Posted by Michael Street on Tuesday, December 1, 2009 at 11:01 pm

Two weeks ago, I looked at the top stories heading into the postseason as it related to Asian free agents. With today’s free-agent arbitration deadline, we can update that list and add a few more names I left out.

First, the Yanks didn’t offer arbitration to any of their free agents, making Hideki Matsui a free agent. I hadn’t addressed that possibility in the previous column, largely because nobody expected the Yanks to offer him arbitration.

This decision only confirms their desire to let him walk; they may still make a token offer, but it’s much more likely that the top Asian free agent will land elsewhere.

The rest of the free agents are all pitchers, unsurprising since the majority of Asian MLB players are moundmen. Tops on that list is Chien-Ming Wang, also a free agent after the Yanks’ decision not to offer him arbitration—hardly surprising since today was expected to be the first day Wang could throw post-surgery.

Wang’s expressed a desire to return to New York, or (more recently) to pitch for Torre again in Los Angeles. How well he rehabilitates this winter will determine where he lands, and for how much; don’t expect to hear anything from him until much closer to Spring Training.

Hideki Okajima is not a free agent, but he’s expected to either enter arbitration by Dec. 12 or work out a contract with Boston; he’s hoping for a multi-year deal that will buy out his remaining years of arbitration eligibility, through 2012. Given his slipping ratios of late, it will be interesting to see if he gets what he wants.

Takahashi Saito, already a free agent, is receiving lots of interest, from as many as eight clubs, depending on who you listen to. Though many sources are reporting this number, Patrick at NPBTracker, who first broke the story in the US, has pointed out that he and Sponichi are really the source of a story that has now bounced back and forth across the Pacific.

There’s no definite word from Philly yet, but they likely won’t offer Chan Ho Park (a type B free agent) arbitration. This could mean that they don’t think Park will be signed by another club, since they are essentially declining the compensation they’d get if he did. Or it might mean that they’re confident they’ll resign him and want to negotiate that price themselves, instead of depending on an arbitrator. (I’m oversimplifying the arbitration calculus here, but those are the two most obvious possibilities.)

Park’s 2009 numbers, 3-3 with a 4.43 ERA and a 1.40 WHIP, don’t reflect the radical shift that occurred when he was moved to the bullpen. I wrote about this earlier in the year, but here’s a full-season follow-up:

As a starter, Park had a 1-1 record, with a horrific 7.49 ERA, 1.74 WHIP, and a 1.24 K/BB ratio;  opponents had a .909 OPS against him. After he moved to the bullpen, his record was still .500 (2-2), but his ERA plunged to 2.52, his WHIP was a tidy 1.18 and his control sharpened to a 3.25 K/BB—opposing batters could only muster a .576 OPS against him.

He faded late in the year, giving up 2 ER in just 4 September IP, and taking the loss in Game 2 of the NLCS after giving up 2 ER in 3.1 IP. He redeemed himself in the World Series, blanking the Yanks (to no avail), also in 3.1 IP.

That gives him, even at forty-one, a fair amount of value to any team that signs him; my bet is on the Phillies.

Cha Seung Baek was released by the San Diego Padres in October, so he could catch on somewhere. He hasn’t had an ERA under 4.67 since 2006, and spent the last year in the minors, where he couldn’t keep his ERA under 7.27, even in single-A ball. His chances of signing anything more than a minor-league deal is nil; he’ll be lucky to get a NRI.

Someone else who’s past his prime is Bruce Chen, one of the few baseball players with Chinese ancestry (he was born in Panama City, Panama, making him a US Citizen). He’s pitched for ten different teams since 1998, most recently with the Kansas City Royals, where he appeared in 17 games in 2009.

He finished with a 1-6 record, with a 5.78 ERA, 1.59 WHIP, and a 1.17 K/BB that shows his control may have escaped him. He’s four years removed from his last decent season, when he logged a 12-10, 3.83 ERA, 1.27 WHIP year with Baltimore. Like Baek, that may earn him a NRI to some pitching-starved team, but little else.

Now that we know who all the free agents are, the dominoes should start to fall as the Hot Stove season heats up. We’ll keep you updated as these Asian stars (and lesser names) start inking deals.