No Matsuzaka, but you may get another CO
Last week when Mariners baseball executives and scouts met in Arizona to map their strategy for improving the team, general manager Bill Bavasi asked for recommendations on potential free agents the M’s should pursue.
Nobody mentioned Matsuzaka’s name.
Hmm. Really? Technically he’s not a free agent. Maybe it just wasn’t in that discussion.
The bigger issue is whether Matsuzaka is worth the financial stretch it will take to get him. It may take a winning bid of $20 million or more just to gain the right to negotiate a contract with him and, with Scott Boras as his agent, it’s a good bet that he’ll get a deal worth millions over multiple years.
Bottom line is that Matsuzaka will get No. 1 starter money with no guarantee that he’ll become that kind of pitcher in the majors.
$20m, eh? Hmm. I love “millions over multiple years”. Ya think? Like $2m over 3 years? Plus, we just gave #1 starter money to Jarrod Washburn, and he sucks. At least Matsuzaka doesn’t suck. And really, if you get him for a cheap contract and a $20m fee, that’s not #1 money.
I would chalk this all up to the predicted mind-games. But here’s the jarring part:
And, like last year, spending what it will take to land Matsuzaka could severely hamper any other moves the Mariners need to make this offseason. Right now, the Mariners’ baseball people don’t seem interested in busting the 2007 payroll for one player, especially considering they need three more pitchers and, if there’s anything left, a corner outfielder.
Okay, first, Matsuzaka’s impact won’t be on payroll, it’ll be in the posting fee. But this is an interesting view, and continues the team’s long retreat from the “posting fees and foreign acquisitions are a separate account” position they espoused for a couple of years.
But here’s the really grating part — A corner outfielder. Really.
A corner outfielder.
This team needs another corner outfielder like they need to clone Mike Hargrove so he can occupy all the coaching positions at once. We keep pounding on this, but the team’s got a roster crunch already:
Ibanez LF (below average)/DH/1b (yech)
Broussard DH/1b (yech)
Sexson 1B (ergh)
Snelling LF/RF/DH, who for everyone’s sake he should probably play at least one game out of 3 or 4 at DH next year, just for safety
and that doesn’t include Reed, obviously. They shouldn’t be looking for free agent corner outfielders with any kind of substantial payroll impact right now, they should be moving Sexson, Broussard, or both of them, and then… you know all this, so I’ll skip on.
On Matsuzaka, though – if I were the Mariners, and I’m not, I would absolutely play a game that would appear identical to what we’re seeing from the team:
- personally talk to Lincoln/etc and get permission to pursue him
- with two, three people you know are absolutely leak-proof, figure out a posting number to bid
- internally, tell everyone else you’re not interested. Have them work on the backup plan in the guise of it being the real plan
- leak that you’re not interested, have other priorities, are concerned about his health, don’t think there’s any additional marketing benefit from having another Japanese player, Ichiro doesn’t like him, whatever
- submit the bid
Hopefully you’ve lowered the posting price, because the Yankees drop way down thinking you’re out of it. Then if you win, surprise! Everyone’s happy, and you’ve done a masterful fake-out. If you lose, no big deal, you’ve been prepping the public for it for ages, and you’ve got this great backup plan.
There’s really no way the M’s don’t bid, and make – if not a $20m-30+m bid – a serious offer.
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I alluded to this at the feed, but the M’s have really clamped down on their internal leaks. Nothing against Kirby Arnold, but from my perspective, there’s about a 90% chance that whoever he talked to gave him either the vaguest of vague information, or gave him bad information intentionally.
It’s harder to get good information from the M’s now than it has been in years.
Dave-
Question about the posting fee. I understand the fee wouldn’t go against the payroll, but rather the foreign acquisitions budget. But if the Mariners aquired Matsuzaka for, lets say, a posting fee of $25 million, would that have a major impact for future foreign scouting and acquisitions?
I’m all for acquiring Matsuzaka, but the posting fee has to come from somewhere. I would hate to see the Mariners lose out on other possible future signings like a Jose Lopez, or even a Felix because they blew the next five year foreign scouting budget out the window to acquire one top of the line pitcher. Please tell me we can have our cake and eat it too!
And why shouldn’t they? I appreciate Bavasi talking off the record to y’all, and that sort of thing can be valuable for the team — but what do they gain when good info seeps out uncontrolled to the public? Nothing, as far as I can tell — which means that, however much we might like knowing what’s really going on, ultimately we don’t gain anything either. Better for us in the long run that they use the press, not as a means of straightforward communication, but as a means of trying to accomplish their ends.
