Rangers Pursuing Koji Uehara?
Joey Matschulat
After missing out on Junichi Tazawa, have the Texas Rangers set their sights on veteran Japanese right-hander Koji Uehara (pictured)?According to Patrick Newman of NPB Tracker (translating from Japanese sports newspaper Sanspo), the Texas Rangers are preparing a three-year offer for 33-year-old Japanese right-hander Koji Uehara thought to be worth no less than $10 million, evidently with the intention of converting the Yomiuri Giants star into a full-time reliever (a role which Uehara is not believed to be actively seeking, as he is thought to desire a stateside starting rotation gig).
Various scouting reports appear to disagree on exactly what the 6' 1" control artist's repertoire consists of, but it seems universally accepted that Uehara throws at least one variation of fastball (and perhaps both four- and two-seam offerings, though that cannot be independently confirmed), a slider and a splitter/forkball.
What sets Uehara apart from the pack to some extent, however, is his remarkable command of the strike zone. In 276 career appearances (including 151 starts) and 1,549 innings pitched for the Giants, Uehara has produced a splendid 3.01 ERA, 1.01 WHIP and strikeout-to-walk ratio of 6.68, with the last representing an almost inconceivable figure over the span of an entire professional career.
Beset by assorted groin and leg problems in recent years, Uehara has apparently acquired a reputation as a player "who doesn't like to run and whose conditioning is suspect," though Mets scout Isao Ojimi recently implied to ESPN.com's Jim Allen that any such motivational issues would likely evaporate upon his arrival stateside.
Embedded below for your perusal is a video of Uehara in action during the 2006 World Baseball Classic, though I would strongly caution that nearly three years have passed since those proceedings transpired, and the pitcher seen in the video below may not necessarily be the same pitcher the Rangers are reportedly pursuing today:
[Direct link available here.]
For what it's worth, Far East guru Mike Plugh of Baseball Prospectus fame was decidedly bullish on Uehara in his mid-November assessment of the Japanese talent market:
Uehara was drafted by the [Los Angeles] Angels out of university more than a decade ago, but opted to stick with Japan and has guided the Yomiuri Giants ever since. Uehara has requested on several occasions to move to the majors, but the Giants refused him at every turn. He is finally a free agent, and has indicated his intent to move overseas.
He is currently 33 years old, and perhaps his best days are well behind him, but overall he ranks directly behind Matsuzaka in terms of recent Japanese baseball history. Uehara [...] figures to be something in the neighborhood of a good second starter in the NL, or a fair third starter in the AL. I'd say he's the only Japanese free agent worth spending any kind of major money on this season.
An intriguing possibility, albeit one that doesn't remotely begin to resemble a slam dunk in the majors. Uehara isn't an overpowering hurler and cannot afford to lose even a modicum of his superb command in light of his average array of pitches stuff-wise, nor can he really afford to lose much more velocity if the MLB.com report recently filed by Jim Street is indeed accurate in stating that his heater now sits regularly in the mid-80s.
As always, stay tuned.
Reader Comments (16)
Well I guess he's better than getting a 39 years old Seito from the Dodgers....
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Well no one can complain that Laird was a cost cutting move if we turn right around to sign a Japanese pitcher with the money we "saved". Still not sure why $10 million to a 33 year old Japanese pitcher makes sense. I think I would have opted for Randy Johnson and at least watch him win his 300th in a Ranger uniform.
Is he better than Kazuo Fukumori?
short list of pitchers better than Kazou Fukumori:
John Rocker
Hideki Irabu
Kameron Loe
John Van Poppel
Ryan Drese
Koji Uehara
Nolan Ryan (still)
Why!!!
Wow! talk about an indict of Japanese Pitching...
Hey Robert What did any pitcher ever do to you? did Hideo Nomo Toilet Paper your house?
I do however agree with you on Randy Johnson...he would be a hold the fort kinda guy until our young Minor League Super Pitchers come in and save the day!
