O's: Uehara comes to town
Japanese pitcher Koji Uehara landed at Dulles International Airport today and spoke briefly with a group of 25 Japanese reporters who were there to greet him. He made just a few comments after the 13-hour flight and, presumably, headed for Baltimore for his physical tomorrow.
One of the Japanese newspaper reporters passed along a comment from Uehara to Sun baseball writer Dan Connolly, who passed it along to me. Now I'm passing it along to you.
“I’m here for the medical check and to sign a contract,'' he said. "Thay’s my purpose. This is just a beginning. This is just a first step. I have to work hard to succeed now at this level."
It'll be a whirlwind week for Uehara, who flew in with his wife. He'll undergo the physical tomorrow and take part in a news conference at the warehouse on Wednesday. Then he's scheduled to fly home to Japan and hold a news conference there on Friday.
Unless the Orioles medical staff discovers that he's missing an arm or something, he'll report for spring training with the rest of the pitchers and catchers to the Orioles' Fort Lauderdale training facility on Feb. 14.
Comments
Pete , even if he had only one arm , any new blood at this point is an improvement .
Good luck to him .
Posted by: the artist formerly known as jack in hebron | January 11, 2009 6:42 PM
Pete -
Speaking of the International Market, do you know anything about Yadel Marti and Yasser Gomez, the guys that defected from Cuba a couple of weeks ago?
All I know about Marti is that he's 29 and he pitched well in the WBC.
All I know about Gomez is that he's 28, has a lot of speed and hits for high average.
Any talk in the Warehouse about either of these guys?
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Pete's reply: I haven't heard any, but I haven't been pursuing that.
Posted by: b | January 11, 2009 6:47 PM
25 reporters??? For one guy? He must be awesome! Were any of them wearing Hawaiian shirts?
Posted by: PAUL.R | January 11, 2009 6:51 PM
Pete,
We really need to make this work, even if not on the mound, we MUST ensure the Charm City rolls out all our charm to have Asian players see Baltimore as a great landing spot when wanting to play in the U.S.
Posted by: Keith Rowe | January 11, 2009 7:51 PM
Is the Japanese league Koji pitched in equal to AA or AAA? Why the excitement?
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Pete's reply: I guess because Ichiro, Dice-K, Matsui and others have done very well here.
Posted by: NORM | January 11, 2009 9:27 PM
Pete,
Check out this link! crab cakes as burgers
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/sb20090111wg.html
Posted by: Matt | January 11, 2009 10:05 PM
Pete, You'll be lucky to get an interview from him if he learns about your 'overpaid' comment today. Uehara has been one of Japan's top pitchers for a number of years and received a solid endorsement from Bobby Valentine, who gave a thumbs-up to the Orioles for signing him.
Sure, you're entitled to your opinions and your opinions are often very sound. You may be proven right on this one, too, but given that he has yet to throw a pitch in an Orioles uniform, though, I think you're a little ahead of yourself in 'dissing' him.
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Pete's reply: I believe I said, "Even if they over-paid for the guy..."
Posted by: Ken Francis | January 11, 2009 10:11 PM
I just read that the Braves were close to signing Kawakami. Is he still on the O's radar?
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Pete's reply: I think he's very close with the Braves, if he hasn't agreed to terms already.
Posted by: Deron Miller | January 11, 2009 11:02 PM
I think there was a Uehara siting at the a Chipotle in Reisterstown. . .
Posted by: Denny | January 11, 2009 11:41 PM
I like the Uehara signing. Most folks have him rated higher than Kawakami. So while we may have only gotten one Japanese pitcher, it's quite possible we got the right one.
I'm also on board with the Zaun signing. Pudge really slipped last year, and lost what little power he had left. Zaun also has a very good BB/K ratio, and while he doesn't typically hit for average (.251 lifetime), he does have a little pop in his bat. I don't think we'll see too big of a dropoff between Hernandez and Zaun. Defensively, Zaun is a big upgrade.
The only signing I'm not 100% sold on is Hendrickson. But, he's inexpensive and he's probably going to have pick up the young kids' pitching messes quite a lot this year.
Posted by: T-mac | January 12, 2009 1:58 AM
So Pete, I'm looking at our roster as it stands right now, and I don't know that we need to sign a righthanded hitting 1B. No one out there is worth it, and the rest of the good 1B FA's are all lefthanded. I think that either Oscar Salazar or Luis Montanez could fit the bill nicely (w/ Huff playing 1B when Montanez is in there). Here's who I think will make the team out of Spring Training, barring any trades/and or FA signings (besides Zaun):
C's - Gregg Zaun, Chad Moeller (Wieter pushing, though).
