Archive for the ‘Daisuke Matsuzaka’ Category
For ESPN E-Ticket, Jim Caple profiles Yu Darvish, the 21 year old phenom on the Nippon Ham Fighters. Darvish, half Iranian and half Japanese, made his professional debut in 2005.
Last year, Darvish was 15-5 with a 1.82 ERA, and has already won the Japanese equivalent to the Cy Young award.
While Darvish is five years away from Japanese unrestricted free agency, he can be posted to MLB teams, similar to the way stars Ichiro Suzuki and Daisuke Matsuzaka have come over. According to Caple, if Darvish were posted, peopole expect the posting bit to exceed the $50 million paid by the Red Sox for Matsuzaka, and perhaps exceed $75 million.
Caple quotes Trey Hillman, Royals manager and previous coach of Darvish in Japan, ”The curveball is just not fair. Honestly, it’s just not a fair pitch.”
Caple also profiles how Darvish is almost a rockstor in Japan in terms of popularity. Trey Hillman likens Darvish’s popularity to Michael Jordon and Tiger Woods.
Really just a fantastic and informative read.
If he is posted, I have to imagine the Mets would be interested in a young SP stud that they could acquire without having to give up prospects, or even draft picks. Yet, the idea of paying $75 million just to negotiate with the guy seems a little insane to me, but so is the market.
I’ve never heard anything but rave reviews on this guy, and I know Japanese baseball isn’t the same as baseball here, but he was 20 last year and in a full season had a 1.82 ERA. That’s just nuts.
Sphere: Related ContentDaisuke Matsuzaka takes the mound tonight for the Boston Red Sox as the Series moves to Colorado. Bobby Valentine, former Mets manager, who has spent the past several years coaching baseball in Japan spoke to Reuters regarding the young starter.
“It will probably be a lot colder than he’s used to and the altitude will be the highest place he’s probably ever pitched in. But he’s a first. He’s a savant. He wants to be the first, he wants to be the guy to pitch in Game Seven. That’s why he is who he is and does what he does.”
In the article Valentine also discusses how Japanese baseball officials need to step up and market the game the same way Major League Baseball does, to give players a reason to continue their careers in Japan.
Sphere: Related ContentBoston Makes Another Offer To Daisuke-San
Posted by Anthony De RosaDecember 13, 2006 at 4:10 pm
13 Dec
The Boston Herald is reporting that the Red Sox's second offer to Daisuke
Matsuzaka is for six years and a total of $48 million, however Scott Boras
is asking for $66 million over six years.
Boston to take his physical by Wednesday afternoon, it is unlikely a deal will get done.
Red Sox to Make 'Record' Offer to D-Mat
Posted by Anthony De RosaDecember 12, 2006 at 11:23 am
12 Dec
The Boston Globe reports that Theo Epstein and the Red Sox are planning to offer Daisuke Matsuzaka one of the largest contracts ever given to a amatuer player and the largest to a Japanese player. Hideki Matsui was given the biggest contract to a Japanese player at 4 years, $52 million.
Sphere: Related ContentRed Sox GM Theo Epstein in a post-midnight conference call described the dramatic turn that took place last night in the negotiations for Daisuke Matsuzaka, saying that with John W. Henry providing the plane, he and CEO Larry Lucchino flew to southern California, unsolicited, for a meeting with agent Scott Boras in the Daisuke Matsuzaka negotiations.
Epstein said the team plans to make another offer, one that will be the largest ever given to a player who has never played in the big leagues, and the largest given to a Japanese player. But it remains to be seen if that will satisfy Boras, who has made the case that Matsuzaka is one of the game's elite pitchers and should be paid as such, with no weight given to the size of the bid the Sox paid for exclusivity to negotiate with him. That $51.1 million, Boras has stated, is just another indication of how valuable a talent Matsuzaka said.
A feisty John W. Henry, frustration evident in his voice, said: “I think it's also fair to say we're on Scott Boras's doorstep because he hasn't negotiated with us so far. We're taking the fight directly to him to try to have a negotiation here.''
NJ.com's Yankees Blog, Pride Of The Yankees, reports a crazy scenario that is rumored to be developing that could make Daisuke Matsuzaka a free agent.
