Mariners, Iwakuma agree to 2-year deal

SEATTLE (AP) -- Hisashi Iwakuma and the Seattle Mariners have agreed to a two-year contract with an option for 2015.

The team announced the deal Friday night.

Iwakuma signed with the Mariners last January. The Japanese right-hander began the season in the bullpen before transitioning into the starting rotation in July, and he thrived in a familiar role.

Iwakuma started 16 games for Seattle and went 8-4 with a 2.65 ERA over the final three months of the season. He was 6-2 with a 1.83 ERA and 43 strikeouts over his last nine starts.

For the season, Iwakuma finished 9-5 with a 3.16 ERA and 101 strikeouts in 125 1-3 innings.

Giants are champions on both sides of the Pacific:

Chono, Abe lead Giants to title

TOKYO, Nov. 3 (22:03) Kyodo


Hisayoshi Chono homered, captain Shinnosuke Abe drove in the tiebreaking run in the seventh inning and the Yomiuri Giants edged the Nippon Ham Fighters 4-3 in Game 6 to claim their 22nd Japan Series title on Saturday night.

The Central League champs won their first Series title in three years against the same opponent they beat in 2009, again winning the best-of-seven four games to two. For Giants manager Tatsunori Hara, it was his third title at the Yomiuri helm.

"We played some nail-biters, but we fought through them together," Hara said. "I'm extremely satisfied."

"The Fighters under manager (Hideki) Kuriyama are an outstanding team and a worthy opponent."

Giants ace Tetsuya Utsumi, who won Games 1 and 5, was named the Series MVP.
"The last time we won, I didn't contribute much," he said. "This time I am overjoyed."

After coming back from a 2-0 deficit to tie the Series 2-all, the Pacific League pennant winners lost the next two and failed in their bid for a third Series title and first since winning it all under American manager Trey Hillman in 2006.

The team that scored first in all six games went on to win.

The Giants outhit the Fighters 59-44 and outscored their opponent 26 to 14.

It is the first time ever that both the Yomiuri Giants and the San Francisco Giants in the major leagues won their respective Series titles in the same year.

The teams also appeared in the same year in 1951, 1989 and 2002, but the Tokyo team won those years while their counterpart in the majors lost each time.

^ And the NFL Giants won the Super Bowl as well.

Dodgers sign Mark McGwire as their hitting coach: http://news.yahoo.com/big-mac-returns-socal-dodgers-hitting-coach-205757477--mlb.html

Kuroda stays with Yankees

Veteran right-hander Hiroki Kuroda agreed to terms Tuesday with the New York Yankees, for whom he won 16 regular-season games, made two effective postseason starts and now fits their organizational plan in so many ways. Kuroda finished 2012 with 16 wins, 167 strikeouts and a 3.32 ERA.

Intent on limiting payroll in 2014, the Yankees signed Kuroda, 37, for one season at $15 million. He�fll pitch in the rotation with CC Sabathia, Phil Hughes, Ivan Nova and, the Yankees hope, Andy Pettitte. And the club will clear that salary in time for the coming luxury tax, which will penalize payrolls greater than $189 million the season after next.

Kuroda reportedly would like to finish his career in Japan, yet opted for the Yankees for one more year. While not generally considered the Yankees�f ace in 2012, he did lead the staff in starts, innings, complete games, shutouts and ERA, and therefore will be among the team�fs most important acquisitions this winter.

"I am very happy and excited to re-sign with the Yankees," Kuroda said in a statement released by the Yankees. "I am very grateful for all of the interest and all of the offers that I received from the various teams that courted me. It was a tough decision for me to make, but at the end of the day, I wanted to try to win a championship with the teammates I went to battle with last season."

^ Hopefully the Yankees will also back him up by scoring some more runs for him next season.

Chan Ho Park retires

SEOUL, Nov. 29 (16:57)

South Korean baseball pitcher Park Chan Ho has decided to retire and will announce the decision on Friday, South Korea's Hanwha Eagles professional baseball club said Thursday.

Park, 39, is the first South Korean to play in Major League Baseball. In 17 years from 1994 with seven different MLB clubs, Park won 124 games, the most ever by an Asian pitcher in the majors.

