Posted by Michael Street on Tuesday, September 29, 2009 at 10:32 pm

I’ll look at the Asian MLB standouts next week, but since the minor leagues have finished their seasons, let’s look back at our Asian prospect list to see how they’ve done. I peeked in at them in midseason, during the Futures Game, but now it’s time for a full assessment.

1. Junichi Tazawa, SP, pitched well enough in the minors to earn a callup to Boston, well before rosters expanded in September. His minor-league numbers were very impressive, good enough to earn a spot on the Futures Game roster (where his scheduled start was shut down due to a long rain delay).

With the AA Portland Sea Dogs, Tazawa started 18 games, putting up a 9-5 record with a 2.57 ERA and 1.08 WHIP. After promotion to Pawtucket, he went 0-2 in 2 starts, despite a 2.38 ERA and 0.71 WHIP. His strikeouts slipped from 8.1 K/9 to 4.8 K/9, but the Red Sox liked him enough to bring him up to the bigs to see how he’d do, and possibly fill a gaping rotation hole left by the losses of both Wakefield and Matsuzaka.

After a rough initial outing when he gave up a game-winning homer to A-Rod, Tazawa won 2 of his next 3 starts, with a 2.81 ERA against Detroit, Texas and the Yankees, not the easiest lineup to throw a 23-year-old pro rookie against. After back-to-back rough starts against the White Sox, when he gave up 14 ER in 7.2 IP and found himself back in the bullpen, in part due to the return of Dice-K and Wakefield.

A left groin strain ended Tazawa’s season early, although the move was made more to free up a roster spot and because he’d reached his innings limit. He’s sure to be in the mix for a Red Sox roster spot—if not a rotation spot—in spring training and is already looking forward to the challenge.

2. Chia-Jen Lo, RP, was also invited to the Futures Game, and he continued to improve in the Astros organization at AA Corpus Christi. He threw 30 more innings from their bullpen, improving his ratios from 7.7 to 9.0 K/9 and 1.14 to 1.95 BB/K, and he finished with an ERA of 2.31 and a WHIP of 1.28. Houston chose him to play in the Arizona Fall League, where he should continue to hone his craft for 2010.

Expect the RHP from Taiwan in AAA next year, and possibly the majors as the season progresses. He moves up a spot with an impressive season.

3. Fu-Te Ni, RP, did well enough to make it to the majors like Tazawa, and shot up this prospect list. The Taiwanese lefty impressed enough in 34.2 IP, with 2.60 ERA and 1.15 WHIP that the Tigers called him up to the bigs in late June. With the big-league club, he did even better, throwing 30.0 IP, with a 2.70 ERA and 1.03 WHIP.

Even more impressively, he’s not done it as a lefty specialist. He’s far more dominating after fellow southpaws, who have a .492 OPS, while righties picked up a .791 OPS against him. Still, he’s done very well, and will certainly be up with the club in 2010, especially if he can help them get to the postseason and win there.

4. Che-Hsuan Lin, CF, hopes to be the first Taiwanese outfielder since Chin-Feng Chen (thanks to Wayne Chen for reminding me of this), but he’s still a work in progress in the Boston organization. The 20-year-old moved up to high-A Salem, hitting .265/.355/.365, a slight improvement on his .249/.342/.359 line from single-A. The best signs are his BB/K rate, up to .88 from .69 in 2008 and .42 in 2007, and his contact rate, rising slightly to .84 from .83 (2008) and .79 (2007).

Those are good trends, and Lin has to hope those will lead to increased power, the last piece of the puzzle to give him a major-league skill set. Until he can show that, he’s dropped on this list, and might slip farther in 2010.

5. Matt Tuiasosopo, 3B/2B was still hurt at midseason after elbow surgery, his chance to take over for the injured Adrian Beltre spoiled by the injury; I expected both to be done for the season. Instead, both returned much sooner, and Tuiasosopo tuned up for a few games in Rookie league ball before coming back to AAA Tacoma.

