Kazuo Matsui

From The Met Wiki

Kaz was a big star in Japan, winning the Nippon Professional Baseball MVP in 1998.

Kaz was known as an excellent defensive shortstop and an excellent great hitter. He was a seven time All-Star and a three time Gold Glove shorstop. The Yankees, Dodgers, and Angels were also interested in Kaz, but Kaz and the Mets reached a 3-year $20.1 million agreement. The Mets moved their young shortstop Jose Reyes to second to accomodate Matsui, but Matsui changed his number from the 7 that Reyes also wore to 25 (whose digits add up to 7).

Kaz homered in his first at bat with the Mets, as he would remarkably do in each of his three seasons with the Mets, including an inside the park homer to start his final season with the club. But those were among the few highlights.

The biggest surprise was that Kaz proved to be a big liability at shorstop. His arm wasn't really strong enough, his range was limited, and he had apparently been trained to never backhand the ball and tried to get in front of the ball on every play, further limiting his range. The Mets eventually moved Reyes back to short and Kaz over to second.

Kaz also struggled at the plate. In 857 at bats over two plus seasons with the Mets he hit .256 with 11 homers and 75 RBI. His OBP was just .305, and he slugged just .363. The fans were very rough on Matsui, who must have been relieved when the Mets traded him to Colorado for Eli Marrero on June 9 2006. Kaz was much better for the Colorado Rockies, hitting .300 and stealing 40 bases in two seasons with the Rockies.

His biggest moments with the Rockies didn't appear in those stats. Kaz was the best player in the 2007 NLCS against the Phillies. He went 5 for 12 with a grand slam, two triples, two walks, and six RBI, for an OPS of 1582. He not only helped the Colorado Rockies win the series, he made many Met fans very happy by helping his club sweep the hated Phillies out of the playoffs.

Before 2008 Kaz signed with the Astros, where he is still playing in 2009.