Hiroki Kuroda and Kazumi Saitoh?

As the article you quoted says, Kuroda is "an unrestricted free aganet," meaning that he does not need his team's approval to go anywhere. No posting necessary in his case.

Saitoh would require posting, but Softbank isn't strapped for cash and is unlikely to post him. I've never heard him say he wanted to go to the Majors, either.

But you'll find more opinions of people who actually follow the topic of prospective Pacific jumpers (I'm a wait-and-see person who won't discuss the topic until November) in the Rumors Mill and Nichi-Bei forums.

I really hope that he decides to come to the North America and play in the Majors. Do you think Seattle would be the front runner if he does decide to come? Seattle really needs him, that is for sure. And the fans would appreciate his efforts, that is for sure, too.

Numerous NPB teams (Hanshin, Yomiuri, Softbank, and Seibu) and numerous MLB teams have shown interest in Kuroda. As said above, he wouldn't need to be posted as he has acquired free agency.

As for Saitoh, he would require to be posted, and Softbank currently isn't in any need of money. They would be very unlikely to post him as it would be suicide to them to post their ace, and Softbank would have a lot of explaining to do.

Thanks, I would really like to see my Cubs get one of these guys as a #4-#5 starter, but it doesn't look to good.

Well reports out of Chicago say the Cubs are highly intrigued by Kuroda. So I wouldn't count it out just yet. I take a wait and see approach. Kuroda will have plenty of options. Wherever Kuroda ends up he will be in for a big payday.

I just find it interesting that Saitoh beat out Matsuzaka in the big three pitching categories (Wins, Ks, ERA), but he's not a known name at all. Matsuzaka was known even a little before the WBC.

Was Saitoh this good, or close to it, before this season? I know Matsuzaka had a long track record going back to high school which is why he's well known.

Yes, Saitoh won the Sawamura Award in 2003 and 2004 before winning his current Sawamura Award. He has 3 Sawamura Awards compared to Matsuzaka's 1.

Actually Saitoh only won it in 2003. The 2004's Sawamura award went to Kawakami.

From what I see Saitoh's been great ever since he settled into 1-gun as a starter in 2003. Other than the 2004 season when he had an ERA of over 6, he's had better numbers than even Matsuzaka. In his first season as ace of the Hawks, he had 20 wins to win the Sawamura with Igawa. Then in 2005 he was 1 win away from the record of 16 a game winning streak, and ended the season with a 16-1 record and an ERA of 2.92. This year we all know he won the Sawamura, and won "seven" pitching categories (of which Matsuzaka finished 2nd in all of them).

The reason why he wasn't as well known as Matsuzaka is because Matsuzaka was branded the name "monster" ever since his high school days, and was terrific from the get-go after he joined the Lions, whereas it took Saitoh many years after the draft to make a name for himself.

No, he has two. Kenshin Kawakami won the Sawamura in 2004.

Saitoh's a known name, just not in the American press at large, because he's not considered an MLB prospect per se. They're rather ... focused. Matsuzaka, on the other hand, has been "gyroball boy" over here for ages.

But yeah, Saitoh's been awesome for the last few years. I really adore him, in part because there's not quite as much ridiculous hype about him, and in part because he's just plain fun to watch and a great pitcher.

Yes, Saitoh is a great pitcher. In fact, I was never a fan of baseball because I am from the Philippines and baseball isn't very popular here in the Philippines. But when I saw him play just last year I knew right then that he is and will always be a great pitcher. Now, I am a baseball fanatic and Hawks/Saitoh addict.

I know this is an old topic already, but I can't help it. I have to say my piece. And Deanna, thank you for giving good feedbacks about Saitoh. You don't know how much it makes me happy to know that there is someone who would defend him. Thank you so much!

Kawakami won the Sawamura in 2004. Matsuzaka was at the Olympics so that limited his amount of work that year. And an injury limited Saitoh's effectiveness to a 6.26 ERA.

Saitoh just had a monster year this year, even when compared with his good years in the past. Not only was his ERA under 2 at a minuscule 1.75, he had career highs in innings pitched (201), strikeouts (205), and the best BB/9, K/9, HR/9, and H/9 in his career. Wow.

