Hanshin Reps to Visit the States
Alright, here we go. Multiple reports have Hanshin sending their international guy, Toshihiko Yamanaka, over to the US to gather information on Japanese major leaguers and new imports for next season. Sanspo and Nikkan Sports are speculating on a couple names that Hanshin could be after. I didn’t bother to write about this earlier in the season when rumors about Hanshin being interested in Hideki Matsui again cropped up, but this time I’ll bite.
Pointing to last year’s signing of Kenji Johjima, Sanspo speculates that Kosuke Fukudome and Kenshin Kawakami could be acquisition candidates. While both players have fallen out of favor with their current employers, both are under contract for next season and I would expect them to find MLB takers. It’s worth noting that Hanshin was reportedly interested in Kawakami when he was a free agent following the 2008 season, and supposedly willing to offer him 600m yen ($6m give or take) per season. They may have been talking tall as I don’t think such an offer ever materialized. In any event, as my FanGraphs bud Dave Cameron points out, Kawakami hasn’t been as bad as his superficial numbers indicate and deserves a shot at regular MLB work. Fukudome would be a great fit for Hanshin, with 42 year-old star leftfielder Tomoaki Kanemoto a shadow of his former self, but I just don’t see it happening.
Meanwhile, Nikkan Sports offers somewhat more reasonable speculative names: Hiroki Kuroda and Koji Uehara. Both have contracts expiring after this year, and I would guess they have clauses requiring their teams to release them if they can’t work out deals, which would get them out of their arbitration years and into free agency. I don’t see either as a realistic target for Hanshin though; I think the Dodgers will hang on to Kuroda, and Uehara talked openly about wanting to play in MLB to give up this quickly.
Two guys that weren’t mentioned are Kazuo Matsui and Akinori Iwamura, who are both in 3A and candidates to head back to the Far East. Neither fits with the current Hanshin speculation, but either one could help Yakult, for example, who badly wanted Kaz after he was released by Houston.
10/08/2010 at 12:07 am Permalink
I have a question. Exactly what constitutes the so-called tampering? More specifically, how do NPB teams approach minor leaguers?
10/08/2010 at 1:56 pm Permalink
It would be neat to see Kaz resurrect his career in Japan.
12/08/2010 at 8:16 am Permalink
I have a question. Exactly what constitutes the so-called tampering? More specifically, how do NPB teams approach minor leaguers?
I’ll have to look into that.
12/08/2010 at 4:08 pm Permalink
On the tampering issue, I think they are free to speak to players who are not on the 40-man roster, but I’m sure as a courtesy they inform the major-league organization prior to any contact. For 40-man roster players they would have to ask permission.
As for players Japanese teams should look at, I would have to nominate the Albuquerque Isotopes’ John Lindsey. He’s a big, veteran first baseman who’s hit .377/.424/.684 with 18 home runs and 33 doubles. He has expressed, more than once, a desire to go take his skills to Japan.
13/08/2010 at 9:43 pm Permalink
On the tampering issue, I think they are free to speak to players who are not on the 40-man roster, but I’m sure as a courtesy they inform the major-league organization prior to any contact. For 40-man roster players they would have to ask permission.
I’d be surprised if NPB teams could negotiate with players without permission from their organizations. But I’ll see what I can find out.
As for players Japanese teams should look at, I would have to nominate the Albuquerque Isotopes’ John Lindsey. He’s a big, veteran first baseman who’s hit .377/.424/.684 with 18 home runs and 33 doubles. He has expressed, more than once, a desire to go take his skills to Japan.
Interesting candidate. I’ll put him on my list this offseason.
14/08/2010 at 9:10 pm Permalink
Heard this from a friend in the game, regarding tampering:
“As far as that tampering goes, no team, MLB, NPB or other team or representantive of that team can speak with any player under contract, at any level, regardless of roster status, or an agent, without first contacting and receiving permission from the parent club. But even before that, NPB teams are required by NPB/MLB joint regulations to perform a status check via the league offices before any contact between teams can even occur.”
So there we have it.