Tigers sign Zarate

Tigers have signed pitcher Robert Zarate from Gunma Diamond Pegasus to an ikusei contract (rumoured to be around 20 million yen). Zarate will start off wearing No. 116 but is expected to progress fairly rapidly to ichi-gun status.

Who is this 123 that the Tigers drafted? Is that some kind of nickname?

No his name is actually Hifumi (Shinta) and yes the kanji for his family name is 一二三. He's a pitcher with some potential if he can manage to overcome his control problems.

"but is expected to progress fairly rapidly to ichi-gun status"

On what information do you base that on? I'm quite certain he didn't even make it to single-A ball in the States.

Tigers coaches liked his pitching and thought he had potential for the Japanese game. They were prepared to offer quite a decent contract for a beginner. In Japan evaluation is kind of independent from what a pitcher has done in the US. Coaches don't normally pay much attention to a pitcher's record but look at how they think he is likely to adjust and fit in with the Japanese game.

"a beginner"

Wow, odd reference for someone who has probably throwing for 10-15 years.

Your analysis doesn't stack up

As far as Japanese baseball is concerned Zarate is a beginner. He has no experience of actually pitching top level Japanese baseball. You might recall that Japanese players joining MLB are classed as 'rookies' even though they are experienced baseball players. It isn't my analysis though - its what Tigers coaches are on record as having said. They have generally done well in chosing relief pitchers from overseas though.

Why is Japanese baseball recruiting such scrubs？ People often compare Japanese baseball to AA or AAA ball. I'm finding it hard to defend those accusations when guys like Zarate are being signed and expected to "quickly progress" to the first team as you said after the minor leagues gave up on him.

For what it's worth, I never heard any Japanese rookie getting called a "beginner" in MLB (and I follow it very closely) so I've gotta agree with the other guy.

The type of player who succeeds in NPB is often different to one who succeeds in MLB. Thus a pitcher who might not make it in MLB can succeed in NPB and vice versa. A lot of pitchers from MLB would struggle in NPB. The type of game played is very different. It doesn't guarantee that Zarate will succeed in NPB - he might fail. The coaches have seen a potential which could be useful in the Japanese game which is all I'm commenting on - we haven't seen him pitch in match conditions yet.

We'll never really get to know because the caliber of players moving between the 2 leagues is completely different. Most of the Japanese players going to MLB are all-stars and most of them end up being well below league average in the States. The MLB players coming here are not all-stars and in fact are not getting signed (or at least not getting an everyday role) or only getting signed to minor-league contracts. The last guy who came to Japan who was putting up big numbers in the majors and was all-star caliber was probably Cecil Fielder and he tore it up. Small sample size I know but it's all we've got.

Good pitching can dominate anywhere. It will never happen but if Cliff Lee or Roy Halladay were to come here, I would expect their numbers to be better as the hitting here is not simply up to MLB standard. Not a criticism, just an observation. The big thing that makes or breaks a foreign player coming to Japan is being able to make the cultural adjustments. It's another world and the strict regime and cultural differences within the game offer the biggest challenges to the "gaijin" ballplayer.

We do have the World Baseball Classic which gives an indication of equality at the highest levels between the leagues. The obvious difference execution of the basics - MLB is way behind NPB in this aspect. I would expect both Lee and Halladay to put up better numbers partially because of this not because of the hitting. The philosophy is small ball (anyone for a bunt) and its not necessarily inferior to long ball.

People often compare Japanese baseball to AA or AAA ball.

as the hitting here is not simply up to MLB standard.

Then, why are so many people reluctant to consider Japanese players in the MLB rookies? If they are AAA players, what is the problem? You can't use double standards whenever you like.

"Then, why are so many people reluctant to consider Japanese players in the MLB rookies?"

A noisy minority but most people are happy to see them recognized as rookies, hence the league officially recognizing them as rookies so you can relax.

As for using the WBC as a yardstick for measuring the quality of a league, I think saying such an argument as being bizarre and completely devoid of logic would be flattering you Christoper.

Firstly MLB is made of players from all the participating countries. Have a look at the nationalities of the lineups for the All Star game over the past decade. So how can you compare the leagues by comparing the performance of a national team? It seems like you think that the American team represents the standard of MLB. I know you don't like or watch MLB so let me inform you. It's not just Americans playing in it!

OK, if you want to take that track. That is to compare the performance and success with the American team and Japanese team which as I mentioned above, simply can't be used to compare the 2 leagues then another thing wrong with your argument is that you obviously haven't seen how the American team is managed. It's managed like an exhibition game where the manager uses up his bench and gives everybody a chance to play. It's a joke really and this has been voiced by many sports journalists and frustrated fans. It's no coincidence that Korea and Japan do so well, because they are managed to win. Of course, the American team is not trying to lose but the tournament doesn't seem to be taken as seriously as the Korean and Japanese teams. Just look at the large number of players who choose not to participate. It's not the best against the best and for this reason I can't take the tournament seriously.


[Edited by: Christopher on Nov 17, 2010 9:14 AM]

There is the argument that because the WBC is supposedly 'an exhibition tournament' it is not of the highest level and the American team doesn't try hard. However, it is not an acceptable argument - any international competition which is played at country level is always of a higher standard than an internal competition in a country. It takes the best a country has to offer and pits them against each other. It is also an acknowledged fact that the WBC draw is designed to produce a Dominican Republic/USA final but that neither team performs at the highest level. I watch a lot of MLB when I'm in the US and I can safely say that the Japanese and Koreans are better at the basics than the MLB teams - the WBC just demonstrates this with more clarity and this is why we cannot talk about MLB superiority anymore. Defensively, MLB is not as good whatever the qualities it might have in other areas and this is an important factor.

Now I am going to serve notice that as I moderate this blog I am getting bored with this subject which does not relate to Zarate and whether he will succeed with Tigers. If anyone wants to comment on the former I will be delighted to accept posts but if the topic is the superiority of MLB or NPB I will not post it here. Remember this is a Tigers blog and if you do want to discuss MLB/'NPB I suggest that you post to the Discussion section of this site.