Red Sox Continue to Look to Japan for Pitching

The ProJo Sox Blog points out that Junichi Tazawa cleared a hurdle in his bid to play in the U.S. I posted earlier about the Red Sox and Mets scouting him.

Junichi Tazawa, a hard-throwing right-handed pitcher who wants to play in the major leagues, was passed over by Japan's 12 professional teams in Thursday's amateur draft.

Tazawa, whose fastball reaches 97 mph, had asked Japanese teams not to select him so that he could pursue a career in the United States.

"I'm very relieved," Tazawa said. "I was very nervous right up until the end of the draft."
Several major league teams, including the Boston Red Sox and Chicago Cubs, scouted Tazawa while he led Nippon Oil to the corporate league championship this season.

The Red Sox have been scouting several Japanese players over the last season and there is a good likelyhood that Okajima and Dice-K will have another countryman on the roster with them. This is also part of an overall marketing scheme by Red Sox ownership to continue to make the team marketable in Japan. If the Red Sox are seen as the team to root for in Japan, there is a good chance for increased revenue.