This Day In New York Yankees History 11/16: Yankees,Yomiuri Giants & Hideki Matsui

On this day in 2002 the New York Yankees and the Japanese League Yomiuri Giants sign a deal that creates a partnership between the two biggest teams in their respected leagues. Both teams hope to benefit from improved scouting, marketing, and other benefits that will help both teams. Enter Hideki Matsui in 2003.

Game Thread: New York Yankees vs. Texas Rangers 6/23

Ladies and gentleman it is game time between the New York Yankees and the Texas Rangers as these two clubs start a three-game weekend set in the Bronx. In the opener the Bronx Bombers will rely on the arm of Masahiro Tanaka to lead them to a series opening victory while the Rangers will counter with their ace Yu Darvish. The game will be played at 7:05 pm ET inside Yankee Stadium and can be seen on the YES Network and MLB TV.

Follow us on Twitter by following @GreedyStripes and enjoy the game. Go Yankees!

Shohei Otani Hints He Wants to Get PAID After 2017

One thing that no one can ever say about me is that I don’t listen when other people talk to me so when Robert Casey of Bleeding Yankee Blue talks to me I always let it soak in. One thing that Mr. Casey taught me was to always be different, to be myself and to always look for the little “nugget” of information that gets passed over or otherwise overlooked by the rest of the Yankees blogosphere. That’s what I did this morning when I read this article from the Bleacher Report regarding Japan’s ace Shohei Otani and his intentions of coming to the United States after the 2017 season.

Shohei Otani, or more commonly known as “Japan’s Babe Ruth”, discussed this week in an interview his intentions of coming to the United States after the 2017 season and there was a little nugget of information in there that screams to me “I want to get paid.” Here is the exact quote from Otani and let’s see if you can pick out which line I’m talking about. I’ll even make it easy for you and bold it.  

"Personally, the new CBA rules do not mean much to me, and it is not going to stop me from going over to the States," Ohtani said. "The only thing that worries me is the other young players that might try to go overseas after me. I don't want to set the bar too low for them and have to get underpaid because of my decision."

Now one must remember that the Japanese people, by culture, are a very respectful and prideful group of people so I genuinely believe Otani when he says that he will consider not only himself, his friends and his family in his decision next season but that he will also hold the Japanese-born players behind him that follow him to the States in his heart when he makes this decision.

How did this come up? Well the Major League Baseball Collective Bargaining Agreement states that a player under the age of 25 or with less than six professional seasons under their belt is considered to be an International Free Agent. This would make Otani subject to the IFA spending cap rules which could cost him millions of dollars since it severely limits the pool of teams that could be interested. If Otani were to wait until after the 2019 season he would be a true free agent and could sign with any team for basically any amount of money but Otani seems inclined to forego the wait and sign with a big league club before the 2018 season, just in time for a few key Yankees pitchers to hit free agency and just in time for a literal boatload of money to come off the books.

According to the new CBA if Otani decides to jump ship from Japan to the United States he can only sign for $5 million. This would widen his pool of teams to choose from to whatever number it is now that you want to speculate, mine would be no more than six-or-seven teams given the presumed price tag, to all 30 MLB teams. In this day and age $5 million is almost literally nothing, for a hitter or for a pitcher and Otani can do both exceptionally well.

So Otani has a big decision ahead of him. Does he leave Japan after the 2017 season and possibly leave millions on the table to pursue his ultimate dream or does he wait out two more seasons and go for broke? That only he can answer but I have a feeling that all 30 MLB teams are hoping it’s the former and not the latter. I leave you with this, his 2016 stats from Japan, and a dream of Otani wearing your favorite team’s jersey in 2018. I mean it will just be a dream since he will be wearing Yankees pinstripes but still, everyone needs a dream. Have a great day everyone.

As a pitcher: 10-4, 1.86 ERA, 140 innings, 11.2 SO/9

As a hitter: .322/.416/.588, 22 HR, 67 RBI

Masahiro Tanaka and Shohei Otani Working Out Together Can’t Be a Bad Thing

The New York Yankees dipped their toes back into Japanese waters a few offseasons back when the team signed Masahiro Tanaka to a monster free agent contract and the team will look to do so again if and whenever Shohei Otani is posted and/or hits free agency. So I guess you could say that the fact that Tanaka and Otani were seen working out together recently can’t really be a bad thing, can it?

