A Few Excellent East Asian Minor Leaguers in Single-A Taipei (Cairo Chronicles: Issue 7, 2042 Season)
Posted: Fri May 01, 2020 7:41 pm
A Few Excellent East Asian Minor Leaguers in Single-A Taipei
Cairo Chronicles, Issue 7, 2042 Season
Sitting in first place, the Cairo Chariot Archers single-A squad Taipei Tigers realize that their single-A playoff aspirations are not what is important to the big league front office, but the player development. I realize no one will probably care about this but me, but I did like reading what some GM’s wrote about why they write team news, to have it as a historical document to look back on. I liked reading what previous GM’s wrote about with some Cairo players who are still on the big league roster, so I’m going to try to do that inconsistently.
Taipei is three and a half games ahead of second place Bangkok in the Far East Baseball League Division 1.
I’ve spent a lot of time lingering over the Tigers’ lineups and pitching rotations this season. Not having an offseason to work with, I’ve been trying to get used to the players in the low minors to figure out what I would do next offseason and if there are any young stars that could help the big league UMEBA Chariot Archers squad in a few seasons.
Starting pitcher Roger Mackey has probably been the most perplexing player on the roster. Mackey was a third overall pick in the first round just one year ago and is only 17 years old. He had a brutal rookie season in A-ball last year with an 8.37 ERA and things weren’t improving too much this season with an equally unsightly 7.07 ERA. He’s been in the rotation all year, yet is angry for some reason. While he is completely undeserving and likely not ready, though his ratings are tantalizing, I bumped him up to Double-A with the intention of seeing how he does for 2-4 weeks. And if that helps his anger any. Thankfully, he’s got some team control and I have three option years left with him.
I am sure impatience is getting the better of me as I’ve just promoted a few Taipei pitchers to Double-A Montevideo. A guy like Li Eveson (3.77 ERA, 82 IP) may be ready for it at 19 years old and pitching well. Chao Yang (0.54 ERA, 16 IP) is just 16 and a sixth round pick in this year’s rookie draft, and maybe opponents haven’t gotten their scouting reports on him yet, but he’s been pitching so well. I couldn’t fight the urge and I bumped him up to Double-A. Hopefully he won’t get abused too much.
Two rookie youngsters drafted in 2042 are still in the Taipei bullpen and I’m cautiously optimistic about them even though they haven’t gotten any real innings yet. Bryce Emery, drafted in the fourth round, is one and Bruce Simpson, selected in the fifth round, is the other.
Rookie reliever Chao Yang may have outsized expectations from the new Cairo regime with his fast start.
Some of the hitters in Single-A Taipei have been performing well, but their ratings are quite lackluster so it is hard to get overly optimistic. Some have been promoted to Double-A only to struggle mightily and find themselves back in the Far East. One guy who I’m cautiously hopeful about is Rafael Mullet (.319, 10 HR, 340 PA). His ratings aren’t outstanding, and he struggled last year in Double-A as an 18 year old so I’ve resisted promoting him this season simply to get him at bats. Once I can clear the decks of overpaid players throughout the ranks, I’d like to see Mullet at Double-A for part of next season in hopes that he’ll hit well there.
This has been a real learning lesson with the Single-A Taipei Tigers so far. For one, it has been a lesson in arrogance. Where I get excited about a player putting up outsized stats for Taipei, bump him up to Double-A and he suddenly hits the Mendoza Line over 50 at bats and it is clear he is overmatched. I’ve gotten my comeuppance this way several times and if I’ve learned anything, it is not to get too excited, but it is a lesson I struggle to put into practice as I shuffle the deck with promotions and demotions too often.