I found out via Baseball America that NPB veteran Jeremy Powell has signed a minor-league deal with the Pirates. Here’s what BA had to say about Powell:
You might remember Powell as a nondescript righthander with the late-90s Expos. But given that he played his last game in this country in June 2001, you’d be forgiven if he had been expunged from memory. Montreal’s fourth-round pick in 1994, Powell peaked with the ‘99 Expos, compiling the sixth-most innings on the squad (behind Dustin Hermanson, Mike Thurman, Javier Vazquez, Miguel Batista and Carl Pavano and finishing just ahead of Anthony Telford) and going 4-8, 4.73 in 17 starts. He joined the Padres organization as a free agent in 2001, a decision that proved to be career altering. The then-25 Powell pitched well for Triple-A Portland (63-14 K-BB and 1.58 ERA in 74 innings as a starter), sure, but that success was nothing compared with the eight-year run in Japan that he embarked upon that summer. Unlike many players, who struggle to adjust to both Japanese baseball and culture, Powell was a success almost from the get-go. His first season with Kinetsu was shaky, but from 2002 through 2006, he went 63-52, 3.73 while averaging 150 strikeouts, 49 walks and 194 innings per season. His ‘07 and ‘08 campaigns featured ERAs of 5.80 and 5.29, however, so the 32-year-old Powell now will try to latch on with the Pirates.
JP’s last two seasons in Japan were marred by injuries and a contract controversy with Orix and SoftBank. Best of luck to Jeremy in catching on in Pittsburgh.
Update, Jan 16:Â Mitsui will remain with Seibu for 2009 and take another crack at a move to MLB next offseason.
Seibu’s second attempt to post Koji Mitsui this offseason has ended just like the first one did. This is the first time we’ve seen the same player posted twice in the same offseason; not sure why they expected it to go differently the second time. Akinori Otsuka was acquired by the Padres on his second posting attempt, but that was a full season after his first unsuccessful attempt. Otsuka is also one of the best relievers in NPB history, while Mitsui has been marginal.
Seibu team management is going to talk with Mitsui in the next couple of days and decide what direction to take in with him. I guess the two options would be for Seibu to release him outright and let him pursue an MLB contract, or let him rebuild value this season and try again next year.
Update, January 12, 8:09 pst: Things are picking up for Takahashi. Daily Sports has published a report saying that Ken heard from his agent on the 12th, and had this to say: “I’m told that we’re in the middle of negotiations. I don’t really know what kind of response we’re getting. I’m in waiting state. Just getting my body into baseball shape. I can’t say anything beyond that.” Despite this, the Daily Sports report says that the Cubs remain in the lead, but there are official offers from the Orioles and Phillies, and that a decision on his destination could come as early as the beginning of next week.
A Mainichi report states that the Blue Jays and Mets are also interested.
Update, January 11, 10:30pm pst: Sanspo has comments from Takahashi: “I don’t know the details of what was published in the newspaper. I’m just practicing by myself to get my body ready for baseball.” Commenting on the fact that his destination hasn’t been decided yet, Takahashi said, “I’m certainly waiting nervously. Even if it takes the whole month, I think there’s not much you can do”.
Sports Hochi is reporting that the Cubs are close to a deal with lefthanded pitcher Ken Takahashi. According to Hochi it’s a one-year, major-league deal and the Cubs would look to him to start and pitch in middle relief. The article speculates that the Cubs are looking to bring in someone to support Kosuke Fukudome, but I don’t see the logic in signing another rookie. They might as well bring in Akinori Otsuka or someone that’s been through the league already. Ken Kadokura and Shigeki Noguchi auditioned for the Cubs last month as well.
This is very early speculation and I haven’t found any other mentions of it in the Japanese media, so we’ll see if the story develops.
Former SoftBank Hawks pitcher Michinao Yamamura is the latest released NPB minor leaguer to announce he’s taking a shot at signing on with an American organization. He’ll be flying to Arizona on the 25th to spend 4 days playing winter league games and trying out. “My agent is talking to a number of teams about a minor league contract. Ever since I threw in international games in college, going overseas has been a dream,” said the righthander. Yamamura, 30, has made 25 appearances at the top level in Japan, going 2-2 with a 3.58 era in 27 2/3 innings.
I can’t remember ever hearing about this many released  minor leaguers attempting to move to MLB organizations in a single offseason. Perhaps I’m paying more attention this year.
All of these players have been released by their NPB organizations. With the exception of Kadokura, Noguchi, and Maekawa, none of them spent that much time at the top level in Japan. Even if they are signed, most of these guys are more likely to be organizational players rather than actual MLB prospects, but it’s still an interesting trend.
Multiple sources have proclaimed that Kenshin Kawakami has signed with Atlanta. The Braves were my pick for him when free agency opened. Glad I got one right.
I don’t have time to write at the moment, but I will chip in this new information that Sponichi thinks he got a 3-year, $24m deal. I haven’t seen the dollar figure anywhere else yet, and Sponichi is writing this in uncertain terms, so we’ll see how acurate it turns out to be. More later.
All right, now I have a little time to write…
So to begin, Kawakami’s signing is getting a bit more press in the Japanese media. Here’s a sampling of articles from Nikkan Sports:
I didn’t read most of those articles, but there are the links. I wonder if Uehara would have made it in if he hadn’t worn a red jacket.
