THINKING OUTSIDE OF THE COUNTRY

The Red Sox have expressed an interest in Yakult Swallows lefty Hirotshi Ishii. He had 37 saves for the Swallows, 2nd in the Central League of Japan, despite the fact that the Swallows weren't very good last season. He is 28 years old but has missed some time in 2004 and 2003 due to injuries despite this, his ERA has been 2.05 or lower for each of the past 4 seasons. This could be a good way for the Red Sox to acquire a closer. As an added bonus, we'd also be able to expand our image on a global scale. Japanese releivers have typically done well in the States (Hasegawa, Takatsu, Otsuka) so I think this deal could pan out nicely. Ideally, he'd be competing with Foulke for the closers role. Realistically, Foulke would have to take the closer's role from Ishii.