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02/06/2003 Archived Entry: "Japanese Baseball News: Millar's Next Playing Field to be Federal Court"
Bosox Wannabe May Lose Millions, Career While Process Grinds on
Chunichi Dragons president Junnosuke Nishikawa said today that it would be too bad if the Kevin Millar incident hurt relations between NPB and MLB. Nonetheless, this is definitely headed for court, according to Sports Nippon, and they are going to ask for damages from Millar. Furthermore, he will not be posted or released by the Nagoya based ballclub.
Dragons Manager Hisashi Yamada disclosed that he is righteously pissed off at Millar, arguing that there is no logic to what the erstwhile Marlin is doing. If MLB Commissioner Bud Selig contends that the contract with Chunichi is valid, then Millar will have to sue MLB to change that while he is being subject to litigation from Chunichi, creating a big mess. Chunichi Sports is saying that the ballclub that is owned by the same firm as they are have already decided to resort to a court battle and are just mere hours away from hiring a U.S. law firm to represent them.
At this point, though, all Selig can do is put Millar on the involuntarily retired list and wait to be served with a subpoena. If Selig backs off from a firm stance due to the prospect of litigation, then that may destory NPB-MLB relations. Please Bud, don't screw this one up, too.
To take Millar's place on the active roster, the Dragons are thought to be weighing either Alex Ochoa or former Nippon Ham DH Sherman Obando. Obando is not a very good outfielder and would have to be bale to play somewhere since the CL doesn't have the designated hitter rule. As a total package, then, Ochoa may be the way to go.
Bobby Rose: "I Hit Or Your Money Back!"
According to Hochi Sports, infielder Bobby Rose has made a provocative statement: "If I can't do the job, then I don't want the money. I'll return the money and go back to the states." When a reporter pressed him as to whether he meant that, he replied, "well, I might take what is necessary to live in Japan, but I really will return the money." Rose will make about $700,000 this season, but he is apparently willing to give up if he isn't getting it done and forfeit the remaining salary he would have had coming to him.
He even went to manager Koji Yamamoto and reportedly implored, "if I'm not getting it done, send me down to the minors." Yamamoto lauded Rose for his attitude and said his example might light a fire under some of the other players. For now, the former Angel said that he is feeling good.
Hot Shots....
Pitcher Jaime Navarro says that his agent told him he had an offer from a Japanese team, but the rep didn't name the club.... Sports Nippon is reporting that Hideki Matsui may be a few days later than planned going to the Yankees camp in Tampa due to needing to take care of things like obtaining a social security number, opening a bank account and getting a driver's license in NYC. He will still, though, make the report date of February 18th. The outfielder worked out for two hours yesterday at Yankee Stadium, playing catch, doing some weight training and hitting off of a tee. He revealed that he ended up with a runny nose due to the cold weather. He is also the cover story in Sports Weekly this week, the writer comparing him to Carlos Delgado.... The Yankees have hired former sportswriter Isao Hirooka, who has been acting as Matsui's media adviser and will largely fill the same role with the Yankees....Yomiuri centerfielder Yoshinobu Takahashi spent time hitting off of a tee today with special batting instructor Futoshi Nakanishi providing guidance, the aim being to increase Takahashi's power production. Nakanishi is having Takahashi drop his leg kick in favor of a more conventional stride as well as changing the positions of his hands in a bid to simplify his approach....Giants third baseman Akira Etoh was tutored by Shigeo Nagashima, who is trying to remake Etoh into Sammy Sosa's image by working on the way Etoh turns his hips into the ball....Nagashima also mentioned that he may have rookie pitcher Hiroshi Kisanuki on the 2004 Japanese olympic team. The number one choice threw 82 pitches in the bullpen while coaches watched his mechanics. First baseman Kazuhiro Kiyohara broke a blister in batting practice today, but still kept at it for 71 swings. He can still hit, but he just can't run much yet....Rightfielder Roberto Petagine took batting practice over at Sun Marine Stadium and only hit four balls out against a stiff wind, but was lining bullets all over the field. He then took some outfield practice with no problems. A Hanshin scout, though, was far less than impressed by Petagine's outfield workout and indicated that the Tigers are going to really test his arm in game action. Hanshin scouts did have complimentary things to say