The Cubs have agreed to sign Hisanori Takahashi to a minor league contract with an invitation to Spring Training,
reports Jeff Passan of Yahoo! Sports. The veteran left-hander, who is 37, pitched to a 5.54 ERA with 9.3 K/9 and 2.5 BB/9 in 50
1/3 relief innings for the Angels and Pirates last season. He owns a
3.97 ERA in 240 1/3 MLB innings, making 12 starts and 153 relief
appearances. Takahashi has held big league lefties to a .238/.283/.381
batting line with a 4.14 K/BB.
Is there no one else out there??? Old Japanese pitchers pitch like Taka-san did last season, badly.
Taka-san has been with three clubs in three seasons. In 2010, with the Mets, he appeared in 53 games, closing 21, with a 10-6 record, 3.61 ERA, 8 saves, 1.303 WHIP., with 114 Ks in 122 IP.
In 2011, he went to the Angels where in 61 games, closing 18, he went 4-3, 3.44 ERA, 2 saves, 1.221 WHIP, 52 Ks in 68 IP.
Last season with the Angels and Pirates, his combined record was 0-3, 5.54 ERA in 51 games, 0 saves, 52 Ks in 50.1 IP 1.252 WHIP.
Of the remaining pure relievers, Taka-san was in the top 11 according to MLBTR.
The top K/9 IP leaders left on the free agency board were:
Jason Fraser (10.92), Mike Gonzalez (9.84), Manny Parra (9.36), Taka-san (9.30), Brandon Lyon (9.30), V. Padilla (9.18), Rafael Soriano (9.18), Francisco Rodriguez (9.00), Juan Cruz (8.33), Matt Lindstrom (7.66) and Kevin Gregg (7.63). This group includes veteran closers seeking more than a mere minor league contract and spring training invitation.
Taka-san's role appears to mirror that of James Russell, a lefty relief specialist. He may get a shot at making the team if T. Wood remains in the rotation since the rest of the bullpen candidates are weak or suspect (Bowden, Cabrera, Dolis, Rondon). In fact, only Russell, Camp, Marmol and Fujikawa are solid picks to make the roster. That leaves three probable open spots in the bullpen.