1B - Aubrey Huff, Oscar Salazar
2B - Brian Roberts
3B - Melvin Mora
SS - Cesar Izturis
Util - Chris Gomez (1B/2B/3B/SS)
LF - Luke Scott, Ryan Freel
CF - Adam Jones, Ryan Freel
RF - Nick Markakis, Ryan Freel
12 Position Players Total
SP's - Jeremy Guthrie, Koji Uehara, Garrett Olson, Hayden Penn (out of options), and Troy Patton/Radhamez Liz (edge to Patton).
RP's - Mark Hendrickson, Jamie Walker, Danys Baez, Dennis Sarfate, Matt Albers, Jim Johnson, Chris Ray, and George Sherrill.
Posted by: T-mac | January 12, 2009 2:14 AM
I need to get out more. I live in Reisterstown and had no idea we have a Chipotle.
Posted by: Mark Brown | January 12, 2009 2:27 AM
Pete, are the O's going to still make a run at another SP, like Looper or do you sense that they take a shot at a SP that is coming back either from injury or poor performance?
I have a question on Albers; I know he didn't have the surgery, so realistically, should we expect much from him? I am not a proponent of surgery for the sake of surgery, but I really don't know of any pitcher that has come back from his type of injury without surgery. I certainly hope he is the exception.
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Pete's reply: I think it depends on the severity of the problem. They hope he'll be ready and can pitch through it.
Posted by: Birdland Todd | January 12, 2009 4:30 AM
This is why there is a difference between teams...
O's sign/trade for...
37 year old Chris Gomez
35 year old Mark Hendrickson
33 year old Ryan Freel
35 year old Koji Uehara
38 year old Gregg Zaun (Possible, Very Close)
Yeah, the O's are getting younger...
Yanks sign/trade for...
28 year old Sabathia
28 year old Swisher
28 year olf Texiera
31 year old Burnett
Even the Yanks oldest signee is younger than all the O's signees.
I'm not looking at the money part, I'm looking at the age part. Even with our so-called young pitchers, the Yankees are a younger team than the O's...
Fans, your being fooled, Bowie Baseball is right up the road and is alot of fun.
I wore a Ravens colored Hawaiian shirt in honor of Pete for the Ravens game Saturday night. Since they won, I may do it this Sunday!
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Pete's reply: I hate to admit this, but I don't have a purple Hawaiian shirt.
Posted by: No Longer an Oriole Fan | January 12, 2009 6:37 AM
"What is the status on Gibbons. Are the Orioles still paying him? Why not invite him to Spring Training. He might be a little more motivated now."
Inviting Jay Gibbons to spring training would be a good idea as long as the Orioles dont have to pay him
a salary for 2009. Then Aubrey Huff could be packaged with a couple of other players for a front line major league starter. Gibbons could DH and backup first base.
Posted by: Tyrone of Towson | January 12, 2009 8:21 AM
When he comes to town, someone will have to remind him that the team colors he'll be in are black and orange, not purple and black. He'll have to look long and hard for some orange.
Posted by: deasy | January 12, 2009 9:49 AM
Why would we want to trade Huff? He gave us good production last year, is only 31, and might be willing to accept a contract extension if we offered one (and he would come a lot cheaper than Te$hera for similar production). If he has a strong first half, I'd much rather the front office try to keep him here for three more years than trade him.
Posted by: Dr. Tom | January 12, 2009 1:03 PM
Pete,
Yes, you did qualify 'overpaid,' which does make a difference. My bad.
Let's hope the O's get a bargain instead of burned, for a change. I'm excited to see how he does. It would be great if he's as solid as Guthrie.
Posted by: Ken Francis | January 12, 2009 1:27 PM
Peter, I think the fact that Freel, Hendrickson, etc. are in their mid-30's is fine, because they are just holding roster spots down for a year or two. We have the #5 pick in the 2009 and I'm hoping for #1 in 2010.
ml
Posted by: Mark Lesly | January 12, 2009 1:55 PM
what about ben sheets? I read he's becoming a bargain, and last time i checked, he's still a very capable pitcher.
Posted by: mike | January 12, 2009 3:17 PM