The Giants and Dodgers have some interest in Japanese infielder Tsuyoshi Nishioka, according to Tom Krasovic of AOL FanHouse (on Twitter). A baseball source suggested to Krasovic that the posting fee to the Chiba Lotte Marines could exceed $4MM. However, reports earlier in the week suggested that the Marines had not yet decided whether to post Nishioka.
The 26-year-old switch hitter batted .346 with 22 steals and 206 hits last year. ESPN.com's Keith Law wrote today that Nishioka can be "valuable as an everyday guy on a second-division club," despite his below-average power and struggles with hard fastballs. For more on the infielder, check out Patrick Newman's analysis at FanGraphs.
The Dodgers have Rafael Furcal at short and Jamey Carroll and non-tender candidate Ryan Theriot at second. The Giants have Freddy Sanchez at second, but shortstops Juan Uribe and Edgar Renteria are free agents.
“Second division club”? Sounds like he’s headed to the Dodgers then.
heyo
You got that right. LOL.
14 hrs is not that bad or is it that the stadiums out there are much smaller?
Fences are 10-20 feet closer. 390′ to dead center is the norm.
For reference, Aki Iwamura had a 44 HR and a 32 HR season in Japan. Hideki Matsui was a 40-50 HR threat.
Power from Japan rarely translates to the United States. Nishioka is probably a 5-8 HR bat in MLB.
Hit the ball on the ground like Ichiro. They’re not signing him for his power. The odd one will get out if he hits it on the button.
***WARNING: Blanket Generalization Follows***
I’m sick of hearing about Japanese players. Aside from Ichiro and Matsui, they’ve all floundered, been overrated, or both.
Actually, the Dodgers have done pretty well with Japanese players.
Hideo Nomo won ROY and had a decent stint with the Dodgers, Takashi Saito was a very good closer for a bit and Hiroki Kuroda pitched well during his time with the Dodgers as well.
The problem is some guys, like Matsuzaka and Irabu, came to MLB with too much hype and weren’t as good as advertised.
I also think that the majority of players that come from Japan are already “old” and have to adjust to MLB’s style of play and players. If the MLB were given permission to draft players in Japan I think you would see a huge difference in quality of play. Just think if Ichiro were drafted at 18 we would already be talking about how close he is to Pete Rose’s record.
The strange thing is, they tend to progressively get worse. Nomo/Okajima/etc are examples of guys who looked like studs when they came as MLB rookies, but they progressively got worse every year. It was almost as if the MLB hitters made adjustments to them, and they couldn’t make adjustments to MLB hitters.
I think it’s something else. Perhaps conditioning?
Could be. Dice-K certainly made headlines over the conditioning issues. Whatever it is, Japan just doesn’t seem to be the place to look if you’re trying to identify guys who are going to come over and be an impact player for a number of years.
Could be. Dice-K certainly made headlines over the conditioning issues. Whatever it is, Japan just doesn’t seem to be the place to look if you’re trying to identify guys who are going to come over and be an impact player for a number of years.
That is the truth. With the exception of Matsuzaka and Ichiro, most have been over thirty when they got their shot in the US. Nomo had to retire to get his shot before he was thirty. Nishioka is only 26. There is upside there and it is not like the Dodgers or any other team will expect him to be anymore than a good defensive middle infielder with a better than average stick and good speed. The only thing that will keep his value down is his heath history.
Agreed, Kaz Ishii aside, they’ve done quite well.
I would go out on a limb and say that Takashi Saito is actually one of the most underrated players around.
Hiroki Kuroda, Hideki Okajima, Hisanori Takahashi, Takashi Saito, Hideo Nomo…
Not proven yet (could be the next Wang), reliever, reliever, very brief success, faded quickly…
Three years hasn’t proven Kuroda? Relievers don’t count? I guess if you’re looking at hall of fame careers, then sure, most haven’t been there. But there have been plenty of useful Japanese players. If you want to cherry-pick your definition of “success,” be my guest.
I’m always fine with hearing about new Japanese players and new names being added to the free agent pool.
3 years, 28 wins, with a losing record. Granted, it’s a lousy stat for pitchers, but I’m using it nonetheless to say he hasn’t exactly come here and dazzled.
Sure, he’s been mildly useful. Just like every other #4 SP out there.
Forthcoming Yu Darvish saga… That’ll make the Dice-K media circus look like a small note in the transactions section.
Yeah thats going to be a wild one its going to be that multiplied by Cliff Lee’s free agency in DOLLARS I mean.
Forthcoming Yu Darvish saga… That’ll make the Dice-K media circus look like a small note in the transactions section.
28 wins 30 losses with a 3.60 era sounds pretty good to me. Gotta concentrate more on era than w/l. 362 strike outs and only 114 walks.. not bad. And he’s been hurt alot these last couple years, yes its a downside but if you think about his stats and what they would be if he were healthy you gotta give the guy credit
But isn’t it sad that we’re talking about one of the two-best Japanese pitchers to come to the MLB as only having a 3.60 ERA in the NL?
Nomo had some brief success before the wheels fell off (then a brief renaissance later in his career). That leaves Kuroda as the best-performing pitcher ever from Japan – a country where baseball is huge, and the population is large.
