Shintaro Fujinami has left the building, and has signed with the Athletics, which makes sense because he has potential to have some value but his he’s a high risk — and therefore low-cost option.
I typically write profiles of pitchers’ stuff when they’re headed to the States, but didn’t in his case, so a blog post will have to do.
Fujinami was a marquee amateur who was swarmed by the media as a rookie, and the one or two times I spoke with him came after his career took a sharp downturn. By that time, I found him to be humble and friendly.
I don’t know a lot about him and can’t say anything about his character or makeup as a player, although the following notes might be of interest.
We’ve had some news items since the Japan Series ended Sunday with players talking about taking their acts overseas, including one whose efforts might teach us whether Orix’s ownership has evolved beyond the slime stage. Also, I spill on this weekend’s trivia question.
Free at last
Kodai Senga, having shouldered the load of being the SoftBank Hawks ace for years, will soon be free to negotiate with any team on the planet after filing for international free agency Monday, the first day he was able to.
In my Profile: Kodai Senga, you will find background information and a fair amount of discussion of his pitches, one a plus, two above average, and an average one that will knock your socks off on those occasions when he is blessed with decent command.
