Tag Archive > Lenny DiNardo

Deadline Talent

» 19 July 2010 » In nichibei, npb » 3 Comments

Last autumn, I compiled a list of guys who I thought would be good candidates to play in NPB this season. A couple of them made it over, most did not.

I didn’t rank my selections, but there were four guys that I liked better than the rest. One of them was Matt Murton (easy for me to say now, yes); let’s take a look at how the others have done Stateside this season:

  • Mike Hessman – having a 3A career year with a .985 OPS, but missed time with a stress fracture in his right hand, and is just beginning to rehab.
  • Lenny DiNardo – was having a typical DiNardo 3A campaign with a 3.52 ERA and plenty of groundball outs, but has been on the shelf since late May, I believe with a hamstring injury.
  • Kevin Frandsen -bounced from San Francisco to Boston to Anaheim, and is currently on the Angels’ 25-man roster. My FanGraphs colleague Marc Hulet gave his work with the Angels a moderate thumbs up a couple weeks ago. For what it’s worth, I kind of saw Frandsen as a spiritual successor to Bobby Rose in Yokohama.

Suffice to say, none of these guys will be playing in Japan this season. The July 31 player acquisition deadline is looming, and more than half the NPB teams have looked outside of Japan for reinforcements, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Hayden Penn turned out to be the last.

Continue reading...

Tags: , , , , ,

While I Was Away

» 16 January 2010 » In mlb, nichibei, npb » 18 Comments

Okay, time to come out of hiatus with my first NPB Tracker post of the year.

Player Personnel

Did I miss anyone?

Other News

  • MLB and NPB are discussing holding a global world series between the champions from the two leagues. It doesn’t seem as close as initially reported, but I would love to see this happen. More later…
  • Having failed to get any NPB offers, former Orix Buffaloe Katsuaki Furuki is moving into the ring and becoming a figher
  • Yusei Kikuchi has begun working out for his first pro spring training. And believer or not, he’s walking on air
  • More jibba-jabba about Yu Darvish going to MLB
  • Matt Murton will play center field for Hanshin

Any other big stories over the last few weeks that I didn’t include?

Continue reading...

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Chiba Lotte Still After Stults

» 24 December 2009 » In nichibei, npb » 5 Comments

Sponichi is reporting that the Chiba Lotte Marines are sending a rep Stateside at the beginning of the year to negotiate with/for Dodgers pitcher Eric Stults. The Marines have been interested in Stults for a couple of months, and apparently the Dodgers turned them down once already.

In the event the Marines are unable to land Stults, the Marines are preparing a new list of candidates, which could include Yankees farmhand Romulo Sanchez. I don’t think I need to repeat my opinion, but I will — why negotiate for a pitcher who is under contract when Lenny DiNardo is available as a free agent?

Continue reading...

Tags: , ,

Attention SoftBank, Hiroshima, Rakuten

» 22 December 2009 » In nichibei, npb » 13 Comments

If any of the teams in the title of this post are reading, you could all use a suketto pitcher, and Lenny DiNardo is still unsigned. Give Lenny a shot.

Continue reading...

Tags:

2010 Foreign Player Candidates

» 12 November 2009 » In nichibei, npb » 3 Comments

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?

Continue reading...

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Hanshin to Import Pitchers

» 03 November 2009 » In nichibei, npb » 2 Comments

Sanspo is reporting on Hanshin’s import pitching shopping list, and is naming names. Tigers manager Akinobu Mayumi says that Hanshin is after two middle relievers and one starter, to fill in for the departing Scott Atchison and Jeff Williams.

The names we have are:

  • Adrian Burnside (recently released by Yomiuri)
  • Brad Thomas (two-year Japan veteran, had been in Korea)
  • Jo Jo Reyes (Atlanta Braves)
  • Wil Ledezma (Washington Nationals)
  • Juan Morillo (Minnesota Twins)
  • Bob Keppel (Minnesota Twins)

Burnside didn’t appear at all with Yomiuri’s top team this year, so you’d have to figure he’d be a low-risk, low-investment type of signing. Thomas probably fits into the same category.

Reyes is an interesting name. He’s still pretty young, and I had the impression that he was a decent prospect for the Braves at one point. Morillo, as I recall from his time with the Rockies, is a hard thrower with bad command. I don’t know much about the other guys.

Two guys I’d like to see get a shot in Japan, with Hanshin or elsewhere, are Lenny DiNardo and Bobby Korecky. I couldn’t understand why DiNardo didn’t get more of a look in Oakland, when I saw him I thought he could contribute in the bigs (though I didn’t realize he had such a troubling k/bb rate). And Korecky is a guy who I haven’t seen, but has performed consistently well in the minors but never gotten a real shot to last in MLB.

Continue reading...

Tags: , , , , , , , , ,