Knuckle Curve » akinori_otsuka

Royals Sign Yabuta

Geoff Young — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 17:47:47 +0000

The Kansas City Royals have signed Japanese right-hander Yasuhiko Yabuta to a 2-year, $6 million deal. Yabuta, who turns 35 in June, has spent his entire 12-year career with the Chiba Lotte Marines and been a fairly effective reliever over the past four seasons.

Yabuta emphasized new Kansas City manager Trey Hillman’s presence as a factor in his signing:

Mr. Hillman knows Japanese baseball and Japanese players. He knows my style. He understands me very well.

Hillman, of course, managed in Japan for several years and was very successful there. Related to Hillman’s experience on the other side of the Pacific, general manager Dayton Moore had this to say:

This signing [is] very important for us for two reasons. One, he’s going to impact our bullpen. And two, it opens more doors for us in Japan.

For a team like the Royals to become competitive, they need to be thinking like this. That said, I have a couple of concerns:

Yabuta isn’t young and his strikeout rate has been in steady decline. That’s a scary combination.
At the price he signed for, Yabuta isn’t the bargain that, say, Akinori Otsuka was a few years ago when he came to San Diego. Looks like the market is adapting again.

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Who Might Be Coming Over from Japan in 2008?

Geoff Young — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 19:23:16 +0000

That’s the question Jackson Broder asks at East Windup Chronicle. He profiles several hitters and pitchers playing in Japan’s NPB who could make the jump to North America.

Kosuke Fukudome of the Chunichi Dragons has been getting a fair amount of play as a potential impact outfielder should he cross the pond. Jackson compares him to Bob Abreu, with the caveats that Fukudome recently underwent elbow surgery and that some of his power could be lost in translation on moving to MLB (sometimes you get Hideki Matsui, sometimes you get Kazuo Matsui).

The pitching side is less clear. As Akinori Otsuka, Shingo Takatsu, Takashi Saito, and Hideki Okajima have shown in recent years, Japan can be a virtual gold mine in terms of finding good, cheap relievers. With all the fuss over someone like Daisuke Matsuzaka, this fact often gets overlooked.

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Sosa to All-Star Game?

Geoff Young — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 16:13:23 +0000

I have to admit, I’m not a fan of the All-Star game. That said, the notion that Sammy Sosa, a designated hitter who can’t crack an 800 OPS while playing half his games in Arlington, might make the American League squad offends me more than a little bit.

Mark Teixeira would be the obvious choice to represent the Rangers, but he’s hurt. Pitchers? Not the rotation — nobody has an ERA under 5.90. Okay, then, reward Akinori Otsuka for his fine 2006 season. Or Eric Gagne for mostly staying healthy. Or ditch the rule that says every team has to be represented. Or ditch the game itself.

Ah, don’t mind me. I’m just in a cranky mood today…

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