International Archives

Bob Watson doesn't want Roger Clemens on the US Olympic team. What about Barry Bonds?

A high school team in Japan scored sixty-six runs while using just four outs before the trailing team quit:

The coach of Kawamoto technical high school threw in the towel to spare his pitcher's arm with his team losing 66-0 with just one batter out in the bottom of the second.

The hapless hurler had already sent down over 250 pitches, allowing 26 runs in the first inning and 40 in the second before Kawamoto asked for mercy.

"At that pace the pitcher would have thrown around 500 pitches in four innings," Kawamoto's coach was quoted as saying. "There was a danger he could get injured."

It's good to know they have a 250 pitch limit for high school pitchers in Japan. Cole Hamels would have been out after 30 runs!

Thanks to Charles Hamm for the link.

The number of foreign born players dropped this year, but I found this interesting:

The New York Mets (15) had the most foreign-born players for the third straight year and were followed by Seattle (14), and the Chicago Cubs, Cleveland, Detroit and the New York Yankees (11 each).

Those are all very good franchises. It looks like it pays to invest internationally.

The Athletics aren't very happy with their status on this trip:

Officially, the A's are the home team, wearing the home uniforms and batting last. But somehow, the Sox were given the home dugout and the home clubhouse, which is significantly roomier with additional trainer's rooms.

...

But the playing of "Sweet Caroline,'' the Red Sox' unofficial them song, in the middle of the eighth inning may have sent the A's completely over the edge

.

Winning and hiring Japanese stars has its advantages.

Kevin Youkilis like Matsuzaka better than Kobe.

Last night, I ate Matsuzaka beef for dinner. It's actually better than Kobe beef. It's the best beef you can have. I guess Matsuzaka is a city or a region in Japan. No, the beef is not named after Dice-K! But it was very tasty.

Here's the MLB side of the story:

According to the source, in the past, the coaches' compensation has come from the players' portion of the pool. This time around the coaches were eliminated from that pool. Did someone not tell the players? That'll be the interesting question to Sox player reps after the game.

The source said that coaches, and managers as well as the training staff will all be compensated and the final amount is expected to exceed $40,000 per man.

The major league source was miffed that they are being portrayed as the ones who backed out of an agreement.

Update: Here's Youkilis on the agreement.

"The conference call (in October) was tough in and of itself. There were six or seven players on it. In the business world conference calls are not the easiest way. You hear voices and everyone's talking. We definitely knew what we were told. There was added stuff just to get us to go over there. I can't blame one person for the misunderstanding. I think the next time we know going forward that when you have these conference calls, you have to get it in writing. It's the easiest way to do stuff. One thing that will be addressed at players' union meetings now is that you have to put it in writing and be on the same page. We found out today. It's a learning process, we're moving forward and we're going to have a lot of fun over there."

How could it not be put in writing? Someone dropped the ball here, quite possibly the MLBPA. Luckily for all involved it all worked out.

Update: Larry Lucchino is on the game broadcast now, and he says one problem today was that the lawyers for MLB and the MLBPA who negotiated the deal are in China.

The Red Sox are taking the field.

Update: The Japan trip is on, and Youkilis will speak about the settlement after the game.

The Red Sox are not taking the field for the game against Toronto. They're sitting on the bench.

Update: I really love this. For a long time, people like Al Bethke have been making a positive case for Bud Selig's legacy. Fortunately, every once in a while Bud reminds us that we dislike him because the organization he runs can be quite dishonest. Kudos to the Red Sox players for bringing that to our attention.

Update: The Red Sox players left the dugout and retreated to the clubhouse.

Update: There seems to be plenty of blame to go around on all sides.

The Red Sox players are upset a promised payment to coaches for the Japan trip was withdrawn (It's not clear if this was the team or MLB making the promise.) They've voted not to go unless the coaches get paid:

''When we voted to go to Japan, that was not a unanimous vote,'' said Lowell, "but we did what our team wanted us to do for Major League Baseball. They promised us the moon and the stars and then when we committed, they started pulling back. It's not just the coaches, it's the staff, the trainers, a lot of people are affected by this.