And I’m with you and Derek — there is no earthly way the M’s don’t make a serious bid, and do whatever they can to maximize their chances of winning with whatever bid they’re willing to make.
SafeCo HoBo, did they blow that international acquisitions budget when they signed Ichiro and then acquired Felix?
Felix wasn’t that expensive to sign.
Question about the posting fee. I understand the fee wouldn’t go against the payroll, but rather the foreign acquisitions budget. But if the Mariners aquired Matsuzaka for, lets say, a posting fee of $25 million, would that have a major impact for future foreign scouting and acquisitions?
We don’t know that this is how the team would handle it. We know this is how the team handled Ichiro. They can choose to do it differently for Matsuzaka if they wanted to. It’s really up to them.
And yes, if the M’s fork out $25 million for Matsuzaka and call it part of their talent acquisition budget, I doubt you’ll see many high profile international signings from them for the next year or two.
Mike, I offered that as a demonstration that the fear above is unfounded
Felix signed for $780,000. That’s a lot of money for a 16-year-old pitcher. Obviously, with Felix it paid off, but Felix is the exception, not the rule.
Young internationals are cheap. If the posting fee comes from international player acquisitions the impact should not be large as international signings are still cheap for the most part.
How much did Doyle, YuBet, Lopez and Felix cost combined?
Dave answered what my question was eluding too. The point I was trying to clarify was that the posting fee might not come out of player budget but it isn’t free money.
I have no idea what the Mariners spend annually on foriegn scouting and signings, but i’m willing to bet the budget doesn’t cover $20 million+ posting fees every year. It appears to me in the past five years or so every time a 14 year old phenom is being touted the Mariners appear to have their name in there (along with the Yankees and Dodgers). Correct me if i’m wrong, but it just would be logical that if the M’s spend $20 million(ish) for posting, we may see the Mariner’s name in a few less of these Felix type signings.
Bavasi and staff are usually silent on player acquisition info. I don’t think its anything to worry about.
Also, would it be smart to trade Sexson for Sheffield? Straight up or as part of a 3-way deal? Personally I’m probably way off, but I think Sheffield’s acting like an idiot: he hardly played at all last year and is limited defensively, I don’t see him getting 3 years, and 1/yr @13m is still pretty good scratch for a guy who missed 100+ games.
SO…what are the chances of other Japanese pitchers being posted? And should the team be interested in them?
Hopefully you’ve lowered the posting price, because the Yankees drop way down thinking you’re out of it.
See, if I were the Yanks, I’d see the M’s doing this and just KNOW they were going to make a bid. I can’t look at the M’s and think that they can be this disinterested in Matsuzaka.
If I were the M’s, I’d have a short meeting with Jason Schmidt’s agent, mention we were interested and that he was at the top of our list, and left it at that. And then, say nothing at all about Matsuzaka other than “he’s going to be pitching somewhere in 2007, and we wish him all the success in the world, unless he’s pitching against us.” Radio silence otherwise with Matsuzaka.
I’d want to make it look like the M’s are showing more interest in Schmidt than in Matsuzaka. That would lead the Yanks to think they’re only competing with the somewhat-unliquid Rangers and the Red Sox more than constant denial.
The problem with that is then Schmidt. But also, there’s no reason they can’t do both. You’ll note in the Kirby article Schmidt’s mentioned prominently.
FWIW, I don’t think there is a huge track record of Kirby Arnold Scoops.
and for some non-rain delayed baseball, mlb.com is currently broadcasting the Honolulu Sharks vs the Waikiki Beach Boys…
Pitchers like Schmidt WOULDN’T bust the budget? What are they thinking?
My bet is that Bavasi figures out a way to get Carl Pavano by opening day, maybe even as an offseason deal if he checks out clean. We all know how Bavasi has a non-sexual mancrush on him, the Yankees likely want to be rid of him, and Pavano’s 9 million is gonna look cheap by then.
And don’t forget Perez can play some LF if they resign him Derek.
And the other thing…
It’s time for Pitcher A and Pitcher B again!
Pitcher A’s FIP and xFIPs for 2005 and 2006:
3.75/3.98, 3.93/4.23
Pitcher B’s FIP and xFIPs for 2005 and 2006:
3.77/4.40, 3.93/4.63
Pitcher A is Kevin Millwood. Pitcher B is Jason Schmidt.
