Edwin Diaz knocks down Wladimir Balentien in WBC semi-finals

[PolarVortex]

Earlier in the game, Wladimir Balentien (Team Netherlands) had hit a homerun and promptly went into some 'yeah me!' antics that cleared crossed the line of one of baseball's oldest unwritten rules. So when he came up again in the 10th inning, facing Edwin Diaz (Team Puerto Rico), Diaz knocked him on his ass and nearly touched off a brawl in the process.

I like it. Diaz was a rookie last year. He paid his dues. Now he is bringing on the moxie.

 

[Podunkparte]

It was high and tight but Balentien had it coming. The word "showboating" doesn't do what he was doing justice. I like that Diaz has some fire in him as long as he doesn't become the instigator.

And that very next pitch, 99 mph on the outside black at the knees, was absolutely filthy.

 

[bksballer89]

Been a lot of showboating in the WBC from almost every team.

 

[NWinAZ]

Been a lot of showboating in the WBC from almost every team.

This is my favorite. Click on the top video.

Premature dancing, pickoffs and bat flips: The first inning of Netherlands-Puerto Rico had it all

 

[wazzu31]

Off topic of Diaz, but the WBC does show one glaring problem that Seattle has had, domestic scouting. The Mariners had one American and he hasn't even played a real game. Resources in other countries are good and all but how many drafts have they had since Adam Jones and not one fricking guy was on the roster or even on the sub list.

 

[Podunkparte]

Off topic of Diaz, but the WBC does show one glaring problem that Seattle has had, domestic scouting. The Mariners had one American and he hasn't even played a real game. Resources in other countries are good and all but how many drafts have they had since Adam Jones and not one fricking guy was on the roster or even on the sub list.

I wouldn't necessarily use the WBC as a way to judge the best X country's players on any given team. When guys like Trout, Harper, and Kershaw didn't participate, you can't use that to say the Angels, Nats, and Dodgers don't scout American players well. And take Kyle Seager for example. He probably would have been a much better 3B than Nolan Arrenado throughout the tournament. The WBC just isn't a good measuring stick.

 

[JMR]

I wouldn't necessarily use the WBC as a way to judge the best X country's players on any given team. When guys like Trout, Harper, and Kershaw didn't participate, you can't use that to say the Angels, Nats, and Dodgers don't scout American players well. And take Kyle Seager for example. He probably would have been a much better 3B than Nolan Arrenado throughout the tournament. The WBC just isn't a good measuring stick.

Yeah, I agree. Plus, it's just sort of a weird metric -- domestic scouting? I don't think it really matters where the players come from, so long as the team is getting good players....unless MLB is considering removing extra innings and replacing it with a tie-breaker of how many "domestic" players are on the roster.

 

[wazzu31]

Yeah, I agree. Plus, it's just sort of a weird metric -- domestic scouting? I don't think it really matters where the players come from, so long as the team is getting good players....unless MLB is considering removing extra innings and replacing it with a tie-breaker of how many "domestic" players are on the roster.

I guess we can all disagree. IMO scouting inside our country is the lifeblood of an organization for the farm system, which the Mariners have been so bad at. It allows for trades to strengthen the big club instead of needing to sign big free agents to be competitive.

 

[Podunkparte]

I guess we can all disagree. IMO scouting inside our country is the lifeblood of an organization for the farm system, which the Mariners have been so bad at. It allows for trades to strengthen the big club instead of needing to sign big free agents to be competitive.

Sure, but the point is that the WBC is not an actual metric to judge an organization's scouting of the US. Do you look at the US team and think the Dodgers also suck at scouting US players based on the fact that Kershaw, Joc Peterson, and Corey Seager weren't on the team?

 

[JMR]

I guess we can all disagree. IMO scouting inside our country is the lifeblood of an organization for the farm system, which the Mariners have been so bad at. It allows for trades to strengthen the big club instead of needing to sign big free agents to be competitive.

I am not against strong homeland scouting, but that's mainly because i'm in favor of strong scouting everywhere. if it's in the US, awesome. If it's Iceland where we find players to help us win, that's fine too.

Baseball has lost popularity with younger generations in the US, particularly with black kids. they are more interested in basketball and football. the game is really strong in latin America, however. I suppose it's an interesting discussion that can't be captured in a relatively brief message board post....

 

[wazzu31]

Sure, but the point is that the WBC is not an actual metric to judge an organization's scouting of the US. Do you look at the US team and think the Dodgers also suck at scouting US players based on the fact that Kershaw, Joc Peterson, and Corey Seager weren't on the team?

I'm not using the WBC as a metric, just making an observation that it would've been nice had more talent on the roster. Using the Dodgers is a rather silly analogy, the Mariners didn't have any players that declined participating unlike the Dodgers.

 

[wazzu31]

I am not against strong homeland scouting, but that's mainly because i'm in favor of strong scouting everywhere. if it's in the US, awesome. If it's Iceland where we find players to help us win, that's fine too.

Baseball has lost popularity with younger generations in the US, particularly with black kids. they are more interested in basketball and football. the game is really strong in latin America, however. I suppose it's an interesting discussion that can't be captured in a relatively brief message board post....

I am massively in favor of scouting because the more players you have the more flexible an organization can be. Every organization spend millions on scouting in Latin America and over seas but building a strong farm system that allows them to make moves is where I'm getting at.

Baseball isn't as popular here for numerous reasons, mainly because of societal issues and select teams. Select sports have ruined opportunity for younger kids to play multiple sports.