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12/11/2003 Archived Entry: "Japanese Baseball News: Rhodes Agrees to Yomiuri Deal; Ihara Blasts Matsui, Watanabe"
Ex-Cub A Six Million Dollar Man
Kintetsu Buffaloes free agent slugger Tuffy Rhodes is reported to have agreed to a two year contract with the Yomiuri Giants for a total of 1.5 billion yen (approximately $13 million). According to Sankei Sports, only what are termed, "technical details" remain to be worked out. The former Cub is the all time foreign homer leader.
Team Reports
Hanshin Former number one draft choice Taiyo Fujita is working on his conditioning, but hasn't started throwing yet after going out for the season with an elbow injury. It is hoped that he can return to action with the Tigers at the start of the second half of the coming season.....As you read this, the Tigers will have arrived on Australia's Gold Coast on their victory trip. The party includes 170 players, team officials and family members....New addition Katsuhiko Maekawa will make the same amount next season that he made in the last one, approximately $400,000. The 25 year old will wear his age on his back for Hanshin after coming over from Kintetsu.....Both George Arias and Mike Kinkade have reportedly signed their contracts. Kinkade said that he had offers from other Japanese teams, but that having his friend Jerrod Riggan with Hanshin persuaded him to go to Osaka....Catcher Akihiro Yano, who was just named the Gold Glove recipient at his position Wednesday after a near-MVP campaign, has a four year contract. Even with those facts, Yano's deal, for tax reasons, calls for a salary decrease. However, Yano refused to put his hanko (signature stamp) on this year's part of the pact and is hoping that the club's front office will put a little extra side cash into the deal. Team officials, though, commented, "that would be tough." In other words, no. Yano's salary will decrease once more during the final year of his deal in 2005.
Yomiuri Little righthander Yuya Kubo pocketed a $270,000 pay rise while outfielder Takahiro Suzuki leapt up by approximately $215,000. Reliever Tsuyoshi Jobe absorbed a $5400 cut to end up at around $250,000.
Yakult Infielder Ken Suzuki was bestowed with a more than $430,000 salary boost to around $700,000 after being one of the biggest surprises of the 2003 schedule just when it looked as if a civilian sector job was looming for him before coming to Tokyo from Seibu and grabbing a Best Nine and a co-Comeback Player of the Year Award....Outfielder Mitsuru Manaka had his paycheck slashed by $18,000 to fall to about $900,000....Shortstop Shinya Miyamoto, who, at 33, is perhaps unrealistically hoping for a five year contract from the Swallows, is threatening to leave via free agency. He becomes eligible for it in 2004. Yakult has offered a three year pact with two more option years and around $1.5 million per in salary, an amount that the five time Gold Glove recipient has deemed inadequate. MLB will not be an option for him, however, since he won't hit enough at that level to be viable....Reliever Futoshi Yamabe cadged an $81,000 rise to about $380,000 and appealed to the team to use a deader ball during its home games. There is no standard brand used by NPB. Rather, each club can determine that for themselves as long as the selected pelotas fall within league guidelines. Mizuno baseballs are well known for having more of a rabbit quality to them while others don't go as far when struck.
Chunichi Second baseman Masahiro Araki snatched an $81,000 salary increase to about $400,000 despite batting .237. Swingman Makoto Kito had his pay packet fattened by just short of $65,000 to around $560,000. Outfielder Takayuki Onishi will put away an additional $155,000 for a total 2004 salary of $540,000....According to Sankei Sports, third baseman Kazuyoshi Tatsunami needs only 34 more doubles for 450 lifetime, which would put him one above former Hankyu great Yutaka Fukumoto's present standard of 449 lifetime. He also needs 100 singles to move into the top ten all time in the one base knock department. He is currently 19th. Tatsunami also scooped up a Gold Glove Wednesday, making it his third position for which he has earned that citation....Former Yokohama hurler Domingo Guzman is close to a contract with the Dragons, according to Chunichi Sports....Veteran infielder Masahiro Kawai signed with the Nagoya crew for around $275,000, more than $500,000 less than he made with Yomiuri last year. He will also have another $180,000 available in incentives....Masafumi Hirai is seeking a big raise over the approximately $150,000 he banked in 2003 after leading the pitching staff in wins, though he didn't disclose the figure he is hoping for.
Hiroshima The team's 2004 slogan will be, "Will to Victory." It should be, "we'll try to stay out of last, honest!"...Pitcher Ken Takahashi left the negotiating table with a more than $160,000 salary increase to around $720,000. The 34 year old southpaw also seemed to be hinting that he would be using his free agent rights, for which he will qualify after this coming season....Catcher Shuji Nishiyama endured a 25% pay cut and signed for around $450,000. At 36 and a minus defensively, Nishiyama is soon headed for retirement....Pinch hitting specialist Kojiro Machida had his salary axed down by $65,000 to about $340,000 after hitting only .229.
