Here's MLB.com's analysis on the relationship on Saito's and Kuroda's relationship
VERO BEACH, Fla. -- One could easily argue that he's the most valuable pitcher on the Dodgers.
But in his homeland, he's not even the most valuable pitcher on the Dodgers from Japan.
Takashi Saito might never have heard of Rodney Dangerfield, but he could appreciate the late comic. Talk about no respect.
The Japanese media is at Dodgertown in force this spring, but not to interview Saito, the All-Star closer who made Eric Gagne's departure no big deal.
Japanese journalists are here hanging on every word and pitch of Hiroki Kuroda, who so far has done little more with his right hand than sign a $35.3 million, three-year contract.
"If there is no Kuroda here at Dodgertown, I know we would not be here," said Hideki Okuda of Sports Nippon.
Saito is the most accomplished Japanese Dodger since the trailblazer, Hideo Nomo. Last year, while saving 39 games, he led the league with a 1.40 ERA, a .151 opponents batting average and a 6-1 ratio of strikeouts to walks.
But he came to the United States a year earlier with little fanfare and sparse coverage. He wasn't the ace of the Hiroshima Carp, like Kuroda. He came on a Minor League contract, considered past his prime and almost an afterthought, which he seems to have remained by comparison to Kuroda.
"The reason people in Japan want to know about Kuroda is because he's new and he was a No. 1 pitcher, one of the best pitchers in Japan; maybe even better than Dice-K [Matsuzaka], because Kuroda played for a team that wasn't very strong and he still was one of the three or four best pitchers in Japan," said Okuda.
"In my opinion, we should come see Saito more. The American people feel he's the best at his position, and only Ichiro and Saito are in that category among Japan players in America. Saito is smart, helpful, funny. The Japanese people are proud of Saito. He's a great story. He's a superstar who never shows temper. Maybe he's too good to be true."
Saito plays that role as well as he does closer. Tee up a question about the staggering discrepancy in salaries between him and Kuroda, or the contrast in coverage Saito gets from say, Ichiro, and he not only insists he's not jealous or insulted, but you believe him.
"It doesn't bother me at all, the attention I'm getting compared to them," Saito said through Matt Hidaka, who with Kenji Nimura shares translation duties for the Japanese pitchers. "When I played in Japan, I was not a star as they were and the [salary] numbers reflect that. I am thankful for whatever attention I get. That being said, if I get more, it wouldn't bother me."
Saito is remarkable in many ways, one of which is that he's actually been more successful in the Major Leagues than he was in Japan. How is that possible?
"A combination of things," he suggests. "I didn't start out as a pitcher. I wasn't a pitcher until I was 20 years old in college, and it's taken this long for me to learn the dos and don'ts of being a pitcher. I think there is a greater familiarity between the pitchers and hitters in Japan because there are fewer teams, and I think the strike zone in America is wider and I get better calls with outside sliders. The stadiums are bigger and that helps pitchers. I was a reliever in Japan for only two years, but maybe I'm better suited as a reliever."
And one more thing:
"The style of American baseball is simpler than in Japan. It is interesting. It is fun. The first time I saw it was like a big culture shock."
Saito adapted quickly. It's now folk legend how he broke the ice at Dodgertown before he broke off one of his nasty sliders. In typical baseball hazing fashion, instead of being commanded to sing his school fight song during a pre-practice meeting, he was told to perform Karaoke. If only a video existed of his show-stopping version of the Beatles' "Hey Jude," YouTube's traffic would explode.
When Saito decided to leave Japan for America, it wasn't because teams were falling all over themselves for his services like Kuroda. In fact, Saito said he never asked anyone's opinion whether he should come, because he figured nobody would say yes. So at age 36, with expectations modest, he made the move.
He insists his only goal was to see if he could do it. He felt a sense of accomplishment the first time he stepped on a Major League mound. He said he felt he belonged when catcher Sandy Alomar Jr., after Saito's first Major League win, said: "Welcome to the big leagues." He said he felt like a real Dodger when he received a standing ovation during pregame introductions during the 2006 playoffs.
When he catches himself wondering what would have happened if he had come earlier in his career, Saito convinces himself that 14 years in Japan made him the pitcher he is today.
He said he's thankful to American baseball for the chance, to his family for allowing him to persuade them to let him take this shot. After all, he said, that's what it really was. Just a shot.
"I was coming toward the end of my career in Japan and I always wondered about playing in America," he said. "When the opportunity came, I wanted to take a chance. I didn't want to regret not coming. I wanted the chance to step on a mound, at least once, at the highest level of baseball."
Ken Gurnick is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
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