Unless Schmidt wants to give a hometown discount, I don’t see how Schmidt gets LESS money per year than Millwood, and while he might get a year less, maybe, it seems to me Millwood’s contract is where you start negotiating.
And this is why the Mariner front office makes me gnash my teeth- because there’s not a lot of objective reason to prefer Schmidt to Millwood, and you can easily argue it the other way (Schmidt K’s more guys, but he’s in a league where pitchers bat and a park that helps him a lot more than Millwood’s parks do), yet the M’s blew off Millwood to sign Washburn (a truly inferior and dramatically overpaid player) last year… but supposedly they are gung ho to sign Schmidt.
Meh. I really, truly hope that the brain trust (which includes Armstrong, Lincoln et al) aren’tr trying to substitute quantity for quality. The team, unfortunately, needs BOTH…
Meh. I really, truly hope that the brain trust (which includes Armstrong, Lincoln et al) aren’tr trying to substitute quantity for quality.
Yeah, that’s sort of my nightmare- we end up with a rotation of Felix, Washburn, Lilly, Eaton and Baek or Woods (take your pick). Basically, a 1, 3 guys who are 3rd-4th starters, and a replacement level guy.
If that’s what we get, we’ll need to figure out how to score 900+ runs to win the division…
Scott Boras.
Big deal. Bavasi’s signed Boras’s clients before. That’s not the point. The point is that even at $Texas for eleventy billion years, Matsuzaka’s a better risk than any of the other FA’s out there, and it’s not like they’re going to come cheap, either.
Bavasi and Boras are friends. If anything, Matsuzaka being a Boras client helps the Mariners. In reality, it’s probably a non-factor.
All this talk of acquiring COs makes me think of Edmonds, and how his availability may be affected by St Louis going to, and maybe, improbably, winning the Series. Seems like it would be hard on the fans to deal a guy who plays so hard and knocks in 10 runs (so far) in October. But then, some organizations are just tuetonically ruthless. Do you think, Dave, that his name would have come up at this meeting?
Felix wasn’t that expensive to sign.
Not in isolation, but when they signed him they must have signed at least a dozen guys like him, each getting a similar signing bonus. He is the one guy out of that class who made it to MLB, but you can’t pull his bonus out of that year’s bonus pool and say that’s all it took to sign him.
#11: Sheffield on trading for Sheffield:
“It don’t make a difference who it is. If I didn’t choose to go there, things are gonna have to change about my whole situation, contract, years, everything. Other than that, you might as well not bother trading for me, cause you’re gonna have a very unhappy player. You gonna inconvenience me, I’m gonna inconvenience every situation there is. I mean, the only reason I’m playing is ’cause I wanna play for the Yankees.” Link
The point the Mariners are missing with this idea of aquiring a corner outfielder is it just means Ichiro would be willing to move to center field IF the best power hitting option out there for the Mariners was a corner outfielder.
But quite honestly, who is out there to play left or right field on the market?
Carlos Lee and Alfonso Soriano are out there, but they take BIG cuts and would take on BIG paychecks while playing in a park that’s not kind to right handed power hitters.
This is why I’d pony up and trade for Vernon Wells of Toronto. It would require giving up a couple interesting prospects (hopefully not Adam Jones) and probably Rafael Soriano as well, but it would be worth it to get a guy that’s:
-Played years in the AL
-Has a short, compact, not all-or-nothing swing, unlike Sexson
-Hits constantly for average as well as power
-Basically be one of the big stars of this franchise for the next 5 to 6 years as this team ascends to contention
He’s not a corner outfielder, but last time I checked, he may be just kind of power hitter and verteran guy the Mariners are looking for.
NOTE: This probably wouldn’t happen unless we trade Sexson to cut payroll a little bit, although I think that could be likely, especially with Seung Yeop-Lee on the market.
See, if I were the Yanks, I’d see the M’s doing this and just KNOW they were going to make a bid. I can’t look at the M’s and think that they can be this disinterested in Matsuzaka.
Peter Gammons was just on Dan Patrick’s radio show, and said that indications are that Selig will be involved in the process, even if it’s just to monitor developments. Two concerns he mentioned:
1.) A team like the Blue Jays could offer a ridiculous posting fee, like $50 million, win the rights to negotiate with Matsuzaka, and halfheartedly negotiate contract terms. They’d have no intention of signing him, but they’d be keeping him from the Yankees and Red Sox, and they’d get their posting fee back if he failed to sign.
2.) Seattle could offer a ridiculously high posting fee … but one that included marketing, cross-promotional activities, and similar carrots as part of the price.
