Hideki Okajima

According to Sports Hochi and The New York Times, Hideki Okajima has agreed to a minor league deal with the Yankees that includes an invite to major league camp.

Okajima, who was taken off the 40-man roster last season by the Red Sox, pitched in 34 games (all in relief) with the Triple-A Pawtucket Red Sox in 2011, going 8-1 with a 2.29 ERA. In 51 innings, the lefty fanned 48 and walked nine. Before being demoted to Pawtucket, Okajima had gone 1-0 with a 4.32 ERA with the Red Sox to begin the ’11 season.

The reliever told WEEI.com in early June that he wished to be traded out of the Red Sox organization after being taken off the 40-man roster

“It was very disappointing,” Okajima said through translator Jeff Cutler on June 3 regarding being designated for assignment. “Having experienced that, right now I’m just working hard on myself to make sure I’m pitching well so I can put myself up for a trade at some point.”

When asked if he wants to be traded, the 35-year-old said in English, “Yes.”

“Being taken off the 40-man, to me, means the team no longer needs me,” Okajima said through Cutler. “So I’m just looking to move on with my career at this point.”

Okajima pitched in 261 games over five seasons with the Red Sox, going 17-8 with a 3.11 ERA while saving six games. In 2007, his first season with the Sox, he made the American League All-Star team while finishing sixth in AL Rookie of the Year balloting.

According to multiple industry sources, as part of a restructuring of their international operations, Red Sox vice president of player personnel and international operations Craig Shipley is expected to be removed from his post as head of the team’s international scouting.

Red Sox GM Ben Cherington declined to comment on any specific front office personnel until an announcement of the team’s restructured international operations is offered.

Shipley was one of the Red Sox’ first front office hires under GM Theo Epstein in 2002. While Shipley could be offered another position in the organization, he may also decide to leave the Sox after nine years to pursue other opportunities.

During his tenure, Shipley has long been considered a top talent evaluator in the organization, and he played a critical part on the Red Sox’ GM-by-committee in the wake of Epstein’s resignation following the 2005 season. Shipley was an influential voice in pushing ahead to make the deal that brought Josh Beckett and Mike Lowell to Boston, even at the cost of star prospect Hanley Ramirez and big league starter Anibal Sanchez.

That said, the Sox have seen few top-end returns in the international market. Shipley’s most notable undertaking was his years-long efforts to lead the scouting process on Daisuke Matsuzaka in Japan. Matsuzaka was wildly successful at the start of his Sox career, but after being a key rotation member in 2007 and 2008, has offered limited returns in the last three years while dealing with injuries, and he underwent Tommy John surgery last June. Shipley also led the Sox to sign left-handed reliever Hideki Okajima, who emerged as an All-Star.

On the amateur side, the Sox have produced four big leaguers (Felix Doubront, Yamaico Navarro, Junichi Tazawa and Jose Iglesias) who were signed under Shipley. Doubront and Navarro represented relative bargains, with Doubront having signed for approximately $200,000 and Navarro having signed for just $20,000. Other notable Sox prospects in the pipeline who were signed under Shipley include right-hander Stolmy Pimentel, still regarded as one of the top Sox pitching prospects, shortstop Xander Bogaerts, who is considered perhaps the prospect with the highest ceiling in the organization, and right-hander Raul Alcantara, a high-ceiling right-hander who reached Lowell this year.

However, even taking into account the long process that is necessary for 16-year-old prospects to make it to the majors, the Sox have seen limited return from their international talent pool. Some of the team’s most prominent amateur signings (such as third baseman Michael Almanzar, who received a $1.5 million bonus, catcher Oscar Perez, who received more than $700,000 in 2008, Tazawa, who signed a three-year, $3.3 million deal to come to the Sox from Japan for the 2009 season) have yielded limited returns.

The jury remains out on shortstop Jose Iglesias, whom the Sox signed to a four-year, $8.25 million major league deal that took effect after the 2009 season. Iglesias is still considered a top Red Sox prospect, and a potential future big league starting shortstop.