"I'm so super proud of this team, when we put it to a vote it was unanimous, we're all in agreement that we're not going to put up with this.''

I suspect the funds will be available quickly.

Update: The sides are talking. This appears to be a case of Major League Baseball lying.

Schilling said a few things have already been "taken away" by Major League Baseball, according to the pitcher.

"In October when we were on the phone call, they wanted this trip to happen so badly, and now they've fallen by the wayside time and time again. The things we were adamant about at the time we reiterated time and time again, and it was never an issue."

What things?

"Different personal things that were supposed to happen from an accommodations standpoint. Little things that tend to make trips like this easier. It's been more than one thing. Hopefully, it's just miscommunication, and it will be fixed," Schilling said.

A great way to run a business.

Update: There appears to be plenty of blame to go around on both sides.

After playing to a 3-3 tie Saturday, the Padres defeat the Dodgers 6-3 on Sunday to win the the only Major League series played in China. They even played "Hells Bells" when Hoffman came into pitch.

The first game between Major League teams in China ended in a 3-3 tie.

The Padres visited the Great Wall of China:

Padres manager Bud Black described the goodwill trip as a chance for MLB to "sow a few seeds," saying the games themselves were of little importance. Both teams have brought just a handful of starters, leaving most of their top pitchers in the United States.

"The popularity of basketball here just went off the charts when Yao Ming got to the NBA," Black said. "That's what baseball is looking for."

Traipsing to the apex of the twisting wall was a test of fitness. Becky Moores, wife of Padres team owner John Moores, made it to the highest rampart. After arriving several days ago in the polluted air of Beijing, she welcomed the clean air of the countryside.

"Now I can breathe, my chest is open," she said.

Betsy Gonzalez, the wife of first baseman Adrian Gonzalez, managed to get three-quarters up the wall wearing 3-inch heels.

"I'm always in high heels so I'm used to it," she said.

Replied her husband: "It would be like me going three times as far as I went. That's incredible to climb all the way up there in high heels."

Here's a picture of my daughter on the Great Wall from 2006. She didn't attempt the climb in heels. :-)

The Padres are in China, and Gaslamp Ball provides links to relevant stories on the trip.

My daughter visited China two years ago on a school trip. The two interesting things she noticed were:

• Soldiers were everywhere.
• The Chinese went out of their way to explain they had no classes, yet a stratification of society was clearly evident walking around the cities where beggars abound.

She really loved the trip and the family that hosted her stay, but she also understood the reality of China. I wonder if the players and press on this trip are going to be insulated from that?

The Baseball Musings pledge drive continues through March. Please consider making a donation.

River Ave. Blues is enjoying the fact that the Red Sox suddenly aren't too happy with the Japan trip.

The Baseball Musings pledge drive continues through March. Please consider making a donation.

The Athletics and Red Sox players will receive as much as $50,000 each for their appearance in Tokyo. Plus, there are special roster rules in effect:

All travel expenses will be covered for 30 players from both teams, although the clubs can bring additional players if they pay the extra travel costs. There will be 28-man rosters for the two regular-season games, but the teams must designate three players as inactive for the games in order to comply with the 25-man regular-season limit.

That ensures that the three players designated as inactive will not lose two days of service time. The three inactive players almost assuredly will be the Nos. 3, 4 and 5 starters, who are not expected to work in the two games but could pitch in the exhibition games against Japanese teams that precede the season opener March 25.

So teams will be able to carry extra hitters and or extra relievers, giving each manager more flexibility than he might have in a normal regular season game.

The Dodgers and Padres will play exhibition games in China in March. If MLB and successfully interest even a fraction of the Chinese population in baseball, the benefits in both increased revenue and supply of players would be huge.

