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12/18/2002 Archived Entry: "Godzilla to Tread on Big Apple"

Matsui Heading to U.S. on December 21st

According to Sports Nippon, Hideki Matsui is heading to the U.S. on December 21st, possibly for a press conference to announce his acquisition by the NY Yankees. The reported deal is for three years at $6 million plus incentives. Agent Arn Tellem spent today cleaning up minor contract details with Yankees GM Brian Cashman, items which involved getting the Ishikawa Prefecture native an interpreter, helping to arrange for a place to live and what Sports Nippon termed "other support outside the ballpark." Matsui and Tellem talked to each other on the phone today, though the nature of that conversation wasn't disclosed. Matsui will meet with the governor of his home prefecture in an award ceremony before jetting off to New York.

What is ironic about this is that both Hochi Sports and Sankei Sports are quoting Matsui as thinking that "it doesn't feel like we'll have an agreement before the end of the week," which would not only contradict a statement he made the other day, but is now moot in light of today's news. Somebody crossed some wires somewhere.

Meikyukai (an association made up of retired Japanese players who had fullfilled certain hard to attain statistical marks during their careers) chairman Masaichi Kaneda said that he hopes that between his Japanese and MLB careers, Matsui will make it to 3000 hits. He had 1390 in his ten seasons in his home country, so he would need to amass another 1610 in the big leagues to reach that mark.

Hot Shots....

The bidding for Kintetsu closer Akinori Otsuka ended today. Bud Selig's office hasn't named a winner or an amount yet, but we should know in the next couple of days....For his killer year, the Chunichi Dragons awarded righthander Kenshin Kawakami a $450,000 raise to about $900,000. Reliever Hitoki Iwase, who finished with a 1.06 ERA in 52 appearances, was hiked up by $280,000 to $1.1 million....Yokohama reliever Masao Morinaka took a salary reduction of $32,000 to around $265,000 while teammate Hitoshi Tamura was raised up by $52,000 to about $175,000. And if you're a woman between the ages of 18-24, the Bay Stars are looking for a new "mascot girl." You can call Yokohama Stadium for details....Hanshin ace Kei Igawa pocketed a more than 50% raise totaling $275,000 to land at $800,000.The team also announced thet outfielder Tomoaki Kanemoto will wear number six....Yakult Swallows reliever Ryota Igarashi, while signing a new deal that will pay him $640,000 next year, said that he wants to top Hideki Irabu's Japan record 158 km/h (about 98mph) on the radar gun in 2003. Igarashi attained a new high this past campaign when he nailed 156 km/h (about 96-97mph). Swallows outfielder Tetsuya Iida was rocked by a 50% pay cut to $400,000. However, Yakult will make it possible to make that back with incentives. Shortstop Shinya Miyamoto happily took a $120,000 improvement to his finances and will earn $1.3 million next season...Chiba Lotte Marines shortstop Makoto Kosaka, who missed big chunks of the season with an ankle fracture, among other things, saw his pay plummet by $44,000 to a little over $750,000. Outfielder Takashi Tachikawa, by contrast, obtained a raise to the tune of $86,000 to $215,000 ...Righthander Keigo Imai, who was released by Nippon Ham at season's end, is now trying to catch on with a club in Taiwan after turning down an opportunity to become a scout with the Fighters.... Speaking of Nippon Ham, their front office announced that at their new dormitory facilities they are building in Hokkaido in preparation for the move to Sapporo in 2004, they will provide meals to players who don't or can't move up to the capital of Japan's northernmost island. Let's just hope none of it is that mislabled beef that they were forced to recall....Kintetsu catcher Tetsuya Matoyama will bring in $290,000 after enduring a decrease of $16,000 for next season....Yomiuri Giants righthander Masumi Kuwata left today for a trip with his family to Australia. Kuwata's old boss, Shigeo Nagashima, spent the day playing golf with Giants utility man Koji Goto, former Lions manager Osamu Higashio and Higashio's daughter Riko, who is a pro golfer.... Under the category of "no brainers," Yomiuri manager Tatsunori Hara will have Sawamura Award winner Koji Uehara start on opening day of 2003....For whatever reason, Orix ratcheted outfielder Manabu Satake's salary up by $72,000 to $175,000. Owing to the front office being too late in making a decision to change the name of its minor league affiliate after a sponsor decided not to renew its contract, Orix is going to leave the nine as Serpas Kobe and not revert it to just Orix as they said yesterday. There is a time limit dictated by minor league rules on name changes... Daiei Hawks players are angry with team management over its decision to impose wide ranging pay cuts this offseason as well as refuse pleas for multi-year contracts, according to Hochi Sports. While that issue simmers, manager Sadaharu Oh took in another Dominican winter league game today and got a chance ot meet Pedro Martinez. Oh's comment? "Sosa and Pedro show that baseball has no borders. I'm glad I came here. I would like to help strengthen the bonds between Japanese and Dominican baseball."

Matsui, Ichiro's Bat Maker on the Tools of the Trade

See story at: Asahi Shimbun Article

Matsui Deal Could Be Concluded Within a Week

See story at: NY Times Article

Orioles Make Offer to Matsui

See story at: Baltimore Sun Article

Mets New Years Wish: Japanese Slugger

See story at: Newsday Article

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