Blue Jays Looking at Munenori Kawasaki

August 6, 2012; Baltimore, MD, USA; Seattle Mariners shortstop Munenori Kawasaki (61) throws over to first base to get out Baltimore Orioles third baseman Robert Andino (not shown) in the second inning at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Mandatory Credit: Joy R. Absalon-USA TODAY SportsLeave it to Alex Anthopoulos to not leave any stone unturned, even as spring training gets underway. Bob Elliot of the Toronto Sun is reporting that the Blue Jays have an interest in Japanese infielder Munenori Kawasaki.

While Elliot’s tweet does not get into Toronto’s level of interest in Kawasaki, one would have to imagine that the team would only consider him as minor league depth.

The 31-year-old Kawasaki is known to have a great glove at shortstop and was a career .294 hitter with an average of 30 stolen bases over his last five seasons with the Softbank Hawks of the Japanese Pacific League. However, the slap-hitter had trouble translating that to the Major Leagues, hitting just .192 with a .459 OPS over 61 games with the Mariners in 2012, his only season in MLB.

Kawasaki was released by the Mariners following the 2012 season.

It’s hard to imagine how much help a hitter with no discernible power (just 1 extra-base hit in 115 MLB Plate appearances) can offer this team. The Blue Jays have similiar depth already in the minors, and at a younger age, so this may be just another piece of speculation and it would be difficult to imagine it going much further than that.