Comments on: M’s in on Tazawa bidding

By: Mothy

Mothy — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 10:12:10 +0000

I’ve heard Darvish say he’s not interested in the MLB too, although I think he added “right now” if my memory serves me correctly (which is always questionable). But athletes at his level almost always want to play against the best, and I have to wonder, even if he really doesn’t have any desire to leave Japan, how long he can continue to absolutely dominate the NPB without getting bored by it and wanting to try the next level.

By: Deanna

Deanna — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 02:14:27 +0000

I saw Tazawa pitch in two games back in September, but I’m not a scout. Either way, he’s coming out of the industrial leagues in Japan — not the pros — definitely a prospect, not a majors-ready guy. He’d be an NPB-ready guy should he have entered the draft in Japan, but he didn’t.

I don’t remember him getting above the equivalent of 90 mph, either. HOWEVER, in the first game I saw him in, against a somewhat weak JR Shikoku team, he was perfect through 5 innings and ultimately ended up striking out 12 guys in 8 innings. (I blogged the game here.)

The second game I saw him in, I was there mostly to watch the marching bands and boo a player on Honda Sayama’s team, so again… not a scout.

Either way, it’s really unlikely he’d go to the M’s. Thanks to Golden Boy, the Red Sox is where it’s at these days.

And for the record, Darvish supposedly claims he has no interest in MLB… and as a diehard Fighters fan I must admit I hope it’s true.

By: TCW

TCW — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 05:40:42 +0000

Hmm! Sounds like the second coming of Hideki Irabu

If that happens to be true, I hope he signs with the Rangers. Comedic potential galore! [Best case scenario, I'd be interested to see him pitch for us. It seems worth a shot.]

By: John D.

John D. — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 01:32:01 +0000

I donâ€™t want Tazawa. Rarely reaches 90 MPH when rested, and struggles to reach 87 or 88 after throwing a couple inning. He lacks stamina, and velocity, and at 22 he is not going to add any more velocity.

Hmm! Sounds like the second coming of Hideki Irabu

By: John D.

John D. — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 01:16:53 +0000

And where did you get this information? Sounds like word for word the same thing I read on another website. ESPN?

Lighten up. Baserball writers are notorious for not citing their sources.

By: Mothy

Mothy — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 00:38:59 +0000

I’m living in Japan right now and the things I’ve heard about him were saying he has a mid 90s fastball. I think. Maybe I made a math error when going from kmh to mph. But anyway it seems like Tazawa is a good pitching prospect, but it’s important to remember he is just a prospect. I have two worries about the Mariners going after him.
They have to be careful not to overpay. With a bidding war going on it might be easy to end up paying number one draft choice kind of money for him or even more, and I don’t think he’s a number one draft choice in potential. He hasn’t been pitching for a major team against top competition, and at 22, I think I would expect an elite prospect to be more dominant against that level than he has been.
Also, the Japanese baseball league is pissed about Tazawa skipping the draft and going to MLB. I would worry that it would make it harder to acquire Japanese players in the future. Japanese teams are much less independant than American teams and if the Japanese league sends out a memo that a certain team can’t get any more players for awhile, it could happen. And I’m not sure that’s worth risking over a upper-mid level prospect like Tazawa, especially when there’s a chance a real deal like Yu Darvish could come available in the next couple of years.

By: abender20

abender20 — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 23:14:07 +0000

A completely different throwing motion which is more like a tennis serve than pitching. Ever try to bowl?

Actually, a tennis serve is very very similar to pitching. The footwork and release of torque is aimed differently, but the arm is almost identical. Bowling IS painful.

Anyway, I was merely musing that there could be potential for pitchers from India, not necessarily these two gentlemen. You would clearly want to start them out earlier.

That said, I the Red Sox DID try to sign Adam Gilchrist.

By: Sneekes

Sneekes — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 22:46:08 +0000

The most fundamental rule of (cricket) bowling is that your arm must be straight or at least very nearly straight. Someone who does bend their arm is referred to as a ‘chucker’ and can be suspended.
I would think a squash players action would be more akin to pitching than cricket. Perhaps the Ms could give Peter Nicol an NRI?

I seem to remember Ian Botham and Alan Lamb training with the Royals in the early-mid 80′s on the very British premise that as they could hit a cricket ball quite far – they must be good at baseball too as it’s just what the Americans call rounders!

By: Oolon

Oolon — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 22:31:59 +0000

Now I am confused. This article from ESPN less than a month ago says that Tazawa has a 97mph fastball…

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3672409

By: DMZ

DMZ — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 22:26:32 +0000

I have. It was hugely painful.