At the same time, this year, one evaluator of another organization referred to his offensive performance as “embarrassing” during a Triple-A season in which Iglesias hit .235 with a .285 OBP, .269 slugging mark and .554 OPS with one homer and 10 extra-base hits in 101 games. Another noted some of the Sox’ international signings of recent years and suggested that the team “bleeds money” in the international market.

Shipley’s scouting eye and the information-gathering processes he established prior to signing players were and are widely respected, both inside the Sox organization and by other members of the industry. However, the tangible big league results of the Sox’ international operations under him have been mixed.

Whether it was those results that led to Shipley’s likely removal as head of Red Sox international scouting or whether it was another matter related to the restructuring under GM Ben Cherington (who was a member of the Sox’ international operations staff under ex-GM Dan Duquette more than a decade ago) remains unclear. However, going forward, it appears that the Sox will have a new person directing their efforts to acquire global talent.

It has been a challenging year for left-hander Hideki Okajima. The 35-year-old, an All-Star in 2007, was non-tendered by the Red Sox in December, making him a free agent so that the team would not have to give him a raise over the $2.75 million he earned in 2010. But Okajima ended up returning to the Sox, signing a one-year, $1.75 million deal.

But the left-hander has been subjected to some confounding firsts in 2011. The club optioned him to Triple-A Pawtucket to open the year. He remained in Pawtucket until mid-April, when the team recalled him after optioning Felix Doubront.

But Okajima was seldom used by the Sox since his return to the majors. He appeared in seven games over roughly a month in the majors, and had not seen game action since May 9 against the Twins (a game, incidentally, in which Okajima claimed the victory after tossing two scoreless innings). He has a 4.32 ERA, six strikeouts and five walks in 8 1/3 innings, and had seemingly been passed by Rich Hill as the go-to left-hander for the Sox.

And so, when the Sox made a deal for another left-hander, Franklin Morales, on Thursday night, they cleared a spot on the major league and 40-man rosters by designating Okajima for assignment. GM Theo Epstein said that the Sox would explore the trade market for Okajima; if none materializes, then the club will return him to Pawtucket.

For Okajima, this latest turn of his season represents uncharted territory.

“I started the season down in the Minor Leagues, so I know I had to regain the team’s confidence in my pitching,” Okajima told reporters through an interpreter. “It is my first time in this situation so I’m not sure of what happens next.”

That said, Okajima did not begrudge the Sox’ decisions, and suggested that he did not regret re-signing this winter with the only club for whom he’s pitched since coming to the U.S. in 2007.

“Having re-signed with Boston during the offseason, it is disappointing that this is happening but signing here was not a mistake,” said Okajima. “I am very grateful to the opportunity the Red Sox have given me over five years.”

The Red Sox hope to harness some of the considerable potential of left-hander Franklin Morales. (AP)

After the Red Sox’ 4-3 walkoff victory over the Tigers, Sox GM Theo Epstein said that the team had acquired left-hander Franklin Morales from the Rockies in exchange for a player to be named or cash. In order to clear a roster spot for Morales, the team designated left-hander Hideki Okajima for assignment.

“Morales is going to come in and be the second lefty in our bullpen,” Epstein told reporters. “He’s somebody we think has some upside, throwing strikes consistently. He’s a really hard thrower, a former top prospect. Think he’s got some upside there as the second left-hander position. We needed a 40-man spot for him so Oki’s going to be designated. We’ll see if there’s a fit for him with a trade somewhere. If not, we’ll get him through waivers and he’ll end up back at Pawtucket.

“We weren’t using Oki all that much, the way things have evolved lately,” Epstein added. “Morales is somebody with significant upside. If we can get him to repeat his delivery and throw strikes, he could be tough to hit. He’s going to take that second lefty in the bullpen spot, and we’ll see if we can capture some of his upside.”

Morales, 25, was 0-1 with a 3.86 ERA in 14 games (spanning 14 innings) for the Rockies this year, striking out 11 and walking eight. In parts of five seasons, he is 7-11 with a 4.83 ERA, 7.0 strikeouts per nine innings and 5.3 walks per nine. He has been far more effective this year against right-handed hitters (.172 average, .595 OPS) than lefties (.250, .935), but in his career, he has enjoyed significantly greater success against southpaws (.185, .624) than right-handed hitters (.272, .788).

