Taro mentions, casually …

Also… theres a NPB FA that is completely going under the radar… and hes a real good one.

Ogasawara is a free agent and is brainstorming his options. He plays 3B and 1B and can mash the stuffing out of the ball. He is 33 now, but that doesn’t mean we don’t badly need a hitter of his caliber.

You can easily fit Schmidt, Kuroda, Ogasawara, and Igawa within the budget and built apennant contending team overnight. If the M’s did that they’d immediately be world series contenders, and it’d probably be the last year NPB players went under market value.

MICHIHIRO Ogasawara is a free agent!?  The Japanese dream teamer with the slashing lefty swing?  And nobody said a word?  :- )

Bats left, real good K/BB ratio, OBP's way up there, and the .600ish slugging percentages.  Ogasawara stats.

Ogasawara hit .360/.479/.649 in 2003.  LOL.  He's all the way past Jason Giambi up near Roberto Petagine territory…

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His swing reminded me of a cross between Chris Snelling and Reggie Jackson:  slashing, lots of forward movement in the batter's box, great aggressiveness yet with nice control, eager to pull the ball with authority … born for the right field corner, looked like to me.  

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Wonder what happened to Ogasawara's eye ratio in 2005.  Usually you associate that kind of weird K/BB implosion with an eye problem, or an injury he was hiding, or something.  But 2006 was not different than 2004; in fact Ogasawara performed better (editing for luck) in '06 than he did in '04.

For a lefty slugger with great talent, a good work ethic, and a good eye, 33 is not old at all. 

As a lefty 3B/1B, Ogasawara would be an even more interesting 350-AB tenth man than Iwamura.  Or in a Beltre trade scenario… hmmmmmmmmmmm…

In case you've forgotten, the Japanese dream team is a whale of a major league team.  I bet they could even beat the MLB All-Stars….

Dr. D