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Post by grandsalami on Oct 11, 2012 15:45:32 GMT -5
www.weei.com/sports/boston/this-just-in/21233366/reports-sox-meet-japanese-phenom-otaniA major league source confirmed multiple reports out of Japan that the Red Sox (who were represented by international scouting director Eddie Romero and Pacific Rim coordinator Jon Deeble) met with Japanese high school phenom Shohei Otani on Thursday. Otani has met with all 12 teams in the NPB and with at least a few major league teams while trying to decide whether to pursue pro ball in Japan or the US. The 18-year-old right-hander has been clocked at 100 mph (in this video, where the crowd erupts when he hits 159 kmph and then 160 kmph). The Dodgers and Rangers have also met with Otani, according to multiple reports.
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Post by remember04 on Oct 11, 2012 15:57:34 GMT -5
www.weei.com/sports/boston/this-just-in/21233366/reports-sox-meet-japanese-phenom-otaniA major league source confirmed multiple reports out of Japan that the Red Sox (who were represented by international scouting director Eddie Romero and Pacific Rim coordinator Jon Deeble) met with Japanese high school phenom Shohei Otani on Thursday. Otani has met with all 12 teams in the NPB and with at least a few major league teams while trying to decide whether to pursue pro ball in Japan or the US. The 18-year-old right-hander has been clocked at 100 mph (in this video, where the crowd erupts when he hits 159 kmph and then 160 kmph). The Dodgers and Rangers have also met with Otani, according to multiple reports. Get it done Ben, this (young talent) is where we need to focus our attention.
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Post by adiospaydro2005 on Oct 11, 2012 16:04:48 GMT -5
It appears that he would be eligible to sign now as an 18 year old. I recall that the Rangers may have more money to spend on their remaining international pool at this point
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Post by remember04 on Oct 11, 2012 16:16:38 GMT -5
It appears that he would be eligible to sign now as an 18 year old. I recall that the Rangers may have more money to spend on their remaining international pool at this point I don't think Japan is a part of that new CBA rule. At least not yet anyway. Look at what we already spent on Lin this year for example.
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Post by stevedillard on Oct 11, 2012 16:40:58 GMT -5
Lin was able to get more because he signed before the cap came in. Otherwise, he and Otani would be subject to the cap: Players in leagues deemed to be professional (those in Japan, Korea, Taiwan and Cuba apply), are at least 23 years old and have played a certain number of years in those leagues can be signed without the money counting against the pool. Yoenis Cespedes, the 26-year-old outfielder who is a free agent after defecting from Cuba for example, would not count against the pool. Neither would Japanese pitcher Yu Darvish, should he be posted by the Nippon Ham Fighters. But the money spent on Cuban left-hander Aroldis Chapman, who was 22 when he signed with the Reds almost two years ago, would have counted against the pool.
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Post by remember04 on Oct 11, 2012 16:52:41 GMT -5
Now has this kicked in already because extra money for teams based on reverse order of rankings hasn't kicked in until next year?
God I hate this new CBA!!!
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Post by jmei on Oct 11, 2012 17:17:38 GMT -5
As far as I can tell, this year each team will have the same international free agency pool of $2.9 million (plus six bonuses of up to $50,000 which will not count against the pool). From Baseball America ( link): By now, players who will be old enough to sign on July 2 must have registered with Major League Baseball by May 1. Otherwise they will have to wait until July 2, 2013, to sign. Players who were already eligible to sign—mostly anyone 17 or older, or anyone born before September 1995—do not have to register, but if they sign after July 2, their bonuses will count against a team's bonus pool.
Until July 2, teams can spend whatever they want on international bonuses and none if it will count against their bonus pool. After that, the new spending rules will be in effect.
Every team has a $2.9 million signing bonus pool for the 2012-13 signing period. Any team that spends more than $2.9 million will be subject to a variety of penalties: [...] The 2012-13 signing period begins July 2, 2012 and ends June 15, 2013. The dates from June 16, 2013 through July 1, 2013 will be considered a "closed period" when no one will be able to sign. MLB said it will need time to calculate each team's total spending and potential penalties. Also, due to the new mandatory registration system, the commissioner's office will need time to prepare and disseminate information about registered players to clubs. According to the SoxProspects records ( link), the Red Sox have spent at least $1.36m on international free agents to date. However, I think most teams have spent at least some of their bonus money already. Even if there's a team that hasn't, I don't think the difference between $2.9m and $1.6m is going to be determinative here-- it's a drop in the bucket compared to the various other differences between organizations that will add up over a career. Instead, factors like the size of the market, geographical location, development staff, long-term strength of the organization, etc. are going to be important as well. You'd have to think the the Red Sox history with Daisuke, Okajima, and Tazawa as well as the large market and invested owners will factor positively into the equation, although being an East Coast team might be a negative.
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Post by pistowie on Oct 11, 2012 18:48:31 GMT -5
Is this true? Why would he have to be posted?
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Post by pedroelgrande on Oct 12, 2012 11:33:38 GMT -5
I guess he would sign with the team in Japan that says they will post him and both would make A TON of money. That and I hate Bud Selig.
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Post by remember04 on Oct 12, 2012 12:04:07 GMT -5
I remember Junichi Tazawa requesting that no team pick him in the draft so he could come over here and play. If he doesn't get drafted (which seems unlikely unless he asks too) then I guess he could be signed under the IFA rules. I don't think he's been drafted yet though and this is my speculation based on previous cases.