The Pittsburgh Pirates are investing heavily in a new Dominican baseball academy.

"Latin America needs to be an even greater priority for our ballclub," Nutting said. "The Pirates have had a great history of Latino ballplayers making a significant impact at the major-league level, including the great Roberto Clemente. Today, no team has more opportunity or, frankly, a greater need to acquire and develop quality players from this region than we do."

Players in Latin America are not included in Major League Baseball's draft and, thus, available only as free agents.

"This facility will help our baseball operations staff attract, retain and teach the best players, coaches and scouts in the region," Nutting said.

General manager Neal Huntington said the academy "will provide us with an advantage in recruiting players, while providing an optimal setting to teach our young players not only baseball skills but also life skills."

I like everything I'm seeing so far from the new Pirates management team. However, I liked Littlefield for a long time, too. We'll see if this group does more than just talk a good game.

Team USA defeats Cuba to win the World Cup.

The Boston Red Sox open the season on the road against the Oakland Athletics. The first two games, however, take place in Tokyo.

Boston and Oakland will be the third set of teams to open the regular season at the Tokyo Dome, following the New York Mets and Chicago Cubs (2000), and the New York Yankees and Tampa Bay Devil Rays (2004). A scheduled 2003 series between Oakland and Seattle at the Tokyo Dome was canceled because of the threat of war in Iraq.

"Opening our regular season in Japan for the third time is another example of Major League Baseball's commitment to continue the global growth of the game," commissioner Bud Selig said in a statement.

I still wish MLB would do more to make the Japanese leagues more competitive with the North American leagues. Free trading between the teams, and free agents going both ways, as well as eliminating the draft to allow players to sign anywhere in the world.

Frank Osterhaus writes:

Thought I'd let you know that yesterday marked the passing of Kazuhisa "Iron Man" Inao, former pitcher for the Nishitetsu Lions of the Japan Leagues. His career ERA was 1.98, and his "signature moment" occurred during the 1958 Japan Series. His team had lost the first three games (including one by Inao) of the best-of-seven match to the Yomiuri Giants, and he came in to pitch Game 4. He pitched his team to a complete-game victory, and then in the next game was called on to pitch in late-inning relief in a tie game. That game went into extra innings and Inao won it by hitting a "sayonara" homerun in the bottom of the 11th. With an off-day to rest, Inao was called upon to start Game 6, in which he again won in a complete game. Game 7 followed and again Inao was tabbed to start and again Inao pitched a complete game and won the Series for the Lions. Inao got the "W" for all four games.

Here's his obituary.

Widely seen as one of Japanese pro baseball's all-time great pitchers, Inao logged a lifetime 276-137 record, playing his entire career with the Lions until 1969.

He led the Lions to three consecutive Japan Series championships. In he tied the record for most wins in a season with 42 triumphs.

That's quite a career. My thoughts go out to his family and friends, and all his Japanese fans.

The Chunichi Dragons won the Japan Series on a combined perfect game.

The Kansas City Royals' new manager and his Nippon Ham Fighters lost 1-0 to the Chunichi Dragons when Daisuke Yamai and Hitoki Iwase combined on a perfect game in Game 5 of the seven-game series, giving the Dragons the championship of Japanese baseball.

...

The first perfect game in the 57 years of the Japan Series gave the Dragons their first title in 53 years.

Yamai, playing in his sixth professional season, struck out six over eight perfect innings, and Iwase retired the final three batters in order in the ninth.

Tyrone Woods scored the only run of the game on a sacrifice fly by Ryosuke Hirata in the second inning.

My daughter has friends in Hokkaidō, the home of the Fighters, so I'm sorry to see them lose. But a perfect game in a championship round is a rare occurrence and something to be celebrated. It took 54 World Series for that to happen in a US playoff. Congratulations to the Dragons on their championship!