And when I say hold out, I mean to the point where it becomes it was
obvious just a blocking manuever to keep him from the Yankees. He wants
$15Mx3Y, sox are offering 8Mperx4Y, “oceans apart”. I've been told that
if the Sox knew the Mets had the second highest bid ($38M), higher than
the Yankees ($32M), they never would have bid $51.11 to win him. That
comes from a very good source. Moreover, what I heard from the same
source who is close to negotiations that what will happen is that
Selig, Boras, and Seibu have a deal in place, where Boras pays Seibu
$25 mil (1/2 the Red Sox bid) and he owns the rights to Matsuzaka, and
puts him on the market BY X-MAS for the highest bidder, and Selig has
signed off on it…
This sounds way too crazy to be true, but I wanted to post it just out of appreciation for the very creative mind who came up with this wild scenario. JJ Abrams has nothing on this guy.
Sphere: Related ContentYanks May Have Interest In Matsuzaka Nemesis
Posted by Anthony De RosaDecember 1, 2006 at 5:26 pm
1 Dec
Tyler Kepner in The New York Times reports that the Yankees might look into acquiring the man who has had the most success against Matsuzaka in Japan to counter the Red Sox
His name is Julio Zuleta, and he played 79 games for the Chicago Cubs in 2000-1. What makes Zuleta interesting, though, is his production in Japan the past three seasons.
Zuleta,
31, hit 109 home runs to tie for the most in the Pacific League.
According to his agent, Gene Casaleggio, he has hit seven home runs and
batted .273 against Daisuke Matsuzaka, the star pitcher who is
negotiating with the Boston Red Sox.
“He’s
a guy who’s seen Matsuzaka and had success off him in very big playoff
games,” Casaleggio said. “He’s seen him more than anybody.”
Tony Massaroti in The Boston Herald reports that the gap between what the Red Sox are offering for Daisuke Matsuzaka and what Scott Boras wants is still quite large.
Sox’ initial proposal was roughly half of what the pitcher’s agent,
Scott Boras, proposed. The most likely scenario is that the Sox
proposed somewhere in the neighborhood of $7-8 million annually and
Boras came in at roughly $15 million.
The
length of the contract also could be an issue, particularly if Boras,
as has been suggested, is lobbying for Matsuzaka to become a free agent
after three years. Under the terms of the agreement between MLB and
Japanese baseball officials, the Sox would own Matsuzaka’s rights for
six years.
Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports has a crapload of nuggets this morning:
The Mets are still interested in White Sox P Javier Vazquez, but he views the Rangers as the most likely trade partner. Rosenthal suggests the Sox trade Vazquez and OF Brian Anderson to Texas for some of Texas’ pitching prospects, namely Thomas Diamond and John Danks.
The Dodgers are close to signing 1B Nomar Garciaparra to a 2-year deal.
With the departure of DH Frank Thomas to the Blue Jays, expect the A’s to inquire about C Mike Piazza, OF Cliff Floyd, OF Aubrey Huff, OF Frank Catalanotto and 1B Shea Hillenbrand. The alternative route would be to acquire a bat by trading P Esteban Loaiza.
The Giants, Rangers, Orioles and Astros are the four teams most interested in OF Carlos Lee. Lee is a fallback option for the Giants if they fail to re-sign OF Barry Bonds.
If the Devil Rays move either OF Carl Crawford or OF Rocco Baldelli, they will be moved for a young pitcher with ace-like potential. Possible targets include Angels P Ervin Santana, Dodgers P Chad Billingsley and one of the Marlins young pitchers.
Astros.com reports Astros GM Tim Purpura denies having discussions with the Red Sox about P Brad Lidge.
Newsday reports Yankees 3B Alex Rodriguez has no plans to waive his no-trade clause.
The Boston Herald is reporting that the Red Sox and Scott Boras plan to keep the Daisuke Matsuzaka contract negotiations “as quiet as possible”.
The Philadelphis Inquirer is reporting that free agent OF-2B Alfonso Soriano has said he prefers to stay on the east coast.
The Denver Post reports that the Cubs, Rangers and Astros are all showing interest in P Jason Jennings.
Joel Sherman of the NY Post reports that the Rockies have told the Yankees they will take on half of the $23 million still owed to P Carl Pavano.
Sphere: Related Content
Recent Comments