NPB Tracker

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

Who are some other good candidates?

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.

In other news, Sponichi has a report that the Rays would consider Matsui if they can move Pat Burell, reports persist that the Angels could turn to Matsui if negotiations with Vlad Guererro stall, and the Mets are looking into whether Matsui can play in the field on a regular basis.

The market for Ryota Igarashi is showing it’s first signs of life. Sanspo has quotes from a couple of key figures…

• 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.

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.”
• The Hanshin Tigers are no longer interested in Matsui, citing his desire to remain in MLB.

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.

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 Nagashima to 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.

The previously reported Naoyuki Shimizu deal to Yokohama is now complete. In an obvious salary dump, Lotte sends Shimizu across the Tokyo Bay in return for pitcher Takumi Nasuno and catcher Toshio Saito.

The question now is, will we see Lotte shed any more payroll? Hanshin was interested in Shunsuke Watanabe…

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.

Update, Nov 17: The team Morillo has signed with is the Rakuten Golden Eagles, not Hanshin.

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.

Stay tuned for updates.