Otani is just 22-years old and is currently playing both sides of the ball while in Japan with the Nippon Ham Fighters. Otani finished the 2016 season batting .322/.416/.588 with 22 home runs and 67 RBI in just 323 at-bats while also pitching to a 10-4 record with a 1.86 ERA and 0.957 WHIP with 174 strikeouts in 140 innings pitched. Otani won the Pacific League MVP Award while leading his Ham Fighters to the Japan Series championship while also reaching his third consecutive All-Star Game leaving many to wonder if he would cash in on his successes with a trip to Major League Baseball but Otani will remain in Japan at least through the 2017 season. That doesn’t mean Otani can’t hang out with and work out with some MLB caliber pitching though.

Under the current agreement between MLB and Japan a player under the age of 25 cannot receive anything over $6 million in the form of a signing bonus from a MLB club meaning it may be three years before we see the 22-year old posted. Otani is expected to receive at least $200 million when he hits the open market as either a pitcher with a pinch-hitting ability or as an outfielder who can pitch in a pinch.

Either way having Tanaka on the team, and this remains to be seen as Tanaka has an opt-out clause looming after the 2017 season, can’t hurt the Yankees chances in signing Otani. It’s going to be expensive either way but having a teammate like Tanaka may be what keeps Otani from going to a National League team where he can hit once every five days. It can’t hurt anyway. 

There’s Always Next Year w/ Shohei Otani

Chicago Cubs fans no longer have to say “there’s always next year” after their World Series victory in 2016, their first since the 1908 Fall Classic, but New York Yankees fans find themselves saying that once again when it comes to Japanese-born right-handed starting pitcher Shohei Otani. For a couple seasons now the talk has been whether the best pitcher in Japan would be coming to the Major Leagues and whether the New York Yankees, who are always starved for starting pitching, would sign him but once again the Yankees have to wait and hope for next year. Shohei Otani is not coming over to the Major Leagues before next season, again.

Otani is just 22-years old but has been talk around the Major Leagues for at least two-or-three offseasons now. Otani has shown loads of potential as a hitter, which is why he remains in Japan and which is why he may prefer to play for a National League team, but he has excelled as a pitcher which is what has drawn MLB teams to him despite not being eligible for free agency until after the 2021 season.

According to reports the Nippon Ham Fighters, Otani’s current team in the Japanese League, is willing to place Otani through the posting system whenever the right-hander is ready to head to the Major Leagues. Otani signed a $2.37 million deal for the 2017 season with the Fighters so I guess that dream is on hold for just one more season, at least.

This Day In New York Yankees History 11/16: Yankees,Yomiuri Giants & Hideki Matsui

On this day in 2002 the New York Yankees and the Japanese League Yomiuri Giants sign a deal that creates a partnership between the two biggest teams in their respected leagues. Both teams hope to benefit from improved scouting, marketing, and other benefits that will help both teams. Enter Hideki Matsui in 2003.

Former Yankees Update: Hiroki Kuroda

Just a quick check in with one of the Yankees former players, Hiroki Kuroda. Kuroda was marvelous as a starting pitcher for the Yankees in his three-year stint here but the lure of wanting to return home to his native Japan was too much. Now Kuroda can presumably retire and ride off into the sunset because he just led his Hiroshima Carp team to something that has not been done in 25 years. A championship.

The Hiroshima Carp with Kuroda on the mound beat the Yomiuri Giants 6-4 last weekend to secure their first Central League pennant in 25 seasons. Kuroda allowed three runs and six hits in six innings of work in the contest while striking out four and it was just enough to lead the team to victory. This marks Hiroshima’s seventh Central League title in their storied history.

Kuroda, now 41-years old, has done everything and more with his career. He played for Hiroshima before playing four years with the Los Angeles Dodgers and three years with the Yankees before returning home to the Carp in 2015. Now he’s finished the 2016 season on top. What more does he have to do?

Nothing. And that’s a great feeling to have. Congrats to the Carp and congrats to an old friend in Kuroda.

Game Preview: New York Yankees vs. Seattle Mariners 4/17

The New York Yankees and the Seattle Mariners will finish off their three-game weekend series this afternoon in the Bronx. This pitching match-up should be an interesting game not only here in the states but around the world as a pair of Japanese-born pitchers face off head-to-head inside Yankee Stadium. The Yankees will send their ace Masahiro Tanaka to the mound this afternoon to face off with the veteran Hisashi Iwakuma in the rubber match of the series.

Tanaka will make his first start on regular rest this afternoon in the Bronx this afternoon after having at least five days of rest in his first two starts of the young season. Tanaka seemed to start slow in both starts this year but get stronger as the game went on which is encouraging for the Yankees as the season goes longer. 

Iwakuma has made his first two starts of the season against the Texas Rangers this season and will make his third start today in the Bronx. Iwakuma heads into the start with a 0-1 record with a 4.09 ERA that he looks to improve upon as her also looks to improve upon a career 2-2 record with a 3.50 ERA against the Yankees. 

