NPB Tracker

Ken Kadokura wants to continue his career with an MLB organization, and Sports Hochi is reporting that the pitcher is already reaching out to the Cardinals and Orioles. I suspect the teams he’s starting with were among those that showed interest in him during the offseason.

Word out of Japan is that the Cubs have released pitcher Ken Kadokura. Kadokura had appeared in six spring training games and was demoted to the minors on March 18. I don’t find this shocking but I did think he’d last longer. 

Kadokura had an offer to join a Korean team in the offseason, but turned it down to join the Cubs. KBO foreign rosters are certainly set at this point, so that option is probably off the table for now. He also said that he had more than one MLB offer, so we’ll see if there are any takers for him.

Surprising news out of Japan today — apparently the Marlins are close to a deal that would land them Yu Darvish. The Marlins’ management team has found a way to work around the posting system – offering Darvish’s current team, the Nippon Ham Fighters, an ownership stake in the team.  Nippon Ham has granted the Marlins an exclusive negotiating window with Darvish and if they can agree to terms, the Nippon Ham will release him and take over their reportedly significant share of the Marlins franchise.

A person familiar with the negotiations was quoted as saying, “it’s the beginning of April and the Marlins almost fooled themselves that they were ready to compete with the Phillies and Mets with the roster they have. Getting Darvish should push them over the top.” Added Japanese analyst Shigatsu Jodan, “this gives the company the opportunity to keep Darvish in the Nippon Ham family and should open up a great new market in south Florida for the company’s ham, pork and bacon products.” Darvish’s agent Aberilu Furu issued a firm “no comment”.

I certainly didn’t see this one coming.

If you’ve selected this text and the hints are too subtle, check the date.

As we first learned from commenter Nelson, the Blue Jays have released lefty Ken Takahashi. Baseball sources have confirmed his release from the Jays, and mlb.com also has a blurb about him signing with the Mets.

So it looks like the prediction that I made in the offseason has turned out to be correct.

Update, March 27, 6:30pm: A friend of mine who’s in the know pointed out the correct Romanization of Kim’s name, so I’ve corrected it below.

Picked this one up on the Japanese version of joins.com, which appears to be a Korean publication.The article, quoting a scout from a Korean team, says the Cubs have signed high schooler Dong-Yub Kim to a contract with a $550k bonus. Kim is a 6’1, 181 lbs. outfielder who reportedly projects to have some power.

This is the first MLB signing out of Korea this offseason. I’ll post more information if I can find any.

Scouting Asia has become a full-time operation for a number of MLB teams. Here are a few that I expect to see watching Japan this season.

Note that I haven’t included the most obvious teams here; by now it isn’t a surprise if the Red Sox, Dodgers or Mets are in the mix for a Japanese player. Nor is it meant to be an exhaustive list; there’s always room for surprises.

Texas Rangers: Pacific Rim scout Jim Colborn’s name shows up in the Japanese media fairly frequently. Colborn coached in Japan in the early 90’s and has Kazuo Fukumori and Yukinaga Maeda. He was last seen scouting a couple of pitchers from Hosei University. Texas also had the top dollar offer for Junichi Tazawa but were rebuffed for Boston.

Toronto Blue Jays: The Jays set up a Pacific Rim department last offseason, headed up by former Nippon Ham Fighter Rob Ducey. They also signed lefthanders Ken Takahashi and Shigeki Noguchi to minor league deals over the offseason, though Noguchi failed his physical. The linked report indicates they’ll be looking for more central pieces as the department ramps up.

San Francisco Giants: Not much to go on here, but Asia scout John Cox’s name has shown up in the media a couple of times. I can’t think of a notable Japanese/NPB signing the Giants have made (unless we count Masashi Murakami) so we’ll see if they make one this year.

New York Yankees: Gene Michael made a trip to Japan last year, reportedly to watch Yu Darvish. I expect that they’ll continue to monitor top guys like Darvish and Norichika Aoki as longer-term prospects, but not be hunting for bargains or middling players.

Atlanta Braves: Signed Kenshin Kawakami and Yoshinori Yamarin last season, and also made a strong bid for Tazawa. Atlanta has also signed minor league-level amateurs such as Ryohei Shimabukuro and Kazuhiro Takeoka in the past.

I’ll have a list of guys they might be competing for within a week or so.

47News tipped me off to the info that the Red Sox have optioned Junichi Tazawa to the minors. A glance at the Red Sox transactions page confirms that he will start his American career at AA Portland, as expected. Tazawa generally impressed in the Red Sox camp. He’ll have a lot of adjustments to make over the course of his first professional season, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see him in Boston at some point this year.

The Orioles’ fan community has shown some interest in Ryohei Tanaka, so I thought I’d share this video of his workout in January that I stumbled across. Looks like he has a shuuto.

Former Seibu Lion, Yokohama BayStar and Yomiuri Giant Tatsuya Ozeki failed in his audition with the Rockies. The outfielder made the announcement in an entry on his blog, saying he had hoped to become a player who could succeed in America despite being passed over in Japan. He’s back in Japan now. I’ll guess he’ll be looking for something new to do. For those who are interested in following he is frequently updating his blog.

According to multiple Japanese sources, over 20 scouts from more than 10 teams gathered to watch Japan’s exhibition game against the Cubs, with the center of attention obviously being Yu Darvish. Darvish didn’t disappoint, holding the Cubs scoreless in his two innings of work. Nikkan Sports adds that he hit 96mph on the gun, or about 155kmph. His fastest recorded pitch in NPB is 154kmph so he might have dialled it up a little bit for the Cubs. He also threw his two-seam fastball and slider, but no word on whether his curveball has made an appearance. 

I didn’t see any of this game. I actually get WGN on my cable system so I’m kicking myself for not knowing whether they aired it or not. Anyway, here are some quotes from people who were there as reported by Nikkan Sports:

Alfonso Soriano: “He’s a good pitcher. His breaking pitches in particular stand out. He’s a tough opponent. He could definitely play in the majors.”

Carlos Zambrano: “He has an aura on the mound. That’s important for a pitcher. He uses his off-speed pitches well, and really knows how to pitch.”

SF Giants Far East Scount John Cox: “We don’t know if he’ll come over via posting or as a free agent, but if he’s interested in the majors we’ll think about acquiring him.”

Daisuke Matsuzaka will reportedly start against Cuba in round two, so we can expect to see Darvish later in the tournament.