THE BIG DAY!
Hold on to your chairs....it's happening. Can you feel it?!
The Seibu Group, and president Hidekazu Ota, announced that Daisuke Matsuzaka will likely be posted following the 2006 Japanese season. Ota commented that the posting did not occur last season because the team still needed Matsuzaka at the request of his manager. This season, however, the ace has distinguished himself on the field and in the World Baseball Classic and Ota has agreed to let the voice of the fans guide his decision.Matsuzaka has declared his wish to play in the Majors several times, and the people at Seibu have declined despite great consideration. Ota called Matsuzaka the "treasure of Japan" and indicated that he hoped to make the young man's wish come true. The final decision will be made after the season is complete, and a serious consultation will be made between the hierarchy at Seibu, the pitcher, and the fans via the team website. The website played an important role in swaying opinions at Seibu. After the WBC, fans flooded the site with praise for the MVP and an overwhelming number of people indicated their desire to see Daisuke play in the Big Leagues next year.
For his part, Matsuzaka has kept quiet all season. He is focused on winning the championship and he has maintained a quiet resolve to complete his current mission before thinking about the next. Upon hearing the news of his imminent posting, the ace stated that he hoped to finish 1st in the league and share the customary beer celebration with his teammates before considering his future. Make no mistake, this public pronouncement is a gigantic leap towards seeing our hero in the US next year, and we'll keep you posted on reactions and any further news on this front.
He were go!!
posted by Mike Plugh @ 9:02 PM
12 Comments:
This is incredible!!!! Hopefully the Yankees can beat out Seattle in getting this guy. I would love to see in the years to come Phil Hughes, Wang, AND NOW DICE-KKKKK!!!
Mr Boras,
Nice blog
The Yanks would do a smart thing and sign this guy. It will increase their popularity more in the East and around the world.
I can't wait to see this guy in the Big Leagues as a New York Yankee. If he doesn't want to wear pinstripes, though, I hope he decides to stay in his home country where he is much loved.
kingcorran...
Your thinking is clearly more wishful than accurate.
Matsuzaka has stated on a number of occasions in the past that he hopes to pitch for the Yankees. The Mariners' Japanese connections don't give them some magical hypnotic power that will overcome the aura of the Yankees and frankly their money, which is not strained at all.
The Yankees can shed $35 million from their payroll in 2007 without hurting the ballclub, and Randy Johnson's $17 on top of that in 2008. By all accounts, the forthcoming addition of Hughes to the rotation will be cheap and effective, and it wouldn't surprise me to see the franchise leap from it's Forbes value of $1 billion to $1.5 billion by 2010.
Haha, another Yankee fan thinking he knows everything, Dice K will go to the Mariners, Ichiro,Johjima are there and the M's have the biggest Japanese fan base in the Majors. Im neither a fan of the Yanks or Mariners but even I know hes going to Seattle
Plugh, it's clearly YOU that's more wishful then accurate.
Did you SEE Ichiro and Matsuzaka in the WBC? They were arms around each other and gleeful. Ichiro even joked about being his agent.
Don't think it won't be brought up to Mr. Yamauchi in he and Ichiro's annual meeting.
If Yamauchi wants it to happen (which he does) it will happen.
Secondly, A JAPANESE CATCHER, Johjima.
Don't think that won't play a role in Matsuzaka's decision.
Yamauchi will not only have Ichiro telling him to get Matsuzaka, he has good relations with Matsuzaka's club.
The "aura" of the Yankees is only felt by few people. Usually, the people who sign with them. Coincidence? Amazing how they always sign because of the "aura" when their contracts are bloated and they're overpaid. Seems like something else besides an "aura."
Johnny Damon sure felt an aura of around 13 million. Hell, I'd feel that aura.
Chris, and anyone else that thinks the Mariners have some magical Japanese pixie dust they can sprinkle on Matsuzaka,
The money talks and the bullshit walks. If the M's are willing to put up a $35 million posting fee they have a shot at Daisuke. If they don't go that high, he'll be with the Yankees. It's that simple.
It has absolutely ZERO, NOTHING to do with the tear jerking vision of Matsuzaka with his arm around Ichiro and the wind in the willows. It has nothing to do with Johjima and his Zen-like Japanese catching that will speak to Matsuzaka from their ancient ancestors on the ethereal plane.