I do think the sox having Dice-K might give us an advantage but with him most likely being gone I'd think the Rangers who still have Darvish playing for them might have more of an advantage. Another seemingly really good prospect is all that organization needs.
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Post by jmei on Oct 12, 2012 12:10:25 GMT -5
I believe this is like the Kikuchi situation in that Otani will be eligible for the NPB draft, which takes place in late October, and if he is drafted by an NPB team and doesn't report, he faces a three-year ban from NPB that would basically prevent him from ever returning to Japan. As an amateur player who might not end up cutting it in MLB, that is a fairly hefty penalty. Moreover, his signing with an American team outside the posting system might raise problems between NPB and MLB, as Keith Law mentions here. NPB is almost certainly lobbying MLB behind the scenes to stop him from signing as an amateur.
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Post by jmei on Oct 12, 2012 12:15:41 GMT -5
I remember Junichi Tazawa requesting that no team pick him in the draft so he could come over here and play. If he doesn't get drafted (which seems unlikely unless he asks too) then I guess he could be signed under the IFA rules. I don't think he's been drafted yet though and this is my speculation based on previous cases. Tazawa is a slightly different situation-- none of the 12 NPB teams originally drafted him, and not because he asked them not to draft them, but just because he wasn't on the scouting radar at that point in his career. He then played in a corporate league in Japan (basically equivalent to one of the indy leagues in the U.S.) and performed well. He then was subject to the NPB draft again, which is when he asked the teams not to draft him and the teams complied. I think that first round of being undrafted helped Tazawa's request go through, and I'm not sure the same curtsey will be granted to Otani.
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Post by jdb on Oct 18, 2012 15:52:10 GMT -5
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Post by gregblossersbelly on Oct 18, 2012 15:59:05 GMT -5
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Post by jmei on Oct 21, 2012 9:33:06 GMT -5
According to the AP ( link), Otani has announced that he will pursue a career in MLB rather than staying in Japan.
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Post by sarasoxer on Oct 21, 2012 10:19:35 GMT -5
According to the AP ( link), Otani has announced that he will pursue a career in MLB rather than staying in Japan. Some positive news! Wouldn't a Sox signing be a great jump start to the off-season?!!
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Post by soxfan06 on Oct 21, 2012 10:30:40 GMT -5
NPB is going to be pissed. Otani will likely be barred for life.
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Post by grandsalami on Oct 23, 2012 13:44:04 GMT -5
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Post by remember04 on Oct 23, 2012 15:00:14 GMT -5
Glad to see our name but not liking the Rangers being in there. I think they may have the advantage over us between Darvish and having more money to spend
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Post by sarasoxer on Oct 23, 2012 18:04:55 GMT -5
Can we all pray?...even the atheists among us? Come on.....it's just a one-time thing.
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Post by jdb on Oct 23, 2012 18:58:12 GMT -5
How much money do we have left from our international pool?
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Post by jmei on Oct 23, 2012 19:21:26 GMT -5
As noted above, it appears that the Red Sox have spent $1.36m already, so would have roughly $1.6m to spent on Otani. However, remember that teams can spend over the $2.9m threshold, but that they will be taxed by 100% for exceeding the threshold and forfeit the ability to sign a player to a contract of more than $250K during the following year's int'l signing period. I'm not sure that this is as strong of a deterrent as the draft pool limit is, so teams will probably not limit themselves to spending within the $2.9m cap. Jim Callis notes some of the reasons why ( link): For a player with Otani's upside, that's not much of a deterrent. Also consider that in the draft, a player of his caliber would be available only to the teams choosing at the very top. On the worldwide market, all 30 teams are in play. Clubs accustomed to picking at the bottom of the draft may be willing to pay dearly for the opportunity to sign him.
Three teams—the Dodgers, Rangers and Red Sox—have met with Otani in Japan, and he said yesterday that he plans on signing with one of them. We don't have access to how much money clubs have remaining in their international bonus pools, but Texas appears to have the most among those three teams. (The Rangers' $4.5 million signing of Beras doesn't count against the pool because it happened in February.) Boston, which spent a combined $1.36 million on Dominican righthander Jose Almonte, Dominican shortstop Wendell Rijo and Venezuelan lefty Dedgar Jimenez, has the least money among the three clubs.
But as I said, I don't think cap space is going to matter when it comes to signing Otani. For the same reason, I don't think he'll have to wait until next year's signing period to maximize his money. He'll need some time to develop, but Otani has a special arm and will get paid accordingly.
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Post by remember04 on Oct 23, 2012 20:53:36 GMT -5
That actually isn't that bad of a penalty. For 250K you can find some good players especially if you grab all the players you can for that amount (obviously some would laugh at that offer).
He is a pitcher and we are very focused on pitchers. I don't know how much to believe that fact that he'll sign with just one of these three teams but Jesus, Allah, Buddha, I love you all pull this one off for me.
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Post by Guidas on Oct 23, 2012 21:06:03 GMT -5
Must have.
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Post by nexus on Oct 23, 2012 21:37:00 GMT -5
I wont argue touching (not sitting) 99 with a baseball deserves some attention, but he's currently nothing more than a live prep arm with non-existent command. Scouting reports suggest he's much closer to Stetson Allie than he is Dylan Bundy.
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