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Orix Looking at Two New Players

Discussion in the NPB News forum
Orix Looking at Two New Players
Sankei Sports is reporting that Orix is looking at former Detroit Tigers' infielder Randall Simon, and pitcher Josh Stewart of the Chicago White Sox AAA Charlotte team. Simon's career MLB stats can be seen from Baseball Reference. He had a good year in 2002 with the Tigers, batting .301 with 19 HR and 82 RBI, but after moving over to the National League in 2003, he started struggling. Eventually he was released by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in Sept of 2004, and is currently playing in the Mexican League in Tijuana.

Josh Stewart has spent most of his time in the minor leagues, having only played 8 games at the major league level. You can see both his MLB and minor league stats on The Baseball Cube.

Nothing official has been announced by Orix for either player.

My first glance at Simon's stats led me to believe he'd probably do great over here, but then I read this scouting report from ESPN.com and figured he might have the same troubles chasing all the breaking balls thrown by Japanese pitchers.

Original article: Sankei Sports (Japanese only)
Comments
Re: Orix Looking at Two New Players
[ Author: holygoat | Posted: Jun 14, 2005 1:19 PM | HT Fan ]

Simon is a very free swinger, although he doesn't strike out very often considering how aggressive he is. Needless to say, he walks even less. I don't know that it's breaking balls in general that fool Simon so much as hard breaking stuff and his overall lack of plate discipline. He can be a fun player to watch, but he can be infuriating, too. He might do well against the second-tier NPB pitchers, though.
Re: Orix Looking at Two New Players
[ Author: Heian-794 | Posted: Jun 14, 2005 10:07 PM | HT Fan ]

I wouldn't say that Simon struggled during his National League tenure. The Pirates needed to get rid of him after he tackled (?) a kid in one of those big mascot "nuigurumi" suits during some sausage races at the ballpark. And when he went to Chicago, he played a huge part in the team's division championship drive.
Re: Orix Looking at Two New Players
[ Author: Guest | Posted: Jun 25, 2005 2:53 PM ]

Actually, in one of the stranger incidents in baseball, he hit a mascot with his bat. Story courtesy of ESPN.
Re: Orix Looking at Two New Players
[ Author: Guest: John Brooks | Posted: Jun 15, 2005 12:10 AM ]

Simon should be interesting if he can adjust to the pitching.

Stewart also has put up some good years in AAA. Stewart is currently 4-4 with a 4.25 ERA in 14 games this year with AAA Charlotte. [Minor League Stats]
Re: Orix Looking at Two New Players
[ Author: Jingu Bleacher Bum | Posted: Jun 24, 2005 11:03 AM | YAK Fan ]

I haven't seen an official announcement stating that Orix has signed Randal Simon, but this report (Japanese) from Sports Hochi is stating that the Buffaloes plan on using him starting with the 3 game series against the Rakuten Golden Eagles at Osaka Dome from June 27th.
Re: Orix Looking at Two New Players
[ Author: Jingu Bleacher Bum | Posted: Jun 27, 2005 10:51 PM | YAK Fan ]

The official announcement was made on the 27th that Orix has signed both Josh Stewart and Randall Simon. story in English from Kyodo News via Yahoo! Asia News.
Re: Orix Looking at Two New Players
[ Author: Guest: John Brooks | Posted: Jun 28, 2005 3:57 AM ]

Pitcher Josh Stewart will make 27 million yen ($247,023) and first baseman Randall Simon will make 32 million yen ($292,768). [Full Story - Japan Ball]

Note: 1 JPY = 0.009147 USD as of 2:55 PM EST
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