Sunday, November 30, 2008

Tazawa to sign with the Red Sox

According to Japanese newspapers, Junichi Tazawa, the amateur right handed pitcher from the corporate team Eneos (Nippon Oil), will sign with the Boston Red Sox. Apparently the Texas Rangers made a longer term deal for more money, but Tazawa chose to join the BoSox due to their "development program", and due to the fact that Diasuke Matsuzaka and Hideki Okajima have been there before to help transition.
This signing apparently is causing some in Japan to stir, in that Japanese and American teams had previously not actively sought amateur players from the others' countries. Tazawa chose to forego the Japanese draft to sign with the Red Sox, which may provide more impetus for a international draft in baseball (particularly if relations with Cuba become less hostile).

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