In the past decade something has changed concerning the emigration of professional players from America to Japan. The men who go to the Japanese League are no longer at the end of their careers. They are now, more often than not, mid-career players who can't seem to find an everyday role on a major league team. Often, these players decide to go to Japan because they will have a chance to contribute every day.

Some players find a home away from home in Japan, while others go and get some daily experience and come back to parlay that into a starting role in MLB. Still, others struggle in their foreign environs and come back looking to play in the big leagues, even if it's as a utility player.

Alex Cabrera is an example of the first type of player, while Lou Merloni seemed as though he might fit the bill for the second category but didn't quite get a break in Japan or make the cut when he came back to his homeland. Gabe Kapler illustrates a player in the final and least desirable of the three groups.

First baseman Alex Cabrera, who spent nine seasons in the minors with the Chicago Cubs, Tampa Bay Devil Rays, and Arizona Diamondbacks, finally got his chance to play Major League Baseball in 2000. In 31 games he hit 5 homer runs, scored 10 runs, knocked in 14 RBI and accumulated a .262 BA. Then, in 2001, the Seibu Lions of the Japan Pacific League bought his contract from the Diamondbacks. For Cabrera it was the perfect move at exactly the right time.

Cabrera immediately became a star in Japan. In his first season he hit .282 with 124 RBI and 49 HR. In 2002, his second season, he won the Pacific League's MVP award and tied the single season homerun mark (55) set by the Babe Ruth of Japan, Sadaharu Oh. (Tuffy Rhodes, another former MLB player also tied the record in 2001.)