Matsuzaka posted...

by Dollar97 on Oct 10, 2006 9:48 AM PDT

He is posted: http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2006/10/10/sports/AS_SPT_BBL_Matsuzaka_Majors.php

Now the bidding starts!

300 word minimum...TOKYO Highly regarded pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka was given permission by the Seibu Lions on Tuesday to pursue a career in the major leagues, according to local media reports.

Matsuzaka is still one year away from becoming a free agent but Seibu is expected to use the posting system in which major league teams present bids for Japanese players with the highest bidder winning negotiating rights, Kyodo News agency reported Tuesday.

Matsuzaka, who has drawn interest from several major league teams including the New York Yankees, finished the 2006 regular season with a career-high 17 wins against five losses.

The 26-year-old right-hander posted a 2.13 earned run average and 200 strikeouts.

Matsuzaka has long been considered one of the brightest prospects in Japanese professional baseball.

In his eight-year career in Japan, Matsuzaka has led the Pacific League in wins three times and in strikeouts four times while winning the ERA title twice and the Sawamura Award, Japan's version of the Cy Young Award, once.

Matsuzaka impressed major league scouts when he helped Japan win the inaugural World Baseball Classic title last March and was named MVP of the tournament.

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Beautiful!

Now, Mariners front office, DO YOUR JOB!

"I'VE GOT BLISTERS ON ME FINGERS!!"
--Stewie Griffin AND Josh Beckett

by Phil Hatzenbuehler on Oct 10, 2006 9:54 AM PDT reply actions

This is good news

I will come at you like a spider monkey

by Scruffy Lefty on Oct 10, 2006 10:10 AM PDT reply actions

Well...

Posting season doesn't start 'til the first of next month.

Detect-O-Vision Whatever. M's not gonna win the Pennant.

by IcebreakerX on Oct 10, 2006 10:26 AM PDT reply actions

I was wondering why I couldn't find this info

anywhere else

I will come at you like a spider monkey

by Scruffy Lefty on Oct 10, 2006 10:33 AM PDT up reply actions

What Happens

with fan reaction if the Yanks make a bid of 30 mil and win the rights to Matsuzaka? Sealed bids mean there are no guarantees to not being outbid.

by MfaninAlaska on Oct 10, 2006 10:40 AM PDT reply actions

If that happens

then too bad for us. I fear how a Matsuzaka-less offseason plays out.

by Jeff Sullivan on Oct 10, 2006 10:45 AM PDT up reply actions

Jason Schmidt and pray for war

by Gomez on Oct 10, 2006 10:46 AM PDT up reply actions

Please no Schmidt.

I think I might even prefer Zito over him.

by Jeff Sullivan on Oct 10, 2006 10:48 AM PDT up reply actions

I'm not saying I want him

because I don't either, but I've got a bad feeling....

by Gomez on Oct 10, 2006 11:10 AM PDT up reply actions

A Matsuzaka-Less off-season

Should be plan A.... Plan B should be the plan if the M's are lucky enough to win the bidding.

This posting process is alot like rolling dice to see who gets the highest number. Once you make your roll you don't get a second chance to beat the competition. If you win.. great, but you can't plan your season on a random roll of the dice.. which is what the posting process correlates to.

Just my opinion because it seems that alot of people have come to the mindset that just because he's posted the M's will automatically win it.

by MfaninAlaska on Oct 10, 2006 11:00 AM PDT up reply actions

Well

How much more money can the Yankees possibly spend?

by Graham MacAree on Oct 10, 2006 11:05 AM PDT up reply actions

They pretty much...

...can spend what they want. 4 million fans a year through the gates plus YES means they more or less have a license to print money.

Nice Guys Finish Third - Hopelessly lost, but makin' good time.

by pdb on Oct 10, 2006 12:53 PM PDT up reply actions

Well, to be fair

while I absolutely agree that the Mariners need to have a plan in case they fall short of landing Matsuzaka, I don't think they'll have to be "lucky" to get him. We know they're going to put a lot of money on the table, and to the best of my knowledge this is the only team with a mysterious Japanese player slush fund where the posting fee doesn't count against payroll, so that gives Seattle an inherent leg-up on the competition.

