Hello again my good friends, how are you? Well, for the first time over this offseason, the Mets have acquired a player who is not a backup catcher nor an overpaid backup infielder/"nice guy". It was announced Thursday that the Mets have finalized a 2-yr contract with Japanese right-handed reliever Ryota Igarashi formerly of Nippon Professional Baseball. The deal is a reasonably priced one, paying him just 1 million dollars per season.
Now to be totally honest, I’m not a regular follower/worshiper of Nippon Professional Baseball, so whenever a player who isn’t hyped up to the moon like Hideki Matsui and Daisuke Matsuzaka comes to the United States, I tend to not know a whole lot about him. Igarashi’s scouting reports do say plenty of positive things about him however, stating that though he’s a little wild, he does throw hard, 98 MPH hard, and he has a very deceptive delivery. A lot of talk surrounding the team has indicated that Igarashi will likely become the Mets 8th inning setup man.
I’m uncertain how I feel about all of this. On one hand, scouting reports have said plenty of nice things about Igarashi, making me believe that he can succeed in his new role here in the States. Not to mention that the price is reasonable, 1 million dollars a year for a reliable 8th inning man would be gold, especially after all of the garbage JJ Putz put on display last season in Flushing. Igarashi has an opportunity to be a real treasure, a major bargain for our boys.
However, he needs to earn the title of "bargain". Until he does, the only title I’ll be bestowing to Igarashi is "risk." The strike zone in the United States is a lot smaller than it is in Japan. If Igarashi has been characterized as being wild during his time in the Land of the Rising Sun, will a more confined American strike zone result in walks galore? And although I am in love with the sum of money the Mets are paying Igarashi, this is bullpen slot has been a major problem for the Mets ever since 2007. I’m just curious whether or not it was ever a consideration for the Mets to sign a bonafide setup man, like an Octavio Dotel. Instead, it looks as if the Mets will be heading into 2010 with a big fat question mark as a setup man. And finally, I just have to mention that it seems to me every single Japanese player the Mets obtain – there have been 10 – either seems to totally bomb or does mediocre in a small span of time, making me wary right off the bat about Igarashi’s success chances. Guys like Kaz Matsui, "The Japanese Greg Maddux" Satoru Komiyama, Kaz Ishii, and Hideo Nomo are guys that completely failed during their days in Flushing. Guys like Ken Takahashi, Masato Yoshii, Shingo Takatsu, and Takashi Kashiwada were so-so at best, but never lasted with the Mets for a very long period of time. What will Ryota Igarashi do for us? Will he be a trendsetter and become the first elite Japanese New York Met? I hope so.
What do you guys think? Will Igarashi buck the trend and rise to greatness with the Mets, or will he join the rest of the former Nippon professionals under the "forgettable" column? Are you cool with Igarashi being the Mets 2010 8th inning man, or would you rather have had a more recognizable character play the part? Let’s hear your thoughts, hit up the comment section below and as always dearest friends, thank you for stopping by to read!
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