about rookie pitcher Yuya Kubo, positing that the youngster should be able to help the Giants rightaway....Lotte rookie pitcher Tsuyoshi Nishioka and outfielder Shiro Teramoto went out to Sakurajima and dug up a 33 pound daikon radish. "That was a good workout for the muscles," Nishioka laughed....If you want to see Daiei's most prized young arms, they will be starting Hayato Terahara, Tsuyoshi Wada, and Nagisa Arakaki against Yomiuri in a three game exhibition series at Fukuoka Dome commencing February 28th. Manager Sadaharu Oh commented, "I want them to taste the pressure and feel the tension" of facing Japan's top team for 2002. On the mound for the Tokyo squad will be ace Koji Uehara, the great Kimiyasu Kudoh and last year's ERA champ, Masumi Kuwata
.... Seibu is throwing veteran Taisei Takagi into the mix at second base. Takagi has more power than incumbent Hiroyuki Takagi, but he was originally drafted as a catcher and then converted into a first baseman and then a leftfielder. Moreover, he has had a string of injuries the last three seasons and so, for a host of reasons, moving him to second seems to be a reach. Manager Haruki Ihara is hinting that if Taisei Takagi doesn't produce this season, he may get the heave ho....With the mayor of Tokorozawa, Hiroshi Saito, driving over to press the flesh, Lions rookie hurler Chikara Onodera unveiled his splitter today in a 50 pitch bullpen session, impressing pitching coach Hiroshisa Matsunuma with the depth of the sink on it....Hanshin righthander Hideki Irabu will be allowed to keep a little more weight on than team coaches had originally planned for him. They now say that anything under 242 pounds is okay, whereas before they wanted him to come in at around 220. Manager Senichi Hoshino believes that the weight helps the former Yankee and Expo get more movement on his deliveries. Irabu is the biggest Japanese player in the game weight-wise. The jellyfish threw 53 pitches during his bullpen work today and he's scheduled to toss batting practice on the 12th.... Righthander Taiyo Fujita really gave it his all in his workout, as he sent 260 pitches plateward today, 52 of those in batting practice. This isn't uncommon in Japan during spring training, but it isn't smart, either....Atsushi Kataoka will probably be hitting seventh directly behind George Arias this season, according to Sports Nippon.A Chunichi scout believes that the ex-Nippon Ham third baseman has regained his stroke and could be pleasant surprise...Yakult Swallows 20 year old pitcher Yataro Sakamoto observed the fifth anniversary of his mother Kazuko's death from stomach cancer today by reminiscing about her to reporters. Sakamoto, who has vowed to win 11 games this season, has also taken up studying the piano....Nippon Ham infielder Kuniyuki Kimoto is sporting a Norihiro Nakamura-like "soft mohican" hair style this spring....Fighters skipper Trey Hillman, who has been getting only about 4-5 hours of sleep at night, hit 170 fungoes to his infielders today. When he got to the ballpark this morning, the first thing he did was cleanup a training room despite the fact that he could have had one of the stadium's staff do it. Then he threw 20 minutes of batting practice before pulling out the fungo bat. Then there was a meeting to over signs with coaches. Tuesday, he had signed over 600 autographs over a two hour span for fans. He has also been researching things about Japanese baseball on the internet. If for nothing else, reporters and team officials will remember the ex- Rangers farm director for his relentless energy ....Fighters hurler Satoru Kanemura threw batting practice today, with his focus on keeping the ball down....Plans for a televised practice game between Hiroshima and Hanshin are going to go through after all, as the Sky A satellite channel , which mostly services the areas around Osaka, has agreed to provide a live feed to a cable tv outfit in Hiroshima. No money will change hands.... Tigers first baseman George Arias whacked seven out of the field of play in 95 swings while concentrating on hitting the ball back through the middle. Hoshino wants him to use more of the field and thus boost his batting average....Masao Kida has signed a minor league deal with the Dodgers for $500,000, inclusive of incentives....Umpire Kazu Kobayashi told Sankei Sports that he had been orally told to keep an eye on Yomiuri reliever Rodney Pedraza by PL arbiters. Pedraza is quoted as saying that he had no idea he was under any scrutiny before....Yakult rookie Yuhei Takai said that his ideal in terms of his delivery is Kazuhisa Ishii, since Ishii, he believes, is good at using his legs when he throws. Of course, Ishii has never had outstanding control, so we'll see how Takai does....Yokohama reliever Matt Whiteside threw today in the pen and after his 33 pitch outing thought that the Japanese striek zone was "high and narrow," but that it will suit his game....According to Sankei Sports, apparently the other teams in the league don't think enough of Hiroshima's pitching to even bother to send scouts to watch them. A lot of baseball pundits had, for whatever reason, picked the Carp to win the pennant, but now they seem to be at the bottom of the priority list. What will be interesting is to see how much of a motivator that becomes for them.... Fireballing Orix reliever Kazuo Yamaguchi, continued his rehab of his surgically repaired shoulder by playing catch before engaging in some running. He still hopes to be back by opening day, but don't count on it....Swallows lefthander Masanori Ishikawa is attempting to master what he calls a sinker, but if you look at his grip (see pic Here), it resembles that of a splitter. He got hacked to pieces last season by the lefthanded part of the Yomiuri lineup, so he hopes that this pitch will rectify that....The Dodgers have dispatched two coaches, Ken Howell and Dino Ebel, on a two week mission to instruct the Buffs minor leaguers at the Kintetsu spring camp in Hinata....Over at the Bay Stars camp, Kenichi Wakatabe did this first throwing of the spring, a 33 pitch effort, all fastballs. Outfielder Tatsuhiko Kinjo, attempting to rebound from a horrible 2002 campaign, went to the ballpark and hit and hit and hit some more. He said that he's also not top choosy about what position he plays....Due to the political unrest in Venezuela, Seibu Lions first baseman Alex Cabrera is unlikely to be able to report until the 26th. A Seibu spokesman said that there's nothing they can really do about it and that the slugger will just have to play himself into shapge during the exhibition schedule.
Today's Pictures
Masao Kida When He Was With Orix
Manager Tatsunori Hara and an Interpreter fill Rodney Pedraza in on the Spitball Accusation
Trey Hillman With His Laptop After a Workout
Hillman Meets Okinawa's Governor Keiichi Inamine
Yoshinobu Takahashi Hammers One in Batting Practice
Kataoka Tries to Get Back into the Swing
Dragons Have Millar on Barbecue
See story at: Yomiuri Shimbun Article
Chunichi Gives Up on Bringing in Millar; is Court Next?
See story at: San Jose Mercury News Article
Matsui Eyes Olympic Qualifiers
See story at: Japan Times Article
Related story at: North Jersey.com Article
Coach Chosen for USA Baseball Team
See story at: Wilmington Star Article
Political Violence Hanging Up Arrival of Venezuelan MLB Players
See story at: San Jose Mercury News Article
Contreras the Next Schilling?
See story at: NY Times Article
Yankees Make More Big Signings (Satire)
See story at: The Onion Article
Replies: 4 comments
From the Boston GLobe: A source familiar with the Millar contract and with ties to Japanese baseball indicated yesterday he has seen Millar's contract with the Chunichi Dragons and the accompanying documents and said, ''They're signed. They're all valid. If there's any doubt the contracts are signed, there should not be a dispute over that. There are a lot of people saying a lot of things out there, but the contract is valid."
Millar's screwed.
Posted by Jeff @ 02/08/2003 10:16 AM EST
Destroying MLB-NPB relations might not be that bad. Maybe then, the power would go back to the players where it rightfully belongs. If the Marlins didn't lie to Millar and the Dragons waited to sign him "after" he cleared waivers (like they should have), this wouldn't have happened. But since there are so many front-office, greedy wrong-do-ers, the commissioner and union leaders might want to implement a new plan dealing with baseball player imports and exports.
Posted by Hammer @ 02/06/2003 03:51 PM EST
"There is no signed contract and Millar wants to make the Dragons whole despite the fact that they have been bullying him."
Where did you read that? The difference between Millar and Nakamura is that Millar signed a contract and Nakamura only agreed to a deal in principle.
Posted by Jeff @ 02/06/2003 08:00 AM EST
Ochoa signed with the Cardinals 5 days ago.
"At this point, though, all Selig can do is put Millar on the involuntarily retired list and wait to be served with a subpoena. If Selig backs off from a firm stance due to the prospect of litigation, then that may destory NPB-MLB relations. Please Bud, don't screw this one up, too."
There is no signed contract and Millar wants to make the Dragons whole despite the fact that they have been bullying him
-threats of litigation
-"We will end your career if you don't play for us"
-sending an escort overseas to put him on a plane
So why you are harping on him, MLB and the Sox is...well odd. I hope you are advocating that the Japanese baseball president take the same harsh steps against Nakamura (Involuntary Retirement list) as you advocate that Selig take against Millar. Or MLB-NPB relations may be destroyed!
Posted by Wills @ 02/06/2003 01:33 AM EST
