Fumihiro Fujisawa, the president of Association of American Baseball Research and a longtime analyst on both NHK and cable television in Japan, would like to see Otani focus on his mound skills going forward. “Former Yomiuri Giants star pitcher Masumi Kuwata said last year that Otani should be either a pitcher or a batter, not both,” Fujisawa stated. “Kuwata also said that it would be better for Otani to be a pitcher. I agree with him.”
Added Fujisawa: “I think Otani will be a good outfielder, but he will be one of the best pitchers.”
Best-selling author Robert Whiting, who wrote You Gotta Have Wa and The Meaning of Ichiro, believes it may still be a while before Otani boards the plane for North America. “I think Otani won’t be going to the MLB for at least another six years,” Whiting said. “I would guess he won’t be posted until a year before he qualifies for international free agency. Nippon Ham went to a lot of trouble to persuade him to stay in Japan, so I would imagine they will hang on to him as long as they possibly can.
“If they post him, under the new system they will only get $20 million. That’s a far cry from the $51 million they got for Darvish. It is nothing to sneeze at, of course, but the incentive to sell is lessened.”