Joe Posnanski traveled to Japan to cover their championship series. The Nippon Ham Fighters are managed by soon to be Royals skipper Trey Hillman. Right now, the the Fighters are down two games to one.

The Chunichi Dragons scored seven big runs in the first inning - they knocked Fighters starter Masaru Takeda out after he had retired only one batter - and then finished the job by destroying Hillman's team 9-1. This was just two days after the Dragons destroyed the Fighters 8-1. So, add it up, the Dragons now have a 2 game to 1 lead in this best-of-seven series, and right now it looks like they are a whole lot better than the Fighters.

Then again, it has looked that way all year for Hillman and his team. They scored the fewest runs of any team in Japan this year and hit the fewest home runs, and still they won their league outright. So, you never know.

"Don't underestimate us," Hillman says about his team. "That's when we'll get you."

Matsuzaka Watch believes that the Red Sox winning the World Series will cement Boston as Japan's team:

That's my Yankee perspective. It's grim. For the rest of you, our there in Red Sox Nation, there is only glory ahead. One of the more disturbing turn of events from my perspective, which should make you smile, is that Matsuzaka and Okajima winning the championship will solidify the Red Sox as Japan's team. It has always been the Yankees since the days of Babe Ruth. Matsui is the darling of Yomiuri Giants fans in their 30's, 40's, 50's, and up. Matsuzaka is the darling of anyone younger and certainly every kid in the country. By winning it all, there will be a death knell for the future of the Yankees in Japan. It's all about Boston and the red, white, and blue.

He's also very optimistic about Dice-K's performance tonight. I'm not, unless he throws nothing but fastballs.

For subscribers, my latest Baseball Prospectus column looks at the future of the relationship between MLB and Nippon Professional Baseball.

MLB FanHouse notes the end of the last AAA franchise in Canada. In an era when MLB is trying to expand international participation in the sport, interest keeps waning in one of the earliest countries to play the game.

The Israel Baseball League kicked off its inaugural season.

The FanHouse links to an article on how US teams are worried about the politics in Venezuela might stop the flow of players from that country to the majors.

The Feed comments on a story about "Fight Money" in Japan:

Kei Igawa or Hideki Matsui could provide some more information about the system. The money sometimes comes from management or sometimes right from the manager's pocket and no two teams use the same system. Igawa said that he would receive in the neighborhood of $1,000 for a good performance while with the Hanshin Tigers but sometimes you received gifts other than money from the team or from sponsors. Matsui, for example, received several cars for his successes while Igawa got hot plates. That sounds bad but the mighty Matsuzaka played for Seibu, who didn't give fight money, and would have to figure out what to do with two dozen cans of coffee after a big win.

This works in Japan because players are paid less money than here in the US. However, I'd like to see an All-Star payout, rather than the current system of awarding a league home field advantage. Get a sponsor to put up a significant amount of money that the players on the winning team get to split. Make it a winner take all game with a $10 million purse to be split by the active players and the manager. Then you'll get a meaningful game.

Gordon Edes talks with Masanori Murakami, Don Nomura and others about the continuing growth of Japanese players in Major League Baseball. It sounds to me like there is going to be changes coming in the next few years to the Asian game:

But no one ever envisioned the posting system resulting in a bid as exorbitant as the Red Sox' $51.1 million offer for the right to talk to Matsuzaka. When the numbers get that high, only the team with the winning bid walks away happy. Consider: other major league teams resent how high the bids climb; the player is annoyed that money that is his is instead collected by his former club; and the other Japanese teams are jealous of their adversary's windfall.

That's what's happening in Japan, said Nomura, who was in Tokyo for the opening of the 2007 Nippon Professional Baseball season. Lucchino, now the Red Sox president and CEO, joked that he may yet again prove catalyst to change; Nomura, who as an agent has his own interests to protect, believes change must occur.