The right-hander joined South Korea's Hanwha Eagles for 2012 and won five games and lost 10 games.

gaijinmark wrote:

Park won 124 games, the most ever by an Asian pitcher in the majors.

Cool... Didn't know that.

bmwracer wrote:

Cool... Didn't know that.

You can win a lot of bar bets with that because most people think it's Nomo.

gaijinmark wrote:

You can win a lot of bar bets with that because most people think it's Nomo.

I would've picked Nomo.

Kyuji Fujikawa signs with Cubs

The announced signing of Kyuji Fujikawa was expected soon, though few expected an agreement to be reached as soon as Saturday, and even fewer expected it to be with the Chicago Cubs.

As of Friday night, the Los Angeles Angels were believed to be the firm front-runners in the sweepstakes, which made a lot of sense on the heels of trading closer Jordan Walden to the Atlanta Braves. But the Cubs brass led by Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer swooped and landed the 32-year-old reliever on a two-year, $9.5 million deal.

The contract also includes a vesting option for 2015 worth either $5.5 million or $6 million based on games finished according to Fox Sports' Ken Rosenthal, who was also the first to report the agreement. If the option does not vest, the Cubs can bring him back at $5.5M or buy him out for $500K.

Based on the contract structure, it is believed Fujikawa will immediately take over as the Cubs closer in 2013. Considering the success he had in that role in Japan, that decision is almost a no-brainer. In 2011, Fujikawa collected 24 saves to go along with a 1.32 ERA and 58 strikeouts for the Hashin Tigers. In six seasons overall with Hashin, he earned 202 saves, posted a 1.36 ERA, and amassed a remarkable 510 strikeouts in just 369 2/3 innings.

I guess this fits the definition of a bottom-feeder:


GM: Padres interested in Matsuzaka

NASHVILLE, Tennessee, (16:40) Kyodo

The San Diego Padres' general manager said at Major League Baseball's Winter Meetings that his club is looking into signing free agent right-hander Daisuke Matsuzaka.

Matsuzaka came back this season from ligament replacement surgery and went 1-7 with an 8.28 ERA in the final year of his six-year deal with the Boston Red Sox. The 32-year-old has a career big league record of 50-37 with a 4.52 ERA.

Padres GM Josh Byrnes said the team's home field, Petco Park, is a place where Japanese pitchers are comfortable pitching and reconfirmed that the club is interested in acquiring Matsuzaka.

Matsuzaka was awarded his first World Baseball Classic MVP Award in 2006 after winning the final against Cuba at Petco Park. Akinori Otsuka, Japan's closer in that tournament, played his first two big league seasons with the Padres.


And speaking of the Dodgers (which we weren't), I came home yesterday and there was a voice mail from the Dodgers asking me to call them back. The thing is, the number they gave was in 323 area code and I live in 818. So I'm thinking, "These guys just paid over $2 billion dollars for a baseball team and can't afford an 800 number?!!?"

Speaking of the Dodgers, Loney is gone (Rays), Victorino is gone (BoSox), and Blanton is gone (Angels)...

Just when you thought it couldn't get any worse for the people of Japan:


Andruw Jones signs with Rakuten

Veteran major leaguer Andruw Jones is reportedly heading to Japan to continue his career.

Jones has reportedly agreed to a one-year, $3.5 million deal with the Rakuten Golden Eagles of the Japanese Pacific League, according to Nikkan Sports.

Jones, 35, has spent 17 seasons in the major leagues. Last season with the Yankees, Jones hit . 197 with 14 home runs and 34 RBIs.

gaijinmark wrote:

Jones, 35, has spent 17 seasons in the major leagues. Last season with the Yankees, Jones hit . 197 with 14 home runs and 34 RBIs.

The guy couldn't even hit his weight.

I guess he figured it was too big a jump to make out of high school:

Otani to play for Fighters

OSHU, Japan, Dec. 9 (20:34) Kyodo

Hanamaki Higashi High School phenom Shohei Otani said Sunday he has decided to join the Nippon Ham Fighters, doing an about-face after proclaiming he wished to join the major leagues directly from Japan.

