NPB Tracker

Fun fact: a Japanese player has appeared in every World Series since 2002, beginning with Tsuyoshi Shinjo with the San Francisco Giants. This year, I’ve noticed a number of NPB connections on the eight MLB playoff teams.

Chicago Cubs

• Scapegoat Kosuke Fukudome played 10 years for the Chunichi Dragons.
• Derek Lee’s father, Leon Lee, and uncle, Leron Lee, both played 10+ years in Japan. Derek has said that he would like to finish his career in Japan.
• Alfonso Soriano came up through the Hiroshima Carp Domican Academy and played briefly in Japan before joining the Yankees.

Los Angeles Dodgers

• Pitchers Hiroki Kuroda and Takashi Saito are NPB veterans. 

Philedelphia Phillies

• Manager Charlie Manual played for the Yakult Swallows and Kintetsu Buffaloes in the late 70’s and early 80’s. 
• Reserve bat Matt Stairs played for the Chunichi Dragons before sticking with an MLB team.
• Bench outfielder So Taguchi played for the Orix Blue Wave alongside Ichiro.

Milwaukee Brewers

• Though neither one is on the playoff roster, Gabe Kapler and Joe Dillon both spent part of a season with the Yomiuri Giants.
• Solomon Torres pitched in Korea before making his MLB comeback.

Tampa Bay Rays

• Man of the hour Akinori Iwamura came over from the Yakult Swallows two years ago.

Chicago White Sox

• Former Softbank Hawk DJ Carrasco is on the White Sox’ playoff roster.

Boston Red Sox

• Daisuke Matsuzaka and Hideki Okajima.

LA Angels of Anaheim

• Anyone know of any?

By now it’s common knowledge among baseball fans that Junichi Tazawa has elected to forego a career in Nippon Pro Baseball and jump right in to an MLB organization. The Red Sox, Pirates, Braves, Mariners and Cubs have been publicly linked with Tazawa, with Boston considered the front runner to land him. Based on the hype he’s getting I’d expect him to get a contract in the first round draft pick range.

Tazawa’s announcement has predictably send a shock wave through Japanese baseball. Meetings are underway — so far the 12 NPB have met amongst themselves and with three amateur baseball bodies; and NPB commissioner Ryozo Kato is meeting with Bud Selig on September 16 in New York (correction 9/16: representatives from the two commissioners offices are meeting today, a meeting between the actual commissioners is on the cards for later). My impression is that the Japanese baseball institution is more intent on preventing this development from setting a precedent than it is blocking this individual player’s move to the US.

Much of the discussion seems to be around the uneven playing field between NPB and MLB teams in pursuit of Tazawa. Tazawa is subject to the NPB draft, while he’s eligible to sign as a free agent with MLB teams. This puts NPB at a considerable disadvantage: NPB teams can only offer draft picks a maximum bonus of about $1M, while MLB teams aren’t bound to a limit; NPB scouts are limited in when they can talk to amateur players while MLB scouts don’t have to comply to such limits. Like MLB, NPB has a draft system to try and fairly distribute talent among the teams. It would be a shame to see that effort undermined, and it seems worthwhile to revisit the rules for teams scouting players subject to the NPB draft.

It’s important to note that the news here is not necessarily the MLB interest, but that Tazawa has chosen to forgo the NPB draft. NPB and MLB have had an unwritten agreement in place since 1962 that prohibits MLB teams from signing Japanese NPB draft candidates, but that hasn’t stopped MLB teams from trying to sign top Japanese amateurs in the past. Tazawa is the first to accept the overtures. So while MLB teams have mostly honored the letter of the gentleman’s agreement, they haven’t entirely honored the spirit of it. It’s only now that a top talent has been lured away that the NPB institution is getting upset.

Another thing to consider is that each year MLB teams sign much of the top young amateur players out of Taiwan and Korea, and no one bats an eye. Why is that? MLB’s interest in the players from these countries is a validation of the talent that’s there, but I think it impedes the development of local leagues and deprives fans of seeing some of their countries’ top players compete in international competition. Japan has managed to retain its top talent and making them stars at home, which is one of the reasons NPB is a strong league.

Tim Dierkes included my comments that a Japanese team could go after a guy like Aaron Crow or Pedro Alvarez in his most recent post on the Tazawa situation. At this point it would be an obvious retaliation move but under the right circumstances it would make sense for both sides. The player would get a viable alternative to MLB — playing in Japan in front of tens of thousands of fans every night, for millions of dollars. The team would get a talented player that they could eventually send back to MLB via the posting system (Ramon Ramirez is a non-Japanese player who was developed and posted by the Hiroshima Carp).

