Yusei Kikuchi has wrapped up his meetings and now has some thinking to do. It may take him a little while to sort things out, based on comments made after the meetings: “(Japan and the US) are but wonderful. I’m more torn now than I was before the meetings.”
Mariners: has Ichiro, more international than other clubs.
Mets: offered a dedicated translator. Scout Isao Ojimi was quoted as saying “Yusei is a world treasure.”
Yankees: no comment to media
Indians: not at 18, but will have MLB ability in three or four years
And here’s a translation of a brief interview that appeared on MSN Japan:
-after meeting with 20 Japanese and American teams, are you feeling tightened up?
“It’s a wavering 50-50. I’m more torn now than before I had these meetings, in which I made new discoveries. Meeting with each team for 30 minutes was short, I thought I would like to hear them for longer. I think that the MLB teams traveled this far was a great honor.”
-comments on the impression left by both leagues after the meeings
“I thought both were great, and I want to go to both. Japan’s development system is gentle, and in America there is the stepped system of rookie ball, 1A, 2A,3A and the Majors”
-you met a major leaguer
“He had an aura of playing in the best place in the world.”
-what will the deciding factor be?
“I can comfortable play in either league. In Japan, there won’t be any problems with food or training. Even in the Majors, there are teams offering to provide a translator, so there’s no uneasiness. If I go to America, I believe the teams that said ‘don’t worry’. My manager and parents both said ‘we’ll leave it up to you’, so I want to come to a conclusion without regret.
The NPB draft is the 29th. We’ll see what happens between now and then.
Aarom Baldiris has become expendable to the Hanshin Tigers, and the team is considering using him in a trade. Baldiris tore up ni-gun but failed to make an impact at the top level during his time with the Tigers. He did endear himself to Hanshin’s fans with his sharp defense and hustle.
Former Braves farmhand and current Kansai Leaguer Masayoshi Tokuda has passed a tryout with the Hiroshima Carp, which I take to mean that the team will draft him later this month. The linked article says that Tokuda signed a three-year minor league contract with the Braves after college, but I couldn’t find any stats from his minor league career.
Colby Lewis wants to stay in Hiroshima, stating after his most recent win: “of course I want to return to Hiroshima next year. I want talk contract for the next two months. I want to keep myself in shape.” Hiroshima has lost guys like Andy Sheets and Greg LaRocca to other teams in Japan, so there is some concern of Lewis following suit. Lewis has been outstanding in his two years with Hiroshima and will attract some MLB interest as well.
Reports persist that Hanshin has White Sox reliever Matt Thornton on their list of acquisition targets for this offseason. The story broke in September, and back then I found it too far-fetched to comment on, and it won’t happen, but it’s still out there. Hanshin figures to be busy this offseason, and is reportedly considering Korean slugger Tae-Kyun Kim as well as Hideki Matsui and now Akinori Iwamura.
Former Taiyo Whale Jim Tracy has led his Colorado Rockies to another playoff experience. Prior to taking over for Clint Hurdle, he was considered a candidate for the manager’s seat in Yokohama.
Tuffy Rhodes will be back for another year with Orix in 2010. He’ll enter the season with a good shot at 2000 careers MLB-NPB hits.
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=2cb553e4-2a08-4f8e-b5c0-49ee821e0046)