Most Likely to Go to MLB?

As far as I know, NPB and MLB teams do not trade players with each other. Players either are sold, or they gain free agency and are "posted." I'm sure our good friend from Maryland, John Brooks, will fill us in on how Asia-America transactions work. John is the best, I learn a lot reading his posts.

I mentioned numerous players of interest, over at my blog, in a blog entry. [Eutaw Street Bombers]

Though, I would take Ishii off of that list, as will have major shoulder surgery [Japan Baseball Daily] this October, and will not be ready to pitch until after Opening Day 2007.

Add that on top of Hanshin's Kei Igawa, continues to attract interest from numerous MLB teams, but is unlikely to be posted from Hanshin. Same with Koji Uehara who major league teams also have been interested in.

Rumors are also flying that the Pirates are interested in the Giants' Takahashi and Nishi. The Pirates had scouts watching both earlier this year. Nishi will surely be released by Yomiuri after lackluster play this year, and isn't a viable MLB option. Takahashi, like Uehara, will not be posted, as Yomiuri has said they don't recognize the posting system.

Uehara is a free agent, he will come to the U.S. in 2007.

Can someone confirm when Uehara is a free agent? I thought it wasn't until after the 2007 season.

I realize this topic has been dormant for over a month, but I'm sure Uehara made an impression on MLB scouts during the WBC as well as Matsuzaka did. Surely, with the sad state of pitching that so many mid-market MLB teams are dealing with, Uehara could help at least a dozen teams out there, if not more.

My questions: are there any clearly stated anti-tampering rules to prevent MLB general managers from contacting Uehara's agent to persuade him to seek posting? Also, since the Yankees have a "working agreement" with the Yomiuri team, do they have any kind of "inside track" when he does become available? I'm not clear on how these "working agreements" relate to player movement and what's in it for both sides.

The main thing to remember is even if there was some kind of tampering, Yomiuri has said over and over again they don't recognize the Posting System, so he is very unlikely to be posted. Overall, I give it little to no chance of happening.

Second, unlike Seibu, Yomiuri is in no need of money.

Third, since the Yankees have a "working agreement" per se with Yomiuri, to do some kind of tampering like this would do very much ill-will for both sides, and I don't see the Yankees wanting this.

Now to the actual question in hand:

- are there any clearly stated anti-tampering rules to prevent MLB general managers from contacting Uehara's agent to persuade him to seek posting?

Why, nothing is preventing this from occurring. It is Yomiuri who holds the final decision, and as I said numerous times before, they don't recognize the legality of the Posting System.

Plus, they also don't negotiate with agents, as they don't recognize them either, as they refused to allow Uehara's agent to be a part of the contract negotiations in the past. Agents in Japan have little to no power whatsoever. All contracts are basically between the team and player for Japanese players.

Uehara will be a FA after the 2007 season and has been asking the Giants to post him the last 2 years with no success. He's 99.9% gone after the 2007 season as a FA.

I wonder about Uehara. After going 17-5 (ERA 2.60), 16-5 (3.17), and 13-5 (2.60) in 2002-2004, he's suddenly 9-12 and 8-9 in 2005 and 2006 (3.21 for both years). Without a return to his old form, would he be that attractive?

In this insane market for pitchers in MLB, anyone can be attractive. If Uehara can even rebound to half of what he did those years, he will be a hot commodity.

Plus, I wonder how much of Uehara's struggles you can amount to the poor performance of Yomiuri in 2005 and 2006? In 2005 and '06 he still has compiled ERA's of 3.31 and 3.21. Not to mention he was very dominant in the WBC, which will also help.

Uehara's been remarkably consistent. W-L record, like RBIs, is so dependent on the performance of your teammates that they're really not good measures of player performance.

I remember the ESPN guys during the WBC talking about how ridiculous his control was, like he was a robot constantly hitting the low outside corner. They talked about it like it was other worldly. I'm pretty sure US scouts have the same thoughts about him. As long as he keeps that control and fork ball, he should still be on top of everyone's list.

I don't get to see Giants games, since I'm in the states, but how much of his ERA and record can be because of defense and bullpen? I know Kokubo, Lee, and Shimizu don't exactly cover tons of ground. On almost any other team, his ERA would give him an automatic 10-12 wins.

There are reports from Boston that the RedSox are real close to signing former long time Yomiuri Giants and Nippon Ham Fighter lefty specialist Hideki Okajima to a 2 year deal. The deal could done by today or the end of the Winter Meetings. The terms of the 2 year deal are not yet known.

MLB.COM reports that Hideki Okajima has agreed to a 2 year deal with the Boston RedSox. A press conference will be held at Fenway park 5:00 ET.

Everybody in the AL East is getting Japanese players but the Orioles. What's holding the O's back, is it Director of Baseball Operations Mike Flanagan (who should know a good pitcher when he sees one) or the guy who really calls the shots at Camden Yards, owner Peter Angelos? Oddly enough, the Orioles used to win with lots of role players like Lenn Sakata, but they don't seem to have a grasp of what makes for good team chemistry anymore. Not since the movie Major League II was filmed at Camden Yards in 1993, has a team from there ever reached the World Series - and when that owner, Roger Dorn, said "I got you an outfielder," it was a guy from Japan. He may have been a stereotype created by Hollywood, but at least that team won!