Akinori Otsuka?

by Al on Dec 28, 2008 8:16 PM CST in The Next 100 Years Comment 52 comments

This Daily Yomiuri article (don't bother unless you can read Japanese) says that former Rangers reliever Akinori Otsuka, who had elbow surgery a year ago, is going to work out for all 30 teams in Arizona next month.

Here's a bit more detailed analysis, including suggestions that the Padres (for whom he pitched in 2004 and 2005) and the Mariners (he apparently has great respect for Don Wakamatsu, their new manager) might be front-runners for his services.

He's 37. He's been out of baseball for a year. But he was an effective reliever from 2004-2007. He was a teammate of Kosuke Fukudome's at Chunichi in 2003, so they have at least a professional relationship. Given his age and his injury history, he'd probably not be very expensive.

Worth a flyer if the Cubs could pry him away from San Diego or Seattle? I'd say yes.

What say the rest of you?

photo via www.chrisoleary.com

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Worth a look sure

but weren’t the cubs already looking at two other japanese relievers?

Andy R.

by WindisBlowingOut! on Dec 28, 2008 8:32 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

Two minor leaguers, yes.

I’d rather have Otsuka.

"That's my opinion and if you don't like it, well, I have others." ~ Groucho Marx

by Al on Dec 28, 2008 8:37 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

First in

yes, this has Hendry written all over it. Cheap flyer on someone who could help if healthy. Sing for small fee and see if he can perform.

This is only the beginning....Lou Pinella end of '07 season and Chicago Transit Authority (the band when they were really good).

by mrcubsfan on Dec 28, 2008 8:32 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

yes

in a minor league deal but does anyone else think were gonna wait for the whole darn market to shake out, unload all the money we can in a marquis deal and overpay for the best person left?

Dear Santa:: All I want for X-mas this year is an official 2009 Jake Peavy Cubs Jersey. Oh and a Beimel one too. I've been a real good guy for the most part!!!

by cubsluver22 on Dec 28, 2008 8:33 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

Hes gotta be a better option than those 2 japanese minor leaguers

I thought about him last year too, but evidently he wasnt ready, he was great in the closers role for Texas in ’06…..if he can prove himself healthy and wants to play for a winner, then hed be well worth the gamble.

Okay, just so I understand it... in your wildest fantasy, you are in hell. And you are co-running a bed and breakfast with the devil.

by bren on Dec 28, 2008 8:45 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

I am bothered by the Fukudome needs a soulmate angle

Al, it isn’t just you, so don’t take it personal. But, Fukudome gets paid a lot of money, I get irritated that a lot of people seem to think we need to fill a roster spot with someone who speaks Japanese. He needs to buckle down on his hitting. Plain and simple. I posted last year that he has had problems most of us never experience in being so far from home and family, but for 10 million per year he needs to either stiffen up mentally, or get the family over here during the season.
Just speaking Japanese doesn’t mean they would get along. I never got the vibe from anyone that Fukudome is an a-hole, that comes out regardless of language. I never heard any of the Cubs scribes saying he was unprofessional, or hard to get along with. But, just looking at a guy because he speaks Japanese may get us an a-hole on the roster, and he and Fukudome don’t get along anyway. There are plenty of clubhouses that have guys that don’t get along. Getting a big stick to hit in the 5 spot may be the best thing for Fukudome. See your Dunn thread. 40 balls going out to RF might be the tonic Fukudome needs.

by Nibbles on Dec 28, 2008 8:45 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

How do you know they dont get along?

He has proven in his short MLB career that he can perform at a high level. Sure, just b/c theyre both Japanese doesnt mean they’ll be friends, but it makes things easier as anyone who’s lived abroad can attest.

His career numbers are very good

Okay, just so I understand it... in your wildest fantasy, you are in hell. And you are co-running a bed and breakfast with the devil.

by bren on Dec 28, 2008 8:48 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

He hasn't proven anything

It’s been a single year. Japanese players are notorious for tailing off in the second half. Sure it’s more so than usual, but I don’t see why we consider him a worthless player all of a sudden now. We shouldn’t have to get an aging pitcher who hasn’t played in a year and we don’t need that badly just to help him out, and even if we did, do you really think that would drastically improve Kosuke’s play?

