MLB's Most Hyped International Pitching Prospects of All Time

In the past 20 years, we've seen a number of internationally born and raised baseball players make their way to Major League Baseball, both by the traditional posting process of Japanese players and the defection of Cubans (such as Yoenis Cespedes).

International scouts spend countless hours making sure the players boast all the tools necessary to be successful in MLB, and while not all of them pan out, there's no denying that they enter the league with lofty expectations.

Here are some of the most highly touted pitching prospects we've seen make the move to Major League Baseball in recent years.

Kei Igawa

Kei Igawa first noted his intentions to play Major League Baseball in late 2006 and was posted by the Hanshin Tigers shortly thereafter.

The New York Yankees posted a bid just over $26 million to win the rights to negotiate with Igawa (the second-highest posting fee a team had ever paid), later signing him to a $20 million contract.

Igawa was a complete disappointment for the Yankees, appearing in only 16 games over the 2007 and 2008 seasons, notching a 2-4 record with a 6.66 ERA.

Aroldis Chapman

Cincinnati Reds fireballer Aroldis Chapman is one of the most notable of all Cuban defectors to make the move to Major League Baseballl.

Having been clocked as high as 105 MPH, Chapman strikes out nearly 13 batters per nine innings and is expected to debut as a starting pitcher in 2012 for the Reds.

Hideki Irabu

Hideki Irabu first made his way to Major League Baseball with the San Diego Padres after the team had negotiated a deal to purchase his contract.

Irabu was adamant about only playing for the New York Yankees, and since this was before the posting system had been integrated into the proceedings, the Yankees then worked out a trade to send Irabu to the Bronx.

His highly hyped debut drew a great deal of attention from both fans and the media, and though Irabu would struggle in his first season (5-4, 7.09 ERA in 1997), he would rebound and see 1998 and 1999 as his two best seasons, winning 24 games between the two seasons and taking home a pair of World Series rings.

Yu Darvish

As one of the most highly touted pitchers in this offseason's talent pool, Yu Darvish signed a six-year, $60 million contract with the Texas Rangers after the team won the posting for Darvish with a record bid of $51,703,411.

He's currently listed as the No. 2 starter for the Rangers and will use his vast array of pitches, including an effective slurve, cutter, splitter and four-seam fastball that at times reaches the mid-90s.

Jose Contreras

Defecting from Cuba in October of 2002, Jose Contreras debuted with the New York Yankees in 2003, going 7-2 with a 3.30 ERA.

He went 8-5 with the Yankees in 2004 before being traded to the Chicago White Sox, where he would go 5-4 for the remainder of the season and continue in a Sox uniform until 2009, when he would finish the season with the Colorado Rockies.

Pitching out of the bullpen since then, Contreras has spent the past two seasons with the Philadelphia Phillies, winning six games with a sub-3.50 ERA.

Daisuke Matsuzaka

Until the posting of Yu Darvish this past offseason, the $51,111,111 posting fee paid by the Boston Red Sox in 2006 for Japanese pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka was a record amount for any individual player.

Dice-K went 33-15 in his first two seasons with the Red Sox, finishing fourth in the Rookie of the Year voting in 2007.

He's made only 44 starts in the past three seasons, however, and is expected to miss time early this season as he awaits a return from the Tommy John surgery he underwent last July.

Orlando Hernandez

The half brother of Major League pitcher Livan Hernandez, Orlando Hernandez defected from Cuba in December of 1997 after he was banned from Cuban baseball when his relationship with American sports personnel was revealed.

El Duque's first two seasons with the New York Yankees were his most effective, as he won 29 games while posting a 3.72 ERA during that span.

After leaving the Yankees following the 2004 season, Hernandez played for three different teams and never made 30 starts in a season.

Hideo Nomo

As one of the first Japanese players to make the move to Major League Baseball, Hideo Nomo made waves immediately with the Los Angeles Dodgers, going 13-6 with a 2.54 ERA in 1995—good enough for NL Rookie of the Year honors.

He'd go on to win at least 14 games in each of the next two seasons with the Dodgers but would see his control leave him after moving to the Mets during the 1998 season, as his strikeout numbers dropped while his walks increased.

He made a return to Los Angeles in 2002 after stints with the Brewers, Tigers and Red Sox, and he would win 16 games in 2002 and 2003 before seeing his ERA balloon to 8.25 in 2004.