You have to worry about the Yankees going crazy to patch up their shortcomings, but I still consider the Mariners the most likely destination for Matsuzaka should he make the transition to the Majors.

by Jeff Sullivan on Oct 10, 2006 11:13 AM PDT up reply actions

You're right, Jeff

They don't have to be "lucky." They have to be committed. The biggest challenge to throwing dollars around is certainly the Yankees, but they have just taken a pretty solid punch to the gut that said "See, it is still hard to buy a World Series and that's what makes baseball a beautiful game" (ok, I made that last part up). Even if NY dumps A-Rod, they won't be able to dump all of his salary. Maybe, just maybe, this is the perfect time to catch "The Boss" being cash-sensitive.

If the M's want Matsuzaka, all they have to do is outspend the competition. Of course, it wouldn't hurt to know what the Yankees were bidding. Those investigators who were working for Hewlett-Packard are not in jail (yet), and they have legal bills to pay!

by kva15 on Oct 10, 2006 1:25 PM PDT up reply actions

From what I am hearing...

they are looking to post a $32.5M bid. Actually was hearing that over a month ago. Now that they didn't go very far in the playoffs, I could see it higher than that.

by ppl4life on Oct 10, 2006 11:18 AM PDT up reply actions

I am pretty sure someone mistranslated

some article like this one.

There hasn't been any such agreement yet.

That article, for example, says that now that the Lions are knocked out, he was going to sit down with the team owner to discuss it, and that he came out alone to wave goodbye to fans during the playoffs, and that they expect the posting fees to be in the $30 million range if he does post. But it does NOT say he's been posted, just that they'll be discussing it.

Marinerds - a different daily dose of baseblog.

by Deanna on Oct 10, 2006 11:05 AM PDT reply actions

ya it did seem a little weird

that he would of posted while the playoffs were still in session

I will come at you like a spider monkey

by Scruffy Lefty on Oct 10, 2006 11:07 AM PDT up reply actions

Check this one out...

http://www.japanbaseballdaily.com/pacificleague10-9-2006.html

I killed a 12 pack just to watch it die...

by Dollar97 on Oct 10, 2006 11:17 AM PDT up reply actions

Yeah, I'm sure that

Gary read the same article I just referred to. He and I correspond about Japanese baseball fairly frequently, as we tend to follow the same sources.

(also, I think we're both equivalently sick of the whole Matsuzaka thing)

Marinerds - a different daily dose of baseblog.

by Deanna on Oct 10, 2006 11:20 AM PDT up reply actions

Blasphemy!

"I'VE GOT BLISTERS ON ME FINGERS!!"
--Stewie Griffin AND Josh Beckett

by Phil Hatzenbuehler on Oct 10, 2006 11:36 AM PDT up reply actions

He's like the fucking Yankees.

Always killing the teams I care about, and always in the press no matter whether there are much more important things to be talking about.

Marinerds - a different daily dose of baseblog.

by Deanna on Oct 10, 2006 12:22 PM PDT up reply actions

You'd change your tune...

If he was in Mariners teal. Of course, if he ends up in Pinstripes, well... then please continue.

DAMNIT!

by TIF @ Lookout Landing on Oct 10, 2006 1:39 PM PDT up reply actions

Maybe.

But I'm doubting he will be.

And for the time being, it pisses me off that Matsuzaka rumors get front page billing when much more important things are going on, like the Chunichi Dragons clinching the CL pennant or the Fighters and Hawks starting the second stage of the PL playoffs. Fighters haven't won a pennant since 1981 or a Series since 1962, and the Dragons were in the 2004 Series, but haven't actually won it since 1954. This is going to be a damn amazing postseason... but since it's not Yomiuri, Hanshin, or Matsuzaka, it gets second billing, just like anything here that isn't Red Sox or Yankees.

Marinerds - a different daily dose of baseblog.

by Deanna on Oct 10, 2006 2:08 PM PDT up reply actions

So what you're really saying is

Matsuzaka = Jeter.

If the dreaded Yanks do get DM, will ESPN have a Jetzakagasm?

by Jed C on Oct 10, 2006 2:34 PM PDT up reply actions

JEET JEET JEET!

Willie Bloomquist and Mike Hargrove suck

by Mariner John on Oct 10, 2006 3:21 PM PDT up reply actions

As far as I know

I have been checking out Japanese news papers, and as far as I know, Matsuzaka is not formally posted yet. There are lots of reports saying that he will very likely be posted, because the club has "hinted" that they will post him. He will meet with the CEO of the club shortly, and then we'll know for sure what they decided.

kupo!

by toshi on Oct 10, 2006 3:00 PM PDT reply actions