30 million just to negotiate with Matsuzaka? WTF?

[MEbenhoe]

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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...??

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2 horrible seasons as a starter in Montreal, and a 1 year stint in Texas where they tried him out in the bullpen and he still couldn't do [censored].

[Kneel B4 Zod]

btw, the Mariners ended up paying $13.1M to negotiate for Ichiro

[THAY3R]

Ibubu really wasn't THAT bad for the Yanks.

[MafiaPrince]

This guy is very young and a proven innings eater, albeit in Japan, but he absolutely dominated against major league hitters in the World Baseball Classic...I, for one, hope that the Red Sox go hard after him...

[THAY3R]

From Wiki :

Matsuzaka became a national hero in 1998 when he pitched Yokohama High School into the Koshien Tournament and dominated the competition like no one before or since. In the quarterfinals of that year's Koshien national high school baseball tournament, he threw 250 pitches in 17 innings against traditional powerhouse P.L. Gakuen. In stifling heat, Matsuzaka pitched a game for the ages, emerging victorious. The very next day, he played in the outfield but recorded a save. In the final, he threw a no-hitter--the first ever in a final--to win both the tournament and the admiration of the nation.

[img]/images/graemlins/blush.gif[/img]

[HajiShirazu]

So basically, Seibu could sue Matsuzaka for breach of contract (under Japanese law I suppose) if he signed a contract under the table, defected to and then played in the states without going through the whole posting fee process? Otherwise, why could he not just illegally go to the team offering him the highest salary in MLB (through under the table negotiation) regardless of whether they were willing to put up the posting fee? Really, it seems like this screws the player badly either way, probably reducing their value by some fraction of the transfer fee while curtailing possible salary bidding wars. Of course, it's doubtful Japanese players have much leverage to have this changed, since a strike would be highly unpopular as these defections have already screwed baseball there in the past.
I suppose this is why we also never see the top Japanese players leave for MLB until they are in their thirties or so. If I remember correctly, the contracts are pretty much rigged so that players are under contract to play for some team in Japan until they have done X amount of service time. Maybe we can see a ruling on these similar to the Bosman case in European football one day when a young Japanese player at the end of his contract wants to leave to get paid more in the states.

[J.R.]

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So basically, Seibu could sue Matsuzaka for breach of contract (under Japanese law I suppose) if he signed a contract under the table, defected to and then played in the states without going through the whole posting fee process?

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MLB values the Japanese market and has a contract (the "posting agreement") with Japanses baseball (the terms of which provide for this bidding proess). This is not like a Cuban defector.


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I suppose this is why we also never see the top Japanese players leave for MLB until they are in their thirties or so. If I remember correctly, the contracts are pretty much rigged so that players are under contract to play for some team in Japan until they have done X amount of service time. Maybe we can see a ruling on these similar to the Bosman case in European football one day when a young Japanese player at the end of his contract wants to leave to get paid more in the states.

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The team can refuse to post a player, and the player has no say in which team to negotiate with.

The posting system was implemented so teams could avoid losing players to the Major Leagues without compensation. The system was created as a reaction to Hideo Nomo's departure from the Kintetsu Buffaloes. In 1995, Nomo, who was not eligible for free agency, "retired" from Japanese baseball, and then signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The posting system does not apply to free agents or to players with 10 years or more of service in the Japanese professional leagues.

This isn't just a Japanese legal question, but one of American law as well and the policy MLB wants to adopt. I'd be shocked if MLB destroyed the international goodwill its is trying to foster in japan (MLB allstars are touring japan right now).

[metsandfinsfan]

Bobby Valentine was on the Michael Kay show on 1050 radio in New York today. Remember, he was really high on but Matsui's and is vocal about when japanese players come to the states. He does not feel Matsusuki is worth 15 mil a year. He says he would probably be a #3 starter in the states. He said reports that he throws 97 are innacurate, that he normally throws 90-93 and he hits 97 like twice per year. He also stated that he has thrown a ton of innings, gets 18 complete games per year, was abused in high school by throwing 150 pitches every other day. He thinks he is good but thinks his career may be short do to all the innings thrown by him already

On a side note, Bobby said he has been contacted by several teams in the US to interview for their managerial vacancies, and he has turned down the interviews because he is very happy in Japan right now.

[Propertarian]

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He says he would probably be a #3 starter in the states. He said reports that he throws 97 are innacurate, that he normally throws 90-93 and he hits 97 like twice per year. He also stated that he has thrown a ton of innings, gets 18 complete games per year, was abused in high school by throwing 150 pitches every other day. He thinks he is good but thinks his career may be short do to all the innings thrown by him already


[/ QUOTE ] This is good info. However, I think Mats will still be a #1 starter if he doesn't break down; this to me mostly just means that he is more likely to get hurt than most U.S. pitchers of the same age. It does, however, probably follow that he isn't worth 15 million a year.

And I'd be more trusting of an anecdote from Bobby V than just about anybody: IMO, he's one of the best managers of the last 20 years.

[kyleb]

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Bobby said he has been contacted by several teams in the US to interview for their managerial vacancies, and he has turned down the interviews because he is very happy in Japan right now.

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I am very glad to hear that, actually. Bobby V is a stand-up guy and it's good to see that he likes it over there.