When I first began this column six years ago, I found very few Asian Major League Baseball (MLB) players to write about. But these days, Asian players developed in the minor leagues or acquired directly from Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) provide a feast of talent for which Asian-American sports fans can be thankful.

The biggest Asian player news this season was Yu Darvish’s long-awaited MLB debut. The 26-year-old righty pitched five tremendous seasons for the Nippon Ham Fighters, using the broad pitch repertoire typical of Japanese hurlers along with a dominating fastball to strike out more than a batter per inning.

That fastball made Darvish an ideal candidate to succeed in the MLB, too, so the Texas Rangers bid $51.7 million for his negotiating rights. It was the largest posting fee since the Boston Red Sox paid $51.1 million for Daisuke Matsuzaka, and many wondered if Darvish would follow in Matsuzaka’s disappointing footsteps.

Darvish showed some of Matsuzaka’s infamous control problems at first, but unlike Matsuzaka, Darvish racked up the strikeouts, whiffing more than twice as many as he walked. His 16 wins and 3.9 ERA were both second among Rangers starters, while his 221 strikeouts were first on his team and fifth-best in the American League, making him a Rookie of the Year Award finalist.

Without Ichiro Suzuki’s MLB debut in 2001, Darvish might never have had a chance to play in the league, but Ichiro has faded since 2009, the last year of his record-setting eight straight seasons with 200 hits and 100 runs. In 2010, Ichiro failed to reach that 200-hit plateau, and in 2011, he failed to hit .300 for the first time in the MLB. Surrounded by a young team in rebuilding mode, Ichiro privately asked Seattle for a trade to a contender, which they granted with a trade to the New York Yankees in July.

Playing for a competitive team revitalized Ichiro, who tied a franchise record by beginning his Yankee career with a 12-game hit streak. He ended with a batting average 50 points higher in New York than he’d had this season with Seattle. Ichiro reached the postseason for the first time in more than a decade, but his .353 effort couldn’t keep New York from being swept by the Detroit Tigers in the league championships.

When Ichiro came to the Yankees, he joined Hiroki Kuroda, who parlayed four strong seasons with the Dodgers into a one-year deal with New York in 2012. This season, Kuroda reached career highs with 219 2/3 innings pitched and 16 wins; those numbers, and his 3.32 ERA, were among the best on the Yankee staff. Both he and Ichiro are free agents, and Asian-American fans would love for both players to sign with New York — or any other team that will give them a well-deserved shot at a ring.

Before this season, the best Taiwanese starting pitcher in the MLB had been Chien-Ming Wang, whose once-promising career was derailed by a 2009 foot injury. As Wang struggled to regain his sinker with the Washington Nationals, lefty Wei-Yin Chen did his best to build a Taiwanese legacy of his own.

Chen, who had four great seasons with NPB’s Chunichi Dragons, inked a three-year deal with the Baltimore Orioles before 2012, and the lefty quickly became his new team’s ace, leading them with 12 wins and 154 strikeouts while posting a 4.02 ERA. He gave the Orioles one of their two wins against New York in the American League Championship Series, which the Yankees eventually won. The Orioles will not surprise anyone next season, and neither will Chen, who must prove he can continue to win in the American League’s always-tough Eastern Division.

Perhaps the biggest Asian surprise came in a Milwaukee Brewers uniform, donned by outfielder Norichika Aoki after eight years with the Yakult Swallows. Milwaukee scooped up Aoki for a relatively cheap $4.75 million for two years, including the posting fee, expecting him to be a reserve outfielder.

Instead, Aoki became their starting right fielder after Milwaukee lost first baseman Mat Gamel for the season and shifted Corey Hart to cover his position. By the All-Star break, Aoki was the leadoff hitter for the Brewers, too, hitting 10 homers, 37 doubles, and four triples in addition to his .355 on-base percentage and 30 stolen bases. The Brewers barely missed the playoffs, and Aoki will be at the heart of another playoff run in 2013.

Another Asian outfielder, South Korean Shin-Soo Choo, returned to form after a disappointing 2011. Thumb and rib injuries prevented him hitting .300 or stealing 20 bases, but Choo looked fully recovered in 2012, playing 155 games while hitting .283 with 16 home runs and 21 steals, leading all Indians’ starters with his .441 slugging percentage and .373 on-base percentage. Cleveland faded after a fast start, but their future depends on young talent like the 30-year-old Choo.

Many other stars from the east made their mark this season, while others bade the west goodbye. Hisashi Iwakuma led all Mariners’ starting pitchers in winning — only Felix Hernandez had a higher ERA and strikeout rate — while Koji Uehara led all Rangers relievers with a 1.75 ERA. Asian-American second baseman (and Oregon native) Darwin Barney won a Gold Glove for the Chicago Cubs, and Munenori Kawasaki delivered solid defense — if not offense — for the Seattle Mariners. Taiwan’s Che-Hsuan Lin debuted in the outfield for Boston, where Daisuke Matsuzaka and Junichi Tazawa both returned to the mound after injuries.

Tazawa will be an important piece of Boston’s future, but Matsuzaka, a free agent, may not find many MLB bidders for his services, thanks to his poor performance over the past six seasons. Hideki Matsui may find himself in a similar situation after a tepid .147 batting average with two home runs for the Tampa Bay Rays. 42-year-old reliever Takashi Saito threw only 16 innings for the Arizona Diamondbacks and may not get much interest due to his age and injury issues.

Even if this latter group departs the MLB, more Asian talent is on the rise in the minors, along with new veterans like Korean pitcher Ryu Hyun-jin, currently negotiating with the Dodgers on a 2013 contract. Athletes from the east have proven their worth in the MLB, and the number of new faces from Asian countries will continue to grow, giving Asian-American sports fans plenty of reasons to be thankful.