He is a hard thrower (according to Fangraphs.com, his fastball this year was averaging 93.9 mph) who also features a curveball and changeup. He was ranked in Baseball America’s Top 100 prospects in both 2007 (No. 30) and 2008 (No. 8), but his command difficulties had resulted in his move to the bullpen and his move down Colorado’s depth chart. Still, the Sox saw a risk worth taking.

“When he throws strikes, he’s really effective. He’s a guy who was one of the top prospects in all of baseball a few years ago,” said Epstein. “He’s been a little bit erratic with his strike-throwing, but there still is plenty of upside there. We feel, at a very reasonable acquisition cost, we get somebody who, if things go right, can be a real effective weapon for us from the left side.”

Okajima was 1-0 with a 4.32 ERA, six strikeouts and five walks in seven games (8 1/3 innings). But the Sox had seldom used the 35-year-old, having last put him in a game on May 9, with Rich Hill (four scoreless appearances) having surpassed him on the depth chart. Indeed, because Hill had been effective, it permitted the Sox to acquire a pitcher who is a low-risk, high-reward lottery ticket.

“Rich’s emergence made us more comfortable making this deal,” Epstein said. “Rich has been throwing the ball well all year down at Pawtucket and has gotten off to a nice start up here, so he’s certainly somebody who matches up well against lefthanded hitters. That second spot, it’s not that we’re experimenting with it, but the chance to capture some upside there makes some sense for us, given what Hill is done for us.”

Hideki Okajima rejoined the Red Sox on Monday. (AP)

When he was told at the end of spring training that he would open the year in Triple-A Pawtucket, the disappointment for Hideki Okajima was undeniable. In the span of four years, he had gone from Hero in the Shadows to All-Star, then key bullpen contributor, then struggling left-hander, then minor leaguer. Even though he knew that opening the year in the minors was a possibility after he signed a one-year, $1.75 million deal with the Red Sox during the offseason, that made the reality he faced — coming off a 2010 season in which his struggles against right-handers deepened, and he had a 4.50 ERA — any easier to accept.

Nonetheless, Okajima took the news professionally.

“Instead of going and pouting or feeling sorry for himself, he threw the ball pretty well and got a lot of people out,” said Sox manager Terry Francona.

Okajima tossed 5 2/3 scoreless innings in Pawtucket, allowing just two hits, walking none and striking out five. With the Sox having gone through early struggles with a pair of left-handed relievers — first with Dennys Reyes, who was designated for assignment one week into the season, then with Felix Doubront, whose spring training was limited by elbow stiffness and who looked unready to compete at the game’s highest level — the Sox made the move on Monday to bring back a known quantity.

Even Okajima confessed that he was surprised at how soon his return to the majors came. Okajima is rarely a demonstrative person in the clubhouse, but after arriving at Fenway Park around 8:30 a.m., he was beaming upon being reunited with his big league teammates.

“I knew that if I pitched the way I can and believed in myself, I would eventually get the call up. That’s how I spent my time down there,” said Okajima, who was pleased with a cutter that he was using with positive results against right-handers. “[But] I didn’t expect to be up this early, so I’m very happy, very grateful to Tito and the rest of the club.”

The opportunity arose because the Sox felt that Doubront, 23, was better served to resume his build-up for the season in the minors while also providing the team depth in the starting rotation. Doubront’s results were spotty — he looked good in moments, as when he struck out Robinson Cano of the Yankees, but his command was inconsistent as he worked to build his velocity. On Sunday, Doubront (who pitched 2 2/3 innings in three games, allowing two runs on four hits and two walks) walked both of the left-handers he faced, never a positive indicator for a team’s only southpaw in the bullpen.

“The thinking was, when we called Doubront back up, we fully well knew he wasn’t in midseason form. Saying that, we love this kid,” said Francona. “[But] we’re carrying one lefty. [Doubront's] not a guy we want to get up and down a lot. That’s not going to work. The other side of that is that we can go get him stretched out as a starter, obviously for some depth reasons. So, Oki was throwing the ball really well in Triple-A, so it seemed like the logical move to make.”

