As you know, I think it’s still possible that Fukudome will be bought out and return to Japan. But if this doesn’t happen and the Cubs commit to sticking with him, it’s possible they’ll look for more Japanese players. Some of the above could be a good fit. We’ll see.

I doubt it has, Fukudome’s struggles are his own, so one would hope he isnt bad mouthing the team to any friends he might have over there that are interested in playing here.

Will Tazawa start right off in the majors? He hasnt even played professionally over there, so am I correct to assume he’ll be a sort of Japanese Jeff Samardzija/bonus baby who will start in the minors despite a heft salary?

This is why more people should watch the World Baseball Classic, b/c youre going to see a lot of players who will be in the majors very soon. I’ll be very excited to see Darvish pitch for Japan….maybe that Korean SS we signed will play as well.

Anyway, I dont think Fukudome’s struggles will make the Cubs any more hesitant to delve into that market….Kosuke was an MVP and batting champ right? So his struggles came as a shock, I hope he can turn it around, his first few months were very exciting.

He compared to Hiroki Kuroda, and we saw what he was able to do during the season. He’s on the older side (33), but could provide a solid back of the rotation arm, giving the Cubs the freedom to move Marquis without relying on Marshall or Hill to give them around 30 starts.

Here’s a quick profile from the Boston Globe:

Kenshin Kawakami, a 33-year-old righthanded pitcher, is most likely going to make a jump to the major leagues for the 2009 season as a free agent. Sports Nippon is reporting that the Red Sox are one of the teams that is interested in his services. As an ace of the Chunichi Dragons, he went 9-5 with 2.30 ERA last season and also pitched in the Beijing Olympics for the Japanese team. His career record is 112-72 with 3.22 ERA in 257 games during his 11 seasons with the Dragons and he was a major contributor when the Dragons won Japan Series in 2007. Kawakami’s best pitch is cut-fastball and is comparable to Hiroki Kuroda of the Dodgers.

Here’s one of Tazawa.

that the J-Leagues will eventually face the same sort of challenge that befell the Negro Leagues when the color barrier came down. I understand there are rules in place to prevent the scavenging from being too vicious, but the really good young players are getting wise to the fact that they can forgo the Japanese draft and come straight to the U.S. I’m really looking forward to the next few classes of Japanese rookies.

been waiting on this post for awhile. It will be recommended by myself. these are the kinda post that make this blog better than the rest.

on to the topic at hand—I’m not against signing more asian players. I really think we expected too much of fukudome. language barrier,new faces,new culture, and most importantly a whole new style. I’m no expert but from what I think I know—Asian players are very loyal and committed to doing there jobs. I believe dome works his ass off this winter and makes a darn good player for us all of next year.

Some of you need to learn the artform of an effective poll question and set of answers. The answer options provided here are clearly biased, too wordy and confusing. Maybe Al Yellon should be executor of all poll questions from now on.

But they also mention that the Cubs have been in contact:

The Sox still appear to be the frontrunner for Junichi Tazawa, the 22-year-old Japanese amateur righthander who has been scouted by the Red Sox for a couple of years, according to the Globe’s Nick Cafardo. But word on Tuesday was that both the Atlanta Braves and Seattle Mariners held meetings with him in Japan Monday. According to the Herald’s Sean McAdam, who also lists the Sox as the frontrunner for Tazawa, the Sox have been the most aggressive team with regard to the hard-throwing righty, who is also being courted by the Atlanta Braves, Florida Marlins and Chicago Cubs, among others.