Kuwata believes there are at least a couple of players on each Japanese team that could play in the big leagues. Colborn suggests the number is higher. Nomura believes there are 25 to 40 players in Japan who could play in the majors. There will be significant resistance by Japanese teams to the exodus, he said, but added there are ways to redress the declining TV audience in Japan. "My suggestion is for a new league, including Taiwan, Korea, and China," Nomura said. "The countries are three hours apart on any flight.

"They have to find a way to survive. This would lead to a real World Series."

And the Asian leagues need to start integrating with the North American leagues. A set of rules on drafting, trading and free agency will spread the talent more evenly over the two areas, allowing both to thrive and making the game more popular world wide.

Japan's best players already head to the United States when they become free agents, and now there is a fear that the best high school players head to the west before they play a game for their home country:

He wants to convince a top Japanese player coming out of high school to go directly to the United States rather than to the Japanese team that drafts him.

"I've been trying for 10 or 12 years," Nomura says. "But it's such a strong cultural thing. I've gone to college and high school coaches, I've gone to the parents, I've gone to the kids. So far, no go."

The next opportunity could be Sho Nakata. The powerful high school senior from Osaka is an accomplished pitcher but is the stuff of legend in Japan for long home runs, including one last year that went 520 feet, according to local media.

Three years ago, Nakata played in a tournament in suburban Chicago and told the Northwest Herald he would like to return to the United States and pitch for the Yankees.

"If it happens, it happens," Ito says, dismissing the impact of a player like Nakata spurning pro baseball in his homeland. "But the majority of club owners would answer differently."

Just as he believes the money involved in landing Matsuzaka is not likely to be repeated often, Ito also says one high school player going to the United States would not signal a mass exodus, for practical reasons.

"They're like teenagers anywhere else," he says. "Girls see Nakata here, they go crazy. He can play in the top leagues in Japan when he's 20. He'll be famous.

"If he goes to the U.S., he'll be in places like Midland, Texas. The food will be a big problem. He won't have friends, especially girls. It's not the physical and technical talent that will hold him back."

As the article points out, the money is much better in the US. One of these teenagers will eventually realize he'll make a lot more money playing his entire career in North America than waiting a number of years before his team posts him.

The AP writes a feel good story about two friends who defected from Cuba five years apart being reunited on the Braves:

"We've been playing baseball ever since we were 9 years old," Pena said. "When we started out, he was our No. 1 pitcher and I was his catcher. Then I was the pitcher and he was the catcher. We split the same gloves. One day, the glove lived at his house. Another day, the glove lived at my house. We had only one bat that we had to share. Sometimes my spikes were not in good shape, so I would borrow spikes from him. Thank God we wore the same size."

While Escobar still keeps up intently with news from his country, especially the ill health of longtime dictator Fidel Castro, Pena is more Americanized. He would love to go back home but has made a comfortable life in his adopted country.

"America is America, with all due respect," Pena said. "When you're free, man, you feel like you can do whatever you want. What can be better than that?"

Pena was able to slip away because his guard was chatting up a woman. I wonder what happened to the guard?

Baseball Musings is holding a pledge drive in March.

The Israel Baseball League is set to kick off on June 24, 2007, with a number of former big leaguers managing.

The Dominican Republic wins the Caribbean Series after just five games.

Overall, the Dominican Republic won the Series for the 16th time, one more than Puerto Rico. This was the fifth time that the Cibao Eagles represented the Dominicans and took the title.

The undefeated Dominicans play 3-2 Puerto Rico tonight. Puerto Rico needs to win the game or have Venezuela lose to finish second outright.

The Dominican Republic took control of the Caribbean Series last night as they pounded host Puerto Rico 12-0.

Tejada, the Baltimore Orioles ' star shortstop, went 2-for-3 with a pair of runs. Texas Rangers outfielder Nelson Cruz had three RBIs and Hernandez, a speedy New York Mets prospect, went 4-for-5.

Philadelphia Phillies reliever Fabio Castro held the Carolina Giants (2-1) to a pair of hits in five innings. He struck out four and walked three for the win.

