Patrick » 20 February 2009 » In mlb » Comments Off on Kawakami Adjusting
Lots of Koji Uehara on this site recently, not much Kenshin Kawakami. Let’s do something about that.
Kawakami is in camp with the Braves and has been working on adapting to the MLB ball. According to Sponichi, he threw 37 pitches in his most recent bullpen season, working in his cutter and curveball. This is a contrast to his approach in Japan, where he would only throw curves and fastballs until just before opening day.
Kawakami seems like he has a little work ahead of him in getting used to the MLB ball. The righty was quoted as saying  “suddenly throwing all these breaking pitches, well, there was some unease…” before adding, “I didn’t get comfortable with my breaking pitches. I want to talk to the pitching coach and come up with a solution that works for me”.
David Ross, who caught Kawakami’s bullpen session, said that Kawakami’s curveball reminded him of his former Dodgers teammate, Kazuhisa Ishii.
A look on the seven NPB players who qualified and elected to file for free agency after 2008, where I predicted them signing and where they actually signed.
Koji Uehara (P, Yomiuri Giants): Signed with Baltimore; I predicted St. Louis.
Kenshin Kawakami (P, Chunichi Dragons): Signed with Atlanta, which is where I predicted.
Ken Takahashi (P, HIroshima Carp): Signed a minor league deal with Toronto; I predicted a major league deal with the Mets.Â
Ryoji Aikawa (C,  Yokohama BayStars):  Signed with Yakult; I suggested that he might get a minor league deal with Detroit. I thought I predicted Rakuten as an NPB destination but I can’t find that now.
Daisuki Miura (P, Yokohama BayStars): Stayed with Yokohama; I predicted he’d sign with Hanshin.
Toshihiro Noguchi (C, Hanshin Tigers): Signed with Yokohama, which is where I predicted.
Norihiro Nakamura (3B, Chunichi Dragons): Signed with Rakuten, which is where I predicted.
So I got 3/7. Not too bad. The last two were pretty poorly kept secrets though, so it’s more like 1/5.
Man, it is pouring here in Silicon Valley on this President’s Day weekend. Great time to do a little bloggin’
The Japanese sports rags have been publishing pics of NPB camps for a couple of weeks, but now that MLB & WBC camps are opening we’ll get coverage of those as well:
Japan’s WBC camp has opened in Miyazaki, southern Japan. Several thousand fans were on hand to see Ichiro et al work out at Sun Marine Stadium. Here’s a pic of Ichiro and Daisuke Matsuzaka, with Yu Darvish in the background.
Staying: Hitoki Iwase, Byung-Gyu Lee, Maximo Nelson, Wei-Yin Chen, Tomas de la Rosa
Trending: downward
Synopsis: Chunichi lost three major contributors from it’s 2008 team, and so far hasn’t replaced any of them with a veteran signing. They still have a deep team, but will play 2009 without a veteran ace or middle-lineup slugger. Chunichi’s foreign additions for 2009 are of the discount bin variety, rather than established performers.
Going: Lew Ford, Ryan Vogelsong, Toshihiro Noguchi
Staying: Jeff Williams, Aarom Baldiris, Scott Achison, Chris Resop
Trending: about the same
Synopsis: Mench should be better than Ford, but aside from that Hanshin will go into 2009 with the same team that squandered a big lead down the stretch last season. The Tigers failed to land their offseason prize in Daisuke Miura, and in their nominal efforts to sign Kenshin Kawakami, so they still lack a guy who can eat 200+ innings. Resop could be an assett if he gets over his control issues.
Patrick » 17 January 2009 » In NPB Tracker » Comments Off on NPB Tracker Radio Appearance
Last Tuesday, I discussed Kenshin Kawamakami’s move to the Braves on The Bill Shanks Show on WIFN SportsRadio 105.5 the Fan in Macon, Georgia. Bill was kind enough to send me the audio of the interview, and I’m happy to present it here: Part 1 Part 2
Subscribers to scout.com can also check out the interview here.
Multiple sources have proclaimed that Kenshin Kawakami has signed with Atlanta. The Braves were my pick for him when free agency opened. Glad I got one right.
I don’t have time to write at the moment, but I will chip in this new information that Sponichi thinks he got a 3-year, $24m deal. I haven’t seen the dollar figure anywhere else yet, and Sponichi is writing this in uncertain terms, so we’ll see how acurate it turns out to be. More later.
All right, now I have a little time to write…
So to begin, Kawakami’s signing is getting a bit more press in the Japanese media. Here’s a sampling of articles from Nikkan Sports:
I didn’t read most of those articles, but there are the links. I wonder if Uehara would have made it in if he hadn’t worn a red jacket.
The question that I get most frequently on Kawakami is whether his numbers have been inflated by the big stadium he pitched in and the outstanding defense he had behind him. And the answer is, yeah, anyone would. That said, his k and bb rates have been consistent over the years, and better than Kuroda’s for the last few seasons. Jim Albright’s translations come out favorably as well. I like the move to NL as well, and the Braves seem to do pretty well with their pitchers.
Of course, it will remain to be seen whether his stuff generates as many strikeouts as it did in Japan, whether he can adjust to pitching on four days’ rest rather than five, and how he adjusts to a new country, language, and longer distances to travel. Uehara will, of course, have the same challenges.
Word on the street is that Kenshin Kawakami is nearing a deal with the Braves.  For his part, Kenshin is staying quiet. Nikkan Sports has this comment from the pitcher: “Basically I can’t say anything. In the end it is me that will decide, but I don’t want to disrupt the people who are negotiating.”
While we wait for a resolution, let’s enjoy this footage from Kawakami’s last regular season appearance in 2008, a start in which he held the Yokohama BayStars scoreless over six innings. (English box score courtesty of JapaneseBaseball.com).
Updated, Jan 2: The rumor of a final offer from the Orioles to Kawakami has been debunked — Pete Schmuck of the Baltimore Sun has the details. I should note at this point that it was only Sanspo that ran this report, other Japanese sources have said simply that Kawakami and the Orioles are “deep in negotiations“.
Sanspo has published a report saying that the Orioles have made their final offer to Kenshin Kawakami, and are waiting for a response. According to the article, the O’s have concerns about the health of Kawakami’s throwing shoulder, and are offering an incentive-laden deal. Agent Dan Evans is holding out for a higher base salary. Given that it’s an incentive-laden deal, I’d speculate that it would be a short term contract as well. The concerns over Kawakami’s arm are a bit eyebrow-raising for me; Kawakami missed time with a strained back and an undisclosed minor injury last season, but had otherwise been pretty healthy recently.
Rumors persist that the Orioles are interested in Koji Uehara as a starter, and Baltimore was the only club to show any interest in catcher Ryoji Aikawa at all.
The race for Kenshin Kawakami is heating up — Sponichi is reporting that the Twins and Giants are getting into the chase. The market for Kawakami has predictably built up with the signings of CC Sabathia and AJ Burnett, which frees up the Braves and Giants to get involved.
Dan Evans lists three reasons for Kawakami’s popularity:
They’re open to talking to all 30 teams, without concern for the team’s home park or how strong they are.
The acquiring team doesn’t have to worry about losing a draft pick for signing Kawakami.
Kawakami hasn’t had any major breakdowns over the last few years.
I think point #2 needs to be changed — MLB teams pay compensation to each other for acquiring free agents; so do NPB teams. Some kind of rights transfer compensation seems appropriate for players moving from NPB to MLB as well.