The rotation depth consideration was not to be overlooked. With Doubront, Tim Wakefield and Alfredo Aceves all in the major leagues, the Sox ran the risk of getting caught in a situation where their three primary starting depth options were all either unavailable or not sufficiently stretched out to step into the rotation, leaving the Sox at risk, in Francona’s words, of “not being prepared if something happened.”

If Doubront is built up to log a starter’s innings, that concern could diminish. Meanwhile, Okajima offers the Sox a reassuring presence in the bullpen. The team hopes that he might bring stability to a role that has represented an early-season vulnerability for the club.

“We know when Oki’s going well,” said Francona, “he can be a solid, reliable major league pitcher.”

Hideki Okajima

Reliever Hideki Okajima knew when he signed a one-year deal with the Red Sox this offseason that he was not guaranteed a roster spot. That didn’t make getting sent to Pawtucket to start the season any easier, though. When asked Thursday night how he felt upon being told of the decision, Okajima responded through a translator with a simple “disappointed.”

That said, Okajima recognizes that a call-up to Boston could be right around the corner if he pitches well in Pawtucket, which he has so far. He tossed a perfect inning in the season opener Thursday and followed that up with a one-hit scoreless inning Saturday.

“It’s all about results over here,” Okajima said. “So I’ll do whatever I’m needed to and I’ll do everything that I’m told to do.”

Okajima didn’t produce those results last season, when the former All-Star posted a 4.50 ERA and 1.72 WHIP in 56 appearances. Both of those were easily career worsts. In his first three seasons, he never had an ERA higher than 3.39 or a WHIP higher than 1.26. A poor spring training (5.14 ERA, 1.57 WHIP) didn’t help his cause.

“I just felt that I had lost the battle at that point when I was told,” said the 35-year-old Okajima. “I had been preparing, of course, to start the season up in the majors. So I had been preparing that way, getting my body ready. But since I’ve been told, I’ve had to regroup myself, get myself ready again and start back from [square] one.”

One of the things Okajima said he had been working on was ways to get right-handed batters out. Righties hit an eye-popping .340 off him last season. Okajima said part of the reason for his struggles could be that major league hitters are getting used to his stuff, meaning he needs to make some adjustments.

“I’m sure the opposition has been studying me and the more they see me, the more they get used to me,” Okajima said. “So my plan in preparing for this season, I was studying and developing pitches to attack right-handed batters. I was really looking forward to using that up in the big leagues, but since this happened, I’ll just have to try those out here and hopefully everything goes well and I can make it back up.” Read the rest of this entry »

Hideki Okajima will start the season in Triple-A along with fellow reliever Alfredo Aceves, Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein announced Monday morning. Epstein divulged the team’s final roster moves in preparation for Friday’s season opener at Texas.

The assignments of Okajima and Aceves to Pawtucket makes room in the Boston bullpen for left-hander Dennys Reyes and righty Matt Albers. Reyes and Albers are on major league contracts (after the Sox purchased Reyes’ contract Saturday) and do not have options.

Reyes, who turns 34 on April 19, pitched in 59 games for the Cardinals in 2010. He had a 3-1 record with a 3.55 ERA and a WHIP of 1.45. After giving up a hit and a walk in one inning Sunday vs. the Orioles, his spring training ERA sits at 2.70 and his WHIP is 1.40 in 10.0 innings.

Albers, 28, ranked third among American League relievers last season with 75 2/3 innings pitched for the Orioles. He had a 5-3 record with a 4.52 ERA and a WHIP of 1.48. Albers pitched Sunday against his former team and allowed his first two walks and first run of spring training. His 2010 spring training ERA is 2.84 with a WHIP of 1.26 in 12.2 IP.

Aceves, 28, went 3-0 with a 3.00 ERA and 1.17 WHIP in 10 games for the Yankees last season. This spring he has a 4.05 ERA and 1.20 WHIP in 13.1 IP.

Okajima, 35, has spent four seasons with the Red Sox, but he had his worst season in 2010. Okajima went 4-4 with a 4.50 ERA and 1.72 WHIP in 56 games. This spring he has a 5.14 ERA and 1.57 WHIP in 7.0 IP.