Fujinami will use Oakland as an audition for MLB

 

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As the final domino fell among NPB players going to MLB, it had the least amount of fanfare. Shintaro Fujinami signed with the Oakland Athletics this month and was officially introduced on Tuesday along with his agent Scott Boras, interpreter Issei Yamada, manager Mark Kotsay and General Manager David Forst.

Fujinami, who turns 29 in April, signed a one year, $3.25 million contract with the A's, while the team will pay the Hanshin Tigers a $650,000 posting fee with 20% of the contract. 

What made him sign with the Oakland A's? It was all about the opportunity and chance to play. 

"It was important for him to have a chance to be a starter. That’s how we’ve seen him perform in Japan," Forst said. "I expect he’ll be in the rotation. We have a lot of questions to answer about our rotation overall. But with his track record and the way he pitched down the stretch for Hanshin, we know he’ll be an important part of our rotation."

The Oakland A's had a continuous revolving door with players being shuffled at all positions in 2022. 

Only two spots in the rotation are guaranteed with Cole Irvin and Paul Blackburn being there from last year. 

James Kaprielian is coming off an injury while JP Sears and Ken Waldichuk were both starters to end the season coming from a trade that involved Frankie Montas. 

The A's also signed Drew Rucinski, who spent the last four seasons as a starter for the NC Dinos in KBO. Throw in former first round draft pick A.J. Puk who could also be a candidate and there's just too many names. 

To begin the year, they can afford to run a six-man rotation to ease Fujinami into a regular rotation schedule, let alone experiment with the pitchers who are the roster. 

The news outlets in Japan had Fujinami linked to the Arizona Diamondbacks, San Francisco Giants and Boston Red Sox, but the A's emerged as the favorites when the dust settled and January came about. He flew to the States last week to take his physical and sign all the paperwork necessary. 

Kotsay said he will be back in Japan to acquire the work visa before going to Arizona for spring training.

By signing with the A's, it's a sign that he has to prove his worth to earn something later. 

The A's will be able to play him in order to get noticed elsewhere and if he does well to start, they'll trade him before the July 31 deadline and get a prospect or two in return. 

It's likely other teams weren't willing to play him immediately and saw too much risk with his control history.  

Fujinami came off one of his best seasons in seven years by lowering his walk rate and being useful multiple roles from the rotation and bullpen. Like most A's pitchers, he should benefit from playing inside the Oakland Coliseum, which has a large foul territory. 

He can throw a curveball, fastball, two-seamer, cutter, slider and splitter.  It's a versatile load as with most Japanese pitchers, but he and the team will need to figure out what is most useful going forward. 

For the A's it's a low-risk signing while also breaking a glass ceiling at the same time. 

This is the first time they've paid a posting fee after previously winning a bid for Hisashi Iwakuma's rights, only to low-ball him to prevent anyone else from signing the pitcher. 

Historically, they never sign a Scott Boras client in free agency either. Boras is an agent who is great at getting a player what he wants and most of the time, it's money. 

In the past, Boras would use the A's as leverage to bring out more funds from another team throwing a better offer like Adrian Beltre as an example. 

In Fujinami's case, he valued wanting a job in the starting rotation over funds. The A's have their own uncertainty from location to several players not being part of the long term future. 

Previously, Yusei Kikuchi wanted a team who could be patient with his development as he picked the Seattle Mariners over other teams who may have offered more money. 

The other glass ceiling was holding a public press conference, their first since Yoenis Cespedes before the 2012 season among major leaguers. They signed Hiroyuki Nakajima for 2013, but he failed to play in an MLB game. 

Last year, the A's offloaded their asset players before their value diminishes over time. The result of 2022 was their first 100 loss season since 1979, mostly playing a roster full of career minor leaguers who got a chance to showcase themselves and be noticed. Most recently Matt Davidson, David MacKinnon and Sheldon Neuse were part of the 2022 A's and signed contracts with NPB teams for 2023.

As a trivial coincidence, Fujinami is swapping teams and places with Neuse as the latter will be with the Hanshin Tigers. 

The A's are one of the softest media markets in baseball being in the heart of the Bay Area. They don't move the needle with a small fanbase combined with being second fiddle to the San Francisco Giants. 

This is a complete 180 from what Fujinami experienced with the Hanshin Tigers where Kansai is the most intense market in Japan. Instead of being high profile, he could be anonymous and go incognito in the Bay Area with a mostly empty Oakland Coliseum.

Fujinami has a lot to prove, but if he pulls of a strong start, someone else will want him and offer the A's something in return. It's win for all sides of he plays well. 

This is just an audition in Oakland with the plan to use the A's as a stepping stone for the long haul. 

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ICYMI: Here are some media things about Fujinami

Interview on A's cast with Chris Townnsend

GM David Forst on Fujinami

Fujinami's outing in August Forst spoke of. 

While he spoke about preferring his nickname as "Fuji" like Mt. Fuji, the former Japanese nickname he carried was Shin-chan. If anyone approaches him, Shin-chan would fit the bill. 

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