Baseball season is coming!

There was one hell of a free agent class this year with 17 players reaching free agency for the first time. A total of 68 players became free agents at the end of the 2007 baseball season, and there are some notable names in that group.

It appears that all 68 free agents have signed contracts as of March, 2008. Several guys will be trying their luck in the majors this year.

It was reported that six guys switched clubs in both 1994 and 2001. I don’t know if that was some kind of record, but far more than six guys moved around during the 2007-2008 off-season. And might I be so bold as to suggest that the trend will continue in the future.

Here are some of the names that have made the news this off-season:

Kazuhiro Wada (Seibu Lions) was looking around a bit before the Japan Series got under way. He became a free agent after 11 seasons with the Saitama-based team. The team had signaled its intent to keep him on and even mentioned a future coaching position as a symbol of its interest in the 35-year-old veteran’s services.

In 2005, Wada was the batting champion of the Pacific League. He had been a solid contributor to the Lion’s many winning campaigns since he arrived.

Unfortunately for the Lions, he eventually worked out a three-year deal with the Chunichi Dragons worth a reported 840 million yen. The veteran has put together a solid career so far, and it should be interesting to see if he is able to keep performing at the .300-plus level for the next few seasons. I don’t see any reason, barring injury, why he shouldn’t be able to do just that.

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Hiroki Kuroda (Hiroshima Carp) declared early on that he was hoping to head to North America. Kuroda was in America during the middle of October to have his throwing elbow examined and he was given a clean bill of pitching health by the examining doctor. Kuroda would have been a free agent at the end of last year, but he decided not to declare. He ended up signing a four-year-deal with the Carp but the “we [the club] won’t mess with you if you decide to head to the majors early” clause in his contract has made it possible for him to head to the states for tryouts and discussions. Kuroda is easily one of the year’s most prized players earning free agency. In 11 seasons with Hiroshima, Kuroda has a 103-89 record and a 3.69 career ERA. On December 15th it was announced that he had agreed to terms on a three-year deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers. The contract carries a total price tag of over 35 million dollars and will create another heavy draw for the Japanese media (akin to Boston’s Matsuzaka–Okajima tandem) as the Dodgers are also in possession of closer Takashi Saito.

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Masahide Kobayashi (Chiba Lotte Marines) just finished his ninth season (227 saves!) with the Marines. He has proved himself to be a very effective reliever and has earned at least 30 saves in each of the last seven seasons.

He will be sorely missed by the Marines because he signed a two-year deal with the Cleveland Indians with a club option for the 2010 season. It looks like he will be earning three million dollars for each of the next two seasons.

He should be a valuable addition to the Cleveland bullpen (he would have been helpful this season when they faced Boston in the AL Championship Series). As he’s now pitching in Cleveland, we should see more of him than we ever did when he was pitching for Chiba.
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Takahiro Arai (Hiroshima Carp) is another high-level player that Hiroshima didn’t have the money to hold on to. He was quickly linked to the Hanshin Tigers (Hanshin routinely poaches Hiroshima’s best and brightest), and he signed a four-year contract with them that is reportedly worth about a billion yen.

One of the more memorable press conferences of the off-season was when Arai tearfully announced that he would be leaving his beloved Carp behind for the barbed-wire-topped fences of Koshien.

It looks as though Kanemoto (also a former Hiroshima player) will have to vacate the cleanup slot in the lineup because he’s old, and Arai can actually hit.

Arai is exactly what the Tigers needed during the playoffs last season. They were hurting on the offensive front, and his addition to the lineup should help add some pop.

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Kazuo Fukumori (Rakuten Eagles) was looking to head to the majors. After a season-ending injury (elbow), and surgery in the US to remove bone fragments, he entertained offers from clubs in North America.

Immediately following the Texas Rangers’ release of Otsuka, they announced their signing of Fukumori to a two-year three million dollar (roughly 300 million yen) deal.

Fukumori is a good young right-handed pitcher who should be worth some valuable outings this year.

(The Eagles should be able to make up for the hole in their lineup this season because it looks like Iwakuma might be getting back into shape.)

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Yasuhiko Yabuta (Chiba Lotte Marines) expressed early on his hope to head to the majors. He was quickly contacted by the Kansas City Royals who will soon be embarking on a new era (of not losing) under former Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters skipper, Trey Hillman. Soon after it was reported that at least five major league teams had contacted the 34-year-old right-handed setup pitcher expressing their interest. He eventually signed a two-year deal with the Royals that includes a player option for 2010. He is set to make six million dollars over the next two seasons in Kansas City. The contract also stipulates up to $500,000 (about 50 million yen) in performance-based incentives.

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Marc Kroon (Yokohama Baystars) had a difficult time while negotiating with the Baystars on a multi-year deal. The fireballer has consistently been called injury-prone, but he’s been doing pretty well for the Stars ever since Sasaki’s fat butt (and, yes, he was a major-leaguer for a while) had to retire because of an incurable bout of laziness and a laughable inability to keep the ball from leaving the park.