FWIW.
But quite honestly, who is out there to play left or right field on the market?
Manny Ramirez is available in a trade. Whether the M’s can come up with the right package to get him is another question, but there’s no doubt he’s being dangled.
This is why I’d pony up and trade for Vernon Wells of Toronto.
Vernon Wells is a great player, but he has said he wants to play closer to his home in Texas. Seattle will not do the trick for him.
I have a question for anyone: If we were to sign Matsuzaka or Schmidt, would they be our number one or our number two starter next season?
2.) Seattle could offer a ridiculously high posting fee … but one that included marketing, cross-promotional activities, and similar carrots as part of the price.
For curiosity’s sake…what’s the concerns about that? I mean, what’s stopping other teams from doing that?
#32 … Gammons mentioned concerns about existing ties between the Mariners ownership and the Seibu Lions’ ownership.
Manny Ramirez could very well begin the declining years of his career soon and you forget that sometimes when players come to Seattle, they instantly fall in love with the place and end up wanting to stay here for 5-10 years even though at first it may not seem like the most attractive place to go.
Take a look at Lou Piniella for instance, he was as far away from Tampa as possible when he took over as manager of the Mariners in November 1992, but then the more the team starting winning and the more Lou got to spend time in Seattle, the more he liked it here and the more he loved it here. And even though to him, Tampa Bay is his true home, he still managed to stay in Seattle for 10 seasons and would’ve stayed here longer if Howard Lincoln and friends had showed Lou that the M’s were committed to winning World Series championships rather than the hearts of potential season ticket holders.
And can you honestly blame Vernon Wells as to why he would say he wants to play closer to home in Texas?
Not only are the Blue Jays nowhere near playoff contention with the Red Sox and Yankees in their division, but Toronto, Ontario is probably the most opposite place from Texas you’ll probably ever see for a variety of reasons. At least in Seattle, he’d get to at least visit Texas a few times a year when the M’s play the AL West, and he can situate himself in Texas, Seattle, and Peoria, Arizona during different times of year. Which would probably be easier for him than living in Toronto, going to Florida for Spring Training and then just going to Texas once, maybe twice a year for games against the Rangers.
And certainly with a player like him in the lineup, you know this team could become winners in a hurry in a wide open division like ours. And you know how this city embraces teams that win, especially since we haven’t had a lot over the years.
The Sonics had a run in the late ’70’s and late ’90’s, the Mariners flirted with the World Series just about every year from ‘95 to 2003, and even though the Seahawks are now coming off a Super Bowl appearance last year, they really didn’t win all that much before then. They were ok in the ’80’s and made the playoffs a few times and even made the AFC Championship Game in 1983, but outside of that, this city basically has had nothing.
All you need to do to see what kind of impact Wells can make on this community and find out what kind of great place Seattle is to live in is look at three things:
1. Just be outside in Seattle during the summer time, every day except 5-10 are sunny and only 70 degrees, it’s absolutely perfect weather. It’s certainly better than hot, muggy, Texas.
2. Compare playing at SAFECO Field to playing at Skydome.
3. Look at how the fans just opened up to the Mariners after they started winning in ‘95. The Mariners practically became kings of the city and proved that it is indeed possible Seattle can be a great baseball town. Or at the very least coincide with football and basketball very nicely.
Believe me, it may not seem like it, but I think if Vernon Wells just came here and saw what playing in Seattle was like, he’d be incredibly amazed as to how much fun and happiness he’d find here.
#33, Why would there be concerns? I thought the highest bidder automatically gets to negotiate with him, not the team Matsuzaka wants to negotiate with. Besides, the final decision of where Matsuzaka ultimately goes is his, not the Seibu Lions. If the Mariners throw the most cash at Seibu and Matsuzaka decides he wants to play here, than that’s it, game over.
#35
Keep in mind that this was just a 45-second comment in a radio interview, so I’m extrapolating quite a bit here … but my guess is that the concern is that the ties between the ownership groups may influence how the posting offer is valued if that posting offer includes non-cash considerations.
In other words, what happens if the Yankees offer $20 million for the posting, and the M’s offer $15 million in cash plus cross-promotional activities, marketing considerations, and other sweeteners that they say are worth an additional $6 million? If Seibu says “Great — that’s $21 million; Seattle wins the posting,” it’s going to be easy for the losers to argue that the Lions accepted Seattle’s valuation because of their ties to the Seattle management.
