O's and Uehara agree to deal

[JTrea81]

Darvish has said he has no real desire to play in America anytime soon. He could have left this year I believe but stayed in Japan for 2.7 million dollars.

It all depends on if his club wants the money or not. With the economy problems in Japan, they might welcome the 75 million or so posting fee to help their club...

[SilentJames]

It all depends on if his club wants the money or not. With the economy problems in Japan, they might welcome the 75 million or so posting fee to help their club...

With the economy problems in America a team might not be able to GIVE the club 75 million dollars to post him.

[JTrea81]

With the economy problems in America a team might not be able to GIVE the club 75 million dollars to post him.

Well there is this team in NY...

And signing Darvish would be even bigger than the DiceK signing because Darvish is a rock star over there and possibly even more popular than DiceK. His wife is apparently a popular Japanese actress...

[LA2]

OK. I did a search for 上原 浩治. Apparently Uehara is pronounced

Uh-wee-hara with very little emphasis on the "uh".

Nope. I speak Japanese and each syllable shd be pronounced as follows:

u = Like "oo" in "coo"

e = Like "e" in "bed"

ha = Like "ha" in "haha"

ra = Like "ra" in "rah-rah"

But don't put too much emphasis on each syllable (as if it were Chinese)--the four syllables should just flow by, like "ooe-hara."

[tennOsfan]

I approve of this signing.

To those who poo-poo it, I say: There is no guarantee this guy will be solid for us. If there was such an assurance, he'd be getting much more than $5 mil/yr guaranteed.

At least we can count on the guy to throw strikes when he needs to, which is one heck of an improvement over what we've seen in recent years.

[Frobby]

Nope. I speak Japanese and each syllable shd be pronounced as follows:

u = Like "oo" in "coo"

e = Like "e" in "bed"

ha = Like "ha" in "haha"

ra = Like "ra" in "rah-rah"

But don't put too much emphasis on each syllable (as if it were Chinese)--the four syllables should just flow by, like "ooe-hara."

Would you like a job as the O's translator this year?

[LA2]

From what I read, we are the LAST team in MLB to sign an Asian player. So, it's not like we've broken into some exclusive club of teams now able to sign Asian players.

I'm not sure a 34 year old who had a 3.80 ERA in Japan is the right guy.

:rolleyestf:

No, that's last team in the AL East.

You're ignoring a lot of special considerations behind that age and ERA. All-star for seven years in a row, a good year as a reliever, and then banished to the BP for not being patriotic enough.

At two years for 10-16 million (upper range incl. incentives), this looks like a good deal, if he stays fit.

[Frobby]

No, that's last team in the AL East.

You're ignoring a lot of special considerations behind that age and ERA. All-star for seven years in a row, a good year as a reliever, and then banished to the BP for not being patriotic enough.

At two years for 10-16 million (upper range incl. incentives), this looks like a good deal, if he stays fit.

You really have to look at this and say it's a calculated risk with a lot of upside and only limited downside. This guy's career ERA in Japan is only 0.20 higher than Dice-K's. He's won two Japanese Cy Youngs. Writing him off based on one so-so year is like writing off a guy like Mike Mussina or Kenny Rogers on one bad year. Sure he might be on the downhill slide, but at 34 (next year) he's hardly so old that he couldn't rebound. I'd much rather risk $10 mm on 2 years of this guy than pay Jon Garland $10 mm/yr.

By the way, here's a really good article Steve Melewski wrote a while back about the extent of the O's scouting efforts in Japan this year. http://masnsports.com/2008/10/os-take-their-first-steps-in-s.html

[JastonThor]

And I'm not saying it will happen, but the O's have scouted Yu Darvish as well, so this could pave the way eventually to Darvish coming to Baltimore. The Orioles would just have to be willing to pay the posting fee and he's theirs...

Not to try and rain on the parade, but hasn't every MLB team pretty much scouted and did their homework on Darvish? I think this is probably stretching it on trying to connect the dots between today's signing and Darvish. However, here's to hoping so.

And I seriously doubt Angelos will approve spending the uber amount of money it will take to afford both the posting fee and contract...on a pitcher. Position player maybe, pitcher, eh, we'll see if Angelos changes his ways.

[Big Mac]

Uehera's forkball looks NASTY!

[jiminnj]

Actually on second thought, I like the signing. Breaking the Japanese ice and getting a guy who can eat innings (assuming he stays healthy) and throws strikes is a good thing.

Here's a nice video of him in action, although I dont know how old it is.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TausE4nhypk

I enjoyed watching this. Thanks for posting it NMS.

Really liked the fastball he throws at lefties that starts inside off the plate and then cuts back over the corner. Batter after batter is shown taking this for a third strike.

[Camden_yardbird]

This guy has got some nasty movement. I am really happy about this deal as I think it can open a lot of doors for the Orioles. For those who want some videos.

http://video.google.com/videosearch?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1T4DMUS_enUS243US243&q=koji+uehara&um=1&sa=X&oi=video_result_group&resnum=6&ct=title#

I think he will have a ton of success the first time through the league and after that it will depend on his ability to adjust.

[bmorebirds_24]

Would someone mind helping me out? This guy is 34 years old, where does he fit in our "rebuilding" mode? We can't sign a younger Sheets, but can sign a 34 year old? I see some people are really excited about this move, why? Why would we not let some of the guys in the organization already, compete for the other four rotations spots? Didn't we just sign Hendrickson, who is in his mid-thirties? I just don't see what is so great. So would someone help me to be excited for this free agent pick up?

[Aberdeener]

No, that's last team in the AL East.

You're ignoring a lot of special considerations behind that age and ERA. All-star for seven years in a row, a good year as a reliever, and then banished to the BP for not being patriotic enough.

At two years for 10-16 million (upper range incl. incentives), this looks like a good deal, if he stays fit.

I'm sure you've seen the research, posted on this site and elsewhere, about how few Japanese players find success, and sustained success into older age, at that. And here's a guy who's gonna just be getting started here at age 34.

Not. good.

[orioles119]

Really, this move is all about PR... the Orioles finally landed a player from the Pacific Rim and it could lead to other talent from that region for the Orioles. Uehara is better than Hendrickson as well.

As for the "rebuilding" comment... Uehara could buy some time in the minors for Matusz (who some want to rush already) and Arrieta (who should probably have one more year in the minors).