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Gamecard mentioned this on the Trades/Ideas thread but I thought I would start a new thread since it was mentioned in the mainstream media.
Correction: Akiyama. He’s 31 and likely won’t cost a fortune in dollars or years. https://t.co/EhXy0DDtgl
— Mark Saxon (@markasaxon) December 12, 2019
Can this player, who has played at AAAA in Japan and is on the wrong side of 30, hit in the four hole in the lineup? The answer is clearly no, but hey he’s cheap so he’s a match. Sign him up.
He probably isn’t a cleanup hitter but I honestly don’t know much about him. I don’t know how much he would cost and I don’t know how he would compare to players like Dickerson and Calhoun.
I am guessing he could be had for less than $10M per year. His stats in Japan look good but how does that translate to MLB?
Well, I guess scouting a player “extensively” qualifies. Seriously, I have no problem with a thread about the guy. There is little else to discuss, anyway.
Here is my take. Given the number of MLB question mark outfielders the Cardinals already have, why add another? I’d give my spring at-bats to players with potential upside.
There’s not a big list of guys who have come from Japan and played here lately, at least on the position player side. Guys like Ichiro and Matsui had upper .900s OPSes in Japan and dropped to the .800s (typically) here. So Taguchi, to give a name of a former Cardinal, had OPSes around .700 both in Japan and with St Louis.
Akiyama looks to be a clear step down from Ichiro and Matsui and a step up from Taguchi, if time will allow the comparison. He’s got a career .829 OPS in Japan but that has trended to the upper .800s/low .900s the last few years. How that translates to MLB would determine his value to our team…history would indicate that he’d be an upper .700s OPS guy, which if platooned properly could be a valuable piece to the OF puzzle. Do a Mikolas deal for 2 years and $13-16M? If he took it, he might be a good get.
OK, but what is the MLB equivalent of that “near .400 OBP”?
For example, Randy Arozarena has a career .373 OBP (.372 at Triple-A). Is the unknown guy really better?
P.S. I don’t agree with the obsession over LHH. Get me a guy who can play!
The Rays just signed another Japanese outfielder, Yoshitomo Tsutsugo. He has a reputation as a slugger with high OBP, mentioned as a Tommy Pham replacement for two years at a total of $14.4 million.
Has anyone compared this guy to the one the Cards are looking at?
https://www.mlb.com/breaking-news/rays-sign-yoshitomo-tsutsugo
The last four years’ OPS for Tsutsugo: 1.110, .909, .989, .899. 139 HRs in that time. He’s 28 years old, so he’s in his prime. BBRef has no defensive stats for him the last two years but either way, he’s a LF/1B guy at best, looks like.
Akiyama in the last four years: .809, .933, .937, .864. 80 HR in that span. He’s 32 next year so he’s a bit past prime. No BBRef stats either but a scouting report on Baseball Prospectus has him as a 70 speed, 60 glove, 60 arm guy and potential CFer. They also mentioned that he’s not missed a game in 5 years.
https://legacy.baseballprospectus.com/prospects/eyewitness_bat.php?reportid=589
We have plenty of outfielders that need given a chance. I would be in favor trading Jmart and benching Fowler. That way you keep 5 or 6 outfielders on the roster and give them all playing time. If they slump, you send them down and get them at bats at Memphis.
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