Losing pitcher Jonathan Albaladejo lasted only one inning and allowed six runs on seven hits.

After the first round robin, the D.R. is the only undefeated team. That puts them well in control of the six-game tournament.

For the third time in three games, the Mexican team was blown out in the Caribbean Series:

Mexico has lost to Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic and Venezuela by a combined score of 33-4.

Ouch.

T.J. Quinn reports on Omar Minaya and his group of former major leaguers in Ghana.

And then there is Daniel "Iron" Atieno, a shy 19-year-old shortstop, who steps into the batter's box in a white Bay Stars jersey (with "T. Tanaka" on the back) against the best pitcher in a blue Bay Stars jersey. He cracks the first pitch into the wind, over the outfield boundary marked by pitched ads for a mobile phone company, almost hitting a man on a bicycle.

He starts rounding first and second on a dead sprint while Winfield and Baker roar. "That's gone, baby!" Winfield yells. The umpires, players who didn't make the cut for the two teams, make the home run motion with their fingers.

Atieno slows to a trot and his teammates mob him at the plate.

He first saw baseball "on the telly - on CNN" about 12 years ago, he says. "I decided this is the game I want to play."

Minaya, watching from the shade of a VIP tent, nods.

"That kid is going to play in the United States," he says.

It may take decades to produce a major leaguer from Ghana, he says. But maybe Atiendo or another boy on this field will have the skills to play in a junior college, or an NCAA program, or maybe sign a professional contract.

"We're just planting seeds," Minaya says. "Right now I just want to see these kids smile."

The Puerto Rican and Dominican teams each won their second games in the Caribbean Series yesterday. They'll meet at 7 PM tonight, if you'd prefer to watch baseball instead of football.

I tuned into MLB.com's coverage of the Caribbean Series last night, thinking I'd catch the second game of the day. It turns out game 1 was still in progress as it proved to be the longest game in Caribbean Series history.

Luis Maza and Ronny Cedeno had consecutive doubles in the top of the 18th to give Venezuela a 3-2 lead in the series opener, but the Dominican Republic tied it on Bernie Castro's single and won on Batista's sacrifice fly.

Miguel Tejada also homered for the Dominican Republic to tie Tony Armas' record for Caribbean Series home runs with 11. Batista also homered.

In the night cap, Puerto Rico demolished Mexico 11-1. It's a six game, round robin tournament.

The Caribbean Series kicks off today at 3 PM EST with Venezuela taking on the Dominican Republic. If you get Fox Sports en Espanol you can watch it, or MLB.com is offering the series for $10. It will give you a taste of how well baseball broadcasts work on your computer.

Update: Chris writes:

I believe SNY in NY is also showing the games, so it says on its website, sny.tv

Does anyone else know if other local stations are broadcasting the games?

The Yankees are going to tutor the Chinese on baseball:

The New York Yankees agreed Tuesday to send coaches, scouts and trainers to China to help boost interest in baseball, furthering a push by the major leagues into one of the world's fastest-growing sports markets.

Under the agreement, the government-backed Chinese Baseball Association will send staff to the Yankees' facilities in New York and Tampa, Fla., while Yankees personnel will assist the Chinese national team and others.

Yankees president Randy Levine said he hopes to start sending coaches and other staff to China "in a few months."

It's a start. I wonder if there will be a class on buying free agents? :-)

While the Yankees head for China, Omar Minaya leads a contingent of former players to Africa for baseball clinics:

Hall of Famer Dave Winfield, former San Francisco and Chicago Cubs manager Dusty Baker also will be on the trip along with Dave Stewart, Bob Watson and Reggie Smith, Minaya said Friday. The group is scheduled to leave New York on Feb. 1, spend four days in Ghana and return Feb. 6.

"Children around the world dream of becoming major league superstars. With the help from programs like this one, the children of Africa are one step closer to making this dream a reality," George Ntim, the president of the African Development Foundation, said in a statement.

