Now, I’m going to probably sound like a real nittpicky jerk right here. This sort of criticism can’t be good for my health and I have no interest in doing firejoemorgan-style deconstruction (even though I generally that site is funny).
First, the headline Japanese Pitchers Attracting Interest sounds odd and like something you’d find one of those newspapers written for kids and handed out on Friday afternoon. Maybe it’s indicative of the Nationals own interests in Japan, as I will speculate later.
Sources with knowledge of the Nationals’ discussions said they have inquired about right-handed reliever Kazuo Fukumori and Katsuhiko Maekawa, who is flexible enough to serve as a starter, long reliever or left-handed specialist.
Fukumori has been well-documented here. There are more than 10 teams interested in signing him. I think at this point he’s the de facto Japanese pitcher that teams say their interested in signing…maybe to help increase their scouting department’s budgets for next year. Teams like the Pirates and Nationals can’t say they’re interested in Kuroda, because everyone will know they’re lying and would never pony up the coin to sign him. So they say their interested in Fukumori to express they’re tapping into the Asian Market.
But then, I think the Nats, or maybe the writer himself, picked a name at random and came up with Katsuhiko Maekawa to make things sound even more legit. Maekawa has been mentioned by no one, and has been playing in a the Dominican league after having been kicked out of Japanese baseball last year. More on that later too.
General Manager Jim Bowden acknowledged having discussions with some Japanese pitchers, though he didn’t specify which ones. Nationals President Stan Kasten has long professed an interest in getting involved in Asia, and the club sent Mike Rizzo, the team’s vice president of baseball operations, and scout Bill Singer to Japan late in the regular season.
This sounds like no one with the Nationals is all that interested in Japanese baseball. This is very vague…”Stan Kasten has long professed an interest in getting involved in Asia…” What, getting involved in sushi? Getting involved in a tour group headed to The Great Wall? Would like to get involved in some off-season vacation plans in Thailand?
I don’t know how many teams have scouts living and working in Asia at this point. Maybe Jackson can shed some light on that. I’d guess 75%. Apparently the Nationals don’t have it in their budget and think sending someone over as the regular season draws to a close will do the trick.
The best is this end part.
Maekawa might be more intriguing. Though he didn’t pitch in 2007 in Japan because of a legal problem resulting from a car accident,
Right, a wee legal problem resulting from a hit-and-run accident where he hit a young woman on a bicycle at an intersection, stopped and argued with her for a while, and then ran away when the police came and asked for his licence. His license had been suspended four years earlier for a another incident.
Actually, the more I think about it the more I think he’d be perfect for the Nationals. Maybe he and Elijah Dukes can team up for some trans-pacific major league mischief.
he is playing winter ball in the Dominican Republic. Two people who have seen him pitch were impressed.
Oh, cool. Two people. Maybe Rizzo and Singer cruised down there after they hit Japan.
“I’d sign him up right now,” one said.
Hmm. Maybe not Singer and Rizzo. Or maybe it was Bowden and he was playing things close to the vest again. Or maybe it was Dukes himself, who just left the Dominican league a couple weeks ago. Lots of interesting options here. Maybe it was the popcorn vendor, or a the girl who sells fish down the corner from the stadium that Maekawa flirts with on his way home every day .
I’ve heard of unnamed sources, but that’s a new one on me Mr. Editor @ the Washington Post.
Whew. That’s tough to write like that, but it had been bugging me since I saw the piece. So how about this Maekawa? He’s 29, a lefty and is 2-1, 1.82 in said Dominican League.
But before we sign him up right now lets look back at his pre-hit and run nine-year career. Going on this there’s not much to get excited about. A career 5.26 ERA, 6.1 K/9 ratio, 345 walks in 609 career innings. That’s not too hot. A 31-45 career record. Hmmm. You can see his full stats here via Japanesebaseball.com.
11 responses so far ↓
1 Phil // Dec 10, 2007 at 5:50 pm
Wasn’t it a drunk driving accident? I thought I read that…what, a year or so ago?
2 jackson // Dec 10, 2007 at 9:53 pm
re: how many teams have scouts in Asia: It’s hard to answer that question directly because just because a team doesn’t have a permanent scout in asia or actual employees based here doesn’t mean that they don’t scout here. Some simply hire part time people to videotape, keep their mouths shut, get times on a radar gun, and send the info to their scouting directors. Others hire people here that have expertise. The Mets, Phils, Cubs, Braves, Indians, and Twins all have a strong ground presence here.
Also, keep in mind that a. the world of scouting is incredibly mercurial and based so much in rumors that if word gets out that the talent pool in a certain country is thin–as is the case in TW right now–teams are less likely to hire full time people here and they will concentrate their efforts in Latin America, where the talent pool is much deeper.
