The Book on Yasuhiko Yabuta
Prospect Info
Yasuhiko Yabuta
Born 6/19/1973
RHP, KC
Bobby Valentine's favorite setup man moved from the Chiba Lotte Marines to Major League Baseball in 2008. In Japan he excelled in the setup role, with a 2.73 ERA and 34 holds in 2007, but in KC he was less impressive, with a 4.78 ERA and a 1.54 WHIP in 37 innings of second-half work.
Despite his brief spotlight in KC last year, Yabuta's brightest moments in the USA came from the 2007 World Baseball Classic, when he was summoned into a tie game and struck out Alex Rodriguez to end the seventh inning. Returning in the eighth, he disposed of Chipper Jones on a dribbler, then struck out Derrek Lee and Johnny Damon to end the inning.
He'll return to the KC bullpen in 2009.
Ranking in ScoutingBook (7/3/2009): #279 
Ranking in Baseball America 2009: n/a
Ranking in Baseball Prospectus: Unranked
Ranking in MiLB.com 2009 Season Preview Unranked
Ranking from the Sporting News: Unranked
Ranking from ESPN: Unranked
Player Updates and Notes
Kansas City optioned reliever Yasuhiko Yabuta to AAA Omaha today. While he had a horrific April, Yabuta has been decent since, allowing only 7 runs in the last eight weeks. The recent effectiveness of Robinson Tejada made him expendable, though. At a guaranteed $3M next season, though, it's safe to say Yabuta will be given additional opportunities following his minor league hazing.
6/25/2008 by KDaddy
Yasuhiko Yabuta has agreed to a two-year, $6 million contract with the Kansas City Royals. As expected, he's pencilled in for the team's primary setup role.
11/28/2007 by BallGrrrl
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