The Chugoku Shimbun is reporting that the Hiroshima Carp are close to a deal to acquire Justin Huber from the Twins. According to the report, the Carp put in a request to acquire Huber, and it was accepted the same day. The two sides will begin negotiating a transfer a the start of next week. The Twins’ removal of Huber from their 40-man roster coincides with this development.
I almost included Huber in my list of 2010 NPB acquisition targets, but left him out because I thought he might get another MLB look somewhere. He’s a pretty typical 4A guy at this point: successful in 3A, frequently on 40-man rosters and occasionally on 25-man rosters. But the Twins already have a pretty good first baseman named Justin, so playing at the next level was going to take an injury or a move to another organization.
Daily Sports has a report saying that the Braves have some interest in signing Hidetaka Kawagoe, who was release by the Orix Buffaloes at the end of the season. Kawagoe, 36, moved from the rotation to the bullpen during the 2009 season, and profiles better as a reliever regardless of which league he next plays in. The Chiba Lotte Marines have also been kicking the tires on Kawagoe, and appear to be his most likely destination if he stays in Japan.
Lotte has made the first significant signing of this offseason, picking up 1st baseman Kim Tae-gyun from Hanwha of the KBO. I’ll post more details at a later time; for now Matt and Gwynar have this story covered.
The 2009 Golden Glove Winners have been announced, and Nippon Ham dominated the Pacific League with seven players receiving the award. Tetsuya Matsumoto of the Giants became the first former ikusei player to win a Golden Glove.
According to a baseball source, Darrell Rasner has agreed to a deal to return to the Rakuten Golden Eagles. Rakuten declined their team option for 2010, but the two sides came to terms on a new one-year contract with an option for 2011. The deal’s financial terms are unknown.
Rasner struggled in his first year in Japan, but showed some signs of coming around late in the season. We’ll see how he does under new manager Marty Brown.
There’s always a high turnover among foreign players in Japan. This year will be no different, with 30+ players already gone from their 2009 employers. By the end of next season, we’ll have seen 35-45 new players in Japan.
Like most years, the biggest needs around the league are corner outfielders, pitchers, and first basemen. There will be a couple third base and DH spots open as well.
This is mostly my own speculation. Some of the names came out of the Japanese media, but many have not, so take this list with a grain of salt.
Possible Returnees
CJ Nitkowski – seemed like he had a deal to go back to Japan before Doosan snapped him up off waivers from SK
Rick Guttormson – Orix is looking at bringing Gutto back from Korea; has an NPB no-hitter to his name
Brad Thomas – Thomas has spent the last year or two in Korea, is on Hanshin’s list
Gary Glover – Yet another NPB vet in Korea, Glover had previously pitched for Yomiuri
Mitch Jones – didn’t get a chance in his stint with Nippon Ham, hit 35 home runs in the hitter-friendly PCL this year
Val Pascucci – has been productive in three AAA seasons since returning from his stint with Chiba Lotte
Buddy Carlyle – has been better with Atlanta than he was with Hanshin during the early 00’s
Winston Abreu – lit up AAA again this year, got lit up in the majors; did well in his tenure with Lotte
Korean Imports
Kim Dong-Ju – Lotte is reportedly ready to jump on a plan and sign this guy once the FA season opens
Kim Tae-Gyun – Hanshin was scouting Korea over the summer, and this Kim was a name that showed up in reports
Lee Beom-Ho– ditto for Lee
NPB Migrants
Termel Sledge – won’t be back with Nippon Ham next year; Yokohama, SoftBank reportedly interested
Greg LaRocca – has been productive when healthy, could get a shot somewhere else if Orix chooses not to retain his services
Dan Johnson – batting average side, put in a productive year for Yokohama, still wasn’t retained
Seth Greisinger – has put up three good years in Japan, may not fit into Yomiuri’s plans for next year; Hanshin would gladly take him
Brian Sikorski – posted a great year for Lotte; if they don’t keep him, Yokohama is interested
4A Veterans
Mike Hessman – tenured AAA slugger, doesn’t hit for average but walks and has a power bat
Lenny DiNardo – coming off a great AAA season, has never been able to strike MLB hitters out
Bobby Korecky – reliever with nothing left to prove at AAA
Kevin Frandsen – doesn’t fit the power-hitting mold NPB teams usually like, but can play multiple positions and hit for average
Matt Murton – another sharp hitter who has mastered AAA pitching
Chris Shelton – has had two productive MLB seasons, continues to perform at AAA
Brad Eldred – another veteran AAA slugger, though his average has dropped in the last few years
Wily Mo Pena – I thought he was on his way to Japan when the Mets released him during the season
Charlie Haeger – has come up on Hanshin’s list
Rich Hill – he has a Japan-style curveball
Jason Dubois – perhaps the most well-rounded of the AAA sluggers I’ve listed here, Dubois hits for reasonable average and gets on base, at least at AAA
Scott Strickland – was good with the Expos a few years ago, hasn’t gotten another chance
Evan MacLane – rumor is that he’s headed to Japan rather than resigning with the Cardinals
Fringey MLB Guys
Marcus Thames – Hanshin was interested in him a few years ago, but Detroit held on to him and he played pretty well
Eric Hinske – SoftBank was interested last year, and is again this year
Chris Bootcheck – has the velocity to succeed in Japan
Denny Bautista – another hard thrower who’s bounced between AAA and MLB
It looks like the reports of Boston’s interest in Hideki Matsui drew quite a bit of attention the other day, possibly getting blown just a wee bit out of proportion. All the reports in the Japanese media, which idolizes Matsui, are saying that Godzilla is shaping up to a plan b to Jason Bay.
When asked by the Japanese press, Theo Epstein played down the idea of signing Matsui. Quoted in Sponichi: “Our DH next season is [David] Ortiz. His last four months of this season were good, and I think next year will be a good season for him”; and Daily Sports, commenting more specifically on Matsui: “we aren’t thinking about it that deeply. Right now we have our hands full with our own free agents.” Incidentally, Epstein has been quoted as saying he wants to keep Takashi Saito around.
Pirates GM Neil Huntington: “In acquiring(Akinori) Iwamura, we opened the door to getting Japanese players. We gave up a middle reliever to get Iwamura, so he [Igarashi] is a player we have interest in.”
Giants GM Brian Sabean: “It’s not our top priority, but he’s a player we’re looking into.”
Agent Arn Tellem: “There is high interest for stoppers in the majors. He’s a player that a lot of teams should show interest in, and we expect good results from him.”
Clearly a little agent-speak there at the end. As a side note, Igarashi and Iwamura played together with Yakult in Japan.