OK, one mo'...

Coug sez

I think this community has consistantly over stated the impact of Japanese baseball players. Dice-K's, Kiroda's, Igawa's, Johjima's and Iwanura's reputations far outweighed what they were able to deliever on the field. This doesn't make them lousy ball players but they haven't been the bargains many have thought them to be.

And Taro counters

Joh and Kuroda delivered just around as expected. Igawa was a bust, and changed my view on poor command types transfering over (you can also add K.Matsui to that group_. Matsuzaka has just declined. I think its a physical issue with him.

You're going to have hits and misses, whether already MLB-proven, NPB, or prospect. The attrition rate in baseball is crazy. Chone Figgin and Jose Lopez are good examples

Heck, two of the biggest FAs last year were John Lackey and Jason Bay. They were signed to be star players, were proven at the MLB level, and have regressed to mediocrity overnight.

Possible, I guess, that we thought they would do more than they did.   Or:  possible that we write them off as failures if they don't contend for MVP's?

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Here is a list of all NPB players who have 1,000 or more plate appearances in the majors:

• Ichiro
• Godzilla
• KazMat
• Johjima
• Tadahito Iguchi
• Kosuke Fukudome
• So Taguchi
• Akinori Iwamura

Out of 8 players, you've got:

• Two star outfielders
• One above-average ML catcher
• Three 100-OPS+ ML infielders
• One 100-110 OPS+ outfielder
• One washout

Several of those played in parks favorable to pitchers, such as Safeco and Shea.

Hm.  Eight players ----> three huge bargains, four quality players, and one washout.   You didn't get 8 Ichiros, but is that disappointing in general?

And the pitchers are generally better in transition than the hitters...

DiceK, I'll cheerfully admit, disappointed:  because of injury.  But that "disappointment" has resulted in a 46-27 record and a 110 ERA+ even as his arm has fallen off.

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Kenji Johjima produced a 3.8 WAR and a 3.3 WAR season for less than $6M per.  Anybody interested in paying $5M or so for a 3-4 win catcher right now?

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When an NPB star comes over to the U.S., you've got to allow for a good possibility that his SLG will drop 50 or more points.  But other than that, you've got a real good chance of a quality ML hitter for less than market value.

And the list of pitchers who have run sparkling ERA's and/or control ratios:  Saito, Otsuka, Okajima, Sasaki etc. have been outstanding relievers;

Hideo Nomo was a star; the 'disappointing' Kuroda has a 3.60 ERA and 360 K's against 110 walks ... DiceK has merely a 110 ERA+ but that includes an 18-3 season and 8.3 strikeouts a game with the shredded arm... Koji Uehara has 103 K's against only 17 walks (!) in the bigs.  

Typhoon Irabu was a joke and Kazuhiro Ishii was a washout; Ohka and Kawakami were middling.  But as a group, those players have been quality in the big leagues.

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Nishioka goes about 6th or 8th, among SS's, in my AL-only draft next year.  And figures to help somebody win if he drops that low.

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Cheerio,

Dr. D