Sox Interested in Japanse Free Agent Pitcher Kenshin Kawakami? Options

[Hairps]

The Red Sox are also eyeing right-hander Kenshin Kawakami, a free agent from the Chunichi Dragons in Japan who is often compared to Dodgers right-hander Hiroki Kuroda. ...

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=8269

[Hairps]

Kawakami career stats

NPB Tracker's Kawakami profile

Stuff
Kawakami isn’t overpowering; his fastball tops out in the low 90’s. His control is good, though not quite as awe-inspiring as Koji Uehara’s. And his windup isn’t deceptive, like many Japanese pitchers. Kawakami gets by purely on quality stuff.

Kawakami’s featured pitch is a cut fastball, which, according to Wikipedia, is known as Japan’s finest among visiting MLB All-Stars. He also has a slow curve, which he throws at 65-70 MPH. The rest of his arsenal is fairly typical: fastball, shuuto, fork. He changes speeds pretty well, particularly between his curve and harder stuff.

http://www.npbtracker.com/2008/07/player-p...wakami/#content

This post has been edited by Hairps: Oct 29 2008, 11:37 AM

[GoWhalers]

East Windup Chronicle did a little scouting report on Kawakami a while back and had this to say:

Kenshin Kawakami - Japan's highest paid starter for the champion Chunichi Dragons (he made around $3MM) mixes a fastball, cutter, and curveball. His fastball runs around 87 and his curve is very slow. He's known as a big game pitcher and always challenges hitters. He was 12-8 with a 3.55 ERA in 2007, but the K/BB ratio was an appealing 6.3 in 167 2/3 IP. He's a HR prone strikeout pitcher. Kawakami has been healthy for the past four seasons.

Hearing this worries me a little, as HR prone strikeout pitcher with high 80s heat Kei Igawa saw how well that skillset transferred to the majors. Maybe the separation on the curve will help him avoid the same fate.

He seems pretty interested in coming to the red sox if these comments from a while ago are any indication.

Forgive me if this was talked about in the article, I don't have a BP subscription.

edit:
Just for fun here's the career stats of the two in japan.
[table=Table][tr][td=*]Player [/td][td=*]Games [/td][td=*]Starts* [/td][td=*]Wins [/td][td=*]Losses [/td][td=*]Win% [/td][td=*]AB [/td][td=*]Innings [/td][td=*]Hits [/td][td=*]HRs [/td][td=*]BB [/td][td=*]Ks [/td][td=*]ER [/td][td=*]ERA [/td][td=*]K/9 [/td][td=*]BB/9 [/td][td=*]WHIP [/td][/tr][tr][td=*]Kawakami [/td][td=*]237 [/td][td=*]198 [/td][td=*]103 [/td][td=*]67 [/td][td=*]0.606 [/td][td=*]2411 [/td][td=*]1525 [/td][td=*]1444 [/td][td=*]158 [/td][td=*]326 [/td][td=*]1216 [/td][td=*]557 [/td][td=*]3.29 [/td][td=*]7.18 [/td][td=*]1.92 [/td][td=*]1.16 [/td][/tr][tr][td=*]Igawa [/td][td=*]190 [/td][td=*]144 [/td][td=*]86 [/td][td=*]60 [/td][td=*]0.589 [/td][td=*]2973 [/td][td=*]1244 [/td][td=*]1149 [/td][td=*]116 [/td][td=*]395 [/td][td=*]1174 [/td][td=*]435 [/td][td=*]3.15 [/td][td=*]8.49 [/td][td=*]2.86 [/td][td=*]1.24 [/td][/tr][/table]

This post has been edited by GoWhalers: Oct 29 2008, 12:54 PM

[Hairps]

The Sox also have interest in Kenshin Kawakami, a 33-year-old righty for the Chunichi Dragons who went 9-5 with a 2.30 ERA last season. Kawakami is a Hiroki Kuroda-type pitcher with a cut fastball and good curveball who could man the No. 4 or 5 spot in the Sox rotation.

http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/reds...--+Red+Sox+news

[mabrowndog]

9-5 with a 2.30 ERA last season

The rest of his 2008 stats: 20 starts, 117.1 IP, 99 H, 11 HR, 112 K, 25 BB.

FWIW, he missed 3 weeks in April due to “illness”, and another 3 weeks in Sept with a strained back.

This post has been edited by mabrowndog: Nov 6 2008, 12:06 PM

[Corsi Combover]

Kawakami has expressed interest in the Boston Red Sox and the Tampa Bay Rays, and the Atlanta Braves also have been linked with him.

Source: http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20...8&fext=.jsp

[dylanmarsh]

Since there isn't much on Kawakami, I figured I'd add Keith Law's insider view on him. Law has him ranked 42 out of 50 free agents:

Kawakami reminds me too much of Kei Igawa to ignore it, but he's here on the basis of a pretty strong track record of missing bats in Japan. He sits in the upper 80s with a very straight fastball; he's been more homer-prone in Japan than Igawa was, and that pitch's lack of movement is the major reason why.

He throws a potentially above-average cutter and can generate some ground balls with it, but it's not a clear out pitch. None of his offerings (he also throws a slow curve and a forkball with good-not-great diving action) is good enough to project that he'll strike out hitters here as he did in Nippon Professional Baseball. He throws a ton of strikes and was mostly durable through his career in Japan, although he missed some time in September with back trouble. He's a back-end starter for a National League club.

The Igawa spin is worrisome.

[saintnick912]

I'm also concerned about any JPL pitcher featuring a forkball. Isn't the ball there smaller, and/or the surface different? I remember hearing of that with Matsuzaka arriving here and having to alter some grips for the MLB ball. The forkball is rare in the majors, and I'm inclined to think there's a reason why.

