30 million just to negotiate with Matsuzaka? WTF?

[RR]

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There are no restraint of trade laws in baseball then?

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Congress has granted MLB an exemption to anti-trust laws.

[Propertarian]

The research I read states differently; perhaps we have to look it up in the official rules.

[centris]

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The research I read states differently; perhaps we have to look it up in the official rules.

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yeah i was just going off that mlb.com mailbag or what ever it was. But yeah it was not the official rules. I cannot find anything better. I would be interested to see the official rules.

[Propertarian]

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That's alot of money for someone who hasnt proven himself in the MLB game. I would never pay that.

[/ QUOTE ] Projections/stats in baseball translate from one league to another, as long as you adjust for park effects and quality of pay differences. Mats has a 2.2 ERA over his last four hundred innings and is 26, and so that's about what his projection would be in Japan, which is harder to pitch in by quite a bit than AAA.

[wisehandpoker]

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Though if it leads to something like this I will enjoy it. Quoted from Buster Onley Blog on ESPN

"The Orioles could post a huge bid -- say $50 million -- and blow everybody else out of the water. With exclusive negotiating rights, they then could offer Matsuzaka a take-it-or-leave-it minimum bid, like a six-year, $6 million deal. Matsuzaka and agent Scott Boras, with just 30 days to negotiate and with no ability to generate a competing bid from another major league team, would have the stark choice of taking the Orioles' lowball offer or remaining in Japan."

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I have heard this discussed before in other forums, but always by random posters not people supposedly in the know. I really don't think this will happen. If teams start doing this the whole system breaks down.

I think that it explicitly states in the agreement between MLB and the Japan baseball league that the winning team must negotiate in good faith. I think that the commisioner's office of MLB wants this system to work and if it was clear that a team was delibrately trying to screw it up they could be penealized. From what I read elsewhere (USS mariner which is down right now or I would post a link) Bud Selig really does not want this to happen and will try to stop it.

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He's a free agent in a year. He'd go back to Japan.

[kyleb]

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He's a free agent in a year. He'd go back to Japan.

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This is pretty much what Takashi Saito (LAD) might do, to extort money from the MLB due to their international policies.

[kyleb]

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I'd pay any sum of money for a pitcher who throws a Gyroball. Dood, its a Gyroball, he must be sweeeet.

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He doesn't even throw a Gyroball.

[kyleb]

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Is there any truth to Japanese pitchers burning out early because they have to throw to many pitches? Ive read this as a side note in a few Matsuzaka articles.

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Tom House has studied a lot of Japanese, American, and South American pitchers and has noted that while Japanese pitchers tend to pitch many more innings in a given year (and with less rest), their lifespan is not significantly different than most American pitchers.

House theorizes that this is due to the fact that the Japanese conditioning programs are much, much more difficult than what American pros face, and that the Japanese have developed an overall great plan to build stamina and endurance.

Much of the American conditioning done by pro teams, high schools, and colleges focus on arm strength, pitch improvement, and velocity. Compare this to Japan, where the focus is (and has been) on flexbility, overall body condition, and extremely smooth mechanics to the point of perfection.

While American pitchers typically throw harder, their propensity for injury is exponentially higher than their Japanese counterparts.

South American pitchers are notorious for absolutely god-awful mechanics (think Felix Hernandez or Francisco Rodriguez), which pretty much fits in line with the level of scientific knowledge over there with regard to conditioning and nutrition.

EDIT: To further expound on the Japanese work ethic of baseball, they also do not believe that players hit their peak at a predefined age. Statistics pretty much prove that players will reach their physical peak at ages 26-30 years old, with significant decline afterwards.

I'm not saying that the Japanese can subvert statistical proof, but their mindset is such that they keep their bodies in ridiculous condition throughout their life. Sadaharu Oh, the world's home run leader (with 868 - 113 more than Hank Aaron) continued to feverishly improve his hitting skills well into his 40's, even after breaking Babe Ruth's record.

This probably has a lot to do with the fact that their players in general last longer then comparable Americans.

[J.R.]

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There are no restraint of trade laws in baseball then?

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Congress has granted MLB an exemption to anti-trust laws.

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You forget the legislative response to the 1994-95 strike: The Curt Flood Act of 1998

Players can now sue MLB under federal anti-trust law, so unilateral acts by mlb and rules outside of the collective bargaining agreeement can be subject to fedeal anti-trust scrutiny. The problem is the union would have to decertify to sue.

Those with standing to sue are "MLB players", the definition of which does not include Japanese baseball players.

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(c) Standing to sue
Only a major league baseball player has standing to sue under this section. For the purposes of this section, a major league baseball player is—
(1) a person who is a party to a major league player’s contract, or is playing baseball at the major league level; or
(2) a person who was a party to a major league player’s contract or playing baseball at the major league level at the time of the injury that is the subject of the complaint; or
(3) a person who has been a party to a major league player’s contract or who has played baseball at the major league level, and who claims he has been injured in his efforts to secure a subsequent major league player’s contract by an alleged violation of the antitrust laws: Provided however, That for the purposes of this paragraph, the alleged antitrust violation shall not include any conduct, acts, practices, or agreements of persons in the business of organized professional baseball relating to or affecting employment to play baseball at the minor league level, including any organized professional baseball amateur or first-year player draft, or any reserve clause as applied to minor league players; or
(4) a person who was a party to a major league player’s contract or who was playing baseball at the major league level at the conclusion of the last full championship season immediately preceding the expiration of the last collective bargaining agreement between persons in the business of organized professional major league baseball and the exclusive collective bargaining representative of major league baseball players.

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15 U.S.C. 26(b)

[Suigin406]

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I really hope the Yankees get him, this would be such a huge lift to their team, unless he turns into Hideki Irabu.

Plus we could have a top 2 rotation of Wang and Matsuzuka!!! Mussina and RJ don't look so bad when they're your 3 and 4 starters.

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lol, irabu...what happened to that guy after he got traded from the yankees...??