The Hideki Matsui hot stove is warming up. Let’s see what the Japanese media has for us out of the GM meetings…
Boston is reportedly considering Matsui as an alternative to Jason Bay. According to an insider quoted in Nikkan Sports, the BoSox are preparing a multi-year offer for Matsui to be the team’s regular left fielder.
The same Nikkan Sports article quotes a “no comment” from Jack Z on Matsui, and mentions the White Sox as another option.
Daily Sports has some comments from Tony Reagins on Matsui: “At this point we’ve been watching him for a long time. When I ask ‘can he play the outfield and keep runners from advancing?’ the response I get is ‘of course’. He can’t go every day, but he can play defense.” Still, Matsui profiles as a plan b for the Angels as well. “We aren’t thinking of Matsui and (Vladimir) Guererro play together.”
Given that Matsui is “best of the rest” type candidate, it may take some of the other free agent DHs and left fielders signing before he finds a home. My non-Yankee picks for him remain the Orioles, White Sox and Mariners.
By my count, there were 78 foreign players (including ikusei players) under contract to NPB teams in 2009. Some of them will be back for 2010, others will not. So far, I’ve counted 18 players that will remain with their teams for next year, 36 that are leaving, and 24 that we’re still waiting to hear on.
Despite my best efforts, there is a reasonable probability that I left someone out or have an out-of-date detail. If you spot something of that nature, please leave a comment. On with the show…
Yomiuri
Staying: Dicky Gonzales, Wirfin Obispo, Levi Romero, Alex Ramirez, Seung-Yeop Lee, Marc Kroon
Gone: Adrian Burnside, Edgardo Alfonzo
Unknown: Seth Greisinger, Yi-Hao Lin, Yi-Fan Lee
Ramirez no longer counts against the foreign player limit, which gives the Giants a little extra flexibility. He’s already re-signed on a two-year deal. You have to figure that Obispo and Gonzales will be back, which would only leave two ichi-gun rosters spots available. I would guess that Kroon is more likely to return than Greisinger, and Lee is on his way out. Kroon will have his option picked up, while Lee’s contract doesn’t expire until next season. Greisinger didn’t appear in the Japan Series and it’s possible that he won’t be back. The Giants don’t need much this off season, though we’ll probably see them go after some depth guys.
Chunichi
Staying: Wei-Yin Chen, Tony Blanco, Nelson Payano, Maximo Nelson
Gone: Tomas de la Rosa, Byung-Gyu Lee
Unknown:
Chunichi got outstanding production out Chen and Blanco, and Blanco has already received a new two-year deal. Lee will likely head back to Korea, while de la Rosa will remain with the team in a scouting/advisory capacitiy. Chunichi has been scouting the Dominican and will probably sign some interesting Latin American prospects this winter.
Yakult
Staying: Chang Yong Lim
Gone: Ricky Barrett
Unknown: Hei Chun Lee, Jaime D’Antona, Aaron Guiel
Hanshin
Staying: Kai-Wang Cheng
Gone: Scott Atchison, Jeff Williams, Kevin Mench, Chris Resop, Aarom Baldiris
Unknown: Craig Brazell
Out of this group, only Brazell really contributed anything, and he wants to come back. Hanshin’s search for pitching has already been well-documented, with the Tigers looking to import a starter and two relievers. Hanshin may also try to bring a power-hitting rightfielder to Kansai as well, even if Brazell sticks around.
Hiroshima
Staying: Dioni Soriano
Gone: Scott Dohmann, Ben Kozlowski, Scott Seabol
Unknown: Scott McClain, Colby Lewis, Mike Schultz, Andy Phillips
Hiroshima would like to keep Lewis and Schultz around, but may not be able to, and if the Carp don’t keep Phillips they will have to find a bat to replace him. Hiroshima desperately needs lefthanded pitching, as well. I’m assuming Soriano, who is an ikusei player from the Carp’s Dominican Academy, will get a full year to prove himself.
Yokohama
Staying: Stephen Randolph
Gone: Tom Mastny, Les Walrond, Dan Johnson, Ryan Glynn
Unknown: Wei Chen, Jin Chao Wang
Yokohama is again going to need pitching help, though Randolph’s late-season performance was encouraging. The ‘Stars wave goodbye the rest of this group, though Johnson actually had a decent year aside from a poor batting average, and Walrond looked like he had good enough stuff to last in Japan to me.