[Resonance Wright]

Since there isn't much on Kawakami, I figured I'd add Keith Law's insider view on him. Law has him ranked 42 out of 50 free agents:
The Igawa spin is worrisome.

I remember hearing two things about Igawa that aren't necessarily going to be the case here -- one, he had a makeup issue and two that Guidry messed him up.

[SoxScout]

The Red Sox are adding two quality Japanese pitchers – 22-year-old Junichi Tazawa and 33-year-old Kenjin Kawakami.

Don't know what's up with that line.... http://www.metronews.ca/edmonton/sports/article/148823

[Corsi Combover]

Don't know what's up with that line.... http://www.metronews.ca/edmonton/sports/article/148823

That seems completely out of nowhere. Earlier today, NPB Tracker had this report:

Daily Sports is reporting that Hanshin is set to boost it’s efforts to acquire Kenshin Kawakami after failing to entice Daisuke Miura to leave Yokohama. The figure thrown out in this article is 4 years/ ￥2bn ($20m), but I don’t know how seriously I take that number.

Hanshin, if you’re listening, the time to act is now. As of this weekend, Kawakami didn’t have any offers in hand, and he’s unlikely to get much MLB until the frontline guys sign. Go in and offer him $6.5-7m/year and give him something to think about.

Source: http://www.npbtracker.com/2008/12/hanshin-...-land-kawakami/

[Corsi Combover]

Another name from Japan could be popping up on the hot stove radar of the Red Sox and other teams soon: 33-year-old right-handed starting pitcher Kenjin Kawakami. The Sox have scouted him multiple times and the veteran has expressed interest in playing here. Several teams are expected to be involved in the bidding for Kawakami.

Source: http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/basebal...&position=1

[Corsi Combover]

This article is from way back in May, but...

Japanese hurler Kenshin Kawakami, who is set to become a free agent after the season, reportedly wants to pitch for the Red Sox.

The Yankees and Mets are among the teams believed to have scouted Kawakami, a soon-to-be 33-year-old right-hander. Kawakami just missed qualifying for free agency last year. Had he made the jump then, he might have received a contract similar to Hiroki Kuroda's. He has the weaker fastball of the two, but he has an outstanding track record.

Source: http://www.rotoworld.com/content/playerpag...MLB&id=5039

Rotoworld was quoting this article: http://sports.yahoo.co.jp/hl?c=npb&a=2...0000012-ykf-spo ; however, the link no longer works.

[SoxScout]

Marty York, the author of the line I just posted, sent me a message saying that the Kawakami information is based on his own information and not on any other reports. I asked because he wrote "Kenjin" the same way the Herald did this morning.

[Corsi Combover]

Marty York, the author of the line I just posted, sent me a message saying that the Kawakami information is based on his own information and not on any other reports. I asked because he wrote "Kenjin" the same way the Herald did this morning.

Ah. I just emailed him as well. This news (if true) coupled with the Byrd arbitration report is interesting to say the least.

edit: his response:
"Information I've received from MLB sources I've had for years."

This post has been edited by Corsi Combover: Dec 1 2008, 07:32 PM

[Corsi Combover]

I passed along the report to NPB Tracker, to which they replied:

"Interesting, thanks for the tip. I'll see if I can corroborate this, but the reports out of Japan as of 2-3 were that there were still no offers for Kawakami."

[ngruz25]

I'm also concerned about any JPL pitcher featuring a forkball. Isn't the ball there smaller, and/or the surface different? I remember hearing of that with Matsuzaka arriving here and having to alter some grips for the MLB ball. The forkball is rare in the majors, and I'm inclined to think there's a reason why.

One of the best forkballs in recent years was thrown by Hideo Nomo.

[Corsi Combover]

Don't expect anything serious to percolate this week, but the Red Sox could become a primary pursuer of Japanese pitcher Kenshin Kawakami, a 33-year-old right-hander who has pitched for the Chunichi Dragons for 11 seasons. Kawakami is a free agent and wants to play in America; he signed with agent Daniel Evans (a former Los Angeles Dodgers general manager) just before Thanksgiving this year.

Evans stressed that it's too early to gauge what teams -- or even how many teams -- will be seriously interested in Kawakami. But he and his staff have been reaching out acros the league and speaking with various clubs. "Right now," he said, "it's more fact-finding than anything else."

Because of their aggressive and successful track record in signing Japanese players, the Red Sox are "obviously one of the more intriuging teams," Evans said. The Baltimore Orioles and Los Angeles Angels appear to potential suitors as well.

Source: http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/reds...me_to_know.html

[Corsi Combover]

LAS VEGAS -- The market for free agent Kenshin Kawakami of Japan is developing slowly, but the Red Sox [team stats]did express interest in the 33-year-old right-hander on the last day of the winter meetings, according to a baseball source.

The final spot in the Sox rotation is up for grabs, with names such as Justin Masterson, Clay Buchholz and free agent John Smoltz among the possibilities. Should the club’s interest in Kawakami grow, he also would be a candidate.

Kawakami, meanwhile, has interest in playing for the Red Sox, who already have an infrastructure that supports Japanese players, with pitchers Daisuke Matsuzaka [stats] and Hideki Okajima [stats] already are on the team.

Earlier this month, the Sox signed free agent Japanese reliever Junichi Tazawa to a major league deal, although he is expected to begin the season at Double A.

The Orioles are among a number of teams interested in Kawakami, a 10-year veteran of the Chunichi Dragons of Japan’s Central League.

He is not expected to sign until next month.

Source: http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/basebal...n=recent_bullet

[67WasBest]

Nikkan Sports, one of Tokyo's biggest daily sports/entertainment newspapers, is reporting that Red Sox have offered Kenshin Kawakami a 3-year, $21-million deal.

http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/reds...as/extra_bases/