Believe me, it may not seem like it, but I think if Vernon Wells just came here and saw what playing in Seattle was like, he’d be incredibly amazed as to how much fun and happiness he’d find here.
Maybe so, but it’s doubtful that he’d sign an extension this offseason, so you’d be making a trade for one guaranteed year of Vernon Wells.
And even though to him, Tampa Bay is his true home, he still managed to stay in Seattle for 10 seasons and would’ve stayed here longer if Howard Lincoln and friends had showed Lou that the M’s were committed to winning World Series championships rather than the hearts of potential season ticket holders.
and he wanted to get closer to his dying father. Do not dismiss out of hand his family concerns — as he repeated just this week: “My father was not doing well and my daughter Kristi (33, who now lives with her 10-year-old daughter Kassidy at her parents’ home) was going through a divorce and it was time for me to come home,” Piniella says.” This off-season he didn’t bother to interview with SF, citing the same problems with West coast travel that he had with Seattle.
I’m not, but I’m just saying, he stayed here for 10 years for a reason. . .
I love the cross-promotion idea (as long as it doesn’t violate any rules of the posting process).
But as someone said earlier, what’s to stop any team from doing this? I know that the M’s have a strong following in Japan, so it may work better for us, but you can’t tell me the Mets or Yankees couldn’t pull of the same type of deal.
Um, Seibu isn’t Nintendo, last I checked. So what the hell is Gammons talking about? Seibu’s department stores sell Nintendos, so the Mariners can’t sign Matsuzaka?
I imagine Selig’s going to be involved, and the commisioner could EASILY say “no, you have to make a good faith offer once you pony up the posting fee” (I believe there are explicit provisions for it, if not under the power the Commissioner has to do things under “best interests of baseball”). And the Blue Jays would be utterly stupid to pony up money just to let it lapse- IIRC Hideki Irabu’s rights got TRADED from SD to NY.
Seibu doesn’t decide which bid is the top bid, I think, and certainly doesn’t know which team made each bid. Seibu is informed of the top bid (the amount only – not who made it) and they have 4 days to decide whether to accept it.
If they do, Matsuzaka has 30 days to negotiate with the winning team. Matsuzaka has no say at all where he goes, except he does have to option to reject the winning team’s offer and return to Seibu (which would then result in Seibu not getting the posting fee).
Um, Seibu isn’t Nintendo, last I checked. So what the hell is Gammons talking about? Seibu’s department stores sell Nintendos, so the Mariners can’t sign Matsuzaka?
Well, Japanese businesses do tend to work that way … with informal or formal cooperation between companies. You give me a deal on Nintendos for my stores, and I’ll give you my starting pitcher. That sort of thing.
#42 has a great point. Seibu doesn’t get to look at the bids, and decide which one they like the best (based on promotional value, etc.).
MLB collects all the bids, and then gives Seibu the single highest bid.
There is really no way for a bid to include “perceived value” compensation, such as promotional opportunities.
Cash only, straight up.
In wonder what Deanna from Marinerds knows about Seibu, and their relationship with the M’s.
Damn. I wanted to come here and say how idiotic the article was (it was in the Olympia too).
45: If you, or anyone else, want to know what Deanna thinks, you should ask her directly. She doesn’t usually read USSM comments much during the day because she can’t post to USSM from work.
She’s only posting now because she accidentally slept through most of the day after staying up all night to listen to her Fighters finish off beating the Dragons up in the Japan Series.
On the other hand, in general she won’t comment on the NPB hemorrhaging all of its talent to the MLB, because it depresses her. It’d probably depress you too if aliens from outer space kept coming in and kidnapping all the top talent in your league and leaving things like Shane Spencer to take its place.
“Kattobase! Ogasawara!”
mlb radio were just discussing Matsuzaka, and wondering if he would have the same grip when coming to the US & their differently-sized baseballs….
Sorry Deanna, I was going to ask you about it over at Marinerds, but I couldn’t access the site for some reason (error message said it was unavailable).
Didn’t mean to bring up a touchy subject. I hope the Japan Series was worth staying up for. I look forward to reading the update as soon as I can access Marinerds again.
Looks like the Fighters won!
This article might be part of the Mariners’ disinformation plan, as suggested. Or it could be what the Mariners actually intend to do.
The question is do you think the Mariners are Machiavellian enough to conceive of this type of plan.