The question that I get most frequently on Kawakami is whether his numbers have been inflated by the big stadium he pitched in and the outstanding defense he had behind him. And the answer is, yeah, anyone would. That said, his k and bb rates have been consistent over the years, and better than Kuroda’s for the last few seasons. Jim Albright’s translations come out favorably as well. I like the move to NL as well, and the Braves seem to do pretty well with their pitchers.
Of course, it will remain to be seen whether his stuff generates as many strikeouts as it did in Japan, whether he can adjust to pitching on four days’ rest rather than five, and how he adjusts to a new country, language, and longer distances to travel. Uehara will, of course, have the same challenges.
Word on the street is that Kenshin Kawakami is nearing a deal with the Braves.  For his part, Kenshin is staying quiet. Nikkan Sports has this comment from the pitcher: “Basically I can’t say anything. In the end it is me that will decide, but I don’t want to disrupt the people who are negotiating.”
While we wait for a resolution, let’s enjoy this footage from Kawakami’s last regular season appearance in 2008, a start in which he held the Yokohama BayStars scoreless over six innings. (English box score courtesty of JapaneseBaseball.com).
Patrick » 05 January 2009 » In mlb prospects » Comments Off on Seibu to Post Mitsui Again
Insanity is doing the same thing, over and over again, but expecting different results.
American writer Rita Mae Brown, 1983
Sponichi is reporting that Seibu is going to take another shot at posting 35 year-old lefy Koji Mitsui. Mitsui, as you’ll recall, was posted in December but failed to attract any bids from MLB teams. Said Mitsui: “I was heartbroken (not to get any bids), but I again felt like I want to play in America, so I made the request”. Team president Shinji Kobayashi added “we want to do something to help him fulfill his hope.”
I don’t think anything has changed since Mitsui’s first posting period ended less than two weeks ago. He’d probably generate more interest if he went out to Arizona for a throwing session, and then started the bidding. This second posting seems rushed to me.
Updated, Jan 2: The rumor of a final offer from the Orioles to Kawakami has been debunked — Pete Schmuck of the Baltimore Sun has the details. I should note at this point that it was only Sanspo that ran this report, other Japanese sources have said simply that Kawakami and the Orioles are “deep in negotiations“.
Sanspo has published a report saying that the Orioles have made their final offer to Kenshin Kawakami, and are waiting for a response. According to the article, the O’s have concerns about the health of Kawakami’s throwing shoulder, and are offering an incentive-laden deal. Agent Dan Evans is holding out for a higher base salary. Given that it’s an incentive-laden deal, I’d speculate that it would be a short term contract as well. The concerns over Kawakami’s arm are a bit eyebrow-raising for me; Kawakami missed time with a strained back and an undisclosed minor injury last season, but had otherwise been pretty healthy recently.
Rumors persist that the Orioles are interested in Koji Uehara as a starter, and Baltimore was the only club to show any interest in catcher Ryoji Aikawa at all.
Patrick » 30 December 2008 » In mlb prospects » Comments Off on Iyono Next to Pursue an MLB Career
Former Hanshin pitcher Takateru Iyono is the latest NPB veteran to announce his intent to try to land with an MLB organization this offseason. The 28 year-old righty was released by the Tigers after six ineffective seasons spent mostly on the farm team. He failed to catch on with another NPB team after two tryouts, and is ready for a change of scenery. “My results haven’t been good recently, and I had been thinking to myself that if this year was bad I’d want to challenge myself (in a different environment)”, said Iyono.
Iyono had trained earlier in December with former teammate Kyuji Fujikawa in LA. He’ll return to the States sometime in on January 9 to work out in front of MLB scouts. He’s probably an organizational arm at this point, but his sidearm delivery will give him a different look to most of the other minor league righties out there. Word has it that he’s recently added a changeup to his repertoire.
I can’t remember ever seeing this many NPB minor leaguers take a shot at signing wtih MLB organizations in a single offseason. As recently as a couple years ago, few NPB veterans would have seen a move to America as a viable option.
Akinori Otsuka is in the news again. He’s planning to work out in front of all 30 MLB teams in Arizona next month. Padres GM Kevin Towers was quoted in Sports Hochi last week as saying he’d like to sign Otsuka if his elbow is okay. Otsuka was one of the best relievers in NPB history and had four solid MLB seasons, so unless his arm is about to fall off I’m guessing he’ll got a shot somewhere. It’s actually a little surprising that no one signed him for last season; he could have been had for a cheap two-year deal where he could have spent the first year rehabbing under team supervision. I guess no one wanted to take that kind of chance on his health. Otsuka (I believe) still has a residence in San Diego, so the Padres would be a logical destination. I threw out the idea a couple of weeks ago that he could sign with Seattle, as he has a good relationship with Don Wakamatsu from their days in Texas.
In other comeback news, Yomiuri Giants castaways Ken Kadokura and Shigeki Noguchi both worked out for a Cubs representative on Dec 23. Sports Hochi thinks that Kadokura has a shot at signing with the Chicago. Last we heard, Kadokura had an offer from SK in the Korean League, but now he’s saying that he wants to play in America. Noguchi, who failed a tryout with Rakuten last month, will retire if he doesn’t get a chance to play with an American organization. So far neither player has heard back from the Cubs.