Baseball's China Equivalent

[u/EverGreatestxX]

In basketball there's a trope of older "washed" players going to play in countries like China (basketball is really popular there), where they can get the bag while also dominating the local competition with minimal effort. It even became a running joke that anytime a player had a really bad playoff performance or has been generally considered to have "fallen off" that they'll be in China next season.

Is there any baseball equivalent to this? I know countries like DR, Japan, and Korea are really into baseball. Any former MLB players making it big in any of these countries?

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[u/PurpleEconomy9804]

Mexico

[u/Inside-Run785 → u/PurpleEconomy9804]

And Japan and Korea.

[u/Fuuujioka → u/Inside-Run785]

Nah, not Japan. The days of over the hill guys coming over and being successful are long gone

[u/Gecko17]

pre-1960: probably Cuba, especially for black Americans and Latinos.

1960s-2015ish: definitely Japan. plenty of foreign players during this time frame that were the best in the league over there. (Randy Bass, Tuffy Rhodes, Wladimir Balentien, etc)

in recent years, the average talent level in Japan has exploded to the point that foreign players are no longer guaranteed stars. Franmil Reyes seems to be the current exception.

currently, I would say Korea for pitchers and Mexico for hitters. Korea is a very pitcher-friendly league with depressed offensive stats and the reverse for Mexico - high offense, depressed pitching.

[u/GavinNH → u/Gecko17]

Bobby Dalbec is having a pretty good year there, though not a superstar

[u/yabagabagool59]

Maybe Mexico. I think 50 year-old Robinson Cano is still raking down there.

[u/TheLizardKing89 → u/yabagabagool59]

Justin Turner is playing in Tijuana.

[u/TinySins]

Japan, South Korea, Mexico, and Venezuela seem to be the places most former MLB players land.

[u/Cuyigan → u/TinySins]

I go to a lot of games in Colombia (5 team winter league). A lot of guys with some major league experience. No former stars of note though. Venezuela is similar.

[u/ColonelCrikey]

I love that for football this place is the US.

[u/EverGreatestxX → u/ColonelCrikey]

A country with a lot money and not that much domestic talent, honestly it's perfect.

[u/bryceonthebison → u/ColonelCrikey]

That’s the Saudi Pro League, now. MLS can’t match that level of money. Sadio Mane is making twice Lewandowski’s salary, for example. Only MLS player making comparable money is Messi

[u/miked_1976]

For many years it was Japan, as seen in the movie Mr. Baseball (1992) and Mr. 3000 (2004).

[u/Logical-Mobile-7643 → u/miked_1976]

What part of Mr 3000?

[u/miked_1976 → u/Logical-Mobile-7643]

I think I conflated the plot with Mr. Baseball and misremembered - he doesn’t go to Japan but tries a comeback in the US, doesn’t he?

Thank you for correcting!

[u/Logical-Mobile-7643 → u/miked_1976]

He thinks he had 3000 hits, so he retires from baseball immediately, and has to come back on the old September call ups to get his remaining hits, due to a clerical error.

He's kind of a jerk, but they can't keep him out of the hall if he gets to 3000.

He doesn't go to Japan

No worries.

Yeah the Tom Selleck movie is definitely the stereotype of the washed up baseball player forced to go to Japan

[u/IonTheBall2 → u/Logical-Mobile-7643]

Fish out of water. He acts very American with no understanding that things are different in Japan. For example, in Japan, sticking your chopsticks so they stick up in food like rice is considered taboo - a weak analogy I might make for an American is opening an umbrella in the house, but I think the Japanese thing is more egregious.

[u/SereneRandomness → u/IonTheBall2]

Yah, sticking chopsticks upright in food is more offensive because it looks like the way you put incense sticks into a funeral offering of food to the deceased.

[u/lurkermurphy]

Trevor Bauer was the worst pitcher in Japan last year, big big come back.

[u/beeotchplease → u/lurkermurphy]

He still thinks he can dominate MLB hitting

[u/Cuyigan → u/beeotchplease]

There's a legion of his fans (and bots) in the Facebook comments that think he'd be an all star.

[u/whoamdave]

Let me tell you the tale of Wladimir Balentien and how he went from a part timer for Seattle and Cincinnati to the NPB single season home run record holder.

[u/Fuuujioka → u/whoamdave]

Never got much of a chance in MLB

[u/Blue387]

Mexico might be the equivalent but there is also Japan, South Korea and Taiwan.

Independent teams in the US such as the Atlantic League would be a domestic option with a team like the Long Island Ducks.

[u/Infamous-Umpire-2923]

A non-zero number of them also end up in Australia. Greg Bird ended up playing for the Melbourne Aces for quite some time.

[u/Shradersofthelostark → u/Infamous-Umpire-2923]

I would definitely have considered changing my name to Greg Emu

[u/Infamous-Umpire-2923 → u/Shradersofthelostark]

I don't know about that, we'd have to check with the emus. We lost that war, after all.

[u/erriuga_leon27]

The Mexican baseball league is in the playoffs right now and you'd see familiar faces like Justin Turner on the field.

Spencer Turnbull was playing for my city's team this season.

[u/SlowNSteady1 → u/erriuga_leon27]

Robinson Cano, too!

[u/erriuga_leon27 → u/SlowNSteady1]

Didi gregorius was in lmb too a year or two back

[u/echoalpha76]

You know what I call NHL vets playing in Europe, MLBers in east Asia, Europeans in MLS and NBA players in China?

Professional Athletes.

I’d absolutely love to see anyone calling them “washed up” run up a flight of stairs without collapsing.

[u/EverGreatestxX → u/echoalpha76]

Washed up just means they weren't as good as they were before. No need to take offense.

[u/SamLooksAt]

Well I do notice a lot of Japanese players move to the MLB after a few years in the Japanese league.

Maybe something similar is happening with players like Ohtani, Murakami etc moving to America to make more money in an easier league where they can easily dominate! 😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁

[u/Realfan555]

Yeah, I think if ur a washed up cook, u can go to the UK

[u/EverGreatestxX → u/Realfan555]

I think if your a washed up redditor, you can go to twitter.

[u/RichInBunlyGoodness → u/EverGreatestxX]

Washed up Twitter users can only go volunteer for Russian meat wave attack.

[u/Realfan555 → u/EverGreatestxX]

It’d be even funnier if u can think of a Chinese equivalent