I’d love to believe that the ‘info’ in the article referenced is a disinformation mindgame, but to play a mindgame you have to have a mind. The posting fee for Matsuzaka is at a frightening altitude under any circumstance, and the Mariners can have little love for that kind of price. OTOH Bavasi does have a good record of keeping his lip zipped on his _specific_ plans, and it’s difficult to believe that the Ms wouldn’t even make an offer on Matsuzaka. If the Ms do actually post and win, it probably wouldn’t affect signings with the a dollar value like Felix, J-Lopez, and so on, but it would surely affect deals like the YuBet sign where the Ms trumped a bidding war with multiple millions and a major-league deal: that’s the kind of offer that wouldn’t be made for several years, to me.
OTOOH, Bill Bavasi has a record of telegraphing the _type_ of move he’s going to make. Remember last year’s “lefthand sock” and the need to get some pitching? His remarks there were not exceptional, and indicated his real intentions, just like the year before he made it clear he was going to sign some big bats. I do not doubt that Bavasi is zeroing in on a corner outfielder with power; that just fits how he and his guys have been ‘building the team,’ to me. And I’ve thought for many months that the Ms FO as a group were going to make a move on Jason Schmidt. So by that matrix, Matsuzaka is their third priority, and a hyper-expensive one, if they make an offer.
My gut feeling for some time for what it’s worth [I'll save you the trouble, Dave: "Nothing."] is that Matsuzaka will NOT be a Mariner. Nothing in the article counters that feeling. Don’t let it creep up on you, folks, if it happens that the Ms big offseason moves this year are something like Cliff Floyd and Jason Schmidt. . . . Which is why I’m watching more squash than baseball these days. Ramy Ashour is something, inn’t he, hey?
On the other hand, in general she won’t comment on the NPB hemorrhaging all of its talent to the MLB, because it depresses her. It’d probably depress you too if aliens from outer space kept coming in and kidnapping all the top talent in your league and leaving things like Shane Spencer to take its place.
What a horribly negative way of looking at things. Although NPB and hte posting process seems a smidge on the reprehensible side in that it feels more like selling human beings then wishing them well with greater competition, it isn’t as if you’re not a fan of Major League Baseball too.
To fit your analogy, if I happened to also like, follow, and watch Galactic League Baseball, I would watch my favorite former Earthican players taking on the best of the best on a greater scale. Meanwhile, if Tip-Tac- and Toe from the Zoq-Fot-Pik Frungy Leagues was purchased by the New York Yankees to play second base even though they hit a combined (3 splits) .235 / .290 / .336 and were horrible at fielding seeing as how they have no arms, I’d be interested in seeing how the newcomers handle the insane New York Media.
#26 – International signing bonuses are starting to rise, rise, rise with one factor being agents like Boras jumping in and representing the best of the best. Even so, Felix’s bonus wasn’t all that much compared to some others – like Francisco Rodriguez, who got 960,000 and Miguel Cabrera, who pulled down a cool 1.8 million bonus from the Marlins – both when they were SIXTEEN years old. Craziness.
#53 (and Deanna): The whole point of the agreement with the Japanese League and MLB is, from Japan’s perspective, supposed to prevent the Japanese League from just becoming a farm team (like the Mexican League is) to MLB. They consider themselves a major league, so yeah, if they start losing too many good players to MLB and the quality of their league starts suffering noticeably because of it, I’d be wondering what additional changes they’d be wanting to make to that agreement with MLB (it gets re-negotiated every couple years I think).
Of course, they may have bigger problems in that an article I read recently said the Japanese players union is starting to make some noise about how the agreement might violate Japanese anti-trust laws….if that movement gains any traction, the Japanese league would be in big trouble.
Eh, whatever. I’ve been trying to mentally retool the way I think about the whole situation. I mean, I obviously adore Kenji Johjima now, and am glad the Hawks got defeated by the Fighters in the playoffs, but at the same time, watching any of their catchers attempt to hit a baseball with a bat is somewhat painful. Thinking that they wouldn’t have lost if they still had Johjima and Iguchi is somewhat sad (and lessens the Fighters’ victory).
Either way, I don’t really do roster speculation or posting speculation anyway, so I’m afraid I can’t really be of much help in this situation. I can, however, write you a song about it, if you’d like.
OTOOH, Bill Bavasi has a record of telegraphing the _type_ of move he’s going to make. Remember last year’s “lefthand sock†and the
need to get some pitching?
and then he got a catcher.
I think y’all are lowballing the posting fee. I think the Yankees have a hardon for the guy, and they’re going to post north of $40 million.
I may have missed the date somewhere, but when exactly will we know who won the rights to negotiate with the highest bid?