Continued Forays in Japan

by Dr Orpheus on Nov 30, 2009 9:16 PM EST

Last season I was ecstatic to hear that the Orioles were interested in Japanese pitchers Koji Uehara, Kenshin Kawakami, Ryoji Aikawa, and Ryohei Tanaka. The Os had been lacking in global appeal for years and signing one or more Japanese players would go a long way. Marketing, increased international revenue, and some new faces are always promised when signing or drafting players from outside the US and this was no exception. With Uehara, the "Greg Maddux of Japan", pitching in the majors and Tanaka developing in the minors, the Orioles are looking to take the next step into the Asian market.

Which leads us to word that international scouting director John Stockstill is interested in former Yomirui Giants teammate of Uehara, Hisanori Takahashi, a lefty starter/reliever, and I'm thinking, good but not great.

Takahasi's a solid lefty, but at 34 years old and with an erratic ERA and a sharp decline in innings pitched (dropped from 186 2/3 innings in 2007 to 122 in 2008), it makes me wonder what they'd get. Sure, the Os could use a lefty both in the back-end of their rotation and in their bullpen but I'm not sure Takahashi is the answer.

With that said, I wanted to open the floor to other comments on the Asian markets to see if there's someone(s) out there that can help our Os.

I'm hoping Stockstill keeps his eyes on shortstop Hiroyuki Nakajima of the Seibu Lions. He'll be a free agent at the end of 2010 and may decide to play in the MLB instead of Japan. He's still young enough, 28, to be effective at short and with a bat that would look pretty batting behind Brian Roberts, .298 career average with a .362 OBP and .473 slugging.

A reminder, our Os still have Ryohei Tanaka in Double-A and, while he was roughed up in the AFL, he pitched pretty well in his first season and could be a contributor in 2011, if not the end of 2010, and Uehara coming back from a injury plagued first season in the majors. Uehara will return to the team as a member of the bullpen, possibly in the closer role, and should continue to look solid if his injuries have mended.

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He’ll be a free agent at the end of 2010 and may decide to pitch in the MLB instead of Japan.

I’m a little confused. Do you mean play shortstop in the MLB?

Also, can anyone comment as to whether a .300 average in Japan correlates to a similar average in MLB? I kind of assume the pitching is better in the States, but maybe I’m just an arrogant xenophobe.

"I doubt he could reach [second base]...mostly cuz his fucking arm was in Aybar's nuts." – twistedlogic

by zknower on Nov 30, 2009 9:30 PM EST reply actions

Change made, thanks

I’m not sure, but his glove is what I’m most impressed with. In the WBC he hit pretty well and played a gold glove short. He’d be like Izturis but with a better bat. Not much better, but still better.

by Dr Orpheus on Nov 30, 2009 10:26 PM EST up reply actions

Some examples

Age played – Avg – Slg – Obp (sorry I could only find basic stats from Japan)
first stat line is Japan / second stat line is MLB

Ichiro Suzuki
19-26 – .353 – .522 – .421 / 27-35 – .333 – .434 – .378

Kazuo Matsui
20-27 – .309 – .486 – .361 / 28-33 – .271 – .387 – .325

Kosuke Fukudome
22-30 – .305 – .543 – .397 / 31-32 – .258 – .400 – .375

Hideki Matsui
19-28 – .304 – .582 – .413 / 29-35 – .292 – .482 – .370

It looks like generally, the hitting stats do go down. However, could that just be a function of the fact that they played their younger years in Japan (so the stats are skewed higher b/c their older years are not part of the sample), and then played their older years in MLB (so the stats are skewed lower)? Even if they do play the peak of their years in the MLB, their declining stats at the end of their career will drive their averages down. Anyway, I don’t have time to do anymore, but maybe that’ll give some idea….

"Real Orioles don't pout. Real Orioles don't gloat. Real Orioles just win."

by NewYorkOriole on Dec 1, 2009 12:53 PM EST up reply actions

the reason for it doesn't really matter

the trend is, their averages go down, in these cases by an average of 29 points. so a dude with a .298 career average is going to wind up being mediocre most likely.

"I doubt he could reach [second base]...mostly cuz his fucking arm was in Aybar's nuts." – twistedlogic

by zknower on Dec 1, 2009 7:45 PM EST up reply actions

Ha, I was just checking out NPB Tracker today, too.

I’m with you; I hope the O’s continue to look carefully at Japan for talent we need, especially now that we’ve signed Koji and have a foot in the door. I want to keep more of an eye on this stuff during this offseason; is there anywhere besides NPB Tracker where you get info about Japanese players that might come to the States and such?

Two somewhat related items: The Yankees aren’t concerned about the marketability of having Hideki Matsui return to the team. It makes me wonder if he’d be interested in joining his old teammate on the Orioles. However, I don’t know if we’d want a DH-only guy in the lineup with all the young guys we have who could use at-bats.

Also, apparently Jeff Fiorentino may be headed to Japan. Not exactly what I would have expected, but if that’s what ends up happening, good luck to him.

Weaver's Fourth Law: Your most precious possessions on offense are your twenty-seven outs.

by Vuff on Nov 30, 2009 11:15 PM EST reply actions