That's a pretty impressive group of teachers.

Japanese major league baseball may be going the way of the Negro Leagues:

Losing star players like Suzuki, Hideki Matsui and Matsuzaka -- whether through posting or free agency -- is taking its toll on Japanese baseball. TV ratings for Matsui's former team, the Yomiuri Giants, are way down. Attendance at many stadiums in Japan is also lagging in recent years.

The Giants, Japan's most popular team, often took a sink-or-swim attitude toward the weaker teams in the league, but there are signs the team is taking a more cooperative stance in the face of competition from the majors.

"I don't think we can eliminate the posting system," said Yomiuri GM Hidetoshi Kiyotake. "But we may be able to find ways to put limits on it."

This is a sure way to ruin. Japanese players will find ways around the system. The best youngsters will start signing with MLB clubs out of high school to avoid the nine-year free agency wait.

Japan needs to start competing with the North American major leagues for talent. They don't need to go after major stars, but they could scrape the barrel of available free agents (like Cliff Floyd or Jeff Weaver) and still improve their teams. Why not start trading stars for American prospects? Instead of isolating themselves, they should expand their horizons to try to bring stars to their teams.

The Negro Leagues disappeared because their star players went to the majors, and the fans started watching those games (and unlike Japan, the Negro League owners received little compensation). It would be a shame to see Japanese baseball suffer a similar fate. If Japan needs star players, there are plenty here. They just need to change the way they do business with MLB.

WasWatching links to an article on the Yankees heading to China to establish contacts and working relationships:

They are not expected to bring back any signed players. China hasn't developed any players who would be capable of playing in the major leagues or even the minor leagues. The Chinese clearly demonstrated their shortcomings in losing all three of their games in the inaugural World Baseball Classic last March by a combined score of 40-6.

So why are they going? They will explore opportunities, both baseball and business. They will establish contacts. They will determine the most likely source of future talent and very likely initiate conversations about future working agreements, like the one they have with the Yomiuri Giants in Japan.

My daughter spent two weeks in China last year and found there was very little knowledge of baseball in the country (basketball is much more popular). But with a huge population, it conceivable that China could easily fill every MLB team's roster in the future if it develops an interest in the game. It looks like the Yankees are trying to get a jump on those prospects.

The trip will also help baseball in general:

By enhancing their brand in China, the Yankees won't directly benefit financially because revenue from any merchandise sold in any country goes to baseball's central fund, whose proceeds are divided among all 30 teams. But chances are that more Yankees merchandise will be sold in China than caps and shirts of the Devil Rays or the Royals.

In other words, all teams will benefit from the Yankees' trip.

It's a good, forward thinking move by the club, something that might pay off 10 to 15 years down the road.

Update: Of course, it may prove very costly to deal with that country, given the level of corruption in China.

Kei Igawa arrives in New York today after submitting to the traditional Yankees haircut.

The Seibu Lions received the $51 million from the Red Sox, and plan on using the money to improve the team. However, it won't be used to pay for the criminal activity of the owner:

Last year, a Japanese court convicted team owner Yoshiaki Tsutsumi of insider trading and falsifying company records.

Seibu's parent company, Seibu Railways, was given a $1.73 million fine, while Tsutsumi's privately owned company Kokudo Corp., was fined $1.3 million.

I suspect the team is throwing a nice party right about now.

We hosted a Japanese exchange student during October, one of a group that visited Longmeadow at the time. My daughter made friends with a few of the visitors, and one, Suguru wrote her with his feelings about Matsuzaka:

By the way!! Daisuke Matsuzaka join Red Sox!!! I am very very very very happy! Because Matsuzaka is my most love player!!! He is my HERO!!! and Melinda and some longmeadow's people loves Red SOX!! What a nice thing!!!!!!!!! YEAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!! hahaha

And his home team is the Nippon Ham Fighters!

