Erik Komatsu

[William Malone]

Erik Jordan Komatsu was born on October 1, 1987 in Camarillo, California.

He was selected by the Milwaukee Brewers in round eight of the 2008 MLB Draft. Komatsu reached Double-A before getting traded to the Washington Nationals for Jerry Hairston at the deadline in 2011. The St. Louis Cardinals took Komatsu in the Rule-5 Draft later that year, and he made his Major League debut for them on April 6, 2012.

The Minnesota Twins acquired Komatsu through waivers on May 4, 2012. He slashed .219/.297/.219 across 19 games for the club. Komatsu drove in one run, and spent time defensively at all three outfield positions. Rule-5 stipulations still applied to Komatsu after the Twins claimed him on waivers, so he was returned to the Nationals system later that month when removed from the 25-man roster.

Komatsu never played at the Major League level again. He spent the next few years bouncing around various minor league systems. His last stint in professional baseball was with the Long Island Ducks of the Atlantic League in 2015.

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[ashbury]

A couple years later he closed out his career in an Independent league, and didn't even hit well when there (I speculate injuries after his Rule-5 stints played a role).  But what did both St Louis and the Twins see in him, at the time, that vanished so quickly?  His hitting stats at AA at the advanced age of 23 don't stand out, for example, and I don't remember his defense being touted so highly that offense wouldn't matter.

[Brock Beauchamp]

It took me a good two minutes to even remember this player existed on the Twins.

[William Malone]

18 hours ago, ashbury said:

A couple years later he closed out his career in an Independent league, and didn't even hit well when there (I speculate injuries after his Rule-5 stints played a role).  But what did both St Louis and the Twins see in him, at the time, that vanished so quickly?  His hitting stats at AA at the advanced age of 23 don't stand out, for example, and I don't remember his defense being touted so highly that offense wouldn't matter.

For the Twins, I don't think they saw a long term piece. Just needed a guy for a few weeks while they were nursing some injuries. Never ideal, but all 30 teams get into that situation every now and again. More of a mystery as to why Cardinals took him in Rule-5. But was only really used as a class NL pinch hit/double switch guy. 15 appearances for St. Louis and he only started one game. Was mostly just a tool in the old school NL rules.