The Japanese pitchers tend to get by on smoke and mirrors and either come over too old (looks like another situation now) or fade incredibly quickly (See Nomo). I look for Wang to eventually crash. He absolutely does NOT miss bats but still wins a ton. Dice-K might be the greatest Japanese pitcher EVER and he's just a good, not great number 2 since he can't ever get to the sixth inning 'cause he nibbles. Teams have got to stop trying to mine the Asian market always looking for the next Nomo or Ichiro, and invest more money and time in the Central, and South American markets. That way you can find a pitcher who's 16 (but in reality probably 19) instead of relying on a 33 year old who's velocity has diminished to the point he may or may not be effective any longer over in Japan, let alone here.
Hey did you guys see that NYY apparently just signed Burnett too!? Wow. So Atlanta has to be totally desperate for a starter. What about we offer them Millwood and his ridiculous salary, and we offer to take Chuck James and Boyer, two cheap guys with low upsides who can possibly pitch in a little this season...? Or what about Millwood for Mike Gonzalez?
What do you guys think of the Tucker / Max rumors? To me, it seems like we'd be settling for a small return there. If Max has a breakout season, he can fetch a lot more than 1 relief prospect.
When it comes to the Yankees, It just makes me Sick...The Yankees must complete the details of Sabathia’s deal, like how much he will make each season, and Sabathia — who is 6 feet 7 inches and 311 pounds — must pass a physical.
5 years and 82 Million for Burnett.
Can you say Overpay? I also Believe they were overhyped.
I am still convinced that the Yankees will Miss on one if not both.
Hey Robert, just so you know, Chien-Ming Wang is Taiwanese, not Japanese. He was also signed at age 20, so he can't really be compared to Japanese players coming over after playing professionally there.
Re: Tucker/Max - Tucker doesn't really impress me that much looking at his stats. For a guy with a big fastball he doesn't seem to miss all that many bats, and he's definitely got BB problems. I don't think I'd want to trade Max for him straight up.
The guy I'd go after is Ricky Vanden Hurk - he's got control issues as well, but misses more bats and is supposededly improving his breaking ball. The picky homerist in me would probably like to see us do better than this, but actually Vanden Hurk and Tucker together might be an okay return on Max, if you're comfortable just taking a chance on a couple live arms.
No on Uehara.
And... No. Let's be stubborn with Max. We can trade him w/a Diamond-level prospect now,for a big upgrade, e.g Nolasco or Volstad, if someone gives in, or, as JD$ says, find a way to play him by year's end, after he mashes and improves at C in AAA, so that his value is closer to Davis' current value.
How about Blalock, Padilla & Mendoza to Baltimore for a higher-upside guy w/ control problems: Liz and a decent 3B-or-COF prospect?
Then Millwood Arias and Feldman to Philly for Happ?
Then Murphy, Byrd, Benoit and Cat for Vitters and Fukudome? (The ugly exchange of OF's being the real price we pay to get Vitters) (And we can resurrect n flip Fukudome by the time Borbon or Golson is ready). Dang, I'm already breaking my policy of no more resurrect-n-flips!
Jamie Newberg just announced that Doug Mathis was non tendered...
But it's supposedly an agreement that he (and Eyre) had w/JD to be re-signed thereafter to a Minor League deal. ...Which explains why those 2 were protected and Littleton prematurely traded. Ultimately none of the 3 (or 4 w/Loe) would fit on the 40 after FA signings. Rather than expose these 2, who were willing to do Minor deals, to the Rule 5,....
Since not even Littleton, who had value, would fit on the 40 after FA signings, JD found a way to get a high-upside NON-40 guy for him (immediately after the guy went unchosen in the Rule5 Draft). Then (before making any FA acquisitions), JD did this trick of basically making it a 42-man roster. As Adam Morris said in his best Golum voice: "Tricksey Rangerses."
We'll see if these 2 follow through...
Didnt' realize that Andy, thanks!
Wow. If he's in anything near the shape he was in then (in the video) then that seems a bad rap on his conditioning. His location is amazing. One thing I thought of after saying "No" is-- not only would we not lose a young catcher, but we'd also get to keep our (supplemental?) draft pick. (We can't lose our first one, can we, because of our record in relation to other teams?) Is that true w/RJohnson? I know w/ Sheets we'd lose one-- I believe it's our supp.
I must admit, the video has me bedazzled.
Can we tell him that there won't be a big difference between our rotation and 5/8 of our bullpen (our practice rotation) this year, and that it's up to him to earn a spot in "The Front Rotation"?