The earlier article I read on Iwamura had him making between 7 and 8 million a year for three years. It turns out, he's earning that over the life of the contract:

Infielder Akinori Iwamura became the second Japanese star to land in the major leagues in as many days when he agreed Friday to a $7.7 million, three-year contract with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. With one of the lowest payrolls in baseball, the last-place Devil Rays lack the financial resources to compete for top-tier free agents. They feel they made a significant acquisition, however, in the 27-year-old Iwamura.

That's a very good deal for the Devil Rays.

Lost in all the hoopla over Matsuzaka, the Devil Rays reached a deal with Akinori Iwamura to play third base. It's only for three years, but he'll earn close to what Matsuzaka's getting on a yearly basis. Rays Index surmises that someone needs to be traded and speculates on who it might be.

The other question that comes up is how well will Iwamura hit in the majors. For his career, he's posted .366 OBA and a .519 slugging percentage, but his last three years were much better than that. High OBA players tend to take a hit in that category when they come to the US. Ichiro and both Matsuis saw a drop in OBA. With Suzuki and Hideki, their OBAs were so high that it didn't matter; they were still very productive players. But it really killed Kaz Matsui's value. Two players with lower career OBAs, Iguchi and Taguchi, saw very slight drops in their OBAs. Maybe because the others were seen as more of a threat, they were walked more in Japan, and that didn't happen in the US. Iwamura's stats are more like Kaz Matsui's. The Devil Rays hope that the same thing doesn't happen to his offense. He'll have a much better park to hit in than Kaz did, however.

Tourism Massachusetts expects Daisuke Matsuzaka to raise tourism revenue in Boston per year more than the value of his contract:

The Red Sox spent more than $100 million to bring Dice-K to Boston.

That's how many more visitors Tourism Massachusetts, a nonprofit marketing group, estimates will come to Boston annually to watch Japanese pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka in a Red Sox uniform.

They're also expected to spend $75 million annually here.

That's a bit more than the $52 million the Red Sox are paying Matsuzaka in salary, or the $51.1 million they had to pay to his former team.

And while the Red Sox won't see much of that money, boosting revenues that much should give them more political pull, always a good thing.

Daniel Drezner looks at Matsuzaka's signing from the Japanese point of view.

The South Korean press is pessimistic about the team's chances in the Asian games after they lose the opening game to Taiwan:

South Korea's hope to take the third straight baseball title at the Asian Games tumbled on Thursday as it lost 4-2 to Taiwan in what was regarded as the virtual final of the six-country competition in Doha, Qatar.

In their opener of the Doha Games held at the Al-Rayyan stadium, Chen Yung-chi hit two single homers and LA Dodgers pitcher Kuo Hung-chih held five innings to one run for Taiwan to outdo the favorite Korea. Son Min-han took the loss after allowing three runs on five hits, including two homers over 4 1/3 innings.

It appears difficult for Korea, winner of the Bangkok and Pusan Games, to win the round-robin competition even after winning the rest of the matches. As Japan is comprised mostly of amateur players and regarded a notch below the two countries, Taiwan is likely to beat the other participants including the Philippines, Thailand and China.

I wonder why they're playing in Qatar when all the teams are from East Asia? It's good they're trying to spread the game west, but it must make for tough viewing back home.

The Yankees won the bidding for Kei Igawa, for the paltry sum of $25 million. His stats are here. He looks pretty good. His strikeout, walk and home run numbers in Japan are excellent. He's mature but not old. He's not Matsusaka, but I bet he can be effective in the majors.

The Tampa Bay Devil Rays won the right to negotiate with Japanese third baseman Akinori Iwamura for a mere $4.5 million.

"One of the things we like about him is his position flexibility," Friedman said, adding that subsequent moves the Devil Rays make in free agency or via trades would impact what role Iwamura would fill.

The 27-year-old Iwamura was a five-time All-Star in eight seaso