Nippon Ham
Staying:
Gone: Ryan Wing, Luis Jimenez, Jason Botts, Brian Sweeney, Termel Sledge
Unknown:
This year’s Pacific League champion didn’t get much production from its foreign lineup outside of Sledge, so it’s no surprise to see this group go. Nippon Ham apparently wanted to keep Sledge, but were too far apart in negotations. They’ll have to find a way to replace his bat in the lineup, and I would expect them to look for pitching depth as well.
Rakuten
Staying:
Gone: Matt Childers
Unknown: Darrell Rasner, Marcus Gwyn, Fernando Seguignol, Todd Linden, Rick Short, On-Yu Lin
Rasner is already under contract for next year, so he’ll be on the payroll but possibly not the roster. Childers is gone after just three appearances with Rakuten’s top team. The rest of the foreign staff had performance issues — Gwyn’s era was pedestrian, Shorts average fell off after years of solid performance, Seguignol looked more like the Orix Seguignol than the Nippon Ham Seguignol, and Linden struck out about one out of every three times to the plate(!). So I could see new manager Marty Brown turning over this whole group. Rakuten could use bullpen help and a big bat to play an infield or outfield corner.
SoftBank
Staying: Jose Ortiz, DJ Houlton, Brian Falkenborg, Justin Germano
Gone: Kameron Loe, Chris Aguila
Unknown: Andrew Touisant
SoftBank got strong contributions from Ortiz, Houlton and Falkenborg, and can reasonably expect more of the same next season. Sadaharu Oh is said to be looking for one more power hitter, to complement Ortiz and supplant aging sluggers Hiroki Kokubo and Nobuhiko Matsunaka. I would expect them to grab a couple of ptichers for depth as well.
Seibu
Staying: Min-Che Hsu
Gone: Jonah Bayliss, John Wasdin, Hiram Bocachica
Unknown: Alex Graman
I’m just taking for granted that Hsu will hang around. He should be shedding his foreign player status one of these years anyway. Graman is probably gone, though he was lights-out in the bullpen when healthy, and I could see him getting another shot. Bayliss was okay for Seibu, so I was a little surprised to see him let go. Seibu will be looking for bullpen help and perhaps a first baseman this offseason. Pete LaForest had been in Seibu’s autumn camp but went home with an injury.
Chiba Lotte
Staying
Gone: Benny Agbayani, Chase Lambin, Gary Burnham
Unknown: Brian Sikorski, Juan Muniz
Agbayani departs after six years in Japan, and I would guess that he’ll retire to a life of scouting. I’ve read that Lotte might offer Sikorski a big pay cut, and thus risk losing him. I don’t expect Lambin or Burnham to be back, though I haven’t seen anything official. Lambin and Burnham won’t be back. Lotte will need a corner infield and outfield bats, and a pitcher or two to round things out.
Orix
Staying: Tuffy Rhodes
Gone:
Unknown: Jon Leicester, Alex Cabrera, Jose Fernandez, Greg LaRocca, Ryan Vogelsong
Rhodes and Cabrera both qualify as native players, so Orix could potentially carry up to six ‘foreign’ players on its active roster. Rhodes will be back, and the Buffaloes are supposedly adding a coaching title to his resume. I think Cabrera will make it back as well. There was speculation on Fernandez when he got hurt was that Orix probably wouldn’t bring him back, but that remains to be seen. I’m guessing Leicester and Vogelsong will be out as well. SoftBank has indicated an interest in LaRocca should he not get another year with Orix.
We’ve posted extensively on Hanshin’s offseason pitching shopping list, and now several reports out of Japan suggest that the first guy Hanshin is after is right hander Juan Morillo, who played with the Minnesota Twins organization last season.
Morillo was a member of the All-Star Futures Game in 2005, but has struggled recently with a back injury and designated for assignment by the Twins on April 29th. Should he join Hanshin, Morillo projects as one of the main set-up guys for the Tigers.
Hideki Matsui saw the ball well in this year’s World Series. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him look more locked in at the plate than he did against Pedro Martinez, and his MVP performance brought former manager Shigeo Nagashimato tears.
