Philadelphia Phillies Hoping for More Than Just Depth After Signing Koyo Aoyagi

After signing Koyo Aoyagi, the Philadelphia Phillies are hoping that helps them accomplish one of their massive goals.

Apr 10, 2023; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Phillies President of Baseball Operations Dave Dombrowski before game against the Miami Marlins at Citizens Bank Park / Eric Hartline-Imagn Images

The Philadelphia Phillies weren't able to sign Roki Sasaki.

In fact, they weren't even able to get a meeting with him.

That was a tough pill to swallow after they seemingly came close to landing Yoshinobu Yamamoto last winter which would have been a massive way to announce their first-ever signing from Japan.

But, the Phillies were able to add a Japanese star when they handed Koyo Aoyagi a minor league deal and extended him a non-roster invite to Spring Training this year.

What comes from that will be seen.

Philadelphia has question marks in their bullpen after Jeff Hoffman departed and Carlos Estevez is expected to do the same, but since this is the first time Aoyagi will face Major League hitting, it's not a given his game will translate to this level.

Still, the Phillies are excited about this addition for more reason than one.

First, if Aoyagi looks the part and is able to be effective with his unorthodox sidearm throwing motion, that gives this bullpen a weapon they haven't had before.

Most importantly, though, they're hoping this opens up the possibility of them adding more Japanese players going forward.

"It's good for all parties. It's good for what we've been growing in Japan. Let's see if something comes out of this ... We're glad that he chose the Phillies. We showed him that this is a good place," assistant general manager Jorge Velandia said per Todd Zolecki of MLB.com.

It's no secret Philadelphia has boosted their operations overseas.

Dave Dombrowski recognized just how far behind other organizations they were when it came to that important aspect of international scouting, so he tabbed Velandia to head up this new focus.

Derrick Chung was promoted to international scouting director. He's increased the number of times he's gone to Japan and has relied on Koji Takahashi and Tora Otsuka to help them with scouting and communication.

The Phillies are headed in the right direction, but that doesn't guarantee them players.

They are still relatively out of sight, out of mind in Japan, and while winning like they have been the last few seasons will help change that, the fact also remains they just haven't had many Japanese players suit up for the franchise.

To be exact, they've only had two; Tadahito Iguchi (2007-08) and So Taguchi (2008).

Aoyagi would be the third if he can make the roster at any point this season.

That's why this signing could be so important for Philadelphia beyond if the three-time NPB All-Star can make an impact for them this year.

While the Phillies haven't able to land the high-profile Japanese players like Yamamoto or Sasaki just yet, bringing in Aoyagi could be the first step to doing so in the future.