Mariners not expected to make strong bid for Matsuzaka

[jacksonianmarch]

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/sports/2003332080_mari31.html

 

Might as well fit him for pinstripes right now.

[BSN07]

I'm on the fence about Matsuka. It's just hard to say if he will do well in mlb. I mean he was great in the WBC, and theres been alot of bust from japan, usually the best producers are relief pitchers and closers for a few seasons but after awhile they all seem to get figured out to a point, and what if you get another Irabu, Georgy is prolly still thinking of that one.

[Gom]

I think it is total ********. What do you expect the Mariners to say? They are saying this to keep the posting low...or at least try to. They sure are not going to come out and say they are interested. Expect pretty much every team that will make a run at him to come out and say they are not interested, too expensive, et. al. You'll see.

[schillingouttheks]

We won't know unless the Mariners actually get him. It's a blind bidding process. No one knows which team puts up what amount of money except for the people coordinating the process. If the Mariners don't get the rights to negotiate, we will never know how much they put up, even if they put up a good amount.

[Gom]

Yeah, but by saying you are not interested, maybe that convinces some of the other top teams, like the Yanks, Sox, Dodgers, etc., to LOWER their bids...its all gamesmanship.

[schillingouttheks]

No, it wouldn't. Whenever you go up against the Yankees, you are never encouraged to lower your bid. The Yankees would never lower theirs because they wouldn't want to give anyone a prayer to beat them. Not to mention it wouldn't even hurt them if they kept their offer way up there.

[Gom]

Who said they would? There is no negative to stating that you aren't that interested. If you convince the other teams that one of the major players is out, then you increase your chances of winning the bid since you have increased the possibility of them lowering their bids. Also if you don't win [because the Mariners WILL bid], you can say you put in a bid since you would be foolish not to, but look at the winning bid of $$$$, as an organization we feel the money would be better spent on [this] and [that]..and so on, and so on. If you WIN the bid, then everyone will laud you on the smokescreen you put out to secure him. Watch in the following weeks how EVERY team that is serious about Matsuzaka to either keep quiet OR if linked strongly in the media, to downplay their interest. The truth is, EVERY single team, even the Royals and Pirates, will put in a bid. They will put in bids they can afford. What have they got to lose?

[schillingouttheks]

I understand what you're saying, but I still don't buy it because I don't think it will happen. We could go back and forth on this all day. I see your point, you see mine, we'll just have to agree to disagree. I still don't buy the fact that the Mariners simply stating they won't bid strongly for Matsuzaka will influence other FOs to decrease their bid. If the Mariners end up winning the rights to negotiate with Matsuzaka, it won't be because other teams decreased their offers, it'll be because the Mariners simply outbid the uninfluenced offers from other teams. I understand that they had nothing to lose, but at the same time I'm sure that there are smart people like Theo and Cashman that are quite aware that this is a possible trick up Bill Bavasi and Howard Lincoln's sleeves.

[Gom]

Agreed...I don't think that anyone is really fooled here. The possibility does exist. However, what would be the reasoning for them to state that they weren't interested? Even if they weren't, why say so? Just by being one of the major players, and in it, your presence in the bidding will allow for the greater chance of someone upping the bidding, thereby tying up more of their payroll.

 

I most definitely agree to disagree, but I see no logic to the Mariners statement other than gamesmanship. What reasoning do you have that they came out with the statement? I'm curious as to what you think.

[BSN07]

I agree with Gom on this matter. Obviously with the big market teams in the hunt for Matsukas services, you want to keep the price as low as you can. Why would you expect the Mariners to say anything but what they said? Do you really expect them to say there gonna break the bank to try and sign this guy? That would just make every team pony up more buck to be competitve. This blind bid is bull s*** anyway, it's just away to get the most money out of a team right now incase this guy is a bum like Irabu. He knows that if he sucks it doesn't matter because the bid money will have him set for life. Just some thoughts.

[schillingouttheks]

Agreed...I don't think that anyone is really fooled here. The possibility does exist. However, what would be the reasoning for them to state that they weren't interested? Even if they weren't, why say so? Just by being one of the major players, and in it, your presence in the bidding will allow for the greater chance of someone upping the bidding, thereby tying up more of their payroll.

 

I most definitely agree to disagree, but I see no logic to the Mariners statement other than gamesmanship. What reasoning do you have that they came out with the statement? I'm curious as to what you think.

I think what you think. I agree that they are either trying to talk out of their asses in an attempt to lower the cost of negotiation, or that they're telling the truth for other reasons we don't know. Maybe they know something about the guy and want to make it clear that they aren't interested. I don't know. I just disagree with you on the fact that it will influence a bid fluctuation. I think there is a 0% chance that any team will bid less than they originally planned to just because the Mariners said that they aren't going for it. We both agree on WHY they did it, but we disagree on the after effects.

