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11/04/2002 Archived Entry: "Matsui vs. Ichiro"
Poitevant: I Would Take Matsui Over Ichiro
See excellent Jack Gallagher of the Japan Times' story at: http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/getsp.pl5?sb20021105a1.htm
Giants Readying the Big Bucks for Nakamura and Petagine
According to Sports Nippon, the Yomiuri Giants are now going full bore (or in owner Tsuneo Watanabe's case. full boor) in attempting to aquire both Norihiro Nakamura and Roberto Petagine. They are reported to be willing to put a four year, $25 million deal under Nakamura's nose while Petagine will be offered a two year pact worth a total of $16 million.
Perhaps one ominous indication that Nakamura is considering a leap to Tokyo is that he has dyed his hair black. Watanabe said one condition of the burly infielder's addition to his club's roster would be changing his hair back from a dyed brown (called "chapatsu" in Japanese; he has also dyed it blonde before, too) and turn it a more natural looking black. Nakamura didn't participate in a Kintetsu practice today, but said that he hasn't made any decisions regarding his future employer. Too, he doesn't want to be seen as going to the Giants just because Matsui has vacated the premises.
Things continue to get nothing but better for Petagine. After hearing of the Yomiuri offer, Hanshin is looking at improving its two year, $12 million proposal.
Surprisingly, there is no talk of trying to sign Jose Contreras, which could be lucrative for the club both on the field and off. Conceivably, the Giants could sign the big Cuban to a three year deal at $3 million or so a season and then after one great year, post him to MLB, where a bidding war would bring Yomiuri tons of yankee, or Yankee, dollars. Of course, this would be contingent on Contreras and his agent being willing to go along with this kind of scenario. But it has two benefits for him: one, he doesn't suffer any downtime while waiting out a lawsuit that may be filed over MLB determining that Contreras should go into the draft pool. Two, it enhances his chances of getting a big payday since he will have an option of returning to Japan.
This is not without some risk, though. If Contreras has a bad season or is injured, his MLB appeal will be diminished. Furthermore, sports medicine in Japan isn't at a very high level compared to the U.S. So we'll have to see how this plays out.
Red Sox Farmhand Todd Betts Heading to Yakult
According to Sports Nippon, the Yakult Swallows will replace the departing Roberto Petagine with Boston Red Sox minor league infielder Todd Betts, who has no major league experience. Last season, he was at Tacoma in the Seattle organization, where he was second in the league in hits, third in doubles with 40, and batted .308 with 14 homers and 65 RBIs. This season at Pawtucket, he slugged another 14 dingers while hitting .292 and drove in 45 runners in 121 games. He is a 6'1" 180 pound native of Ontario, Canada and attended Northwestern University before being drafted on the 14th round in 1993 by Cleveland. He was part of the Canadian national baseball team in 1999.
Yakult's Director of Player Personnel, Mr. Maruyama, doesn't expect Petagine-level power production, but is looking for a .300 average with 25-30 homers. In addition, leftfielder Alex Ramirez will now be moved up in the batting order from fifth to fourth while Betts will be slotted into either the three or five hole. Yakult is also seeking to take on one more foreign position player to boost its power output. Bobby Rose maybe?
Seibu Signs Tokyo Big Six University Triple Crown Winner Goto
The Seibu Lions announced that Hosei University Triple Crown winner Taketoshi Goto will join the club in Japan's peculiar draft system. Earlier today, he agreed to a contract that will pay him $120,000 plus incentives totalling $400,000. For putting his hanko (a stamp Japanese use as their signature) on the deal, Goto banked $800,000.
Goto, in his two year career at the university as a starter, hit .306 with eight homers and 52 RBIs. In the spring season of his junior year, the righthanded hitter won the league's Triple Crown. He is a graduate of Yokohama High School and a former teammate of Daisuke Matsuzaka, so the two will be reunited. The Lions think he has enough potential that they are giving him Kazuhiro Kiyohara's old number, 3, expecting him to provide some pop down the line for them.
Hillman Gets First Look at New Team
Former Rangers farm director Trey Hillman saw what he will be working with next season, as he took in a Nippon Ham Fighters intrasquad game at Kamogawa, Chiba Prefecture. Understandably, he kept a particular eye on 2002 Pacific League batting champ Michihiro Ogasawara, who commented, "I don't think of him as anything special just because he's a foreigner. He wants to win, so we should be able to understand each other."
New Fighters batting coach Gary Denbow has also arrived in Japan and will join the team Wednesday.
Hot Shots....
The Daiei Hawks are closely checking out Rikkyo University righthander Kazuhito Tadano, who was recently rejected by Yokohama due to shoulder and elbow pain, according to Sports Nippon, who say he has first rate talent. They may draft him fourth or a little lower if he is still available....By the way, the Hawks got some bad news on the injury front when righty Hayato Terahara sprained his right ankle doing windsprints. It isn't anything serious and he will lighten his workout load until it heals completely....Lotte ace Tomohiro Kuroki, 28, who spent almost the whole season on the shelf with a shoulder malady, saw his pay contracted a whopping 30% for the coming year. The righthander made $1.4 million the past season....But even despite the second division finish, 14,000 Lotte faithful turned out for a fan appreciation day. One of the most popular parts of the festivities was a charity auction, where player's uniforms and equipment was put up for bid....
Congratulations to Chunichi Dragons hurler Takashi Ogasawara, 25, who will wed 25 year old housekeeper Satchiko Arai on December 11th in Guam. They met in high school, where she played volleyball ....The Dragons leave today for Cuba. They will play games against Cuban all star teams on the 6th and 7th....
Hanshin Tigers rightfielder Shinjiro Hiyama has once again expressed his dissatisfaction with Hanshin's three year, $3 million offer, as he is looking for at least what slumping third baseman Atsushi Kataoka got when he came over from Nippon Ham, which is in the $2 million a season neighborhood....Phillies lefty Randy Wolf says that he is looking forward to facing Hideki Matsui in the NPB-MLB all star series, saying he will approach him as Japan's answer to Barry Bonds. Mark Buerhle says that he will go right after Godzilla and try to put him away early in the count. Neither man is looking to fan Matsui, just get him out....Matsui's now ex-teammate, pitcher Masumi Kuwata, insinuated that he is still thinking MLB himself, winking that he might still end up as Matsui's teammate. Nonetheless, if Matsui makes it to the post season in 2003, Kuwata will go to see him play....
Kintetsu Buffaloes manager Masataka Nashida says he believes that Norihiro Nakamura will stay with the team at the end of the day....Hanshin is mulling signing Bobby Rose if they can't get Petagine, but want him to play winter ball before coming to Japan....According to Sankei Sports, the Dragons are going to offer former Hanshin closer Marc Valdes $1.3 million.
