Situation Wanted: Strong, healthy, 31-year-old left-handed pitcher seeks employment on the pitching staff of one of Japan's 12 professional baseball teams. Five years' major-league experience with the New York Mets, Kansas City Royals and Cleveland Indians and two years in Japan with the Yakult Swallows. Salary and contract terms negotiable. Contact Jason "The Hawk" Jacome: [email protected]
That is the plea of the Swallows' best winner in 1999 and 2000, who threw for the Tucson Sidewinders, the Triple-A affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks, in 2001. He has a minor-league contract for 2002 with the Houston Astros, but would obviously prefer a second shot at the bigger money he could get from Japan as compared with Triple-A.
"The reason the Swallows said they could not bring me back (in 2001) was monetary," Jacome (pronounced Ha-ka-me), wrote by e-mail. "They said I would cost them too much money, and they could get (outfielder) Alex Ramirez and two pitchers for the price they would have to pay me. If you look back at the stats from my two years on the Swallows, I was the winningest pitcher on that team. This past year was not a great year statistically for me, but I was healthy and pitched many innings."