It's dollars.
Plus, ask yourself this question. Which team would you rather play for in the end? A team that struggles to score 4.5 runs a game or the team that will support you with 5.6 runs a game? A city with over 26,000 Japanese residents or one with 9,000?
All Seattle has over New York is a Japanese owner, outfielder, and catcher. The owner means nothing unless he plans to outspend Steinbrenner. The rest of the factors are moot.
Mariner's money is hardly any less strained than the Yankees...
Yankees free up after this year...
16M from buying out Mussina
3M from buying out Wright
13M if they let Sheffield walk (which they might)
that's 30+M right there evne without counting some of the possible lesser moves in the bullpen and else where that might add up to another 5M or so (Strutz, VIllone, Dotle etc..)
The M's free agent after this season is Gil Meche and Eduro Perez.. that's less than 3M... even counting out the money of Jamie Moyer that's 8-9M or so, with their money at upper 80Ms.. assuming they aren't going to outspend the angels that leaves them with 20Ms to work with... tops...
The M's chances aren't as good as they hope.. though I suppose on the plus side they don't have any more position players to cover, (not that they are good, just simply that everyone is locked up... with Beltre and Sexon still having 2-3 more years...)
As for the "Ichiro" connection, you better make sure Ichrio himself is willing to renegotiate with the M's, somehting that might not be all too given seeing how he has openly spoke out against how crappy the M's are playing these days.
With the M's apparently on the verge of firing their manager and perhaps their GM as well, is it all that likely they still make a very good run for Mats? i kinda doubt.
Not that the Yankees are surely going to land him, but if you look at the big spender clubs and their relative need for a SP next year. Yankees does seem more likely.
kingcorran...
You are the most arrogant person here, while you're throwing that word around.
I never counted the Mariners out, any more than I've counted out the Angels, Rangers, Dodgers, Mets, or Red Sox. I'm a Yankees fan, which may trigger some synaptic reaction in you, but I'm trying to present the most accurate depiction of what is going to happen in the offseason here.
The FACT is, the commissioner holds all the cards. He receives sealed bids from teams. He opens the bids in the presence of a world reknowned accounting firm. He signs papers to the effect that the envelopes arrived at his office unopened and untampered with, and that he opened those envelopes and presented their contents to the proper officials. It's notarized and sent to Japan and the newsmedia.
Everything is above board. If you believe that there's more to it, you probably believe that Neil Armstrong's moonwalk in 1969 was actually filmed in LA on a soundstage.
If the commissioner was found to be tampering, or anyone else along the way, they would risk being banned from baseball. They would risk destroying any future Japan-US negotiations. It's preposterous.
I know that Mariners fans are sulking in their teams precipitous collapse, and that any advantage in anything is a kind of moral victory, but Ichiro and Johjima only enter the equation at the point the Mariners' money opens the door for negotiations. Your potshots at Matsui are stupid. I live in Japan. I work in Japan. I talk baseball with Japanese people on a daily basis. There hasn't been one single person that has turned on Matsui for not playing in the WBC. Not one. In fact, when I ask which MLB player they like best it is split about 50-50 between Ichiro and Matsui.
Yamauchi is Japanese. He eats yakitori, drinks Kirin lager, and watches sumo. That's about the only thing his Japanese-ness has to do with the posting process. It's his checkbook that will decide the final result.
You can keep coming here to post your little pipedreams, but I'm dealing with reality, while you are engaging in wild speculation. Enjoy. If you like it here...welcome.
It doesn't matter at all who Matsuzaka wants to pay for. The only thing that matters at all, in any way, is who pays the highest posting fee. Period. It won't come down to budget issues... at least with the Yankees and the Mariners, both teams will probably be willing to pay whatever posting fee there is, Yankees with all their cash and Mariners since they don't count posting fees towards payroll. My bet is a game of chicken between the Yanks and M's, each of them trying to guess what the other will pay and beat it. They'll both be willing to pay whatever it takes, but neither will know how much that is until the commish reveals who won.
so everyone knows players that are posted cant choice where they go. if he is posted then any team can bid on him and get him. lets go Red Sox!!!!!
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