Indians sign Taiwanese amateur RHP Lee

[TonyIBI]

http://indianstopprospects.blogspot.com ... p-lee.html

Interesting signing. Looks like another Tseng kind of signing. I have no info yet on what he throws or anything, so hope to have that up soon.

[utrocks84]

isn't that alot of money for as mirabilla? says a projected 3rd or 4th rounder?

[TonyIBI]

Considering what they paid a lot of the late draft signees, guys taken in the 5th round or later, it is a bargain. Of course, I believe this amount is still considered over slot (one of the draft expers can correct me on that), but it appears money this year with the draft was of no consequence as they spent $10M on draft and international signings.

[TonyIBI]

A quick scouting report I have put together on him based on info provided to me:

The 5'11" 175-pound Lee signing is a lot like the Sung-Wei Tseng signing from two years ago. Both signed at 21 years of age out of Taiwan, although Lee has much more experience pitching internationally than Tseng did when he signed. Mirabelli estimated had Lee been in the 2008 Draft this past June that he would have been picked somewhere around the third or fourth round.

Lee throws from a sidearm slot and has a four pitch mix of a fastball, sinker, slider and split finger. His fastball velocity as a starter sat around 90-92 MPH and topped out as high as 94 MPH. Lee's future is in the bullpen, and he is expected to make the move right away to the bullpen when he reports to the Fall Instructional League later this month. A move to the bullpen his average fastball velocity it expected to tick up an MPH or two. He gets good movement on all his pitches and has shown a good ability to command the strike zone. Lee will likely open the season next year in the Kinston bullpen and is expected to move through the system quickly given his experience and advanced pitching approach.

[toledobuck]

I saw another scouting report on Lee that stated he was only 5'7" but could throw in the low 90's. That is pretty short to throw with so much heat. Maybe the above posting stating his height of 5'11" is more accurate.... Who knows. Hopefully Lee adjust a little better than Tseng.

[TonyIBI]

There was been some talk the past few days inquiring to how big he really is as I believe one report had him listed as 5'7" (might have been the Indians press release or an article on Indians.com). But, Baseball America and several other industry sources say he is 5'11". We'll go with that for now.