Oh Christ not another Japanese pitcher….how many more Mr Epstein? How many more will it teach us not to bother?

Effective in Taiwan….my mother could be a strikeout specialist in Taiwan.

Sorry to say this but Taiwan is very competitive. The small major league they have only persists the face that the batters see the pitchers a lot. High ERA’s are very common in small leagues everywhere, even here in the states.

I suggest you watch a game and then make an opinion.

Plus, who said he was going to be in the majors?

Darklighter, you’re unbelievably short- sighted. What does it hurt to sign a guy to a minor league deal? Maybe he turns into something and maybe he doesn’t. I for one am for acquiring as much talent as possible from as many different sources as possible and playing the numbers game with who makes the big league roster. Nobody was excited about Okajima and he provided 2 solid years of quality All-star caliber relief. I won’t take your bait about Dice as I’m sure you don’t think he’s any good.

Unbelievable. Okajima was our bullpen mvp during his rookie year. How much did he cost? Nothing. I think I trust Theo on this.

Merloni says when he went over there Japanese pitchers feared American players, even him! So they have a mind set of pitching around the strike zone instead of going after guys. We’ve seen it for 4 years with Dice and Okie was figured out after awhile too. I’ll give ya Okajima was great in 2007 but not in 2008 when he was just fair nad progressively got worse from there. I hope these guys pan out but to me outside of a few flashes the only consistently good player to come over has been Ichiro. Everyone else a bust.

Hideki Matsui was a bust? Takashi Saito? Akinori Otsuka? Kazuhiro Sasaki? Hiroki Kuroda? Maybe not all superstars like Ichiro, but there have been several players from Japan who have had some amount of success in MLB. Generally they’ve come over towards the end of their career when they’re in their mid to late 30s, so they dont have a chance to be anything more than a flash.

What is the worst that happens bringing someone in on a minor league deal? Depth is not a bad thing.

I don’t care if he pitches like junk. He costs nothing. I bet we only paid for the plane ticket. You are getting angry over nothing.

P.S. Okajima played well in his 2nd year too.

2.62 era , 1.161 whip

He was all-star his first year. Can’t really expect him to top that.

darklighter, does your mom strike guys out with overpowering heat or keep them off balance with slow breaking balls? if she can strike people out she might be a candidate for pawtucket like this new guy.

A good gamble.Why not? The best Japanese relief pitcher is a guy the Sox had for one year and let go.Takashi Saito has 6 full MLB seasons, and has never posted an ERA over 3.00.He went to Atlanta last year and was effective as usual. He signed with Milwaukee this winter.The Sox should have held on to him, but short of that,they should have re-aquired him this winter.Don’t understand the thinking on that..

I agree w/ Robert. Saito should have never left. Always effective year in and year out. I scratched my head why the Sox let him leave.

It was all about the Benjamins,Thom.Saito probably wanted 5 mill, which he deserved, but it’s taken the Sox a little longer to get that you have to pay well for decent relief pitching. They also let Billy Wagner go at the same time, and we saw what he did last year.

There is one Japanese pitcher that people tend to forget about when talking about good pitchers that have come to the MLB from Japan.

Hideo Nomo anyone?

Larry Lucchino, Bud Selig, Bobby Valentine and Ryozo Kato, Japan’s commissioner of baseball, as well as Japan’s ambassador to the U.S., are all scheduled to be in Hartford on March 24 for a panel discussion on Japan-U.S. baseball interaction, with a reception and dinner. The event is sponsored by the World Affairs Council of Connecticut. Contact the Council office, (860)241-6118, for details.

Nomo is not forgotten. He was a starter where most are relief pitchers.

WE NEED HIM DOWN IN LOWELL WITH THE LOWELL SPINNERS.

Looks a lot like Okajima, without the head snap.

Mr. Speir is this pitcher ambidextrous? Your article has him as both a lefthander and a righthander.

First sentence says he’s a right hander. Then after that, he’s a lefty? I say forget him. We have enough .500 pitchers who can’t get the job done… like Lackey. Go after a real lefty or let’s just make do with what we’ve got. DG

One sentence call this new play right handed another says lefty. Is this guy the first switch pitcher. Please, let him be a lefty!!

Theo and company have earned our trust.If they shied away from taking even a minor league shot there would be complaints. G-d bless the complainers, critics and cynics. They underscore the good fortune of the rest of us.

I do not think this is the worst move and as it has been said there is not a lot of money tied up in him like there was with Dice K.

Steve-
Watch the video and you’ll see he is a lefty.

I would have thought that the Red Sox would have learned a lesson with the horrible Dice K who would have been shipped to the minors if they hadn’t paid so much for him.

Dice has been an average pitcher.Actually had one good year. What hurts is that ridiculous posting fee on top of a huge salary.

Dammit, Ma was right…I shoulda studied languages. The interpreter is now the highest paid position on the team.

Greetings, I am an asshole…

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