The Samoan’s .268/.368/.473 line with the Rainiers earned him a call-up to Seattle, where they’ve shifted him from 3B to 2B, where he’d also been playing at times with Tacoma. He’s carried that hot hitting over to Seattle, hitting .263/.318/.474 in just 19 ABs, though he did crank his first HR last night against Toronto.

This kind of versatility is consistent with Seattle’s new credo: positional flexibility and strong defense over hitting. I’ll write more about that approach in my column next week on Wakamatsu’s Way, but it bodes well for Tui, whether Seattle re-signs Beltre in 2010 or not. Look for him to be in the mix in 2010 spring training, where he should earn himself a major-league roster spot, if not a starting role.

6.  Hak-Ju Lee, SS, the South Korean prospect for the Cubs, finished his season with the class-A Boise Hawks with a .330/.399/.420 line, scoring 56 runs and driving in 33 in 264 ABs. His average led the team, as did his 25 SBs, but his defense is a work in progress, with 27 errors in 334 chances.

That’s often an adjustment to proper fielding technique, and can sometimes reflect a player whose incredible reach exceeds his grasp—Lee’s sweet 5.03 RF/G is testament to that. Lee’s just 18, so he’s going to work his way up slowly, but his future still looks awfully bright. He’s only fallen on this list because others have overtaken him—he could easily rocket to the top with a strong 2010.

On the lighter side of things, here’s a video of Lee singing the opening of the Carpenter’s “Superstar” at the team’s end-of-year picnic. He’s got some sweet karaoke pipes, too.

7. Kyeong Kang, OF, continued to work his way up the food chain for the Rays, and jumped two spots up this list. The South Korean slugger improved in virtually every aspect of his offensive game and even improved his defensive range.

His .307/.390/.491 line for the single-A Bowling Green Hot Rods included 29 2Bs to go along with his 7 3Bs and 5 HRs. Those doubles are going to stretch into homers eventually, and his poor .54 batting eye is still a huge improvement over last season’s .32.

He’ll move up to AA in 2010 for sure with this performance, and looks to go even farther.

8. Dae-Eun Rhee, SP, returned from TJS to throw a handful of innings at rookie ball at Boise alongside his South Korean countrymen Lee and Jae-Hoon Ha, forming what must be the first South Korean battery in the minors. His numbers are not terribly impressive, since he only threw 8.2 IP at both level and was working back from surgery, so I’m sure they were more interested in his mechanics than the results.

I wouldn’t be overly concerned, then, at his 9.84 ERA and 2.08 WHIP,  which screams both “small sample space” and “injury rehab,” but it did slide him down this list. Expect the 20-year-old to return to single-A in 2010 after an offseason of rehab work, ready to resume climbing the minor-league ladder, as well as this prospect list.

9. Yung Chi Chen, UT, returned to Sacramento after his knee injury and hit an adequate .283/353/.337 in only 27 games, mostly at 2B, but also SS and 3B and even once in LF. Like Rhee, it’s hard to judge these objectively, since he didn’t play long and was returning from injury.

The lanky Taiwanese righty is most likely to make it to the bigs as a utility player, though 2B and 3B are his natural positions. His star has slipped, which is why he’s down to #9 on my list, but he’ll be in spring training for the A’s, trying to stick with the major-league squad when they break camp.

10. Chin-Lung Hu, UT, redeemed himself well enough in AAA Albuquerque this season to make it back up to the Dodgers in September. His .294/.332/.393 line was a slight improvement over his 2008 line with AAA Las Vegas, but it’s still not as amazing as his breakout .318/.337/.505 campaign with that same club in 2007.The Dodgers need him down the stretch, with injuries to both Orlando Hudson and Rafael Belliard at 2B, as well as 3B Casey Blake. It’s unlikely he’ll get many starts or make the postseason roster, but it does mean his future with the club isn’t entirely bleak. His chances to stick with the club in spring training just went up, as did his ability to stick on this list.

That brings us to the end of the Asian prospect list for 2009. Pacific Perspectives continues next week!