Lost amidst all the Kuroda and Fukudome  signing talk is the fact that Fukumori  Kazuo (according to MLBTraderumors)  is drawing interest from 10 teams. According to this article this list now includes the Yankees.

We brokedown Fukumori in this article, which we’re proud to say has been listed as the reference on Wikipedia’s Fukumori entry. Nice.  

Wait, now what was I saying? Oh, yes, in  our breakdown  we’d mentioned that the former Rakuten Golden Eagles closer would likely be looking at minor league deals, but according to his agent Alan Nero he’s now, with half the damn league interested, shopping for a 2-year.

Surely this is due to some kind of  post-Okajima effect, and Fukumori, as the Kuroda and Fukudome hype swirls toward typhoon-like levels, is by default the best remaining available Japanese set-up-kinda-guy left on the board.

This isn’t to say Fukumori might not post Okajima-esque numbers next year, but the odds would seem against it. Of course, he’s going to get Okajima kind of money, and probably even more.

Just for kicks I’m going to offer a much cheaper, somewhat proven, and potentially better alternative that teams are overlooking as a result of the hype surrounding Japanese free agents at the moment: Tsao Chin-hui.

This is a guy without a contract, who’s looking at  signing with a Japanese team next year, I would assume, due to lack of interest in MLB. Why? Sure, he’s oft injured. He no longer throws 101 MPH and he’s played sporadically since he signed with the Rockies in 2003.

But doesn’t signing Tsao to a one-year, say, $600,000 deal make more sense than rolling the dice with Fukumori for 2-years at $4-$5mil? Tsao pitched very well early last season, not giving up a run in his first 10 2/3 innings. He gave up five to the Braves in a May 6 game and shortly thereafter he was on the DL. He came back in June and didn’t pitch as well, his final game being a wholopping at the hands of the Giants.

There was talk of him returning later in the year but his shoulder was never deemed strong enough. He refused assignment and became a free agent in November.

But here he is striking out the side against Japan in the recent Asian Championships (via Taiwan Baseball). He looks healthy here.

During a small 2007 sample of 24.2 innings Tsao finished with a 1.05 WHIP. Perhaps more appealing, his line drive percentage was just 14.3% and teams slugged .364 against him. People weren’t hitting the ball well off Tsao. Isn’t he worth a shot? If 10 teams are vying to sign Fukumori then surely one will have the brains to sign Tsao to a 1-year deal.