But his contract is up, and the discussion about where he’ll play next season was well underway by the time the Yankees crossed the finish line of their victory parade. For his part, Matsui has been consistently saying that he wants to remain in New York. It makes sense; Matsui has that elusive “True Yankee” pedigree that others find so elusive. He knows his role on the team, performs to expectations, handles the pressure of playing for the Yankees well, and knows how to deal with both the New York and Tokyo media. In a world without knee injuries, a return engagement would be a no-brainer.
A return to Japan isn’t on the cards at this point. The Hanshin Tigers and Yomiuri Giants made overtures to Matsui during the summer, and although he initially seemed receptive, he quickly brushed them off and recently ruled out the idea completely. Maybe he will return to Japan for a farewell tour at some point, but Hanshin and Yomiuri, the two most obvious teams for him, both play in the DH-less Central League. And judging by the response the idea got on discussion sites, Japanese fans would largely rather see Matsui continue to perform in MLB.
So, if the Yankees don’t bring Matsui back, where does he go? The Seattle rumors have some logic to them, as the Mariners have Japanese ownership and could have an opening at DH if Ken Griffey Jr decides to retire. Aside from Seattle, I would suggest the White Sox, who could use a left-handed power hitter to take over for Jim Thome, and the Orioles, who were interested in Matsui way back in 2002, as possible destinations.
My guess that Matsui finds a way to remain a Yankee. If he doesn’t, at least he went out in style.
Patrick » 08 November 2009 » In mlb prospects » Comments Off on Igarashi to Pursue MLB
Nikkan Sports and others are reporting that Yakult fireballer Ryota Igarashi has decided on pursuing an MLB contract for next season.
Igarashi has hooked on with star agent Arn Tellem for representation, and visited the States in October to take in the American League playoffs. The 30 year-old right gets by with an explosive fastball that reaches the upper-90’s and a hard forkball. For more, please see our profile of him, posted last June.
According to a baseball source, righty Juan Morillo has signed with a Japanese team. I don’t have confirmation on which one, but the Hanshin Tigers are known have had him near the top of their shopping list. After the rumors initially broke, Minnesota added Morillo to their 40-man roster, seemingly keeping him away from NPB, but there was some speculation in the Japanese press that the Twins were trying to drive up their transfer fee.
One of the fringe benefits Hanshin trying to get out of bringing in Kenji Johima is some additional scouting intelligence on pitchers in MLB organizations. Aside from Jeff Williams, Hanshin’s only sustained import success over the last several years has been righty Scott Atchison, who is leaving the team this offseason. After Atchison, Jerrod Riggan was good while he lasted and Darwin Cubillan had his moments, but that’s pretty much where it ends.
Sports Hochi Osaka has a list of candidates Hanshin is looking at, compiled presumably with Joh’s input:
Ryan Rowland-Smith
Chris Jakubauskas
Bobby Keppel
DJ Carrasco
I can’t believe that the Mariners would move Rowland-Smith, but Hanshin has the right idea with him. Carrasco spent a year in Japan with SoftBank and didn’t have a favorable experience, so I’d be surprised if he came back. Jakubauskas and Keppel sound about right.
Sanspo adds a few more names to the list, most of which we’ve seen before:
Brad Thomas
Juan Morillo
Jo Jo Reyes
Wil Ledezma
Charlie Haeger
The only new name on this list is Haeger, who is an interesting candidate. We don’t see a lot of knuckleballers in NPB.
In related news, Hanshin has announced that they are cutting ties with Jeff Williams, Scott Atchison, Kevin Mench and Aarom Baldiris, while moving to retain Craig Brazell and Kai-Wen Cheng. None of this is really news either, except that Williams has come out and said that he wants to return to the team after rehabbing for the next year. He’ll be about 40 if he can return in 2011, but here’s hoping he can come back and end his career properly.
Patrick » 05 November 2009 » In nichibei » Comments Off on 1934 All American Asian Tour
Little-known fictitious fact: today, November 5, is the date in 1955 that Marty McFly travelled back to. So with today being a footnote in fictitious history, I thought it was a good time for a post on some real history.
Rob Fitts, author of Remembering Japanese Baseball and Wally Yonamine’s biography, has just kicked off a new project, commemorating the 75th anniversary of the tour that brought Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, and American spy Moe Berg to Japan. Over the next month, Rob will be chronicling the all-star tour, day by day as it happened in 1934. I’m looking forward to the November 20th entry, which should cover Eiji Sawamura’sfamous performance against the American stars.
