Kuroda > Igawa

Reading Josh Kalk’s article on LA Dodger, Hiroki Kuroda, a Japanese import that has pitched extremely well for the Dodgers this season (and in the postseason), makes me wonder how the Yankees can be so terrible when it comes to evaluating Japanese pitching. Obviously, when you have clearcut talents like Yu Darvish or Daisuke Matsuzaka, the Yankees know about them, but, when you’re looking for useful, low-budget solutions from Japan (#4 of #5 starters), how can the team be so terrible at picking those guys out?

Kei Igawa is a symbol of failure for the Yankees (on many levels). Good thing he’s also the reason why they’ve overhauled their strategy when scouting players in Japan.