From NPB:
Sanspo has gotten a hold of Yusei Kikuchi’s meeting schedule over the rest of the month, leading up to the draft. Here’s the breakdown:
Oct 16: meetings with Hanshin, Seibu, and Orix
Oct 17: Chunichi, Yakult, Nippon Ham, Chiba Lotte, Hiroshima, Rakuten and others
Oct 19: begin meeting with MLB clubs
Oct 20: Cleveland Indians, others
Oct 22: conclude meetingsNikkan Sports lists the MLB clubs stopping by as the Giants, Mets, Dodgers, Yankees, Rangers, Mariners and Indians.
I’ve written about Kikuchi before, as he is an enticing left-handed arm that is in a rather difficult position (the Japanese amateur draft or Major League Baseball?). The Yankees are in on him, though the Rangers seem to be his biggest suitor. If you want to learn a bit more about Yusei Kikuchi, check out NPB’s scouting report. It’s riddled with interesting goodies. For instance, did you know that Kikuchi’s middle name is Igawa? Okay, just kidding…
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10 Responses to Yanks meeting Kikuchi?
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Yeah I’m not sure if I want him, all the Japanese pitcher who have come over lately have not lived up to the hype. Even Dice K isn’t what he was suppose to be and in my mind is a way over paid 4th starter at this point and he can’t go further into a game than Joba can yet he makes countless more dollars than Chamberlain.
From what I have read this guy is a left handed Tazawa with a much higher ceiling but he is also much further away from the majors than Junichi was and would most likely start in A ball. If the Yankees feel that they have upgraded there Japanese scouting and think it’s worth the risk then go for it I guess, you can never have to many lefties and he won’t cost nearly as much as Igawa.
It will be an interesting off seasoson with foreign born pitcher for Yankee fans as we seem to be in on Kikuchi and of course everyone’s big fish is the Cuban born Chapman, if you could just sign one which would you want considering risk involved with both but the high price tag on Chapman?
The Tazawa comparison is very true, but Tazawa was 22 when he signed. Kikuchi is only 18, so he can spend time in the minors—that’s okay. I say, to hell with it, go and get him. If he has upside and you don’t have to pay any posting fee, it can’t help to snoop around. I’d probably want Chapman over Kikuchi, though. You’ve got to go with the 95-99 mph fastball (Kikuchi sits in the low 90′s and can touch 95-96 mph).
Yeah I heard the “touching 95″ is a very rare thing… I watched some video on the guy a little while ago and he was sitting 86-90 the whole game but he looks pretty calm out there for a high school kid.
Clearly on stuff you want Chapman but he could be the one that is a huge bust, if Kikuchi never sees the majors he isn’t the same level of bust Chapman is even if he is a reliever who is good.
Also Chris I don’t think I have heard your break down on Chapman, I know non of us have seen much of him other than WBC and what not but from what you’ve seen/read what do you think of him? He has a lof risk involved and he is really raw but I wonder if that is more because of the limited access to higher levels of learning and competition more than anything else. If he can harness his velocity and get his accuracy down with the fastball at the very least he could be a closer throwing anywhere from 95-99 and if he can develop his slider and add a change up you could be looking at an Jiminez like starter but from the left side.
I haven’t commented much on Chapman, but I do think his upside is very real. He’s raw, but as you said, that could just be the case given his situation. He’s young, too, so I think the “raw” issue is overblown (he should be raw—he’s not a pro). He’ll have to work on his secondary pitches—I think that’s the bigger issue, however, as they say, “if everything clicks,” he can be a big-time arm. That’s why if the Yankees have the money needed to sign a guy like Chapman or Kikuchi, they should just sign them and give it a go. It can’t hurt. Sure, the investment may fail or turn into a relief pitcher, but it’s a risk-reward dynamic.
My only real problem with Chapman is the fact that it’s New York City… This is a guy who I read an article where he was just blown away by an Iphone and while you would expect that from someone who is coming from absolutley nothing to everything but that is my problem, is he emotionally mature enough to go from being as poor as one can be in Cuba to have all the money in the world and New York City as your play thing and your the new “phenom”. It could end up being a bad situation if he doesn’t know how to handle it or doesn’t have the right people around him, look how long it took Arod to get it right and he is from Miami not Cuba.
What is the likely hood he skips the Japanese draft? I assume pretty good because if he wants to pitch in America this is his best chance to do so before he gets locked into a team for some 6-10 years in Japan.
EDIT: This is a little off topic but still has to do with pitching, what are the chances the Yankees look at signing Tim Hudson? He still looks like he has something to offer, he isn’t going to demand a lot of money on the free agent market and he has pitched in the AL. If he can come back like he did this year what could he do going into next year with a full off season of work outs and spring training to get in shape, he couldn’t be a top of the rotation guy but for a 4th or 5th starter he could still be really useful to a winning team.
You’re a good man, Chris H. I was debating whether or not to discuss Hudson since he’ll likely end up Atlanta anyway. I may have something in a day or so, but I do think he’ll stay with the Braves, so it may be a moot point.
Yeah I think he would prefer to stay with the Braves and they would have a chance to win next year with that killer rotation (Vasquez, Lowe, Hudson, Hanson, Jurrjens, Kawakami) but Hudson seems like a guy who would love the opportunity to win and play in the bright lights and he may only have a few more chances left to do so, so an offer slightly more monetarily than the Braves are offering with the chance to play for a team who went to the ALCS and possibly won it could be to good to pass up. Either way he would be a nice pick up after what I saw him do coming back from surgery this year.
At the end of the day I think the Yankees are going to sign two pitchers this off season and one may very well be Chapman but with limited options for the other starter who is the most likely to attract the Yankees attention.
Below is the list of the best free agents available at the end of the season, a few of them have no chance to be signed but it’s such a terrible class of free agents I have to add them into the equation.
Justin Duchscherer
Rich Harden
Tim Hudson
John Lackey
Vicente Padilla
Carl Pavano
Brad Penny
Jason Schmidt
Ben Sheets
Jarrod Washburn
Randy Wolf
Out of this list Harden is by far and away the “youngest and most talented” of the bunch, he will only be 28 next year and he has ace type stuff he has health issues but he has pitched 140 IP both of the last two years if he can pitch a little more than that he is a perfect 4 or 5 pitcher. Ben Sheets, Washburn and Hudson all give some good options but you are getting up there in age with Washburn and the health risks may scare you away from Sheets if for no other reason than he has less upside now being 31 at this point. Duchscherer I don’t trust his health or his mental state in New York City, this is a tough place to play and guys who have problems with pressure in Kansas City and Oakland probably can’t do as well handling the pressure in New York. Lackey is a good pitcher but should cost way to much for us to even bid on because he would be our 3rd starter on most days with Burnett’s talent level and we don’t need a big 3 that badly, and signing Lackey would probably mean no to Pettitte and Chapman. Out of Vicente Padilla, Carl Pavano, Brad Penny and Jason Schmidt only Penny has any chance of being signed (Padilla messes up the club house and the Pavano and Schmidt are obvious) but even then he only has a slight chance if no one else signs with us and for some reason all our choices choose to not sign with us.