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Okajima Fails Physical, Will Not Join Yankees

By Mark Polishuk | February 17, 2012 at 10:22pm CDT

10:22pm: It was Okajima's left shoulder that raised a red flag for Yankees doctors, tweets David Waldstein of the New York Times.

10:38am: Left-hander Hideki Okajima has failed his physical with the Yankees, reports Waldstein (Twitter link).  This means the minor league contract Okajima and the Yankees agreed upon last December is now voided.

Okajima, 36, spent most of last season in the minors after the Red Sox designated him for assignment in May.  Okajima struggled the last two years after posting a sterling 2.72 ERA, an 8.3 K/9 rate and a 2.89 K/BB ratio in 198 games for Boston between 2007-09.

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New York Yankees Hideki Okajima

AL East: Yankees, Red Sox, Wakefield, Orioles
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Outrighted To Triple-A: Mike Wilson
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36 Comments

  1. Matt

    14 years ago

    That’s strange, maybe he was a member of the esteemed chicken n beer party, but after the season?

    Reply
    • Nv P.

      14 years ago

      Very clever.. Never heard that before

      Reply
      • diesel2410

        14 years ago

        It’s still funny….you must be bitter

        Reply
        • Nv P.

          14 years ago

          Its actually not funny. If he Came up with something creative id laugh. Its hard to be bitter over something that has no affect of my life.

          Reply
    • redsx968

      14 years ago

      I would defend myself and say that I’m not bitter and the situation was hilarious but the joke’s worn off, but I think I’ve just given up. You win, rest-of-baseball haha

      Reply
  2. Matt

    14 years ago

     Also, this means that other teams might try to sign him I suppose

    Reply
    • Bonesaw McGraw

      14 years ago

      failed a physical on the minor league deal.  hope my team signs him.

      Reply
      • YanksFanSince78

        14 years ago

        your name is fitting. well done.

        Reply
  3. kstewskisAZ

    14 years ago

    Anyone know what’s going on with him? Shoulder issues? 

    Reply
    • lefty177

      14 years ago

      My guess is a sore neck from jerking his head over his right shoulder everytime he threw a pitch

      Reply
      • Kurisu Rg

        14 years ago

        Ah, Mike Fetters syndrome.

        Reply
  4. Patrick OKennedy

    14 years ago

    Drats!   I wanted to hear Jerry Remy say “Oka-jeemer!”

    Reply
    • Roy-Z

      14 years ago

      It’s okay, Pedroyer is still there.

      Reply
  5. towney007

    14 years ago

    Wow I hope everything is OK. That’s actually pretty scary.

    Reply
  6. vivajackmurphy

    14 years ago

    Red Sox and failure – what’s the story here?

    Reply
    • Kurisu Rg

      14 years ago

       Carl Crawford should’ve caught that! Rabble Rabble!

      Reply
  7. Ian_Smell

    14 years ago

    lolwut

    Reply
  8. Grant Harrigan

    14 years ago

    He should have studied harder…..

    Reply
  9. marcfrombrooklyn

    14 years ago

     Sarcasm seems to be order of the day here, but I think I’ll go with cynicism: Did the Sox hide his injury in the hopes of getting some value out of him before his contract ended or did Okajima and his agent hide it because they were afraid it would kill his value on the market and hoped he could squeeze by on a physical?

    Reply
    • Adam Moreira

      14 years ago

      I’m tempted to say the latter. But I’m glad that the Yanks caught it…but it goes back to a huge problem for them—finding a second left-handed arm for the bullpen.

      Reply
  10. kaywizz22

    14 years ago

    Mike Gonzalez just smiled.

    Reply
  11. BoSoXaddict

    14 years ago

    I seem to recall Okie having an elbow injury at one point and deciding to go for the “rehab and rest” route instead of opting for surgery..perhaps it’s related to that.

    Reply
  12. johnsmith4

    14 years ago

    I don’t get it….shouldn’t they have passed Okajima if he was able to raise a red flag using his left shoulder.

    Reply
    • redsx968

      14 years ago

      Watching a bullpen session doesn’t necessarily demonstrate a pitcher’s total injury potential/history

      Reply
  13. User 4245925809

    14 years ago

    maybe Cash should have just told him.. “Okie Dokie” 😉

    Edit:

    Just a curious question.. How many people here ever saw Oki in the BP play with that paddle exerciser of his?? Everytime saw him at Tampa in the pen flip that thing back and forth with his left wrist, it was like a blur he would move it so fast.. just curious as have never seen anyone ever use anything like that before.. It just looked like a small paddle.

    Reply
  14. RedSx799

    14 years ago

    I would not be surprised if he had whiplash as well from that jerking motion he makes with every pitch. A human being is not meant to endure that kind of stuff.

    Reply
  15. pft2

    14 years ago

    Another victory for the Red Sox Kevorkian medical staff who don’t MRI bruises and let/ask players needing surgery or extended rest to play through injuries despite not being able to do so effectively (Ellsbury, Cameron, Youk, Daisuke, Lackey, maybe Crawford), or wait until before ST before deciding to do surgery (Crawford, Lowell), or mess up the surgery and require the player to redo it (Jenks).

    Fortunately, the Red Sox finally dumped the top Doc.

    Reply
  16. UltimateYankeeFan

    14 years ago

    Fortunately the Yankees found out sooner rather then later with Okajima.  Which hasn’t been the case all that often for the Yankees with lefty relievers.

    Reply
  17. bonestock94

    14 years ago

    A shoulder injury would explain why he became ineffective so suddenly. Then again it could just be age.

    Reply

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