The Mariners have signed Japanese shortstop Munenori Kawasaki to a minor league contract, tweets Matt Eddy of Baseball America. MLB has confirmed the move, Eddy notes. Kawasaki, 30, was a free agent and could sign without a posting fee.
Kawasaki posted a .267/.310/.327 with 31 stolen bases in 655 plate appearances as Softbank's shortstop in 2011. The Mariners, who are also nearing a deal with Japanese right-hander Hisashi Iwakuma, have been linked to Kawasaki since last month.
Meh. Decent I guess. Can he play anywhere else in the infield?
If he can play SS he can probably play 2b at least, if not 3b also. Maybe not 3b at MLB level.
Yes, Japanese pile!!! Iwakuma, Kawasaki!
Neat..
your picture is disgusting haha
I thought it was an appropriate pic for what I think the M’s have done in the off season. :)
BIGGEST NEWS OF THIS OFFSEASON!!!
AYYY! Nice one! haven’t heard that before!
I think Ted Baxter fumbled that one 36 years ago.
I’m excited to see the M’s turn into the ragtag group of Japanese All-Stars that will catch lightning in a bottle and win 117 games en route to the franchise’s first WS title before fading away into mediocrity and obscurity. Seriously, this is going to be like Seven Samurai, but with baseball.
Great move for the Seattle Supersonics.
Sub 700 ops in japanese leauge, watchout cal ripkin
Watch out spelling and capitalization.
If yuse dont lies it goto an English grammar blog or is it to much to focus on sports in a sports blog
I see you are an O’s fan so I would say any hope of contention is out the window in Jan. anyways keep up the spelling and capitalization.
You do notice that you are saying that to yourself right?
It’s the Mariners. He’ll probably bat third in that lineup.
Yuck. .267/.310 in the Japan league translates to .220/.290 i’m guessing. His 30 steals probably means 10-13 here. Don’t know how good his D is though…
Stolen bases translate pretty well actually. His defense is said to be plus plus.
Hits LHed and evidently knows how to bunt quite well. Juan Pierre esque at SS.
I’ll take it. It’s a no risk contract and he could contribute. Look at what Punto got.
Kind of a no brainer move.
Juan Pierre actually has some offensive value though. More of another Brendan Ryan with worse D
Except Ryan bats RHd, isn’t a good bunter and isn’t a great base stealer.
But yeah, their skill sets match up almost perfectly.
They changed the ball in Japan last year and hitters struggled mightily. The new ball is more similar to the one used in MLB and generally hurt power numbers. That’s what always has been observed: guys who hit 30-40 homeruns in Japan just hit 10-20 in the MLB. Only Matsui (who had something like 50 homeruns in Japan) put up decent power numbers. That’s also why they changed the ball: Japan lacks real power hitters.
That being said – Kawasaki has never been a power threat in Japan (max 4 homeruns a season) though he had an avg above .300 in 2004, 2006-2008 and 2010. Seeems like he relies more an speed (especially infield singles) just like Ichiro.
.267 in japan? ouch.
that’s the equilivalent of .002 in the majors, so good thing they only inked for a minor league deal.
Meh..as an M’s fan, this is nothing great, but nothing terrible.
It’s a minor league contract, so no huge committment on the M’s part, and looking at his stats, a minor league contract with an NRI to spring training seems about right for Kawasaki.
He’ll likely compete with Luis Rodriguez(who, after being on the team last year, was given an outright assignment to AAA in October or November, refused it, became a free agent, then re-signed with the M’s on a minor league contract). One of them will likely earn the job of primary utility infielder. Or, perhaps both make the team if Chone Figgins is miraculously traded before Opening Day and Kyle Seager earns the starting 3B job as a result.
Good depth move, but nothing more.
It will be interesting to see how Kawasaki and Iwakuma affect Ichiro. Kawasaki is a good bet to become the back-up for Seattle’s middle infield. And if Ryan is traded, Kawasaki could be the bridge between Brendan Ryan and Nick Franklin.
Can we buy some Hattori Hanzo swords now? Should be fun for the clubhouse…
I doubt he breaks with the club. His bat really looks completely worthless.
link to baseball-reference.com
Take a look at his career numbers. He is a quick middle infielder, and is a good bet to get more than a few at bats with the M’s in 2012.
Also Japan just entered the equivalent of the dead ball era.
Nothing special here no but its not a terrible signing either.
I think that Munenori Kawasaki is going to be a bit of an underdog due to his poor 2011 season with Softbank. But remember that he is only 30, and in 2010 he had 190 hits. His career numbers are .295/.344/.377; he isn’t going to hit for power, but you can count on him for speed (he has 147 stolen bases over 5 seasons).
I think this signing was just to please the Jap crowd that follow the M’s. Won’t hurt any one. He sounds excited to come and play for the M’s so he should be a welcome team member.
We have a Suzuki, Kawasaki… but we really need a Harley.
since his name is kawasaki, maybe his teammates are looking for a hook up for free motorcycles
HOLY HELL! THIS IS GREAT NEWS! We signed Munenori Kawasaki! He’s the most coveted left handed, middle career, short stop coming out of Japan this year! And think of all the revenue possibilities! The Mariner’s sales department will finally land the big Kawasaki of Tukwila advertising deal that they’ve been holding their breath on.
I was holding out on supporting the M’s till they made an off-season move that showed they were serious about putting a championship caliber team on the field. They started out good when they acquired Jaso, and started to peak my interest when they hooked big time free agent George Sherill to solidify the pen. But Kawasaki! Damn! This is SO AWESOME!
And to think that in our small, four team division, Texas is just riding on the lorals of two consecutive World Series appearances. And the Angles? Picked up a couple of no names. Albert and some guy named C.J. something. Well guess what AL West! Look in the rear view mirror baby. Cause the M’s are back in business!
…
On a serious note. Oakland spent more money on one player than the M’s have all off season. Coco Crisp. Jesus. Oakland has topped us in the off season so far by signing Coco Crisp.
think about it….ichiballs riding a kawasaki….awesome marketing!!!
Maybe if he need’s a Kawasaki. Ichiro’s ability to beat out an infield single last year tanked from his career average.
Please stop being a Mariners fan.