Otani, the highly touted right-hander who clocks a 160 kilometer-per-hour fastball, had said on Oct. 21 that he would like to play for a major league team, but the Fighters named him as their No. 1 draft pick four days later anyway.

"I am determined to be active with the Fighters from my first year," said Otani. "I thought that it would be better to get my career (in the majors) off the ground quickly so I would be active for a long time. But my feelings changed gradually, and ultimately I made the decision after discussions with my family."

Otani met with the Fighters several times for talks and was offered a signing bonus of 100 million yen, plus performance incentives of 50 million yen, in their last meeting on Dec. 3.

The team was bent on luring in the 18-year-old, even offering him the No. 11 uniform previously worn by Yu Darvish, who now plays for the Texas Rangers.

It appeared early on that Otani would not budge, having said after he was named as the top draft pick, "My feelings (about going to the majors) will not change."

But Nippon Ham's top brass was relentless with Fighters general manager Masao Yamada playing the role of naysayer by detailing the hardships Otani would likely face by a direct move to the majors, and manager Hideki Kuriyama meeting him twice to try and convince him otherwise.

"I'd like to have fans watch me in Japan and return my gratitude. I really want to play in the majors in the future, and it's a place that I am yearning to go. But I understand now that it's too soon for me to expect that I could go at this point and be a top player there," Otani said.

On Nov. 17, the Fighters met with Otani on the insistence of his father Toru and explained benefits of their development contract system for non-roster players.

In Otani's previous meeting with Kuriyama, he said he would make a decision in the coming week, and his father Toru said his son had begun to take a "positive outlook" on joining the Fighters.

A's sign shortstop Nakajima

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) -- Two people with knowledge of the negotiations say the Oakland Athletics have agreed to sign shortstop Hiroyuki Nakajima of Japan's Seibu Lions.

The people spoke on condition of anonymity Monday because there had yet to be a formal announcement. The AL West champion A's called a news conference for Tuesday afternoon described as a ''major announcement.''

Nakajima agreed to a $6.5 million, two-year contract. The deal also includes a $5.5 million option for a third season, one of the people said.

Nakajima, a seven-time Pacific League All-Star, has a .302 batting average with 149 home runs, 664 RBIs and 134 stolen bases over 11 seasons with Seibu.

Uehara signs with Red Sox

The Boston Red Sox announced the signing of reliever Koji Uehara on Tuesday.

Uehara, 37, will receive a one-year deal with a $4.25 million base salary, according to Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports.

The righty posted a 1.75 ERA in 36 innings in 2012, but missed time with a strained lat muscle. He'll join Andrew Bailey and Junichi Tazawa in Boston's bullpen.

Yankees, Ichiro agree to two year, $13 million deal

NEW YORK (AP) -- The Yankees and Ichiro Suzuki finalized a $13 million, two-year contract Wednesday that keeps the 10-time All-Star in the Bronx.

The 39-year-old, who will make $6.5 million in each of the next two seasons, was obtained in a trade with Seattle on July 23, revived his career and quickly became a fan favorite.

His batting average jumped from .261 with the Mariners to .322 with the Yankees, with five homers, 27 RBIs and 14 steals.

''The Yankees are the kind of team that I always envisioned being a part of,'' Suzuki said in a statement released by the team. ''Everyone in the world of competition has a strong desire to win, but the Yankees also have an atmosphere where losing is not an option. These two observations may sound similar, but I believe it is a rarity to find both coexisting in the same organization.''

A 10-time Gold Glove outfielder with speed and a strong arm, Suzuki has 2,606 hits in 12 major league seasons. He figures to see corner outfield time, with the Yankees allowing right Nick Swisher to become a free agent.

Rakuten may want to rethink their latest acquistion:

Andruw Jones arrested for battery on Christmas Day

LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. -
Former Atlanta Braves outfielder Andruw Jones was arrested early Christmas morning in Gwinnett County.

According to Gwinnett County Jail records, Jones was booked into the jail just before 4 a.m. on battery charges.

The circumstances behind the arrest of the 5-time All-Star were not immediately available. Records show Jones has since bonded out on $2,400.