While major league baseball awaits a potentially lengthy lockout, it’s not stopping some top Japanese players from making the leap this offseason.
Right-hander Kaima Taira is set to be posted by the Seibu Lions of Nippon Professional Baseball, the team announced Friday.
The Yankees are among the teams that have scouted the 5-foot-8 (yup, 5-foot-8) Taira, who has been both a starter and a reliever in his career.
Taira turns 27 in November and throws in the mid-to-high 90s, and if he were to fit into the Yankees’ plans, it would have to be out of the bullpen.
Several scouts who saw him this past season believe that’s where he’s best suited, although Taira did excel in the rotation this past year.
Complicating matters for Taira — and any other Japanese player that wants to come to the majors next season — is the impending work stoppage.
With Taira, third baseman Teruaki Sato and right-hander Hiromi Itoh expected to be posted in early November, it would open a 45-day window for them to sign with an MLB team.
But the collective bargaining agreement is set to expire on Dec. 1, which is expected to trigger a lockout.
If those players don’t sign by Dec. 1, the 45-day window would freeze and pick up whenever the lockout ends, but the process is expected to be hastened by the looming work stoppage.
While the Yankees rotation appears to be set with expected AL Cy Young award winner Cam Schlittler, Gerrit Cole, Max Fried, Carlos Rodón and perhaps a combination of lefty Ryan Weathers and right-handers Will Warren and Clarke Schmidt — barring trades — they have plenty of questions in the bullpen.
Closer David Bednar is a free agent, although the Yankees could give him the $23.15 qualifying offer. Still, there’s no guarantee of his return.
Lefties Tim Hill and Ryan Yarbrough will hit the open market, as will midseason acquisitions Michael Fulmer and John Schreiber.
And right-hander Fernando Cruz dealt with a partially torn UCL that could cost him all of next year, while Brent Headrick showed the effects of pitching in a team-high 81 games last season by faltering down the stretch.
Carlos Lagrange, the hard-throwing right-handed prospect, was expected to contribute at some point, but he was unable to come back from a shoulder strain in time for a call-up. The Yankees still view him as a potential starter.
Taira, despite his size, has a repertoire that is suited to being a starter, but there are teams that question his durability. He had a 1.36 ERA in 146 NPB innings last season.