 

I agree with Gom on this matter. Obviously with the big market teams in the hunt for Matsukas services' date=' you want to keep the price as low as you can. [/quote']

Not to get on your case, but PLEASE spell his name right. M-A-T-S-U-Z-A-K-A. You're only missing the z and the following a. Again, not to annoy you, but you should probably spell his name right since we're talking about him. I know who you mean when you say Matsuka, but I wouldn't be surprised if there's some other Asian player in the Japanese League with that very last name.

 

Why would you expect the Mariners to say anything but what they said? Do you really expect them to say there gonna break the bank to try and sign this guy? That would just make every team pony up more buck to be competitve. This blind bid is bull s*** anyway' date=' it's just away to get the most money out of a team right now incase this guy is a bum like Irabu. He knows that if he sucks it doesn't matter because the bid money will have him set for life. Just some thoughts.[/quote']

It's not that I'm surprised that they said something, I just don't see the point. They didn't have to say anything. NO team will decrease their bid just because the Mariners said they were out of it. You think this makes every other team in the competition less competitive? The YANKEES and RED SOX are still interested. The Mariners are behind BOTH those teams when it comes to being able to dish out money. The Yankees will look to make it impossible for the Red Sox to negotiate with him, which is why I don't feel that the Mariners' statement means anything in terms of having influential effects on the bids of the other teams. The teams that want to sign Matsuzaka are going to stick to their guns and fire out as much cash as possible if they really want him. There are competitors other than the Mariners...do the Mariners really think they have that much leverage on the situation? They seem to be banking on the fact that they're known for bringing in players from Japan to somehow affect how other teams will bid. Well, I don't think it will. This statement has no effect on anyone whatsoever. So, if the Mariners are considering signing him despite what they stated, they're still going to dish out what they were originally going to.

[BSN07]

SEATTLE -- There figures to be a handful of Major League teams who will be involved in the posting process for the right to sign Japanese starting pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka.

But the Seattle Mariners won't be one of them.

 

Seattle general manager Bill Bavasi confirmed on Wednesday that the team's owner, Hiroshi Yamauchi, opted against pursuing the 26-year-old right-hander.

 

"A decision has been made by Mr. Yamauchi," Bavasi said, "that we will not be participating in the bidding process, and it's a decision that our baseball department concurs with."

 

One factor -- one large factor -- that could have steered the Mariners' interest away from making a run at Matsuzaka in the posting process might have been the anticipated asking price just to win the rights to negotiate with him.

 

The winning bid in the posting process for Matsuzaka is rumored to be in the neighborhood of $25 million and possibly as high as $30 million.

 

That's certainly a far cry from what Seattle paid to win rights to negotiate with outfielder Ichiro Suzuki in the fall of 2000.

 

Beyond that, the team with the highest bid to Matsuzaka's current team -- the Seibu Lions -- has 30 days to negotiate a contract. Matsuzaka, who is being represented by agent Scott Boras, could command an annual salary in the neighborhood of $10 million.

 

Seattle paid a reported $13.1 million to Ichiro's Japanese team -- the Orix Blue Wave -- to win the rights to sign him.

 

Matsuzaka hasn't officially been posted by the Lions but is expected to soon. There are a handful of teams reportedly interested in him, including the Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers.

 

After Seibu rejected his demand to be posted after the 2005 season, Matsuzaka went out and helped Japan to the World Baseball Classic title in March and was named the Most Valuable Player.

 

He was even better for Seibu this past season, posting 17 victories in 25 starts with an ERA of 2.13 to go with 200 strikeouts in 186 1/3 innings. Much has been made of his "gyroball," a pitch that looks like a hanging curveball only to dart sharply away from right-handed hitters with the cutting action of a slider.

 

The Mariners -- who said at the end of the regular season that their most pressing need was starting pitching -- are expected to turn to other candidates like San Francisco's Jason Schmidt and Texas' Adam Eaton, among others.

 

Schmidt (Kelso) and Eaton (Snohomish) both have ties to the Pacific Northwest and are believed to have interest in the Mariners.

 

Schmidt was 11-9 with a 3.59 ERA in 32 starts for the Giants last season. He struck out 180 in 213 1/3 innings. He'll turn 34 in January.

 

Eaton, who will turn 29 on Nov. 23, was 7-4 with a 5.12 ERA in 13 starts. He missed the first half of the season after he injured the middle finger on his throwing hand and needed surgery at the end of Spring Training.

 

Jarrod Washburn and Felix Hernandez are the only certain starting pitchers coming back in 2007, as Gil Meche is a free agent

 

Just got this from mlb.com, Just thought I'd put it up here not sure I buy it tho.

[example1]

It's official, he's been posted.

 

The team will not have until Wednesday to make a bid. I suppose we should know who wins the bidding by Thursday. Even if it isn't announced some word will leak out.

 

I think the Sox must be making a serious run at him. They know how valuable it is to be able to use only money to get a qualty player. They have invested a lot of money in their farm system and I know they are happy with most of their draft picks the last few years. Keep as many of them as possible, add top tier pitching talent and keep Manny and Ortiz and you're probably looking at a really good team.