Japanese Free Agents?

[homer]

Are there any decent Japanese players thinking of crossing the pond this offseason?

[jackalope02ca]

Koji Uehara. At least that's how I think it's spelled. Wants to sign as a starter but has worked as a successful closer in the past. Would love to see the Brewers add him.

[Never Outhustled]

I too would love to see the Brewers tap into the Asain market for some relief pitching. However, it won't happen, as the Brewers don't even scout Asia in a penny pinching move.

[colbyjack]

Penny pinching is a pretty strong, and typically derogatory, term to describe why a team does or doesn't do something. I know you have mentioned before that the Brewers have been cheap when it comes to the draft as well, which I couldn't disagree with more, but I really don't understand how a team from Milwaukee could be more involved on the international market, much less Asia, than it currently is given the current economic landscape. What other team in a similar situation is putting big money into such ventures?

 

If you only bring that up because you would like to see the Brewers spend more internationally but completely understand their own internal restrictions, I share that same sentiment.

 

I will agree that due to the lack of scouts it is incredibly unlikely that the Brewers will make a pitch towards any of the free-agents from Japan. I know Uehara is one of those free agents. Kenshin Kawakami draws comparison to Hiroki Kuroda. Junichi Tazawa has been making news as a high schooler that has decided to bypass the draft in hopes of landing a big deal state-side. I'm not sure if the talent is down, if opinions have been effected by the struggles of Fukudome or if this year's free agent crop, thanks to Teixeira and CC, has effected people's perception of the Asian market, but there isn't much talk about these players this year. That may have been significantly different had Yu Darvish been posted.

[ShinyaSS]

Rotoworld predicts Kawakami and Uehara's deals as more than 20m with 3 years.

http://www.rotoworld.com/...id=2&articleid=31052&pg=1

Rather, ex-Renger Akinori Otsuka seems to be cheap and effective as a closer.

[medinawi]

ESPN has a story on the lack of impact imports from Japan.

 

http://sports.espn.go.com...e08/news/story?id=3717007

 

 

To me the biggest name this year would have been Hitoki Iwase a LH closer but looks like he's staying over in Japan.

 

As far as Darvish goes there are many years before he gets to free agency. His team would have to post him and that fee is not something I'd see the Brewers or any small to medium budget team doing.

[PrinceEatMeat]

The Brewers will never have a shot at any Japanese player, because we are not a big market team. Japanese players are more marketable in larger markets, and want to play there. As medinawi said, we don't have close to the amount of money it would require to even talk to one of the Japanese free agents.

[sbrylski]

The Brewers will never have a shot at any Japanese player, because we are not a big market team. Japanese players are more marketable in larger markets, and want to play there. As medinawi said, we don't have close to the amount of money it would require to even talk to one of the Japanese free agents.

 

I think this is false, or at least overstated. What about Akinori Iwamura's huge 3 year, 7.7 million dollar contract that he inked with the big market Tampa Bay Rays? Yes, it'll be harder. Scouting + possible posting fee + contract can add up, especially considering the unknown nature of the foreign imports, very hit or miss. But its not impossible.

[trwi7]

Cleveland signed a Japanese free agent as well I believe. Masahide Kobayashi or something like that.

[PrinceEatMeat]

Keep in mind that none of these teams are the Brewers, nor have we ever been mentioned or tried to acquire a Japanese player, except the 39-year-old lefty talked about in another thread.

[sbrylski]

Keep in mind that none of these teams are the Brewers, nor have we ever been mentioned or tried to acquire a Japanese player, except the 39-year-old lefty talked about in another thread.

 

What's your point? What criteria makes Tampa a more likely organization to acquire Japanese talent than Milwaukee?

[trwi7]

Keep in mind that none of these teams are the Brewers, nor have we ever been mentioned or tried to acquire a Japanese player, except the 39-year-old lefty talked about in another thread.

 

Your point is what exactly? Before last year Cleveland was never mentioned as a team trying to acquire a Japanese player. Before Iwamura was signed, neither were the Rays.

[Mass Haas]

Tampa won Iwamura in a bidding process, much like the Red sox with Dice-K.

 

Iwamura had to go with the Rays based on that bid, so Tampa didn't tempt him in a true free agent sense of the word.

[sbrylski]

Tampa won Iwamura in a bidding process, much like the Red sox with Dice-K.

 

Iwamura had to go with the Rays based on that bid, so Tampa didn't tempt him in a true free agent sense of the word.

 

That doesn't change the fact they were able to make the investment and beat out other competitors.

[kramnoj]

Apparently the Red Sox have offered Tazawa $6M, no mention whether it was a major league deal: http://www.baseballthinkf.../red_sox_offer_tazawa_6m/

[Never Outhustled]

I really don't understand how a team from Milwaukee could be more involved on the international market, much less Asia, than it currently is given the current economic landscape. What other team in a similar situation is putting big money into such ventures?

As mentioned above, Cleveland signed Kobayashi, and Kansas City signed Yaso Yabuta. The only difference between Milwaukee and those organizations economically is our market is in baseballs top ten in population in the demographic that watches and spends money on baseball, and theres isn't. The Brewers only drawback is a bad TV deal the Selig family locked the team into.

 

I'm not asking the Brewers to spend huge money in Asia, but relievers like Saito and Otsuka were total bargains, and we could find those players too if we were willing to make the investment.

[homer]

The only difference between Milwaukee and those organizations economically is our market is in baseballs top ten in population in the demographic that watches and spends money on baseball, and theres isn't.

I'd be curious to know where you found that ranking.

[piccione88]

According to NBP tracker Melvin said " We wont aquire a japanese free agent." You cant get more clear than that.

[Invader3K]

Well, I doubt Milwaukee is an attractive destination for any decent Asian players. Most of them seem to want to play on the Pacific coast, or in a big city like New York or Chicago. It would probably make more sense for the Brewers to concentrate on scouting an area like Latin America, if they are going to look for foreign help at all.