The game will be played at 1:05 pm ET inside Yankee Stadium and can be seen on the YES Network and MLB TV. The Yankees welcome home the Oakland Athletics to the Bronx tomorrow night but one game at a time and you can't look ahead, especially against a good pitcher like Iwakuma. Go Yankees!

The KBO Posting System Is About to Change

This would normally be the Yankees spring training Grapefruit League post but the Yankees are off today as they prepare to play host to the New York Mets tomorrow. With that said we will cover something that could not only affect the Yankees and the Mets but the entire league, the Korean Baseball Organization posting rules are about to change.

Currently the way Korean-born ballplayers make their way to the United States and the Major Leagues is through the blind posting system much like the Japanese League and Nippon Professional Baseball Organization had until recently. Major League Baseball wants the KBO to adopt a similar or identical policy as well after an influx of talent including Jung-Ho Kang and Byung-Ho Park have made their way over to the states in recent years.

When a Japanese league player is posted a MLB team has to basically post up $20 million to be in the pool of teams that the player picks from and the same will likely come from the KBO players as well. The posting fee will not be as high, the rumor right now is just $8 million, but the basic premise of the policy will be the same.

If Seattle Doesn’t Want Dae-Ho Lee….

The Seattle Mariners are desperate for any kind of offense to show their face inside SafeCo Field this season and they have gone to great lengths to find that offense. The team has been searching desperately for anyone and everyone they can to protect Robinson Cano in Seattle and their search went as far as Asia this winter. The Mariners signed 33-year old slugger Dae-Ho Lee to a minor league deal with an invitation to their spring training camp out of South Korea hoping to take advantage of his power and if they decide they don’t want him I think the Yankees should snatch him up, ASAP.

Lee has played for 15 seasons in Japan and has been a part of two consecutive Japanese Series championship teams and will now look to make a name for himself in the Major Leagues. While the Lee signing flew sort of under the radar the imposing figure that is Lee cannot as he stands at 6’4” and 250 pounds, which FYI is down 15 pounds from his playing weight while in Japan. Lee lost the weight hoping to be more nimble, quick and better on the defensive side of the baseball. Lee is listed as a first baseman.

The Yankees have Chris Parmelee slated to be the new “Greg Bird” in Scranton this season but a power threat like Lee may be too intriguing to pass up. Lee will be competing with former Yankees prospect Jesus Montero in Seattle for a backup platoon spot while Gaby Sanchez, the former Pittsburgh Pirates player, is also in the mix. Lee would have a lot less competition in New York for a backup first base job.

If Lee were to come to New York, which is extremely unlikely, he would bring his career .303 average with his 323 career home runs with him. Lee hit .282 with 31 home runs and 98 RBI in 2015 and describes himself as “not really a big home run guy” despite his frame. Lee just tries to hit everything with the sweet part of the bat and when he does he says it goes far. Sounds like a good plan to me. This is one spring training competition I will personally be keeping an eye on because if it doesn’t work and I’m the Yankees GM, which admittedly I’m not, I am handing him an opportunity in the Bronx whether on a MLB or MiLB deal.

This Day in New York Yankees History 1/22: Masahiro Tanaka to the Yankees

It was on this day way, way back in 2014 when Japanese righty Masahiro Tanaka accepted the offer from the New York Yankees of seven years and $155 million. This would mark the fifth largest deal ever given to a pitcher and would also be the largest sum of money ever given to a Japanese player. New York also was on the hook for the $20 million posting fee given to the Rakuten Golden Eagles.


Also on this day in 1982 Reggie Jackson signed a free agent deal with the California Angels ending his New York Yankees career after five seasons. Jackson signed a four year deal worth nearly $4 million after winning the 1977 and 1978 World Series with the Yankees and reaching the playoffs four times.


Finally on this day in 1913 the New York Giants agree to share the Polo Grounds with the New York Highlanders. The Highlanders, who played in the American League and will soon become known as the Yankees, had been playing their games at Hilltop Park ever since the franchise moved from Baltimore to New York.

Former Yankees Update: Garrett Jones

The New York Yankees had high hopes for their bench in 2015 when they showcased Brendan Ryan, John Ryan Murphy, Chris Young and Garrett Jones. Ryan was expected to play all over the infield, Murphy was the backup catcher, Young was the 4^th outfielder and Jones was expected to play right field and back up Mark Teixeira at first base. Ryan is gone, he was traded along with Adam Warren to the Cubs for Starlin Castro, and so is Murphy after being traded to the Minnesota Twins for Aaron Hicks. Chris Young is gone and replaced by Hicks and now calls the Boston Red Sox his home team for the next two seasons and this week we learned the fate of Garrett Jones. He’s going west…. Real west.

