Banjo and Kazuo

Finally, the much hailed experiment with Japanese superstar Kazuo Matsui has come to an end in the Big Apple. They tried him at SS. They tried him at 2B. They tried him in 5 different spots in the lineup. And yes, one of those spots was 9th.

If there was ever to get rid of this clown, it was now. However, how anyone wanted him is absolutely beyond my comprehension. Even more unbelievable is how the Mets were able to obtain a major league level talent in Eli Marerro.

Kaz Matsui's stat-line for the season: 1 HR, 7 RBI's, 10 runs. Sounds like a bad week from Gary Matthews Jr.

Kaz Matsui's stat-line for his career as a Met: 11 HR, 7 RBI's, 106 runs. Mark Kotsay? Eh, more like an average Emil Brown season.

Oh, did I mention, he's a career .256 hitter?

Eitherway, these numbers aren't even indicative of how truly awful Kazuo Matsui has been in a Mets uniform. Hard to believe isn't it? Hard to believe that numbers this awful only begin to sum up his play in recent years.

Lets clear the air with the only good thing he's done. Matsui has hit a homer each of his first plate appearances in his first 3 years in the league. Excluding those 3 at bats, he's hit 8 others in 854 AB's. Thats an average of about 1 every 107 at bats. Pathetic, isn't it?

You might be wondering, why would I pick on his power numbers, he's just a middle infielder. Well, in Japan, he was a thumper. He once hit 36 homers and swiped 36 bags in one season. He's yet to come close to either of those numbers in 3 seasons.

Not to mention that he's always been hurt. He's missed over 130 games in these three, excruciating years.

Anyone who watched him last year, knew that last year was bad. This season was just unbearable. It seemed as if he barely ever made contact, let alone got hits. He was, as Bernie Williams often does, swinging with a newspaper. Probably Newsweek, as weak as his swing was. He got so bad they had to put in Jose Valentin, who, although is hitting well now, strikes out (on average in his career) one in four AB's and is, by all accounts, a butcher in the field.

And Kaz in the field? Jeez, sweet Mary Louise Parker. 34 errors in three seasons, hardly exemplorary.

Let's not forget, this guy was a superstar in Japan. The second coming of his brother from another mother, Hideki. Bobby Valentine staked his rep. on how good this guy was. I think we know how that turned out.

So now, Kaz brings his show to Colorado. Not a bad place to jumpstart your offense right? Yes. But, here's the problem. He'll be in COlorado Springs for the considerable future. The AAA Sky Sox have acquired Matsui and lost Jorge Piedra (for our English readers: George Stone) (and yes, this is the guy that got caught for 'roids). Once again, another solid step for Mr. Matsui. They say you are who your traded for. So, I guess that makes Kaz equal to Eli. But, maybe in Kaz's situation, it's, you are who you are optioned down to Triple AAA while making over 8 million dollars a season, for.