Obviously there is a lot left to happen before the situation is resolved, but Tazawa has already gotten his name in the history books just by announcing his decision. This development might bring about change to bring NPB and MLB together, or it might drive them apart. I’m hoping for the former.

Update, Sept 3: For more on Tazawa the pitcher, please see this post.

Update: Simon pointed out that minor detail that I glossed over — that the signing hasn’t happened yet, just that Theo Epstein ok’ed it. I guess my inner hot stove got the better of me. The subject matter of the post is still valid, and I’ve made appropriate tense corrections to reflect the actual situation.

Sponichi is reporting that the Boston Red Sox have signed are looking to sign amateur pitcher Junichi Tazawa from Eneos Oil of the Industrial Leagues. Tazawa is a 22 year-old righthander with a fastball that reportedly reaches 97 mph, and is widely considered a top amateur going into this year’s NPB draft. All 12 NPB teams, as well as the Braves and Mets had been watching Tazawa in addition to Boston.

Theo Epstein comments in the article on scouting Japanese amateurs (warning: translation of a translation):

“We know how good Japanese pitchers are through Daisuke (Matsuzaka) and Oki (Hideki Okajima). The time has come when all 30 MLB teams have data on Japanese pitchers, but we’re proactive about data on young players.”

At this point I would like to note that terms of the signing were not included in the article, nor have I seen an official announcement. So hopefully there will be more details to come. It’s possible that The signing isn’t final yet.

This potential signing is likely to cause a stir in NPB. According to the article, there are no clear rules prohibiting MLB teams from signing Japanese amateurs prior to being drafting in NPB, but this is would be the first time that a consensus first round talent could potentially join an MLB team before being drafted. The NPB brass has never been nuts about losing veteran talent to MLB, so we’ll see how they would react to losing a coveted amateur.

This isn’t wouldn’t be Boston’s first amateur signing out of Japan. The signed relief pitching prospect Ryo Kumagai out of college a few years ago, and attempted to sign catcher Hayato Doue from the independant Shikoku Island League earlier this year. Kumagai wound up back in Japan pitching in the amateur industrial leagues pretty quickly, while I believe Doue failed to secure a visa and never made it over.

Japanese Articles:

• Orix has removed the interim tag from manager Daijiro Ohishi’s title. Ohishi has led the team back into contention after a dismal start to the season.
• In more Orix news, veteran slugger Kazuhiro Kiyohara appeared in his first game since 2006. Kiyohara entered the game in 7th innning as a pinch hitter, striking out swinging in his only at bat in what looks like the beginning of his farewell tour.
• Kei Igawa commented his removal from the Yankees 40-man roster on his blog. He mostly reiterates things that he’s said before: that he has no intention of returning to Japan and that he’s using this experience as motivation to reach the Major Leagues.

English Articles:

• Tokyo Big6 University League rivals Waseda and Keio are travelling to Brazil to play some exhibition games in recognition of 100 years of Japanese immigration to Brazil.
• The Royals designated Yasuhiko Yabuta for assignment, giving the Royals 10 days to trade or release the former Lotte reliever.
• Bobby Valentine comments on his Marines’ 2nd half chances on Marines.tv.
• Deanna treats us to postings on All-Star Game 1 and Game 2.

So I must say that I’m disappointed to see Hideo Nomo‘s career end as it did. Although Nomo was obviously a shadow of his former self these past few years, I still think he deserves better. It would be nice to see him get a one-day contract with the Dodgers or Orix Buffaloes so he could get a last cheer from the fans. Nomo suited up for a lot of different teams over the last 18 years, but I’ll always think of him as either a Dodger or a Buffalo.

If you’ve made your way to this site, you can no doubt find the many English language articles that have been published on Nomo in the last day or two. So I’m going to focus on Japanese language content (translations courtesy of me).

Comments from Daisuke Matsuzaka, via Sponichi Annex:

“He was the one who inspired me to clearly aim for the Major Leagues while I was in middle school. Since then my goal had been to stand in the same park with him.

“It’s a shame that we couldn’t meet on the field while we had the chance this year and last”

Comments from (Kintetsu Buffaloes teammates) Daijiro Ohishi, Motoyuki Akahori, Hideki Irabu, and Yu Darvish, again via Sponichi Annex:

Ohishi: “I knew he was going to retire someday, but actually hearing it makes me sad. He was a strikeout/walk pitcher, so as fielder it was tough defending (behind him).”

Akahori: “He really was an amazing pitcher. It feels like an era has ended. I want to say ‘well done'”

Irabu: “He was the one that contributed the bridge between Japanese and American baseball. I’d like to tell him ‘you did great work’. I hope that he’ll continue to work hard for baseball in another form”

Darvish: “I think he can still play. I expect him to come out of retirement, but for now I’d like to say ‘well done'”

And last but not least, here’s a YouTube video of Nomo’s first career victory for the old Kintetsu Buffaloes team. It was Nomo’s third career appearance and he struck out 17 Orix Braves, mostly with his splitter.

