Overseas Scouting Report: The Next Wave

Players from overseas are increasingly having an immediate impact in MLB. Last season, Masahiro Tanaka and Jose Abreu were the latest international headliners to quickly become stars in real and fantasy baseball.

The pipeline from Japan's top professional league, Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB), is well established at this point. However, the talent coming from Cuba continues to accelerate in both quality and quantity with prospects seemingly signing contracts with MLB teams every month. The number of players coming from South Korea is also increasing after Hyun-Jin Ryu became the first player to move directly from South Korea's professional league, the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO), in 2012.

With this global influx of talent, fantasy players need to study international prospects more thoroughly than ever.

Coming From Japan

No high profile players from Japan made the move to MLB this offseason as several teams held back making their top stars available via the posting system. That could change in 2016.

Takashi Toritani
SS - Hanshin Tigers
Age 33

Toritani's strong defense and on-base skills have long made him a favorite in Japan's sabermetrics community. He won't offer much power, but he gets on base, having led the Central League in walks from 2011-2013, and finishing second in 2014. He's walked more than he's struck out in each of the last four seasons as well. The recent failures of Hiroyuki Nakajima and Tsuyoshi Nishioka in MLB may lower Toritani's profile, but he has a skill set that can translate to MLB, and it's worth noting he played his home games on a dirt infield, rather than turf like Nishioka and Nakajima. Toritani's contract allowed him to pursue signing with an MLB team during the offseason, but he elected to re-sign with Hanshin for 2015.

Shohei Ohtani
RHP/OF/DH - Nippon Ham Fighters
Age 20

Ohtani is a few years away from a transition to MLB, but his status as NPB's top athlete warrants inclusion in any international player discussion. He made headlines as a two-way player, Japan's first since the 60's, as a rookie in 2013. He made even more headlines as a sophomore in 2014 by comprehensively improving both sides of his game. Ohtani regularly hit 100 mph on the radar gun, and went 11-4 with a 2.61 over 155.1 innings, striking out 179 while walking 57. At the plate, Ohtani slashed .274/.314/.444 over 234 plate appearances, hitting 17 doubles and 10 home runs. His future is pretty clearly on the mound at this point, but he's a tantalizing talent in either role.

Candidates For 2016: Kenta Maeda & Chihiro Kaneko – Japan's top two pitchers made overtures to move to MLB before electing for another year in NPB. Their teams may post them next winter.

Coming From Cuba

After Aroldis Champman signed a five-year, $25 million contract with the Reds in 2011 upon defecting, the flood of talent from Cuba has continued to increase each year. It's also worthwhile to keep an eye on geopolitics as the United States' move to partially normalize relations with Cuba could change how players from the island move to MLB.

Rusney Castillo
OF – Boston Red Sox
Age 27

Castillo defected from Cuba in late 2013 and signed a six-year, $72 million deal with the Red Sox in August. After some time at Boston's various minor-league affiliates, Castillo played 10 games for Boston in September. He began to flash his potential in the final week of the season, going 8-for-16 with six runs, three walks, two stolen bases, two homers and five RBI in his final five games. When he last played in Cuba's professional league, the Serie Nacional, he hit .332/.395/.545 with 16 home runs and 22 stolen bases in 2011-12. He also starred on Cuba's international teams, and the center fielder will offer an intriguing power and speed combination in Boston.

Yasmany Tomas
3B/OF – Arizona Diamondbacks
Age 24

Tomas defected from Cuba last summer and signed a six-year, $68.5 million contract with the Diamondbacks in November. At 6-foot-1, 220 pounds, Tomas is seen as having outstanding power, but most scouts believe he's behind fellow Cuban defector Jose Abreu in both power and pedigree. It's important to note that Tomas is three years younger than Abreu was at the time of his defection. Tomas hit .375 (6-of-16) with two home runs in the 2013 World Baseball Classic. He hit .289/.364/.538 with 15 home runs in 284 at-bats in 2012-13 in the Serie Nacional, but took a step back in 2013-14 by hitting .290/.346/.450 with six home runs in 257 at-bats in a season that was impacted by a wrist injury, according to Baseball America. Tomas struggled at times in international competition and there are fears that he may not be able to handle MLB breaking balls, but there were similar concerns about Abreu before last season. Tomas will get a shot to win the starting third base job during spring training, but he'll likely end up in an outfield corner for Arizona. He should be a fixture in the starting lineup regardless of his position.

