Akinori Otsuka

Organization Prospect Rankings

• 
  Ranked San Diego Padres #5 prospect in 2004
  All-star Trevor Hoffman should be healthy after missing most of 2003 recovering from two shoulder surgeries, and Rod Beck filled in well in Hoffman's absence. Nevertheless, the Padres fortified their bullpen by adding another accomplished closer during the offseason. Otsuka became the fourth Japanese major leaguer to come to the United States via the posting process. San Diego bid $300,000 to win the rights to negotiate with Otsuka, then signed him for two years and $1.5 million, plus either a $1.75 million option or $200,000 buyout in 2006. The Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes actually posted Otsuka following the 2002 season, but no U.S. teams bid for his rights and he suspected the Buffaloes front office sabotaged the process. He held out last spring until he was traded to the Chunichi Dragons, for whom he split closing duties with former Tiger and Devil Ray Eddie Gaillard. Otsuka's out pitch is a diving slider that Padres general manager Kevin Towers compared to Robb Nen's. His control is impeccable, as shown by his gaudy 56-5 strikeout-walk ratio in 2003. Otsuka throws a solid-average fastball that he locates with precision, though it lacks much movement. His changeup is an effective pitch and he also has a splitter. It will be a surprise if Otsuka doesn't succeed as a set-up man. With Hoffman and Beck getting up in years and battling injuries, Otsuka is the Padres' closer of the future.