Take out Ichiro, and the Japanese leagues have a disproportionately small All-Star representation, in my completely arbitrary and anecdotal analysis.
c’mon man, kuroda is solid. a good #3 for sure.
“Wins”? Really?
No one expected Kuroda to “dazzle”, but he’s been a solid No. 3 starter since coming over.
3 years, 28 wins, with a losing record. Granted, it’s a lousy stat for pitchers, but I’m using it nonetheless to say he hasn’t exactly come here and dazzled.
Sure, he’s been mildly useful. Just like every other #4 SP out there.
You know Wang isn’t Japanese right?
HAHA! Good catch. Meant Nomo.
I’m irritable this afternoon. You realize I’m only half-serious with my initial post, right?
Understandable bout the irritable afternoon we all have those, but when you say “I’m sick of hearing about Japanese players” you know thats going to have some sort of effect on these boards…
Of course. That’s why I put the “warning” disclaimer up.
If I was feeling more articulate, I’d have said something about the track-record of Dominican and Venezuelan players versus Japanese players, and that we should really be paying more attention to those (potential) signings.
I also think that the majority of players that come from Japan are already “old” and have to adjust to MLB’s style of play and players. If the MLB were given permission to draft players in Japan I think you would see a huge difference in quality of play. Just think if Ichiro were drafted at 18 we would already be talking about how close he is to Pete Rose’s record. I think its unfortunate that Japan is a little more stricter with its amateur talent.
Of course. That’s why I put the “warning” disclaimer up.
If I was feeling more articulate, I’d have said something about the track-record of Dominican and Venezuelan players versus Japanese players, and that we should really be paying more attention to those (potential) signings.
Understandable bout the irritable afternoon we all have those, but when you say “I’m sick of hearing about Japanese players” you know thats going to have some sort of effect on these boards…
HAHA! Good catch. Meant Nomo.
I’m irritable this afternoon. You realize I’m only half-serious with my initial post, right?
I think Japanese players are overhyped to an extent but its just like ANY player that put up gaudy stats whether that is in a foreign country or college. The only way an organization scores on an amateur or international free agent comes down to the the organization’s scouting department. One more thing its the Hot Stove season so ummmmm you’re going to be hearing a lot about players around the world that could potentially help your team.
Are you talking about just position players? There have been a good amount of successful pitchers.
For the sake of being a grouch (it’s snowing here in Minnesota), I’ll go ahead and assert the generalization applies to all players coming from the Japanese leagues, pitchers and positional.
Theres nothing in this post that says anything about his defense? Seeing as how he’s a middle infielder it seems that might be important..
Sounds like a good 6-8 bat in the line-up, if his avg stays up in the mlb a possible #2 with his speed
I thought it was noted that he won the equivalent to a “Gold Glove” in Japan twice already.
“Theres nothing in this post that says anything about his defense”
He definitely going to be advertised as a 1 or 2 in the lineup. No way is he going to be a 6 or 7 and if he is an 8 the Marines can’t expect a high bid on Nishioka which means he’s staying in Japan.
Yeah, ideally he’d be a #1 or 2, especially with the money being put up, but you put him lower in the order at first just to see if he’ll hit in the big leagues. Thats all i meant by that, maybe could have clarified better
Yeah, ideally he’d be a #1 or 2, especially with the money being put up, but you put him lower in the order at first just to see if he’ll hit in the big leagues. Thats all i meant by that, maybe could have clarified better
Nishioka has won the Japanese version of the Gold Glove at short and I believe at second. He has very good range and his arm has been clocked at 88 from the mound. Don’t know why he was throwing from the mound but at least he has plus arm strength.
The Dodgers will DFA Ryan Theiot to overspend on the Japanese version of Ryan Theriot. That has good ol’ Ned written all over it!
Remind me when Theriot had an obp over .350? Or a slugging percentage over .350?
How about 2008 (both) and 2009 (SLG)?
Anyone know from a business side, how much $$ a Japanese import will bring in? Seems in LA or SF, since there are many Japanese residents and tourists, he may pay for himself….
Nomo didn’t hurt the attendance or merchandising for the Dodgers. Same with Ichiro and the Mariners.
Does a $4 million posting fee seem low to anyone else? Especially considering what the A’s just shelled out for a guy who doesn’t exactly scream ‘elite pitcher’…
It seems like Japanese talent, for the most part, comes to the U.S. drastically overpriced. a $4 million price tag almost seems reasonable…
with the amount of money it costs to sign a kid out of high school drafted in the first round, 4 seems really low. i was thinking he would get 10-12.
THIS GUY WOULD LOOK GREAT IN DODGER BLUE
He would be a nice leadoff hitter. He’s still young so that’s a plus. Giants mat try to take a stab at him.
King
He’d probably be our #2 behind Torres moving Sanchez to 8th.
dodgers could use him at 2 base
The kid is only 26. Crawford isn’t ready yet offensively, so why not take a flyer on this guy, if he’s posted? The Giants need to get younger with regard to position players. I don’t think either Renteria or Uribe will be back. What other shortstops are out there anyway?
The Bums in LA need more than this. They need pitching more than position players.
Sign Kuroda to a 1 year deal then trade him to Japan for Nishioka, win/win? Kuroda gets to go back to Japan and the Dodgers save some money
lol
I’d rather try to re-sign Uribe first before going after this guy
Uribe and Huff should be the #1 priority