O's reaching far and wide for pitching, keeping an eye on 3 arms from Japan
As the Orioles look to add to their rotation for 2009, they are looking in many directions for pitching - including Japan.
Major League sources say the O's have shown interest in four players from Japan who are now free agents, and three of them are pitchers.
Sources say the O's are looking at pitchers Koji Uehara, Kenshin Kawakami and Junichi Tazawa along with catcher Ryoji Aikawa.
Tazawa is a 22-year-old amateur who asked the Japan pro teams to avoid drafting him since he wanted to play in the United States. The O's are likely a longshot to get Tazawa, who has received an offer this week from Texas, while some in the industry consider Boston the front-runner to get this pitcher who will likely start next season in the minors.
Uehara is a 33-year right-hander, who is 112-62 with an ERA of 3.01 in ten seasons with the Yomiuri Giants. He pitched in relief in 2007 and had 32 saves. Uehara throws four pitches including a fastball that ranges between 86 and 92. Many big league clubs are looking at him for bullpen help but sources say the O's see him as a possible back of the rotation starter.
Kawakami is a 33-year-old righty who went 9-5, 2.30 last year for the Chunichi Dragons. He has spent 11 years with that club. He is a pitcher with excellent control who has hit 92 with his fastball. Like Uehara, he also projects as a fourth or fifth starter in the Majors.
Aikawa is a catcher for the Yokohama BayStars.
While Tazawa should sign soon, it could take several weeks for the others to sign. The Japanese players all have American agents who are now in the process of collecting info on which teams are interested in their clients. Reports say none of these players have yet to receive any offers.
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not a bad idea expanding the Os horizons a bit? why no numbers on the catcher?
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My bad. At the time the article was published I didn't have too much info on the catcher. But here is some now. Aikawa is 32 and goes 6-0, 187 pounds. He has played with the BayStars from 1999-2008 hitting mostly in the low to mid 200's. In 2007 he did hit .302 which was among the league leaders. This past season he batted .255-7-22. In 2004 he played with Japan's Olympic team and with their WBC squad in 2006.
My sense is the O's see him as adding depth at a position that is thin in their farm system. He may not go right to the Majors.
Steve
I spoke to Bruce Cunningham on his show on 105.7FM a couple of days ago and he said he had no information from the front office about the Orioles being interested in any Japanese imports. I had asked him because I saw the blurb on the Japanese Baseball news website and it had mentioned the Orioles were at least interested in Koji Uehara. The source of this though was a blogger, so I don't know how credible that is.
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No offense to any local radio hosts, but Roch Kubatko and I are usually ahead of most in the electronic media with our information here at Masnsports.com, so check here often. I stand by this story and recieved the info that the O's have shown interest in the four players mentioned above, so that's what I wrote.
Steve
Steve,
I didn't mean it as a knock on you at all. I was actually glad to hear that there was some interest from the Orioles in a location where they have neglected to look before. As I said on a message board, just because Mr. Cunningham hadn't heard anything doesn't mean there is no interest, it just means that his sources aren't all that up to speed, or he just literally hadn't heard anything.
I am also happy to hear that somebody has credible information on this news as well, so thanks for reporting it.
And if I am scouring the Japanese news, you better believe I am looking at all sources for baseball information, especially if it pertains to the Orioles.
As for Aikawa here are the stats: http://www.japanesebaseball.com/players/player.jsp?PlayerID=705&Year=2008&Part=1
I was thinking the same thing, Steve. If the Orioles are looking at this guy it has to be for his defense because his bat has nothing going on. He has absolutely no power, and in Japan that is even worse than a guy with no power in the US. Japan's parks tend to be a bit on the smaller side. Not only that, but he doesn't hit many doubles at all. Even in his .302 year he hit 12 doubles. He also typically doesn't walk a lot.
I was looking through some minor league catching free agent names and I have to think some of those guys have to be just as viable as depth options.
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No knock taken, many reporters locally probably would not have much knowledge of what the O's are doing in Japan.
Several weeks back I did a story on the O's now scouting Japan.
Here is a link to that story
It sounds like their real interest is in Kawakami and Uehara. Some believe the fact the O's are interested in Uehara as a starter could give them a slight edge if and/or when they decide to negotiate with him. And, of course, the O's are still looking at plenty of MLB pitcher options as well.
Steve