"I don't know, I think the Bears should just defer so they don't have to put their offense out there to start" -Tony Kornhesier

by rea5661 on Dec 28, 2008 8:59 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Its not really about Fukudome, per se

The bullpen has some question marks, and if Otsuka can regain his form, he could help. The ancillary benefit, we hope, would be to make Fukudome a bit more comfortable in Chicago.

I havent completely written off Kosuke yet either

Okay, just so I understand it... in your wildest fantasy, you are in hell. And you are co-running a bed and breakfast with the devil.

by bren on Dec 28, 2008 9:23 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

That's understandable

I just don’t see the need to go after Otsuka, when we could get most likely get someone else who’s cheaper and more serviceable. Also, I don’t know how much he’d like being in a rotation that already has Marmol and Gregg.

"I don't know, I think the Bears should just defer so they don't have to put their offense out there to start" -Tony Kornhesier

by rea5661 on Dec 28, 2008 9:44 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

maybe, but after missing a year, I doubt he'll get a closers gig

But I guess maybe thats why Seattle and SD would be his first choices

Okay, just so I understand it... in your wildest fantasy, you are in hell. And you are co-running a bed and breakfast with the devil.

by bren on Dec 28, 2008 10:08 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

does money cure all basic emotional issues?

whatever it takes

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by Ivy Walls on Dec 29, 2008 12:04 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Definitely worth a look.

He was very solid a couple years ago. Being 37 perhaps he’d prefer a shot at the Post Season. If it hopes Kosuke all the better :]

by reprisal on Dec 28, 2008 9:34 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

Agreed

He’s worth a look provided it’s a cheap look.

by Rynofan23-5 on Dec 28, 2008 10:22 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

Definitely give him a look

if he’s healthy and we can convince him to come here. Forget the Kosuke aspect – the bullpen is still enough of a question mark that, if he’s healthy, he might be able to help shore up the 7th-8th. Again … if he’s healthy.

by toonsterwu on Dec 28, 2008 10:54 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

Sick of the "Kosuke needs a Japanese countryman" argument

This has gotten really old. The only friggin “adjustment” Kosuke Fukudome needs to make in Chicago is how to hit friggin major league pitching. My Lord, some of you make it sound as though Kosuke sleeps in the clubhouse at night and cries himself to sleep because he has nobody to talk to and show him how to get from point A to point B in Chicago.

by BLou on Dec 28, 2008 11:36 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

Kosuke DOES sleep in the clubhouse.

Duh. Do you have any idea what the commute time from the North Side to Japan is? And they fired his interpreter too, those insensitive jerks. Who’s he going to talk to now? The-Ronnie-who-shall-not-be-named? That’s not going to help him learn English.

What the Cubs need to do is hire Mr. Miyagi. Between him and Gerald Perry, that swing will be golden by the end of spring training.

Bleed Cubbie Blue: Like Drāno for your internet tubes.

by znohitter on Dec 28, 2008 11:48 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Mr. Baseball

If their is anything I learned from watching Tom Selleck in “Mr. Baseball”, is that you really need other countrymen to help you learn the culture and eccentricities of the game.

Well that or maybe Lou has a smokin’ hot reporter daughter we don’t know about that can school Kosuke in the American ways, but not let him know she’s Lou’s daughter. And then out of no where Lou can start speaking Japanese, and Kosuke can teach Lou how to have fun. Then go back to Japan to coach.

by trefrog66 on Dec 29, 2008 5:46 AM CST up reply actions 1 recs

it's already been brought up

but you don’t seem to have ever lived somewhere when the language isn’t just different, it’s UTTERLY different, and the culture is significantly different too. My wife speaks spanish, and she lived in The Dominican Republic for two years, and not in the city, either. It was very difficult for her — and she speaks the language AND can read the alphabet. Dome can do neither of these things, yet.

I think it’s possible Dome is depressed. He was the shiznit when he came here, and he had that monster home run in Game 1 (if only that had been a walk-off), and then got vilified later in the season. If he is depressed, it’s even MORE difficult for him — I bet there aren’t that many japanese-speaking therapists in Chicago.

I wonder what the situation is with getting a new translator.

