Masahide Kobayashi Rumors

Masahide Kobayashi Signs With Indians

UPDATE: The deal is done - Kobayashi gets $6MM guaranteed over 2008-09 and has a $3.25MM club option for 2010. This seems like a fine Indians-esque bargain. According to Ken Rosenthal, the Indians are close to signing Japanese reliever Masahide Kobayashi. The 33 year-old is taking his physical today. The Braves and Mariners were also known to have interest in him. It's been said that Kobayashi would prefer to close but it's not a dealbreaker. Here's what Bob Bavasi of JapanBall told me about Kobayashi: This closer was the number one draft pick by the Chiba Lotte Marines in 1999...   Continue Reading

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Odds and Ends: Glavine, Kent, Kuroda

Picking up some rumors and tidbits that haven't been otherwise posted during this busy day... An Atlanta TV station states that Tom Glavine would take a lot less money to play for the Braves. Also, the Astros have reportedly been in touch with him. Joe Torre senses that Jeff Kent will return in 2008. The Dodgers certainly hope so; he led the team with 20 home runs in '07. Trey Hillman took a parting shot at Japanese reporters (hat tip to JapanBall). Reliever Masafumi Hirai might come over to MLB. I'll have to learn more about him. Hiroki Kuroda prefers..   Continue Reading

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Fukudome, Kuroda, Kobayashi Rumors

Here's a link chock full of rumors involving Japanese ballplayers who might come over to MLB. It's also loaded with links most of you will not be able to read. Masahide Kobayashi, the 33 year-old righthanded closer, will be represented by SFX. Fellow free agents Kerry Wood and Jorge Julio are also using that agency, as far as I can tell. Hiroki Kuroda is expected to fill for free agency on Monday. Since there's no posting fee involved, some have speculated his salary could exceed Daisuke Matsuzaka's. Matsuzaka will earn an average of $8.66MM per season during his six-year deal,..   Continue Reading

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Odds and Ends: Lincecum, Wakefield, Schilling

More random rumors. You know you love it. Tracy Ringolsby has some hot stove musings. It's a fairly sloppy article with one new tidbit: "Tim Lincecum can be had for a quality bat." Either Ringolsby is misinformed, or Brian Sabean has lost it. Lincecum has Cy Young potential. A couple of Red Sox mainstays will stay for '08 - Tim Wakefield and Julian Tavarez. Wake was a no-brainer at his perpetual $4MM, while Tavarez was debatable at $3.85MM. Tavarez expected it to be declined, since the team left him off the World Series roster. The Ms will decide very soon..   Continue Reading

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Ranking Japanese Pitchers

By my count there are five Japanese pitchers who stand a good chance of jumping over to MLB for the 2008 season. I asked Aaron Shinsano and Jackson Broder of East Windup Chronicle to rank them for us and write a short description for each. Another knowledgable friend, Tak Iwanaga, also added some info below. 1. Hitoki Iwase - Iwase was on the hill for the tail end of last night's perfect game, the Japan Series clinching victory for the Chunichi Dragons. The lefty closer has 40+ saves three years running with a career 1.91 ERA. Tops out at around..   Continue Reading

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Top 3 Japanese Free Agents

I asked JapanBall's Bob Bavasi for his thoughts on the Top 3 Japanese Free Agents who may come over to MLB this winter. He kindly obliged, providing a couple of paragraphs on each. His summaries are below. 1. Kosuke Fukudome, Dragons. Left-handed hitting outfielder from the Dragons in Nagoya. Can play any outfield position, but probably best in right. A solid, no-nonsense type player, with a terrific glove and sound arm, he’s the best Japanese position player in either league. Absolutely no secret about this guy. 2. Hiroki Kuroda, RHP, Hiroshima Carp. This fellow is probably a number three or..   Continue Reading

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Ted Berg On Japanese Pitchers

SNY's Ted Berg has an informative blog post about Japanese pitchers who may come over to MLB for the 2008 season (found via MetsBlog). Berg discusses the situations of Koji Uehara, Hiroki Kuroda, Kenshin Kawakami, Hitoki Iwase, Masahide Kobayashi, and Kazumi Saito. So far only Uehara and Kuroda have been discussed here at MLBTR. I'm planning to dig up some info on Iwase, but the other three guys are new to me. Japanese position players to have on the radar include outfielder Kosuke Fukudome and shortstop Tomohiro Nioka   Continue Reading

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