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Japanese Pitcher and Catcher Combo

By jbox

Jonny Dub will be real happy about getting more Japanese players on the team. I bet Jonny is checking him out on the internet right now. Not to see his stats, but to see if he's cute. Don't worry Jonny he's cute. 

Maybe they could both get signed to the Corky's Pest Control Commercials.

New Japanese Catcher and Otsuka likely to sign today.

One catcher who intrigues the Padres is Kenji Jojima, a star of the Japanese Leagues. Jojima's English skills are crude, but the Padres have scouted him for more than a year. Padres reliever Akinori Otsuka has offered to help Jojima in translating. Otsuka rates Jojima equal to or better than many regular catchers in the majors.

Today, the Padres expect to pick up Otsuka's club option, guaranteeing the right-hander a $1.75 million salary, more than twice his wage in 2005.

I still find it unbelievable that they are trying to shop Nady. He hit more home runs than Castilla in less AB's. Yet they think Castilla has power and Nady is tradeable?

Other clubs have said both Burroughs and first baseman/outfielder Xavier Nady were offered by San Diego in trade proposals last season. The Padres have more of a need for Nady, who turns 27 next week. The slugger could replace Giles in right field or return to first base, his prime spot after Phil Nevin was traded in July.

Still, even after Towers publicly implored manager Bruce Bochy to put Nady at third base, Bochy didn't have him take practice grounders there, and a month after Nevin was dealt, Bochy returned Nady to the bench, not a typical spot for a young player whose income exceeds $1 million.

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