Raisel Iglesias
P – Cincinnati Reds
Age 25

Iglesias was one of Cuba's top relief pitchers before he defected in 2013. As a free agent, he signed a seven-year, $27 million contract with the Reds. Iglesias had a 3.15 ERA with a 74:30 K:BB ratio in 82.2 innings in the 2012-13 Serie Nacional and was on Cuba's 2013 World Baseball Classic roster. He was clocked at 92-94 mph with his fastball in the Arizona Fall League and displayed an excellent curveball. Assuming that the Reds keep him in a relief role, he could contribute out of the bullpen in Cincinnati in 2015.

Jose Miguel Fernandez
2B – Free Agent
Age 26

Fernandez has been one of the top players in Cuba and was the No. 3 hitter for Cuba's 2013 World Baseball Classic team. He hit .326/.482/.456 in the Serie Nacional in 2014-15, and Baseball America ranked him as the No. 3 player in Cuba. He defected from Cuba in October and will try to sign with a team before the 2015 season. Fernandez could be an immediate starter at second base in the majors.

Yoan Moncada
3B – Free Agent
Age 19

Moncada may be the best young prospect to defect from Cuba this decade. While he lacks the pedigree and track record in international and professional league play of recent Cuban defectors who have become stars, Moncada may have the best all-around talent. He has excellent bat speed, plus raw power, outstanding speed, and a plus arm. Defensively, it's not clear if he'll play in the infield or outfield. It may take a few years before he's ready for the majors, but MLB teams will likely be willing to pay hefty taxes to blow past international signing limits to secure him. He should be a top prospect to grab in keeper leagues as a result.

Roberto Baldoquin
2B/SS – Anaheim Angels
Age 20

Baldoquin defected from Cuba and signed a contract with the Angels that included an $8 million signing bonus in November. The size of the signing bonus was a record at the time since Baldoquin is under 23 and the signing was under the international signing cap, while the Angels were forced to pay a 100 percent tax – doubling the cost. Baldoquin was signed more on promise than production as the 20-year-old hasn't had much playing time in high profile leagues or international events. He played on Cuba's 16-and-under team in 2010 and hit .279/.372/.324 in the Serie Nacional in 2013-14, according to Baseball America. While those numbers may not look like much, he played three years in Cuba's top professional league and started at shortstop before he was 21. At 5-foot-11, 185 pounds, Baldoquin doesn't have much power and his ability to hit major league pitching is unclear, but some scouts believe that he could already step in and play shortstop for the Angels.

Yoan Lopez
P - Arizona Diamondbacks
Age 21

The 21-year-old, right-handed Cuban already has three seasons of experience in Cuba's Serie Nacional, but he will likely begin his journey with the Diamondbacks in the lower or middle levels of the minors. Due to his age and somewhat limited experience, Lopez is subject to the international bonus pools, which means the Diamondbacks will be limited in their spending next year, in addition to paying a 100 percent tax on the overage. Lopez may end up being worth it, as he already sports a low-to-mid-90s fastball, and is one of the more promising young pitchers from Cuba. It was also reported that he's touched 100 mph on a radar gun, though it seems his fastball typically sits closer to 93-95. He posted a 3.12 ERA and 28:11 K:BB over 49 innings (seven starts) in Serie Nacional last season.

Other Players To Watch for 2015 & 2016: Andy Ibanez - the youngest player on Cuba's 2013 World Baseball Classic roster has a slick glove and high upside at age 21.

Hector Olivera – At his peak, he was one of Cuba's top players, but he's had health issues and at age 29 it's not clear he can play the infield any longer.

Diosdany Castillo & Jorge Despaigne – Two relievers in Cuba who could move to MLB quickly after signing.

Coming From South Korea

Three players from the KBO were posted at the end of 2014 -- two were unable to strike deals while a third was nearing a contract agreement at press time. Ryu's success in MLB should bring more attempts in 2016.

Jung-Ho Kang
SS – Pittsburgh Pirates
Age 27

Kang had an outstanding season in South Korea last year, hitting .356 with 40 home runs for the Nexen Heroes. He will be the first position player from the KBO to come to MLB via the posting system and at age 27 he's in his prime. It's uncertain if his power will translate to MLB since the KBO doesn't have a large supply of quality pitching. Further, it's also unclear if he'll stick at shortstop, but he could be in a MLB lineup in 2015 after Pittsburgh won the rights to sign him.

Candidates For 2016: Hyeon-jong Yang & Kwang-Hyun Kim – Two of the KBO's top pitchers who failed to find deals for 2015 through the posting process, but may try again next offseason.

This article appears in the 2015 edition of the RotoWire Fantasy Baseball Guide.