The Atlanta Braves scouting program has produced another international signing from Japan, though this Japanese pitcher is still just a teenager. From the Daily Yomiuri Online:
The Atlanta Braves announced the signing of 18-year-old right-hander Yoshinori Yamarin to a minor league deal on Monday.
The 1.86-meter [aprrox. 6 feet, 1 inches tall], 85-kilogram [187 pound] hurler out of Nissei Gakuen Daisan high school in Hyogo Prefecture, drew attention from the team despite never having appeared in high school tournaments at Koshien Stadium.
The Braves announced the signing and introduced Yamarin at a press conference in Osaka, where the pitcher said he has lofty goals.
"I want to become the kind of pitcher who can throw alongside [Kenshin] Kawakami," an all-star right-hander from the Chunichi Dragons whom Atlanta signed as a free agent earlier this month.
"I always feel like I want to be the best at whatever I do, and I wanted to play baseball where the sport was born."
Yamarin is scheduled to join the Braves instructional league in Australia following his June graduation.
Keep 'em coming. It's not the right reaction to get excited about every one of these types of signings, but the more of these types of guys we sign, the higher the liklihood that one will develop and help the major league club.