Kroon ended up signing a one-year contract with both player and club options for a second season that looks to guarantee him at least 350 million yen in 2008. He will fill the hole left by Uehara who is moving back to the starter’s role after a stellar season in relief.

Kroon represents the knock-out punch of an absolutely terrifying Yomiuri bullpen this season.

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Kazuhisa Ishii (Tokyo Swallows) filed for free agency after a mediocre season with a terrible team. The former major-leaguer, who is nearly unhittable when dialed in (which is not as often as his employers would like), was keen to test interest in his services on a NPB-wide level.

The Seibu Lions, who lost both their pitching and head coaches during the off-season, were quick to show ‘sincere’ interest in the 34-year-old southpaw. Ishii eventually decided to leave Tokyo, the club that he played 12 season with (straddling either side of a four-year stint in the majors), in favor of Saitama. He should be a nice one-two punch alongside Wakui.

And the new surroundings might be just what the control-inept pitcher needs to refocus his concentration and extend his career for a few more seasons. He signed a 2-year 800 million yen deal with Seibu. A 100 million yen signing bonus was also offered and there are also a number of performance-related incentives that will come into effect if Ishii pitches as well as he is capable of.

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Kosuke Fukudome (Chunichi Dragons), along with Kuroda, Ramirez, Kroon, Greisinger, Iwase, and Arai, is one of the most sought-after guys that is up for grabs at this point. It was quickly predicted that the Dragons wouldn’t be able to hold on to him even though his season was shortened by an injury.

After a lot of see-sawing, Fukudome signed a four-year deal with the Chicago Cubs worth about 48 million dollars. Not too shabby for an outfielder!

Fukudome has featured prominently on the evening news since his move to Chicago. He’s done well for himself in pre-season games, and he’s earned some respect with his fielding ability.

We should expect to see a lot more of Fukudome this season during the nightly recaps of what MLB’s best Japanese imports are doing.
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Alex Cabrera (Seibu Lions), the club’s big-hitting first baseman/DH, left the club after seven seasons of phenomenal production and towering home runs to left field.

Cabrera was linked with the Orix Buffaloes very early on in negotiations with the Lions. He signed a contract with a salary that is less than half the 600 million yen he made last season.

He is slated to earn 250 million plus incentives in 2008. The 36-year-old, who has a career .306 batting average, is entering his eigth year in Japan.

Cabrera will team up with Greg LaRocca and Tuffy Rhodes to help provide the Buffs with an impressive amount of power and rbi potential. If their bullpen continues to improve, then look for Orix to be harassing the usual suspects for a berth in the playoffs this season.
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Osamu Hamanaka (Hanshin Tigers), who had a crap 2007 campaign due to a shoulder injury, was dealt to the Orix Buffaloes in exchange for two players (one of whom was infielder Keiichi Hirano).

Hamanaka is a good all-around player who should be able to secure a starting position on the team even before arriving for spring training.

He also gives the team some of the playoff experience that will help them to stay focused during the closing months of the season.

Don’t be too surprised if Hamanaka puts together a career year this season.

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Seth Greisinger (Tokyo Swallows) joined Ramirez and Kroon as part of the three big acquisitions made by cross-town rivals Yomiuri during the off-season. Greisinger had the best record in the central this past season, and he will be sorely missed at Jingu. The two-year deal he signed is worth a reported 500 million yen.

His addition to the Giants rotation means that the team now has most of last season’s top ten Central league starters in their bullpen.

Yes, I know it’s not fair.

With Uehara returning to lead the rotation, Greisinger will likely be their number three starter (behind Takahashi as well).

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Jeremy Powell (Yomiuri Giants), along with Cabrera, also joined the Orix Buffaloes recently. Or so we though. In a move that reminds many in Japan of the days before the amateur draft was instituted in Japan, the 31-year-old Californian signed another contract with the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks.
That’s right–two contracts with two teams from the same division. After a protracted battle involving the Buffs, the Hawks, and NPB commissioner Mr. Negoro, it was determined that the Buffaloes, with whom Powell had signed the first contract, weren’t completely playing by the rules, and both contracts were scrapped. Back to square one.

Powell will officially be donning a Hawks uniform this season. He was released by the Giants at the end of last season due to a knee injury that he suffered last season, but it’s likely that the appearance of Seth Greisinger (above) also had something to do with it.

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And last, but certainly not least, is everyone’s favorite former-Swallow, Alex Ramirez.

Rami-chan put up better numbers than the Central League MVP last season, and, as expected, the Tokyo Swallows were not willing to pay him what he deserved (or give him a multi-year deal for that matter).

Enter Yomiuri stage right.

Yup, Ramirez will be joining the already bursting Yomiuri lineup and providing them with a bat that can hit for both power and numbers.

He also adds a bit of personality and friendliness to the stuffiness that Yomiuri effortlessly exudes. He’s sure to work wonders for Yomiuri’s PR efforts. Other players would do well to follow his lead.
Yeah, we at TPR agree with you, dear reader. The Giants don’t deserve him. They didn’t deserve Kroon or Greisinger either, but that’s beside the point.

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Anyway, those are a few of the big names that picked up and found a locker with a different team since the end of the 2007 NPB season.
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