On the heels of Zach Hayes’ 2009 Free Agent Checkup comes news that pitcher Kenshin Kawakami wants to play for the Red Sox next year. (And should he be posted, “Dice-K 2.0″ Yu Darvish has his eye on either Boston or New York.) This is undoubtedly because of the recent success of the Red Sox and the integration of Daisuke Matsuzaka and Hideki Okajima, raising the profile of the Red Sox in Japan much like the profile of the team was raised in the Dominican Republic when Pedro pitched.
The to-be 33 year old draws comparisons to Hiroki Kuroda, and might have received a similar contract had he been able to qualify for free agency last year. Kawakami has a weaker fastball than Kuroda, but his track record is solid. Kuroda is 1-2 with a 3.59 ERA in eight starts for the Dodgers this year.
In the off-season, MLB Trade Rumors ranked the top five Japanese pitchers who could move to the majors, and Kawakami was second:
Japan’s highest paid starter for the champion Chunichi Dragons (he made around $3MM) mixes a fastball, cutter, and curveball. His fastball runs around 87 and his curve is very slow. He’s known as a big game pitcher and always challenges hitters. He was 12-8 with a 3.55 ERA in 2007, but the K/BB ratio was an appealing 6.3 in 167 2/3 IP. He’s a HR prone strikeout pitcher. Kawakami has been healthy for the past four seasons.
Kawakami has a no-hitter to his credit and a career line of 103-67 in 1,525 innings, posting a 3.29 ERA, 1,216 Ks and 326 walks. Read Kawakami’s history here.
Next year, the Red Sox’s rotation looks to shape up as Josh Beckett, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Jon Lester, Tim Wakefield and Clay Buchholz with Justin Masterson as the backup. Pending Wakefield’s retirement, Kawakami could indeed find himself pitching for Boston next year.
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I love this. Keep them coming as long as it is at a good price tag.
Even if this whole Dice-K thing doesn’t pan out quite as well as the Sox hoped, he’s definitely helping them tap into a goldmine of talent. That just might turn out to be $51.1 million well spent.
I think we are in good enough shape to take a pass. Bowden and Masterson should both be early call-ups (if Masterson is not in the pen) next year and Japanese pitchers have been so hit or miss…let another team take the risk and lean on the investments you have already made. Save that money for some team willing to take Lugo.
Two more top Japanese pitchers leaning towards the Sox, and another one already in our farm system? This is a good thing, and one of the most interesting trends in baseball. I wonder what Daisuke and Oki would have to say about this. Would another pitcher tend to enhance their performance, or have the opposite effect. Will having 3 or 4 Japanese pitchers open the door to recruiting the best position players for the Sox . . . a young Ichiro?
I enjoyed seeing next year’s rotation listed as the same as this year’s with Masterson and Bowden already in line. We have paid dearly to keep this rotation together, and will benefit greatly when it solidifies as the year progresses; and could be awesome in 2009. Interesting that Colon is not on that list. Has Wake given any indication that he plans to retire? If he wins another 15+ games, and gets the hook earlier in bad games, he remains a top MLB pitcher.
Yankees STINK