NPB Tracker

A couple of player personnel notes to pass along…

• Sanspo via Yahoo! Japan is saying that the Chiba Lotte Marines have added Dodgers lefty Eric Stults to their shopping list. Based on the one game I saw Stults pitch, a dominant performance against the Giants, I thought he was a pretty good prospect. I didn’t realize he was 29.
• According the same article, the Marines are nearly done with a deal for Blue Jays lefty Bill Murphy, who tried out for the team along with Bryan Corey and a couple others last month. Lotte sees Murphy as a middle reliever.
• Keiichi Yabu wants to make a comeback. This makes me wonder what Akinori Otsuka is up to.
• Masahide Kobayashi’s deal with Yomiuri is for one year at 50m yen ($500k) with 100m yen ($1m) in performance bonuses. Here’s a pic of him high above the Big Egg.
• Termel Sledge could get an official offer from Yokohama as soon as December 2. Word has it that the offer could exceed 400m yen ($4m) over two years.
• The Yomiuri Giants aren’t denying interest in Nippon Ham free agent Shugo Fujii.
• Orix is negiotating with former Blue Wave outfielder So Taguchi. Taguchi doesn’t have a preference between Japan and the US for 2010.

Consider the following:

• Nov 27 (JST): Sponichi publishes a blurb with information from Takashi Saito’s agent, saying that about eight teams are in on Saito. Four teams are named as suitors, all of which seem plausbile.
• Nov 29 (PST): I make note of the interest in Saito in a set of bullet points about him and a couple other free agents.
• Nov 29 (CST): MLB Trade Rumors picks up my post.
• Nov 29: The story makes its way into the US media, including Phil Rogers’ Chicago Tribune mention of the Cubs and White Sox interest in Saito.
• Dec 1 (JST): Sanspo publishes a story, citing the Chicago Tribune, saying that the Chicago teams are interested in Saito.

So this rumor, which is entirely reasonable, has come full circle: it originated in Japan, made its way via the blogosphere into the US media, and wound up getting repeated in a different Japanese publication. This isn’t meant to be self-congratulatory, but I think it demonstrates the position of social media.

Former Hanshin Tiger Aarom Baldiris will be reuniting with his former manager, Akinobu Okada, as a member of the Orix Buffaloes. In a Sponichi interview, Baldiris said, “I received couple offers from NPB clubs, but I wanted to play for the manager whom I started with in Japan. I hope to do my best to contribute for a championship.”

In two seasons with the Hanshin Tigers, Baldiris hit .205 with a total 4HR and 17RBI in 100 ichi-gun games. He had success at the ni-gun level, hitting .358 to lead the league in his second season.