Hideo Nomo has retired. The announcement was posted on his website according to the Japanese media. I can’t get to his site right now, but here’s the English language press release.

Update: I finally got to the site but there was nothing enlightening there. All signs were pointing to Nomo being done anyway; pitched in three games for the Royals earlier this year but was awful and got released. Sanspo reported earlier in the year that Rakuten was in negotiations with Nomo, but nothing ever came of it. That’s too bad, I was hoping to see him make a farewell tour in Japan.

I think the baseball community owes Nomo quite a bit: he helped create a new opportunity in MLB for Japanese players, and opened up the Japanese market for MLB teams. The two sides are certainly closer now than they were 15 years ago, and it started with him.

While Nomo’s legacy will mostly be as a pioneer, let’s not forget he was a great pitcher as well. He won 201 games between Japan and America. He also threw two MLB no-hitters, the first of which was at Coors Field. Although he was inconsistant in his later years, he was certainly dominant at times.

Mainichi.jp has a nice photo retrospective of Nomo’s career.

…and there’s an accomplished one available, Barry Lamar Bonds.

I had been thinking of Bonds since I read that the Hawks are looking for a new foreign power hitter a couple of days ago, but kind of dismissed it as being unrealistic. But after thinking about it for a while, it makes a certain degree of sense. There would be some drawbacks, too. Let’s run down the pros and cons:

The Case For:

• The Hawks are 4th in the Pacific League with 70 home runs, and tied with Rakuten (who have played fewer games) for 3rd with 370 runs. Bonds in the middle of the lineup would change that.
• The Hawks only have one foreign batter on their roster currently, Michael Restovich, who has mostly played first base. Softbank has used five foreign pitchers this year, and would still have to do some roster juggling to come in under the foreign player limit.
• Restovich has underperformed this year with only three HR’s. The Hawks can put him on the bench and create a rotation of Bonds, Nobuhiko Matsunaka and Hiroki Kokubo between LF, DH, and 1B.
• The Hawks are managed by Sadaharu Oh. Oh holds the world record for professional home runs with 868 and has been under the microscope. He seems to sympathize with Bonds as well, probably for these reasons.
• The Hawks’ parent company, Softbank, is owned by Japan’s richest man, Masayoshi Son. Son has made several statements that he wants to build a world-class baseball team and even once offered to host a “true” World Series, with $100M of his own money going to the winner. Signing Bonds would make a splash.
• It would be a chance for Bonds to compete again. The Hawks will certainly make the playoffs and with a healthy Bonds could be the favorite for the Pacific League title. He hasn’t won a championship in MLB. A Japan title wouldn’t replace that but it would be a great achievement in it’s own right.
• I’ve actually seen Bonds do interviews with the Japanese media, including one where they followed him around a spring training. Maybe he gets along better with the Japanese press.

The Case Against:

• Bonds’ popularity in Japan has plummeted since all the BALCO stuff came out. He was once a star there; not so much any more.
• He would probably be immediately subjected to a drug test.
• There would still be intense media scrutiny over there; if anything it may be more intense than what it would be in the US.
• It’s possible that Bonds’ tarnished reputation could backfire with fans.
• Bonds’ presence could create a distraction for the other players.
• It would probably be a month before we see him in action.

It would certainly be a gamble for Softbank to sign Bonds, but it makes sense for baseball reasons. I think it makes sense for both sides. As a fan of Japanese baseball, I was a little conflicted about writing this — in some ways I’d kind of like to see NPB prove itself on it’s own terms, without a guy like Bonds around. But then again, it would be great to see Bonds face off against pitchers like Yu Darvish, Hisashi Iwakuma, and Yoshihisa Naruse. And maybe it would draw a little more attention to NPB internationally, which I think would be great.

Bonds’ agent issued a “no comment” when asked about Japan (SFGate via mlbtraderumors.com), which suggests to me that it’s not out of the question. Unlikely, yes, but not out of the question.

Pro Yakyu links on an NPB off-day.