"That’s the great thing about baseball, you never know what’s going to happen till you get the final out." — Lou Piniella

by drewishdrewid on Dec 29, 2008 11:32 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Well...

Point me to any evidence to suggest that Kosuke struggled with the transition to living and playing baseball in the United States. Kosuke seemed very well embraced by his teammates and always with a smile on his face, or at least until his hitting ceased. Plus his wife and child came to Chicago for a few months.

Kosuke’s dilemma is figuring out how to adapt his unique hitting approach to succeed against major league pitching.

by BLou on Dec 29, 2008 11:43 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

wow

he got to see his kid for a whole “few” months.

Obviously, he’s just a quitter. o_0

Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence. Just because no one told you he was struggling doesn’t mean he wasn’t. You’ve been given several examples of how difficult it is to live in a culture you weren’t brought up in.

We know he needs to hit better. This is not news.

"That’s the great thing about baseball, you never know what’s going to happen till you get the final out." — Lou Piniella

by drewishdrewid on Dec 29, 2008 12:10 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

BLou

As I asked on another thread, have you ever lived and worked for a substantial time in another culture?

by leothelip on Dec 29, 2008 12:24 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

And DeKalb doesn't count.

Yes, yes ... winter is indeed a pond upon which all of us must skate, braving frostbite and runny noses in the hopes that our cars will start and we shan't embarass ourselves slipping on a patch of black ice. Spring is more a quagmire of cold mud and slush, and fall is a pile of fallen leaves that may or may not hide a pile of doggy doo-doo. But summer, ah summer is an oasis of endless green that disappears all too quickly beneath our feet as we rush through its warm, glorious bliss.

by dat cubfan daver on Dec 30, 2008 11:53 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Unless Otsuka...........

………….starts throwing from the port side, I don’t really see the point of pursuing him.

"Happiness? A good cigar, a good meal, a good cigar and a good woman - or a bad woman; it depends on how much happiness you can handle." ~ George Burns

by tville on Dec 29, 2008 9:50 AM CST reply actions 0 recs

He's got to be better than Kevin Gregg.

"That's my opinion and if you don't like it, well, I have others." ~ Groucho Marx

by Al on Dec 29, 2008 10:02 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Are you really that down on Gregg?

I agree with Tville. The back of the bullpen is set, and there are plenty of young guys to look at in middle relief. If he was a lefty…maybe. As a aging RH reliever, I’d say pass.

by Damen Jackson on Dec 29, 2008 10:25 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Just wait till you see Gregg walking everyone in sight.

Ugh.

"That's my opinion and if you don't like it, well, I have others." ~ Groucho Marx

by Al on Dec 29, 2008 10:32 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

You're going to be the last one...

to let Kerry go, aren’t you?

by Damen Jackson on Dec 29, 2008 10:34 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

I still don't see the point...

… to letting go an effective reliever who threw strikes, and getting a less-effective one who doesn’t.

"That's my opinion and if you don't like it, well, I have others." ~ Groucho Marx

by Al on Dec 29, 2008 10:40 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

I agree with you, Al, but............

……….Woody’s gone and Gregg is here to stay. I don’t think Hendry is going to consider getting another RH bullpen arm since the deal is done.

"Happiness? A good cigar, a good meal, a good cigar and a good woman - or a bad woman; it depends on how much happiness you can handle." ~ George Burns

by tville on Dec 29, 2008 11:00 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Fair enough...

But hopefully we can at least agree that the Cubs needn’t go dumpster diving at this point to find a solution.

by Damen Jackson on Dec 29, 2008 11:15 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Would you pay him $10M a year though?

I’m happy for Kerry Wood, but I’m happy that Hendry didn’t give him that.

Formerly NO100

by jerry morales rules on Dec 29, 2008 11:35 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

I would have done it.

And I bet Wood would have taken less than that to stay.

"That's my opinion and if you don't like it, well, I have others." ~ Groucho Marx

by Al on Dec 29, 2008 12:56 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Kevin Gregg will be just fine

Personally, I think Gregg will be one of the best set-up man in the National League. It was a wise acquisiton in my view.

by BLou on Dec 29, 2008 11:40 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

I'm not letting go

of Kerry either. It was a bad decision.