Garrett Jones, who was designated for assignment twice by the New York Yankees last season, is signing to play baseball in Japan next season with the Yomiuri Giants. Jones will earn $2.8 million next season in the Nippon professional Baseball League and can earn more via incentives, although those have not been released at this time.

I’m glad to hear that Garrett found a job and I hope Cassie enjoys Japan. Be well Jones’s!

Kenta Maeda Wants to Come to MLB... Again

Kenta Maeda attempted to come over to the Major Leagues before the 2015 season and ended up spending the entire season back in Japan with the Hiroshima Carp. Maeda used his additional Japanese League season to post a 15-8 season and 2.09 ERA in 206.1 innings pitched and now wants to make a second run at the big leagues. There was talks last year that Maeda would warrant a $20 million AAV over five or six seasons and had multiple teams interested, if he comes stateside he may get more than that this time around.

Maeda's stats in Japan are good, but not overwhelming, and in no way should warrant that sort of contract. Maeda has thrown 1,509 IP in eight seasons in Japan and totaled under 175 IP just once in his career, his rookie season. Maeda tops out at 92 MPH on his fastball and like most Japanese pitchers offers multiple off speed and breaking pitches. Maeda went 11-8 for the Hiroshima Carp this season posting a 2.56 ERA with 154 K's in 179 IP. Maeda sounds like a right handed present day CC Sabathia, less velocity and more need for pinpoint control and pitching... not throwing.

Maeda's only saving grace is that he will be just 28-years old for the majority of 2016 and could be entering his prime just in the nick of time. I'm not saying I wouldn't take Maeda but he wouldn't be my Plan A or even my Plan D. He would rank behind David Price, Jordan Zimmermann, Johnny Cueto and many others at least.

This Day In New York Yankees History 11/16: Yankees,Yomiuri Giants & Hideki Matsui

On this day in 2002 the New York Yankees and the Japanese League Yomiuri Giants sign a deal that creates a partnership between the two biggest teams in their respected leagues. Both teams hope to benefit from improved scouting, marketing, and other benefits that will help both teams. Enter Hideki Matsui in 2003.

Baseball Making Its Pitch to Return to the Olympic Games

Despite being rather young when the Olympic committee decided that baseball and softball would no longer be a prominent sport in the Olympic Games I can remember being distraught and upset. I never watched much of the Olympics but I always watched the baseball and softball, baseball was my life at the time. The World Baseball Classic is nice and it also pits the world’s best athletes and players against each other on a grand stage with countries bragging rights on the line but it’s not the same, it’s not the Olympics. Baseball is finally making its pitch to return to the Olympic Games when the games move to Tokyo in 2020. That pitch began this week with the start of a new Premier 12 tournament last week.

The World Baseball Softball Confederation’s 12 best teams will face off head-to-head in a tournament that will be played from November 8^th through the 21^st of this month. The winner of the tournament will be granted an automatic qualification in the 2020 Olympic Games if the sport is reinstated.

Baseball has been out of the Olympics since the 2008 Beijing Games and the decision will not be made whether to bring the games back until August of 2016. The 12 teams that will participate in the tournament with the hopes of an automatic bid into the games, again if they are reinstated, are Japan, the United States, Cuba, Taiwan, Netherlands, Dominican Republic, Canada, South Korea, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, Italy and Mexico in that order from 1-12.

The United States team is made up of players currently down on the farm systems of Major League Baseball teams. The first game that the USA plays will be today, November 10^th, against the Dominican Republic inside the Taoyuan Baseball Stadium in Taipei. Go USA!

Former Yankees Update: Hiroki Kuroda

Hiroki Kuroda spent a total of three seasons as a member of the New York Yankees after spending his first four professional seasons with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Kuroda came over from Japan where he started his career, and will likely end his career, with the Hiroshima Carp of the Japanese League. Kuroda always said he would like to finish his pitching career where it began back in Japan and he did just that in 2015 leaving the Yankees with a glaring hole in their starting rotation. New York has another glaring hole in their starting rotation as Ivan Nova struggles, Michael Pineda continues to be given extra rest despite his stats while pitching on extra rest and with the struggles and subsequent injuries to CC Sabathia, could Kuroda be helping right now?

Looking at his stats from the Hiroshima Carp, seen below, absolutely. If this is how Kuroda wanted to go out I am ecstatic that he's going to get his wish. Going out with the team that gave him his first shot, going out on his own terms and going out on top. Congratulations to Mr. Kuroda.

