on the primary Japanese FAs appeared on espn.com a few weeks ago. On Kawakami:

Unlike Kuroda, who put together mouth-watering ERAs despite pitching in Japan’s best hitters’ park, Kawakami’s 3.22 career ERA was fashioned in an extreme pitchers’ park with one of the country’s better defensive units playing behind him.

Kawakami likely has the best cutter in Japan. Although he has exceptional control with his 92 mph fastball, it lacks movement and gets hit hard. He also has a two-seamer that runs in on right-handers, a slider and a slow curve. Kawakami experimented with a forkball this year, and his groundouts increased sharply.

Because of his tenacity and his command, Kawakami should adjust to the challenges of the majors.

Might not be a good fit for us. But I do disagree that a Japanese FA wouldn’t want to come here, though it’s hard to say either way because we haven’t tried. But other smaller market, midwest teams have brought Japanese players over. I think it all depends on the money.

there was this dude in japan named ichiro suzuki who was a big star over there, and then he came to the real major leagues and sucked. i dont even know what happened to that guy

He’s a free agent, so there won’t be a posting fee.

He may be expensive for the Reds, though. They’d probably have to pay a premium, as they did with Stanton, Cordero, etc. And I don’t think it’s worth it for them. They’ve got decent starting pitching already.

that’s racist

it should be noted that he said “over-ated”

in which case, Hideki would have to agree.

I call it a shuuto pipe. It’s diggity dank, but most righties prefer blunts.

“Dream” in Japanese.