Tigers on Tazawa Time?

I'm a bit behind on this story, but still wanted to post at least a couple of thoughts.  The Detroit Tigers have been rumored as one of seven teams interested in signing Japanese hot-shot Junichi Tazawa, and Dave Dombrowski confirmed his interest in pursuing the 22-year-old pitcher to the Detroit Free Press.

What makes Tazawa especially appealing besides his talent is that he hasn't used up a lot of his arm in Japanese baseball.  Tazawa made it clear that he wanted to pitch in the U.S., and thus wasn't drafted by any of the Japanese professional teams this fall. 

Here's how a major league scout described Tazawa to David O'Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

One major league team official told me today that Tazawa is comparable to Tim Hudson, but with a better curveball.  He was described as a “battler” who has a mid-90s fastball, a split-finger pitch and a big, old-school 12-to-6 curveball (that’s a term that refers to the big downward break of the pitch, as in the 12 and 6 o’clock positions on a clock).

The Tigers might be far behind in the bidding, however, as the Atlanta Braves have stepped up and offered Tazawa a major league contract (perhaps to jump ahead of the Boston Red Sox, who were perceived as the front-runner).  How much are we talking?  Reports have the offer approximately around $6 million, or what a top first-round draft pick goes for these days.

Looking at the bigger picture, however, perhaps the real story for the Tigers is that they're making more of an effort to pursue top Japanese talent, signaled by their hiring last month of Kevin Hooker as their Pacific Rim coordinator.  (I know that would make my mother happy, as she often asks me why the Tigers don't have any Asian players, "like all the other teams.")