• Simon at jhockey has done a little number crunching on Japan’s top hitters and pitchers.
• Deanna posted pics from her May 12th visit to a Nippon Ham minor league game.
• Yomiuri Giants 1st baseman Lee Seung-Yeop will represent Korea in Beijing Olympics.
• Victor Starffin‘s oldest daughter Natasha made an appearance at a Yomiuri Giants fan get-together, and will throw the ceremonial first pitch at the Giants’ July 15 game against Chunichi. Starffin is one of the fascinating characters in Japanese baseball history. Here’s his Wikipedia page; I have quite a bit more material on him in Japanese and I’ll him to my to-do list.
• Colby Lewis put up his 11th win for the Carp. The former Ranger and Athletic leads the Central League in wins, innings, strikeouts and is 5th in ERA.
• Following up on yesterday’s post, Yasuhiko Yabuta pitched two scoreless innings for Omaha but didn’t figure in the decsion. Kazuo Fukumori gave up one run on two hits in one inning pitched for Oklahoma. Fukumori has actually put up the better numbers of the two in AAA.

I’ve been a fan of Hideki Okajima literally since the moment I arrived in Japan for the first time. It was August, 2000 and I had just landed in Osaka to start a tour of foreign study. The bus that I took into the city had a TV in it, and on the way downtown I alternated between watching the brightly-lit arcades and pachinko parlors out the window, and watching the Giants beat whoever they were playing that night.

Okajima was the guy that made the biggest impression on me. His unusual delivery and big breaking pitches jumped out at me as being MLB-caliber*. He did, of course, cross the Pacific to join the Red Sox last year, where he enjoyed great success.

Okajima’s success triggered an MLB interest in NPB veteran relievers last off-season. Three signed with big league teams: Masahide Kobayashi with the Indians, Yasuhiko Yabuta with the Royals, and Kazuo Fukumori with the Rangers.

Number writer Yasushi Kikuchi calls this the “Post Okajima Generation“. But of the three post-Okajima pitchers, only Kobayashi has had any kind of success.

Kikuchi supplies some comments from Kobayashi that give some insight into why he’s done well so far. Here are my translations:

“People around me will evaluate my performance. Evaluating my performance myself is something that I can do when the season is over and the results are in. During the season there is no yesterday. That’s because this is a world where I have to concentrate my feelings, my body, everything on today’s game. It’s been this way since my time in Japan, everyday I have to prepare for a change.

“Of course, there are a lot of amazing batters, and there are times when I feel like I can’t handle it. But on the other hand, I try to think that I’m on the same field (with them) as an equal. I didn’t just come here because I wanted to; I’m here because people let me in. Because if you feel out of place, there’s nothing you’ll be able to do.

“I think that (former Chiba Lotte Marine teammate) Yabuta is a little more jittery and sensitive than I am. I don’t give anything a thought, I just say “oh well” and stay realistic. You can say that (in MLB), the ball sucks, the mound sucks, but we aren’t the first players to come to the Majors and that information is out there ad nauseum. Even if you go bit by bit there’s nothing you can do about it but to throw. If the road you chose is bad, it’s just bad.”

Interesting comments. Sounds like a guy that leaves it all on the field. I’ve always thought of Kobayashi as a fierce competitor, and these comments are right in line with that. Kobayashi really impressed me back in September 2002, in a game against the Seibu Lions.

Seibu slugger Alex Cabrera was chasing Sadaharu Oh’s single season home run record, and came up against Kobayashi in a game against Lotte. Oh’s record had been challenged by foreign-born players before, and the norm had been not to pitch to them. Kobayashi, on the other hand, went after Cabrera with a series of high fastballs. And he struck him out.

Yabuta and Fukumori continue to toil in the minors for their respective teams. Truth be told, I don’t think those guys were ever as good as Okajima or Kobayashi, but there is hope for them. The SF Giants pulled Keiichi Yabu off the scrap heap this season and he’s been an effective member of their bullpen.

Fittingly, Kobayashi took the save for Cleveland in their win over Tampa Bay today, while Okajima picked up a hold for Boston despite giving up two walks.

*Of course, this is easy for me to say now. The other guys on that Giants team I liked were Darrell May and Akira Etoh. May went on to have a good year for the Royals in 2003, while Etoh quickly declined after 2001. May, as far as I know, is out of baseball, while Etoh is hanging around as a pinch hitter for the Saitama Seibu Lions.

• Former Softbank Hawk D.J. Carrasco has returned to the Majors with the White Sox. MLB.com has a piece where he shares some of his experiences in Japan.
• Older article that I just found: C.J. Nitkowski wrote a piece about Interleague Play in Japan for USA Today.
• JapaneseBaseball.com hosted another Pro Yakyu Live! podcast for July 11 Hanshin/Hiroshima game. The MP3 is available here. YouTube highlights here.
• Ben Kozlowski took home his first win in Japan in Hiroshima’s 1-0 victory over Hanshin.
• Koji Uehara picked up the win in the Giants’ 5-4 win over Yokohama. Uehara did give up one run in 1 1/3 innings of work.
• Marines.tv is getting updates again. Here’s a clip from Lotte’s July 10 win over Nippon Ham.