Also, differing scouting philosophies affect things a lot. I’ve literally heard of front offices who refuse to look at videotapes of players because they’d rather just rely on the expertise of their scouts. As completely asinine as this idea is, there’s an old school mentality there. So there may be teams staying out of scouting here for all kinds of reasons that any of you guys who are reading this website would think are archaic and nonsensical.
hows that for a non answer. I would say most teams have representation here to a certain degree, even if that means sending their scouting director over here twice a year when big tournaments are going on.
3 John Brooks // Dec 10, 2007 at 10:40 pm
Wasn’t it a drunk driving accident? I thought I read that…what, a year or so ago?
Maekawa hit a woman on a bicycle in a hit and run accident. Thing is, his license was suspended for the last four years before the accident for speeding. He then didn’t help himself after the recent accident by arguing with the victim then fleeing when police came and asked for his license. Though given that, he isn’t alone in Washington with Lastings Milledge and Elijah Dukes.
As for Maekawa, he makes no sense whatsoever for the Nationals. It is almost like GM Jim Bowden picked a random Japanese player out of the blue, for the hell of saying they have a Japanese player. I mean you can find millions of Maekawa’s falling from a tree as minor league free agents. Why sign Maekawa to a contract? Sorry, Bowden you’ve lost me.
4 Ted // Dec 10, 2007 at 11:34 pm
I think it’s a good thing to jump on articles like this. It’s like having to listen to the guy at work throwing out buzz words that mean nothing, just filling up dead air.
There’s something odd about the term “Asian market” in a baseball context, if only because nobody calls it “the Venezuelan market” or the “Dominican market.” Smacks too heavily of some kind of opportunistic import-export operation, rather than a search for great baseball talent.
Like your blog a lot.
5 jackson // Dec 11, 2007 at 6:15 am
Ted
Sadly, I think the often dirty game and practices of scouting abroad and imperialism are inextricably linked in ways that would probably make most of us uncomfortable if we knew more about it.
As loaded and dicey as the language is when regarding the “Asian market”, my guess is that scouting in Latin America is an even dirtier game due to the increased poverty levels and dire circumstances found in a lot of the countries there. For better or worse, in Asia at least most of the time players who don’t make it in baseball have opportunities to earn income in other ways, while baseball is seen as a ticket out of poverty more in Latin America.
Also, I’m not sure in Latin America, but I’ve also met scouts out here that do a lot for the local communities in terms of helping kids out in high schools, giving them solid future advice and warning them against predatory agents, etc. etc. So it’s not all bad.
I think a well done paper on scouting and imperialism is both needed and welcome.
6 A.S. // Dec 11, 2007 at 12:20 pm
That’s a great comment about Asian Markets. I’m going to watch out for that.
In reading that it reminds me of a quote I came across by Julian Taverez, talking about his friend Mastsuzaka ‘from China.’ Then the reporter made a parenthetical remark that people from the Dominican often think all Asians are from China, as if to excuse it.
7 Kiyoshi // Dec 11, 2007 at 2:23 pm
MLB teams are picking Japanese and Asian players as haphazardly as NPB teams selected American players.
Remember Steinbrenner demanding that the Yankees sign a Japanese after Nomo’s success with the Dodgers. The result was a “fat toad” in pinstripes.
8 Ted // Dec 12, 2007 at 12:04 am
Jackson,
That is an excellent point that you make. In that astute light, the absence of the term “market” in Latin America seems to stem from the general perception that baseball is a saving grace, rather than an opportunity to capitalize, to weigh opportunities. MLB teams really must “market” themselves to Asian players, whereas in LA it is built into the culture as an innately privileged organization.
The obvious irony, of course, is that Latin American players have become an invaluable source of excitement and inspiration in the game, leading to probably billions of dollars in revenue, whereas Asian players, while certainly valuable to the game, haven’t yet reached that level yet, I don’t think.
That said, the term “market” seems to highlight the differences in cultural perceptions internationally. Very interesting.
9 A.S. // Dec 12, 2007 at 9:17 am
I think your first comment got to the heart of the issue more, Ted — an import/export trade sort of idea, perhaps having to do with the fact that it’s further away…in the Far East so-to-speak. In the states you see Asian Markets everwhere, even with the name Asia Mart or Oriental Market.
Of course the term Market in reference to human beings has a much more immediate, dubious orgin in the Transatlantic slave trade that incorportated the Caribbean. Is it possible this has anything to do with our usage/non usage of Market in reference to these players?
I don’t doubt that Latin American scouting is dirtier than Asian scouting, and I do agree people would perceive it as a “saving grace.” But I don’t know that it would effect the way we communicate about it.
10 IronChef // Dec 12, 2007 at 8:18 pm
I’d LOL if the Nats found the Japanese version of elijah Dukes
11 Reader Poll: Best of the Japanese Free Agent Signings | East Windup Chronicle // Dec 17, 2007 at 8:56 am
[...] folks, so we can all catch our breaths. Unless the Nationals sign that hit-and-run guy booted out of the NPB, all the big name Japanese players headed for the majors next season have [...]
Leave a Comment