5 Highly Sought After Japanese Ball Players

- Any comments on Mai's list?

Nioka makes the list instead of Johjima or Ogasawara? Unbelievable. I'd put both those two on the list, in fact, and bump one of the pitchers -- probably Matsuzaka thanks to his heavy use at such a young age.

Ogasawara may have been left off because he'll be in his mid-30's when he's elgible. The demands of catching may be a factor in not listing Jojima. However, the way pitchers have been, and to some extent still are used, in Japan would keep me from getting too excited over a pitcher who is more than two years away from free agency, unless posting is imminent. Throwing arm woes so often do in pitchers that I wouldn't get excited over pitchers several years away.

Position players other than catchers who will reach free agency before their 30th birthday are likely to retain their skills for a while, and are much more easily projected for such a lengthy period of time.

Jim Albright

- Ogasawara may have been left off because he'll be in his mid-30's when he's elgible

Maybe, but so will Uehara. Besides, if that's the case, the page shouldn't have been titled "Top 5 Japanese Players."

- The demands of catching may be a factor in not listing Jojima.

Good point, although I'd still put him on the list. A 29-year-old catcher has less productive years left than a position player of the same age, but he still has three or four good seasons left most likely. Even if I didn't put Kenji on the list, I'd put Iwamura on there before Nioka, probably Iguchi as well after his 2003 season.

- Position players other than catchers who will reach free agency before their 30th birthday are likely to retain their skills for a while, and are much more easily projected for such a lengthy period of time.

Agreed, and that eliminates Nioka as well.

Uehara gets my vote as the most big-league ready Japanese pitcher. His strikeout/walk ratio is unbelievable.

I'd take Iguchi and maybe Yakult's Iwamura over Nioka as an infielder. I think Mai might be a Giants' fan.

Oddly, even as a Giants' fan, why not put Yoshinobu Takahashi as a higher demand player than Nioka? He'll be a free agent a year earlier, is also Olympic team quality, is respectively the same age, and could easily garner the same sort of attention in America that outfielders Ichiro and H. Matsui have. I'm not sure I understand her choices either.

And agreed with the above comments on Ogasawara; it'd be great to see him come over here. He's pretty much the same age as Ichiro, even. But who knows where they'll be in a few years?