Bye, Kenji

at the same time any any event that puts more money in Zduriencik’s hands is a net positive. So, I;m going to shed one tear for Joh and meanwhile dream of Jack declining Wilson’s option and buying a nice shortstop for us.

On the one hand, AWESOME. On the other hand, awww. I liked Joh, and I always got the feeling he never really “fit”. I hope he finds success, or happiness (either / or) back in Japan.

Fell free to point out anything wrong here but the average market value is about 1win/4Million dollars. Kenji leaving us saves us 8 million and I doubt the difference between 300 Kenji ABs/300 Johnson ABs and just 600 Johnson ABs is to the order of two wins.

Provided that this allows Z to go and make a move elsewhere. Kenji leaving is great for the Ms.

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actually, I do.

He came over as a veteran catcher, with metal plates in his catching hand, and a good 20-years of ingrained habits … setting up, to moving around the plate, interacting with pitchers and umpires in a certain way … and he tried to change, he tried to do everything he was asked to do. He worked with Roger Hansen (and every other ex-catcher in the organization), he worked on his English, he wrote voluminous notes about the hitters and pitchers around the league, he apparently reined in his natural aggressiveness behind the plate, and for a while he actually hit, as well ..

At the start of this year he made the mistake of caving to Japanese pressure to play in the WBC, which put him behind with the new staff & pitchers, and then when he was back, Rob had the opportunity to play once a week, and spend the rest of the time talking to every pitcher for hours, making them all feel very special, and when Joh got hurt, and Rob took over, there was the perception in place that Rob had the magic CERA touch.

Wonder what would have happened had he come over as a younger man, had he allowed his emotions to show more in the beginning the way they sometimes did towards the end (reportedly he was a very demonstrative catcher in Japan), had his command of the language been greater from the start ….

But hooray! This is pretty awesome for the Mariners. And I’m happy for him that he can go home and still make a living while being more comfortable and close to his family.

And now I know why!

Seriously though, best of luck to him. And we all truly do appreciate his first few seasons. On a sidenote, we really need to find a decent damned catcher one of these days and keep him around for a while. But this is really, really good for the organization.

That said, I will definitely miss having Kenji around. Like you said, Graham, I will miss the wacky red glove and the power-swing and corresponding bat flip when it connected. Godspeed, Mr. Johjima. I will forever remain curious as to why you bucked convention and drove around in a blacked-out and lifted Hummer H2

That didn’t count against the alotted payroll as it was dictated by Yamauchi. If so, does this really free up money for GMZ to spend?

and simply sit back and trust that Z knows what to do. And I like being able to talk about faith in the GM with sincerity.

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Still, the extra money’s nice.

I liked kenji, but that contract was just stupid. Hooray for good news

Also the Japanese online comments.

What an honorable thing to do. I’ll always respect you, Mr. Johjima

but his son is of an age to be starting school, which would mean the family stays back in Japan.

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Come on. Be realistic. Kenji’s definitely getting a little something off-the-books from Yamauichi or persons close to that part of the ownership. I don’t have to have any inside knowledge to know that this is far and away the most likely scenario, and that it’s furthermore consistent with Jack Z. claiming there was no buyout. (If it were to ever come to light it would merely be characterized as something else, a “gift” perhaps.)

I just hope that Rob’s surgeries make it so he has to be released. I can imagine that he’s really happy about this, that smug grin on his fat face…god I hate him…

last friday they were running articles in Japan about the likelihood of Joh’s return

I’m going to miss him.