He has a chronic "loose shoulder" problem (same as the ever injured Mark Prior), so some people doubt that he'd be able to handle a 5 man rotation like in the majors. Hawks' management even had doubts once that he'd be able to handle the Japanese once a week rotation and thought about converting him to a field player, but Saitoh refused.

According to the latest MLB reports [Yahoo! Sports], Kuroda is on his way to MLB next year. It's a bit surprising, considering that all that fan mail last year kept him in Hiroshima. I guess another year of losing didn't make all the support worth it. Wish this meant he was heading to the Tigers, but according to the article he has no interest in pitching for another Japanese team.

When Kuroda re-signed with the Carp last year there was an escape clause allowing him to the freely go to the MLB whenever he wants. I always had that feeling he will be gone within the next season or two, so it wasn't that surprising for me. Hope he does well in MLB if he's to get there.

Saitoh's bum shoulder couldn't handle an MLB season, so if SoftBank were to post Saitoh, it would be highway robbery for the company.

As for Kuroda, I didn't see him pitch at all, so I have no idea how he'll do. The Cubs are probably looking to plant their flag in Japan like the Red Sox, Mariners, Yankees, and Dodgers have, and with a new owner, they'll break the bank to do it, I assume.

Another place Kuroda could end up: the New York Mets. They need pitching, and Kuroda would be a start.

As I mentioned in the past, Saitoh isn't going to MLB. Couple that with his history of shoulder problems, I have my serious doubts.

- As for Kuroda, I didn't see him pitch at all, so I have no idea how he'll do. The Cubs are probably looking to plant their flag in Japan like the Red Sox, Mariners, Yankees, and Dodgers have, and with a new owner, they'll break the bank to do it, I assume.

Kuroda pitched in one of the most offensive friendly parks in Japan. From left to right, Hiroshima Municipal Stadium is 300, 380, and 300 (all in feet). [Hiroshima Carp Team Information - Japan Baseball Daily]

The Cubs are a possibly of a team, but there is also uncertainty about their owner's position, as the team is in the process of a sale (the Tribune Company wants to sell the Cubs). That could possibly affect their chances of getting Kuroda.

Boston is loaded with pitching (Beckett, Schilling, Matsuzaka, Wakefield, Lester, and Buchholz), and with talks of a possible 6-man rotation, so that's likely to not include them. They're more likely to look at one of the Japanese free agent relievers such as Hitoki Iwase, Masahide Kobayashi, or Masafumi Hirai.

I'm going to predict that Kuroda will end up with either Seattle, Los Angeles Dodgers, San Diego, or Philadelphia. All four of them could use Kuroda. Phillies' GM, Pat Gillick, mentioned an interest in Kuroda [Philadelphia Daily News via Philly.com]. Philly could use an upgrade as their starting pitching was atrocious. He'd look nice beside Cole Hamels, Brett Myers, Kyle Kendrick, and Kyle Lohse (should he remain with the Phillies).

Kuroda has also mentioned that he would prefer to play on the West Coast as he doesn't like the cold. If that is true, then that means it will be between LA, San Diego, and Seattle.

There's a lot of talk here about Saitoh and his comparisons to Matsuzaka. I just don't buy it. Examining their statistics, one notes that Saitoh's ERA is the only thing that compares favorable to Daisuke. His strikeouts look okay from a counting stat perspective, but K/9 is nothing special. K/BB is also mediocre for a man with his reputation.

The main criticism of Saitoh is his inability to stay healthy, but I have to say that in person he's not impressive to me. His fastball is decent, but very straight. With the shoulder problems that he has, his velocity is way down, and that makes the fork ball less effective. When he hit the mid-90s with the fastball it made the nasty fork a deadly weapon. He sits in the low-90s, and more often in the high 80s these days, and it's much easier to lay off the fork ball.

From an NPB perspective, I think he's overrated. From an MLB perspective, I think he's prohibitively flawed on a number of levels. SoftBank would be smart to post him if they could get any value whatsoever out of him now. He won't be pitching in 2-3 years.