Ranking Japanese Pitchers

Links (5)

Hot Stove Morning News
Published 11/2/2007 by Anthony De Rosa at Hot Foot
... and Milwaukee Brewers contacted Curt Schilling. [ MLB Trade Rumors | Milwaukee Journal Sentinel ] Yankees have yet to make Jorge Posada an offer. [ NY Daily News ] List of Scott Boras Clients. [ MLB Trade Rumors ] Torii Hunter to meet with Chicago White Sox. [ Chicago Sun Times ] MLB Trade Rumors ranks Japanese pitches who could jump to MLB this off season [ MLB Trade Rumors ] Would A-Rod fit on the Red Sox? [ Boston ...

Rumor: Closer Kobayashi may elect to stay in Japan
Published 11/2/2007 by J. Weitzel at Beerleaguer - Phillies Blog, Baseball News, Trade Rumors & Spirits
... Dragons ace Kenshin Kawakami and lefty closer Hitoke Iwase, also of the champion Dragons. Graczyk reminds us that some of the best talent to emerge from the Far East weren’t well known stars before leaving Japan. “Okajima was a situational lefty with the Giants and Fighters, and the Red Sox scouts apparently saw something that convinced them he would be a good middle reliever or set-up man in the majors,” Graczyk said. “How right they were.” Links: Graczyk's archived columns ; MLB Trade Rumors Japanese scouting report

As the elusive veteran pitcher world turns
Published 11/17/2007 by billfer at The Detroit Tiger Weblog
... the Tigers haven’t shown to be cheap when it comes to players they want. Regardless, Jon Paul Morosi gives us yet another free agent pitcher name to consider in the form of Hiroki Kuroda. Kuroda is from Japan, but is a free agent so there is no posting fee like the Red Sox incurred with Daisuke Matsuzaka. Kuroda is a 32 year old right hander who stands 6′ 1″ I honestly don’t know much about Kuroda, but did find 2 assessments. One is from MLB Trade Rumors which had this report One number to remember here: 300, as in ...

Turning Japanese
Published 11/28/2007 by Chip's Moody Blues at Uwe Blog
... I think there's worse $9 million investments. I guess with the third tier fifth starters like Josh Fogg, you know what you're getting. Then again, Fogg's scouting report has never been as glowing. If you're not giving up the farm, this could be a decent option. Ranked third for Japanese pitchers by MLB Trade Rumors, whatever that means.

A third Japanese pitcher for Sox next year?
Published 5/14/2008 by Evan Brunell at Fire Brand of the American League
... to Hiroki Kuroda, and might have received a similar contract had he been able to qualify for free agency last year. Kawakami has a weaker fastball than Kuroda, but his track record is solid. Kuroda is 1-2 with a 3.59 ERA in eight starts for the Dodgers this year. In the off-season, MLB Trade Rumors ranked the top five Japanese pitchers who could move to the majors, and Kawakami was second: Japan’s highest paid starter for the champion Chunichi Dragons (he made around $3MM) mixes a fastball, cutter, and curveball. His fastball runs around 87 and his curve is very slow. He’s ...