Daily Plug: Nippon Professional Baseball Imports for 2011

Patrick Newman over at Fangraphs.com has an interesting piece that is worth taking a look at about the latest additions of foreign born players who will be regulars in Japan. 

The view the article click here.

To highlight just a few names, pitcher Brian Bannister, a sabermetrics proponent, who posted a career 37-50 record and a 5.08 ERA in five professional seasons. His best year came in 2007 when he posted a 12-9 record and a 3.87 ERA, but he never came close to those numbers since. He has the talent and the brains to be a successful pitcher in Japan, and will likely slot in as a middle of the rotation starter for now.

Pitcher Byung-Hyun Kim, and infielders Kaz Matsui and Aki Iwamura all return to Japan; Korean born pitcher Chan Ho Park will also play in Japan next season. 

Other players include Micah Hoffpauir, Chad Tracy, and Mike Hessman. 

The NPB may start looking to "pluck" fringe major leaguers, but successful minor league bats like Micah Hoffpauir or Matt Murton. Murton revitalized his career in Japan last season belting 17 home runs and posting a .349 average (214 hits) in that span. 

Can you think of any successful minor leagues who may hack it better in Japan than they probably would here?