K's. With him out of the picture (and off the books), it looks like it's Ron Mexico and the boys in 2017. Mexico has skills, but he's a hot head who can't keep his mouth shut and the fans are tiring of his antics. Tim Redding and Jason Davis? Old and busted. Apparently none of the minor league arms are ready to step up. Rodney was a very good pickup for the bullpen, but he's clearly not enough to get the team ERA below 5.00.

So, barring some sort of baseball miracle, the Tai Fong are doomed for last place again. Their pitching is terrible and the offense won't be able to make up the difference. Can GM Dylan Goforth make this draft picks count this year?

PROJECTED LINEUP

3B Scott Hodges
CF Tom Maple
1B Dan Posedel
LF Eric Dalton
RF Eric Valent
2B Larry kargel
C Gene Alten
SS Troy Tulowitzki

SP Andrew Brown
SP Ron Mexico
SP Eric Ridener
SP Tim Redding
SP Jason Davis

CL Fernando Rodney

Biggest move of the off-season? Mule, Oswalt on the move.

Taipei has agreed to trade pitcher Roy Oswalt and outfielder Antonio Mule to Kyoto in exchange for the Bushido’s first round pick (No. 2 overall) and right-hand pitcher Theodore Unger.

“We feel that our window to compete in our division and league is still three-to-four years away,” said Tai Fong General Manager Dylan Goforth. “It was really a perfect fit. Kyoto needed a power hitter in their outfield and a veteran pitching presence. We needed to clear cap space in preparation for next year’s auction. We also got a high draft pick that we can nurture in the minors for a few years in preparation for a run at the playoffs down the road. Once the negotiations with (Kyoto GM Darin) Keesing started, it really didn’t take long to get from point a to point b.”

The draft pick that Taipei receives will help make up for the loss of their own first rounder, traded to San Juan in the ill-fated Jonathon Papelbon deal.