Top Japanese Infielder to be Posted

Comments

Hmm

The only MLE’s I can find on him stop with 2009 and are a little more pedestrian. His non-MLE numbers the two years before that combined with this year look better though. I think it might be a stretch to say he could surpass Howie or Aybar (if he’s moved back down in the order), but he looks like he could be a serviceable short stop in MLB. His team just won the Japan Series too, so he’s really got nothing left to prove over there.

I don’t think the Angels will look at him, but it will be interesting to see where he ends up and how much he costs.

Scioscialist Party of America - Redistributing your defense since 2000.

by Commander_Nate on Nov 8, 2010 6:24 PM PST reply actions

I wonder why we generally ignore the Japanese players....

I know we have scouts int he region and I know we’ve signed a couple of Korean pitchers, both of whom are promising but are currently mucking around in low minors. Japan seems like a goldmine of talent. I love those pivotal times when a rush of foreign players invade the American game. Is started with Jackie Robinson (totally not foreign, just black) followed by an influx of gifted Negro League players, then Puerto Ricans and Dominicans came and there were a lot of talented players from Latin America, still are. And now, we’ve seen the likes of Hideo Nomo, Ichiro, Hideki Matsui, Dice-K come in and they haven’t been overwhelmed at all.

I think the future of scouting is in Japan. Don’t get me wrong, we aren’t going to find any serious power hitters out there, but tons of useful pitchers, infielders and some useful defensive 4th OF’s.

"You play for Cleveland? I didn't know they still had a team." - Claire Holloway
"Yup, we've got uniforms and everything, it's really great!" - Jake Taylor

by Halowood on Nov 8, 2010 6:55 PM PST up reply actions

Haha. You dodged a bullet.

It started with Jackie Robinson (totally not foreign, just black).

by cmy912 on Nov 8, 2010 7:09 PM PST up reply actions

I think it's just been timing

There haven’t been many available when we’ve had a need at their position. Like Nishioka for instance, teams have 4 days to bid on him once he’s posted. Assuming he gets posted this week, the Angels will still have Aybar, Kendrick, Callaspo, Izturis, Frandsen, Wood, etc on the roster as potential middle infielders. There’s not much room for him.

Like you say, we do have some scouts over there. I haven’t seen much about what they do, but I know for example that we were very interested in Darvish when he was in high school, along with the Dodgers and Mets. Arte must have someone over there. I’d be curious to know who they’ve been watching.

Scioscialist Party of America - Redistributing your defense since 2000.

by Commander_Nate on Nov 8, 2010 7:39 PM PST up reply actions