Yokohama Centerfielder Tatsuhiko Kinjo signed for $540,000 plus another $180,000 in incentives. The team strategy may become one of holding down salaries and then loading up on incentive clauses.....Ace Daisuke Miura was upped by more than $700,000 to almost $2 million despite going 5-5 and started the season late due to an elbow problem....Infielder Shuichi Murata was offered a $180,000 raise to about $315,000 and took it....First baseman Takahiro Saeki was whacked with a $135,000 salary hit down to about $770,000.....Leftfielder Takanori Suzuki was given a $360,000 salary increase to approximately $2 million. Him and his new wife will honeymoon in San Diego starting on the 19th while also working out at a Padres practice facility there.
Daiei Lefthander Tsuyoshi Wada visited Wednesday with the governor of his native Shimane Prefecture, Nobuyoshi Sumida. He was accompanied by his parents. In addition, a supporters association ("koenkai") has been started in Izumo for the Tokyo Big Six University League all time strikeout king....106 Team players, officials and family members arrived in Hawaii on the team's victory vacation Tuesday.
Seibu Ace Daisuke Matsuzaka said a couple of days ago that he wants to pitch in MLB. Certainly, if he has another crackerjack year like last season, he will have little else to prove and thus emigrating to a higher level would be called for. Moreover, he has fans high up in the Seattle organization and would no doubt fetch more than a $10 million bid if he was posted. But while the Lions ownership has previously said they would honor whatever the Pacific League's most popular player wants, they are mum so far on this development. Matsuzaka was given a $750,000 pay increase and will make in excess of $1.8 million next season. He is only the third player in Japanese history to pull in 200 million yen in his sixth pro year out of high school....Yankees minor league shortstop Erick Almonte is on the shortlist of possible foreign additions by Seibu, according to Sports Nippon. His brother, Hector, pitched for two seasons with Yomiuri and pretty much pouted himself out of a job there. The younger Almonte batted .260 in 31 games in the Boronx this past season with one homer and 11 RBIs. The Lions believe that Almonte has potential to hit for enough power in the PL to overcome his defensive shortcomings. Hiroyuki Nakajima, who is penciled in for now as Kazuo Matsui's replacement, could be moved to third if Almonte is brought in....Outfielder Tatsuya Ozeki's early season slump cost him in the wallet, as his pay was decreased by $45,000 to a little over $1.3 million....A big reason why the Lions didn't repeat as PL champs was Fumiya Nishiguchi's game going to hell. So he had his salary pummeled down to about $1.6 million, about $400,000 less than last year's pay packet.
Kintetsu First baseman Yuji Yoshioka was offered a 10% salary cut by the team. Yoshioka had his first ever .300 campaign in 2003, but also had his fewest homers and RBIs in four years....Middle reliever Toyohiko Yoshida had his salary improved by about $110,000 to $360,000 with another $90,000 incentives....Top draft pick Ryota Katsuki signed his first pro contract for a bonus of $900,000 plus $135,000 in salary and another $450,000 in incentives. He will wear number 17....First baseman/DH Hirotoshi Kitagawa was offered about a $100,000 salary increase, but was hoping for a little more and is holding off signing for now. Same is true of infielder Osamu Hoshino, who was proferred a $90,000 boost. Hoshino stood in for injured slugger Norihiro Nakamura and played some short as well, accumulating 12 homers while batting .274.
Lotte Catcher Toshiya Satozaki notched a more than $125,000 salary rise to about $205,000. He batted .319 in 2003 and dislodged veteran Masaumi Shimizu from his starter's role.
Nippon Ham In a move that should help the Fighters dire pitching situation, they acquired lefthander Yusaku Iriki from Yomiuri for centerfielder Tatsuya Ide. Ide, who is a decent enough ballhawk but who hasn't provided enough of a stick to keep his job, would give the Giants some flexibility in their outfield defense, especially in later innings. Iriki, a former number one draft choice by the kyojin, was injured almost all of 2003. He won 13 games in 2001....Tsutomu Iwamoto had his salary hacked down by more than $125,000 to around $485,000....Pitcher Satoru Kanemura got hitched to former tv personality Ayako Okuda Wednesday in front of 200 invited guests.