Year	Age	Tm	W	L	ERA	G	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO	WHIP	H9	HR9	BB9	SO9
2015	40	Hiroshima	7	5	2.89	17	112.0	111	40	36	6	22	72	1.188	8.9	0.5	1.8	5.8

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table

Quick Hit: Reporter Has Been Following Ichiro for 14 Seasons

Former New York Yankees and Seattle Mariners player Ichiro Suzuki left for greener pastures, and stadiums, to play with the Miami Marlins in 2015. The Marlins flew all the way out to Japan to his introductory news conference which really impressed their new fourth outfielder and this week we learned of another humbling experience that Suzuki has been presented with. Apparently a reporter, Nobuyuki Kobayashi, has been following, monitoring and documenting ever move Ichiro has made for the last 14 years.

Kobayashi has been following Ichiro since he came into the league in 2001 and has documented his every move while working for Daily Sports, a Japanese newspaper. Believe it or not Kobayashi is not the only reporter that has borderline stalked the former All Star since 2001, Keizo Konishi of the Kyodo News has also been there since Day One.

I’m not sure how I feel about this, especially since he is now and has been a part time player, but it has to be a humbling experience for Ichiro and definitely an honor that he has earned with his time in the United States and in Japan. Hopefully Konishi and Kobayashi have plenty to write about this season, next and however long he decides to keep going as he continues to run down 3,000 hits in the major leagues.

Ichiro, we’re rooting for you no matter what uniform you have on. 

This Day in New York Yankees History 1/22: Tanaka Accepts Yankees Deal

It was on this day way, way back in 2014 when Japanese righty Masahiro Tanaka accepted the offer from the New York Yankees of seven years and $155 million. This would mark the fifth largest deal ever given to a pitcher and would also be the largest sum of money ever given to a Japanese player. New York also was on the hook for the $20 million posting fee given to the Rakuten Golden Eagles. 

Also on this day in 1982 Reggie Jackson signed a free agent deal with the California Angels ending his New York Yankees career after five seasons. Jackson signed a four year deal worth nearly $4 million after winning the 1977 and 1978 World Series with the Yankees and reaching the playoffs four times.

Finally on this day in 1913 the New York Giants agree to share the Polo Grounds with the New York Highlanders. The Highlanders, who played in the American League and will soon become known as the Yankees, had been playing their games at Hilltop Park ever since the franchise moved from Baltimore to New York.

Japan Introduces Top 12 National Team Tournament

Tokyo has been chosen to host the 2020 Summer Olympics and as you may or may not know host cities are allowed to propose the inclusion of one or more events to their games. Since Baseball was removed from all Olympic Games after the 2008 games that were played in Beijing and since baseball and softball is so popular in Japan one could be led to believe that Tokyo is pushing for Baseball to return to their games in 2020.

To help push that agenda along Japan has announced that they will co-host a new international baseball tournament this year, called the World Baseball Softball Confederation’s Premier 12 Tournament. The leaders of the WBSC and the Nippon Professional Baseball League will co-head the tournament that will be separate from the MLB and MLBPA owned World Baseball Classic.

The tournament will be played in Japan and Taiwan from November 8-21 and will feature the men’s top-12 ranked national teams. The opening round-robin games and quarterfinals will be played in Taiwan while the grand opening, semifinals, and the medal games (gold, silver, bronze) will be played in the Tokyo Dome.

This isn’t Yankees related as no MLB players will be a part of it but as a fan this is exciting because it may lead to Olympic Baseball in 2020. Good call Japan. 

REPORT: Padres Tried to Lure Hiroki Kuroda

Last month we learned that Santa Claus would not be bringing starting pitcher Hiroki Kuroda to the Bronx for a fourth straight season and instead he would be delivering to his original team in the Hiorshima Carp. A few days later reports were released that Kuroda turned down a deal in the $16-$17 million range to return home to Japan for roughly $4-$5 million in US dollars. While the report never mentioned the Yankees specifically making that offer, and I questioned anyone and everyone who reported that it was the Yankees making the offer when there was no proof of that including one of my own writers, it was generally assumed that New York made the offer. WRONG!

According to MLB Trade Rumors it was AJ Preller and the San Diego Padres who made the reported deal to Kuroda. I've seen numbers as high as $18 million thrown around from San Diego to the 39 year old RHP although the team confirmed it was not that high. And we have yet to see a reported deal made from the New York Yankees.

Long story short it all comes down to responsible journalism. That's why I personally got into the blogosphere and also why I respect the crew over at Bleeding Yankee Blue so much. Get it right, it's not a race and no one cares if you were first.