Recall our column from last summer pointing out how there are very few catchers in Japanese baseball who can hit?
One of the suggestions I made to hopefully improve the situation was for the Japanese teams to see if they can find a halfway decent foreign catcher somewhere in the North American minor leagues who has some good offensive and defensive skills.
Now the Yokohama BayStars have acquired, as an ikusei (developmental) player, a young backstop from Venezuela by the name of Kevin Moscatel. He's just 21 but, having been signed to his first professional contract at age 16, he has four years of experience in the minor leagues in the U.S., playing in the St. Louis Cardinals organization.