Building an all-Asian baseball team for 2009

Our picks for an all-Asian Major League Baseball team roster

By Joe Nguyen, AsiaXpress.com

April 8, 2009

With the Colorado Rockies' home opener just around the corner and baseball season in full gear, we figure we'd try to piece together our own 25-man roster made up of players of Asian descent.

The rules for team are simple. Players must be of at least half Asian descent. Players must be on a Major League team's roster or in its minor league system. And there is no designated hitter because we're in a town that has a National League team.

Here are our picks:

Starting pitching

• Tim Lincecum, San Francisco

5'11, 170, 24 years old

• Chien-Ming Wang, New York Yankees

6'3, 230, 29 years old

• Daisuke Matsuzaka, Boston Red Sox

6'0, 185, 28 years old

• Hiroki Kuroda, Los Angeles Dodgers

6'1, 210, 34 years old

• Kenshin Kawakami, Atlanta Braves

5'11, 200, 33 years old

Lincecum, whose mother is of Filipino descent, is our No. 1 starter – without a doubt. At 5-feet-11 and 170 pounds, he's anything but intimidating to look at. But when he gets on the mound, he's a monster. Absolutely wicked with a 95-plus-mph fastball, and a curveball and a changeup to round out his repertoire. Oh, and he was the National League’s Cy Young Award winner last year. Matsuzaka is our No. 2 starter. The Japanese phenom uses a huge variety of pitches in his arsenal that leaves hitters guessing. At No. 3, we have Wang who may not get a lot of strikeouts (just 4 K's per 9 innings over his MLB career), but he doesn't allow many walks or home runs either. Kuroda slides in at No. 4. Like Wang, he's doesn't allow many walks or home runs. Kawakami rounds out the rotation. He was a solid, if not remarkable pitcher in Japan. How he fares in the majors is another question.

Relief pitching

• Koji Uehara, Baltimore Orioles

5'11, 178, 34 years old

• Hideki Okajima, Boston Red Sox

6'1, 194, 33 years old

• Hong-Chih Kuo, Los Angeles Dodgers

6'1, 235, 27 years old

• Chan-Ho Park, Philadelphia Phillies

6'2, 212, 35 years old

• Cha Seung Baek, San Diego Padres

6'4, 225, 28 years old

• Geno Espineli, San Francisco Giants

6'4, 195, 26 years old

• Clay Rapada, Detroit Tigers

6'5, 200, 27 years old

Uehara had strong success as a starter and a closer in Japan before signing with the Orioles. Okajima is arguably the game's best set-up man. In two years, he has 50 holds. He doesn't overwhelm his opponents, rather using pinpoint accuracy to get his outs. After some rough years, Kuo turned into a solid reliever last year, earning a 2.12 ERA in 80 innings of work. Park may not be the starter he was in the early part of the decade, but his arm proves reliable in becoming a quality reliever. Baek was a capable starter with the Padres last year, but on this roster, he is more suited as a spot starter and long reliever. Espineli played sparingly in the big leagues last year, but showed promise with a 2.66 ERA in 38 appearances in AAA. Rapada had a 4.22 ERA in 25 appearances with the Tigers last year and looks like he's ready to become a consistent reliever in the bigs.

Closer

• Takashi Saito, Boston Red Sox

6'2, 214, 39 years old

Before his move to Boston, Saito was the closer for the Dodgers. His precise control on the mound earned him 81 saves in his three years in Los Angeles.

Catcher

• Kurt Suzuki, Oakland A's

6'0, 197, 25 years old

• Kenji Johjima, Seattle Mariners

6'0, 205, 32 years old

The 25-year-old Suzuki comes in as our starter. The Hawaii native was a workhorse for the A's last year, catching more innings than any other catcher in the AL, while only allowing six errors. He hit .279 with seven HRs and 42 RBIs last year. Johjima has a stronger bat, but his inconsistency in the field coupled with a .227 BA last year has him catching backup.

First Base

• Travis Ishikawa, San Francisco Giants

6'3, 225, 25 years old

The 25-year-old first baseman is a full-time starter for the Giants this year. Ishikawa hit .274 in limited action in the majors last year, but has shown glimpses of power. He hit 16 homers with a .737 slugging percentage in 48 games in AAA.

Second Base

• Kazuo Matsui, Houston Astros

5'10, 185, 33 years old

KazMat is a sure-handed fielder with decent pop in his bat. After a miserable start with the New York Mets, he's hit .297 and had 60 stolen bases with the Colorado Rockies and the Houston Astros.

Third Base

• Akinori Iwamura, Tampa Bay Rays

5'9", 176, 30 years old

Iwamura was a power hitter in Japan, swatting 188 homers in nine years. Unfortunately it hasn't shown since he's made the move to the states, only hitting 13 in two years.

Shortstop

• Jason Bartlett, Tampa Bay Rays

6'0, 185, 29 years old

• Ray Chang, Pittsburgh (AAA)

6'1, 195, 25 years old

At short we have Filipino-American Bartlett, who gives us good speed (20 SBs in '08) and a solid bat (.286 BA in '08), but a mediocre glove. Only three shortstops had more than his 16 errors last year. Behind him is Chang, a 25-year-old who's spent his entire career in the minors. But we're basing this pick from his efforts in the World Baseball Classic. With China, he hit .455 with a homer and 2 RBIs in three games.

Outfield

• Johnny Damon, New York Yankees

6'2, 205, 35 years old

• Ichiro Suzuki, Seattle Marineers

5'11, 172, 35 years old

• Hideki Matsui, New York Yankees

6'2, 210, 34 years old

• Kosuke Fukudome, Chicago Cubs

6'0, 187, 31 years old

• Shin-Soo Choo, Cleveland Indians

5'11, 200, 26 years old

In left field, Matsui brings power to the lineup (31 HRs in '04, 25 in '07). Damon starts in center field and provides a lively bat (.303 and 17 HRs in '08) and good speed (17 HRs). Suzuki is one of the game's best outfielders, winning eight consecutive Gold Gloves. On top of that, he's a career .331 hitter and once he's on base, he's a constant threat to steal (315 SBs in his career). Fukudome has some pop in his bat (10 HRs in '08), but a .257 average isn't going to earn him a starting spot on this roster. Keeping Choo out of this lineup was difficult. He hit .309 with 14 HRs and 66 RBIs last year, but the lineup needed power and Matsui and Damon provide that. Plus, Suzuki's not getting benched. Choo would be the designated hitter in games against the AL.

Manager

Don Wakamatsu, Seattle Mariners

Wakamatsu was hired as the Mariners' manager last November. Since he's the only Asian-American manager in the league, it's fitting he should be on this team.