Foriegner Trying to Play in Japan

I think the best way to land with a Japanese team might be to have your agent send a tape of you in action to all the Japanese teams.

If your agent does not have any connections in Japan, you might want to contact an agent who does have a lot of connections in Japan like Don Nomura, the president of KDN Sports Inc.

Or maybe you could contact Luis Medina, a scout for the KC Royals, who played in Japan for the Carp and regularly comes to Japan to scout players. Medina supposedly sent the Carp a tape of him hitting all 10 of his big league homers with the Indians and got them interested enough to sign him back in the late '80s.

Do you have Don Nomura's phone number or address? I would like to know where to send video tapes to.

Yes, I do have Don Nomura's contact info. You can e-mail me at: "kenahr at hotmail d0t co d0t jp" and I will gladly send it to you.

I myself have been trying to get over to Japan for the past 3 years now. I have had 3 great years in a row with my stats and even big league time as well. My agent says he has connections over in Japan but for some reason I can't get over there. I am a free agent as well. I sure would love the knowledge on how to get over there, too. Please fill us in. Thank you.

Dear Ryan Glynn,

Are you currently a free agent? Do you have vido of any of your games last year? If so, please let me know and how may I contact you? I place players overseas and know of jobs currently open.

I would suggest you read this page titled "So You Want to Play in Japan" by Gary Garland from Japan Baseball Daily.

Here are Will Cunnane's stats at Baseball-Reference.

If you would consider the Korean Baseball Organization, I know the Mariners' scout who sends players to and from Korea.

Mr Cunnane,

Would you be willing to consent to a short interview? I am just an amateur aspiring sportswriter, and have been able to speak with several active and retired players and personnel, and I have been spending as much time and energy as I can spare on this endeavor. Any time you may be able to share would be appreciated. This is not a solicitation, and I am not paid for my efforts; I am just an aspiring writer seeking opportunities to learn more about the game and its players.

Thank you for your time. I greatly appreciate it.

Sincerely,

Clinton Riddle
greendiamonds.blogspot.com
mrbaseball_cpr at yahoo d0t com

This is an interesting topic. It seems the Americans that want to come here don't have the opportunity, and the ones the really don't want to come here get offers and end up taking these spots. There are only 68 active major league spots for foreigners, and to what criteria these guys are signed I don't really know.

My suggestion would be to make 12 tapes or DVD's of your highlights. Maybe a video of you throwing now and see if you can get a tryout with one of these teams in Spring. I know sometimes they will give foreign players a test/tryout, and I have seen these take place during Spring training.

Off hand I can think of 2 teams that haven't filled their foreign players yet. The Yokohama BayStars and the Hiroshima Toyo Carp. Other than that, I'm not sure. But as always, guys get hurt and teams make decisions that guys can't pitch pretty quickly here, so I would guess by the end of Spring training, some teams will be looking, as will they into the season.

Best of luck guys.

48 spots - 12 teams, 4 players per team.

Dear Will,

I remember watching you pitch for the Cubs in 2002; I hope they weren't one of the teams preventing you from going to Japan!

I may be able to put you in touch with someone. Do you have an e-mail address that you don't mind sharing? Or could you e-mail me at heiankyo794 [[at]] yahoo [[dot]] com?

Will, please check your e-mail if you haven't already. Just sent you a message.

- 48 spots - 12 teams, 4 players per team.

Actually I don't think there are any restrictions on how many foreign players each club can sign; the quota applies to the number of players in the ichi-gun lineup at any one time. So in theory a club could have any number of foreign players on the larger shihaika senshu roster - they just wouldn't all get a chance to play at the same time.

- shihaika senshu

Translation? Preferably English.

(Lit.) "Players under [club's] control." Sounds like the Darth Vader soundtrack should be playing when you say it in English .

- shihaika senshu

It usually consists of 60-odd players, including those in the farm team.

Right: two foreign position players and two pitchers on the active roster -- the ichi-gun team -- at any one time. You can sign foreigners to your heart's content.

That's how I understand it.

Actually, that's no longer true.

It's now four foreign players on the ichi-gun active roster at a given time, with as many as three on the field at a given time. That means that you can have three fielders/batters out there, or even use four foreign pitchers in a game. I'm not sure about the use of a DH and pitcher, though.

This year there's a further exclusion, in that each team may have one Asian foreign player not count against the foreign player limit. So the Giants' Lee can be out there regardless of how many other foreign players the Giants put in their lineup.

- You can sign foreigners to your heart's content.

And that was my point: each club is not restricted to just four players, meaning that there are more than 48 positions available for foreign players, especially pitchers, who don't usually play every day and can be moved in and out of the various rosters more easily.

The idea of swapping foreign players in and out has been brought up a number of years ago. Sending a player to ni-gun can be done, with the player being required to stay there for a minimum of 10 days. That would create an 11 day rotation between two foreign pitchers - each getting two games in at ichi-gun and ni-gun.