I don't know the standard, really, of the Japanese leagues but I would think that they are (generally) lower than that of MLB. Does this mean that Japanese teams don't deserve a shot at the World crown? Look at other sports, too, and their crowning of World Champions - I don't know what the champion Australian Rules Football team calls themselves, but they would probably (by a similar default) be the world's best team, too. A lot of people bring this up in the UK (Really, a surprising amount) saying 'Why do you watch baseball when the team they call it the World Series and there is only American teams in it'. I always use the non-American players thing. I'd like to know some stats about the development of the players from abroad - how long, quickly, easily they came to assimilate into the game.