It was called the Tazawa rule because it was agreed to in 2008, after Junichi Tazawa refused to sign with the team that drafted him and instead followed his dreams of playing in the major leagues.

“The main selling point might be the history of Japanese pitchers having success and positive experiences playing in Boston: Daisuke Matsuzaka, Uehara and Junichi Tazawa. Sure, this is true.

“The main selling point might be the history of Japanese pitchers having success and positive experiences playing in Boston: Daisuke Matsuzaka, Uehara and Junichi Tazawa. “They have an ...