Monday Blue Jays rumors: Takashi Toritani

The back half of December is pretty devoid of news or even rumors.

There is the chance that Takashi Toritani is deciding between offers from the Padres and Blue Jays and will come to a decision this week. Of course, this is off a google translation off of one page on a Japanese website. Since Jed Lowrie just signed a 3 year deal with the Astros, I guess we should be hopeful that Toritani chooses the Jays.

There are questions as to whether Toritani would be any better than Munenori Kawasaki. Kawasaki hit .294/.345/.378 in 11 seasons in the NPPL, while Toritani hit .285/.372/.412 in 11 seasons.  And Munenori was 31 when he came over, while Toritani with 33 now. The scouting reports I've seen suggest that Takashi is the better defensive player, but then, he'll be playing a new position here, learning second base after being a shortstop for the Hanshin Tigers. Not that it is hard for a shortstop to learn to play second.

It sounds like he will be willing to take a 1-year contract with an option for a second season.