"That’s the great thing about baseball, you never know what’s going to happen till you get the final out." — Lou Piniella

by drewishdrewid on Dec 29, 2008 11:33 AM CST up reply actions 1 recs

not letting go of Woodyeither

and I HATE relief pitchers who walk hitters………..

by plenz on Dec 29, 2008 12:23 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

If he pitches to his past performances, he's going to drive

Cub fans nuts. It’s one thing I can’t stand, it’s a reliever who walks batters. If a batter hits your best pitch, I tip my hat to him, but don’t give up the game by walking people.

"Hats for bats.....keep bats warm." - Pedro Cerrano
"Hey bartender, Jobu needs a refill !!!!!!!" - Eddie Harris

by willie mays hayes' gloves on Dec 29, 2008 10:37 AM CST up reply actions 1 recs

Rec'd

"That's my opinion and if you don't like it, well, I have others." ~ Groucho Marx

by Al on Dec 29, 2008 10:40 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Gregg

Agreed. Saw a lot of him as I live in FL and get plenty of Marlins games on TV.

To me, he was esentially Bob Howry +5mph on fastball. He walked alot of batters after getting one or two outs and when he tried to make up for it, the cheeseballs he tossed down the middle got smoked.

Not happy with Gregg as closer, another option like Otsuka is a good move.

"I got a PBS mind in an MTV world"...Jimmy Buffett

by The Ryno and I Know on Dec 29, 2008 11:51 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Gregg is here to be a set-up man to Marmol

by BLou on Dec 29, 2008 11:58 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

So he

can blow the game in the 8th instead of the 9th?

Oooh, shiny.

"That’s the great thing about baseball, you never know what’s going to happen till you get the final out." — Lou Piniella

by drewishdrewid on Dec 29, 2008 12:11 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Yeah, kind of like Howry used to do, only with more walks.

"That's my opinion and if you don't like it, well, I have others." ~ Groucho Marx

by Al on Dec 29, 2008 12:56 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

all the better

to run up the score.

"That’s the great thing about baseball, you never know what’s going to happen till you get the final out." — Lou Piniella

by drewishdrewid on Dec 29, 2008 1:13 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Who also............

………..doesn’t throw lefty. And like it or not, Gregg is already on the roster and likely to be the set up guy for 2009.

"Happiness? A good cigar, a good meal, a good cigar and a good woman - or a bad woman; it depends on how much happiness you can handle." ~ George Burns

by tville on Dec 29, 2008 10:30 AM CST reply actions 0 recs

Worth a look as a back of the bullpen guy on the cheap

…but I agree, what we really need is a dependable lefty reliever.

by Wreckard on Dec 29, 2008 10:59 AM CST reply actions 0 recs

Like Scott Eyre, perhaps?

"That's my opinion and if you don't like it, well, I have others." ~ Groucho Marx

by Al on Dec 29, 2008 12:57 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Exactly

That’s one of the strangest things I’ve ever seen. It’s not like we had viable options to replace him with when we released him.

by Wreckard on Dec 29, 2008 1:18 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Obviously, that was Lou

"That's my opinion and if you don't like it, well, I have others." ~ Groucho Marx

by Al on Dec 29, 2008 1:29 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Just in case

we somehow do get Aki, I saw him pitch quite a bit a couple of years ago with the Rangers while visting a friend in Arlington, and the fans there used to do that “YOSHAAA!” yell (from Major League II) after he would strike a hitter out, not saying he would strike alot of guys out anymore but i think it would be a fun habit to have with him, maybe….

also, I know for a fact that guy is top notch when it comes to being cool with fans, even given the language barrier

by BCB1987 on Dec 29, 2008 1:00 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

Worth a look, absolutely.

And, though it may seem ridiculous to some, having someone to partner with Dome could make a big difference in Kosuke’s performance IMHO.

by dat cubfan daver on Dec 30, 2008 11:56 AM CST reply actions 0 recs

I think we should..........

Get Otsuka because he is a good pitcher not just because Fukudome will feel good. Otsuka is a great pitcher but we shouldn’t waste our time getting him just to make Fukudome fell at home. Fukudome should bring the family over to make him self at home and if we get Otsuka he better see some action.

by Mr.Cub on Dec 31, 2008 10:56 AM CST reply actions 0 recs