Orix Normally not exactly what you would call a beautiful girl, 2000 olympic and six time world judo champion Ryoko "Yawara" Tamura was absolutely stunning in her bridal gown Thursday as she tied the knot at a Paris church with Blue Wave centerfielder Yoshitomo Tani before their respective family members. Both Tamura and Tani will be part of the Japanese contingent at Athens next year. Following the end of the ceremony, all concerned recomvened aboard a boat on the Seinne River for the
reception....Former Seibu skipper Haruki Ihara had some stern words for former charge Kazuo Matsui Wednesday while speaking at Shibaura Kogyo University. "If he gets back to basics, he will put up some numbers. However, the last two or three years, he seems to have started to lose that hungry mentality". Ihara also hammered Yomiuri owner Tsuneo Watanabe, urging him to quit. "You put a team together like he's doing now and fans will stay away in droves. They can't run with the personnel they have now. They will just sit back and hit and that is not fun to watch. If [Watanabe] asked me to manage his team, I would turn him down"...Makoto Suzuki, who was lit up to beat the band last season, was given a substantial raise to $450,000. He will pitch in a Mexican winter league....Pitcher Hiroshi Kobayashi saw his pay sink by more than $45,000 to around $390,000....Orix, according to Hochi Sports, is interested in former Hanshin and Atlanta lefty Trey Moore. They have reportedly contacted Moore's agent.
Miscellaneous Former Yokohama first baseman Steve Cox has been signed by St. Louis as a backup. Here's to hoping that Steve bounces back and has a great 2004....I have said it before and will say it again since former Kintetsu and Chunichi righty Akinori Otsuka concluded his deal with San Diego Wednesday, but his acquisition for a mere $300,000 will be the steal of the year....After looking at all the articles that came out in the last couple of days about the Otsuka and Kazuo Matsui signings, kudos to the U.S. sports media for doing such a superb job covering them. The last year, U.S. media have largely done a fine job getting their facts straight when they have written about Japanese baseball, a nice change from years past. And to clear up another factual mistake by the Japanese press, Matsui will, according to baseball scribe David Lennon, wear number 25, not 7, with the Mets since the latter digit is worn by Jose Reyes. Incidently, a reporter asked the Yankees Hideki Matsui what advice he would offer his last namesake. Godzilla replied that he will need to be careful while driving since the road manners of New Yorkers are so awful....Hanshin will battle Orix when the spring training exhibition ("open sen") schedule opens with a five game slate on February 28th. Yokohama will play the most matches, 22, while Nippon Ham is satisifed with just 13. The regular season starts on March 27th in the Pacific League while the Central League gets underway on April 2nd....Playing interleague games during the regular schedule is still being discussed, but one issue that concerns NPB officials is matchups. According to Sankei Sports, they would like to somehow avoid the Japanese equivalent of a Pirates-Detroit Tigers faceoff since nobody would be interested. So it would be up to the lower tier teams to elevate their games in order to make interleague battles a reality. Of course, one could also posit that Central League owners would use the competitveness issue merely as an excuse to headoff the interleague idea so that they can keep all of their games with the popular Giants....Japan's pro umpires are still haggling with the leagues over their salaries and no agreement has been reached.
High School Baseball's Heart of Darkness
See story at: Yomiuri Shimbun Article
Mets and Matsui are a Marriage
See a fine piece of writing from Tom Singer at: MLB.com Article
See related story at: MLB.com Article
See another related story at: NY Times Article
Little Matsui Gets Big Welcome to New York
See story at: Channel News Asia Article
See related story at: Voice of America Article
See another related story at: NY Post Article
Matsuis are Now New York's Odd Couple
See story at: NY Daily News Article
Matsui no A-Rod, But He'll Do
See story at: NY Post Article
See related story at: NY Times Article
See another related story at: MSNBC Article
New York Press Already Putting Pressure on Matsui
See story at: NY Daily News Article
Mets Fans Like Matsui Addition
See story at: Newsday Article
Kaz Brings Pizzazz
See story at: Stamford Advocate Article
Otsuka's Dream Comes True as He Signs With Padres
See story at: North County Times Article
See related story at: MLB.com Article
Rupe, Seguignol Japan Bound
See story at: Japan Today Article
Pro Baseball Teams Vow to Expel Yakuza
See story at: Mainichi Shimbun Article
Seung-yeop Lee Tearfully Signs With Lotte
See story at: Dong-A Ilbo Article
See related story at: Chosun Ilbo Article
Lee Dominates KBO Awards
See story at: Korea Times Article
Lee Hammered by Korean Press and Fans for Lotte Signing
See story at: Korea Times Article
To the L.A. Times and the Hartford Courant
I wish I knew what idiots in the newspaper business are requiring that readers have to sign up and give them personal information before they are allowed to read their online publications, but I would like to strangle them. First of all, if your readers are smart, they will lie, making their databse of collected info virtually useless. After all, what the Times and Courant and their brethren ask for is none of their business. Consequently, since they don't provide any way to bypass that subscription screen, I won't send the average of 30-40,000 people a day who read this site to those papers by linking to their articles. I'm sure their advertisers would be glad to know that. So I say to the Times, the Courant, and others, KNOCK IT OFF!
