A Question of Tazawa Fall Out

Posted by Adam Hart December 6, 2008 at 11:39 pm

Junichi Tazawa has officially signed with the Red Sox. We have reported on this extensively. But one question remains — will there be future complications?

To help us find an answer to that, I had a conversation via e-mail with Patrick Newman of NPBTracker.com. Let’s get to it, with a little introduction for those who are curious.

Patrick Newman began following Japanese baseball in the mid-90s, and very closely since 2000. Having once lived  in Japan for a two-year stint, Newman has built NPBTracker.com in an effort to “provide a more accurate source of information for English speaking fans with an interest in Japanese baseball.” His understanding of Japanese baseball provides a much needed service for those American baseball fans hungry for knowledge of Japanese players and teams. Newman’s work relative to Junichi Tazawa’s free agency has been quoted in mainstream media outlets from NBC Sports, to the Washington Post, to, yes, your very own BostonScore.com.  You will find his contributions in the quotes that follow.

Let us begin with a basic understanding of the player flow between America and Japan.  American baseball players are free to play in Japan under no penalty.  They may move to Japan via the typical route — trade, free agent signing, etc. But NPB players may only play in America if posted by their team, have 9 years of service time* or are free agents.  Or, have yet to become NPB players.  Which is the loophole used by Junichi Tazawa to cross the Pacific Ocean and play in the America.

Because of Tazawa, NPB has enacted a new rule: The amateur player who dodges the pro draft in Japan to play overseas is now subject to a ban if he attempts to return to a Japanese team (3-year ban for high schoolers, 2-year ban for college or company team players). Of course, that could all be circumvented if the player just stays in America for the duration of his career.

When expounding on this rule, Newman stressed that, while the rule reads ‘overseas’, there is one clear target.

“It’s really intended to deter the top guys from going to MLB. They aren’t too worried about losing guys to Taiwan or Korea,” Newman said via e-mail. “This rule would apply to Tazawa, but he’s said in the media that he’s not considering coming back to Japan and wants to play his whole career in America.”

That career will at least begin with the Boston organization that signed him earlier this week to a 3-year, $3.4 million deal.  Tazawa cited a comprehensive development plan, which figures to start the Japanese 22-year-old in Double-A Portland, the Japanese players already on the team and the fact that the Red Sox scouted him first as the reasons he signed with Boston. Texas and Atlanta also threw their hat in the ring, and obviously lost out.

If NPB went to such trouble to make a rule that punishes players due to Tazawa’s premature departure (although, Newman believes this will amount to an idle threat), just how will it react to the teams that went after the pitcher — or worse, the team that actually signed him? Will there be any backlash?

“That remains to be seen, but I doubt it,” Newman said via e-mail. “The Red Sox didn’t suffer any real backlash from NPB when Theo Epstein blocked Kevin Millar’s move from the Marlins to the Chunichi Dragons, which was another violation of a gentleman’s agreement.”

The ‘Cowboy Up’ Era almost never was, if you remember. Millar was on his way to Japan when the Red Sox claimed him off waivers, effectively reversing the deal that had been reached. Without breaking this international exchange, Millar and Gentleman Jack would never have been written harmoniously into Red Sox folklore.

While I mentioned previously that there is no penalty for an American player moving to play in NPB, there is a way to stop it from happening. The Red Sox executed such a move, which was, as Newman says, a violation of a gentlemen’s agreement between the two leagues.

In response to such dealings by the Red Sox, some would use the phrase ‘one good turn deserves another’ — why don’t NPB teams return the favor after being treated with disregard by an MLB team — twice? And what better way to exact that revenge, than through the rejection of Boston’s posting fee in any future moves that require such?

“With the posting system, NPB teams can choose to reject the winning bid, but to my knowledge this has never happened,” Newman said via e-mail. “It is conceivable that an NPB team could choose not to accept a winning bid from Boston, but I doubt it would happen. Also, even though the Red Sox instigated this thing, in the end four teams made offers. Tazawa chose Boston but other teams were involved.”

There were teams that stayed out of it, too — at least one out of respect to NPB and the potential for soured relations due to the pursuit of Tazawa.

“The two teams that I saw come out and saw they didn’t want to pursue Tazawa over fears of disrupting relations with NPB were the Yankees and the Tigers,” Newman said via e-mail.  “The Yankees have a partnership with the Yomiuri Giants, which was the most outspoken team in its criticism of Tazawa. I’ll call BS on Detroit — despite what they said about not wanting to disrupt ties with Japan they still sent a scout to meet with him, and allowed the meeting to be covered on the Japanese news.”

For now, NPB will focus on punishing individual players who leave Japan before even playing a professional game in the country’s highest league. And, if Newman is right, Boston will be spared any bad blood in the future.

“If this starts happening every year, maybe we’ll see more drastic changes,” Newman said via e-mail.  “For now, I don’t think there’s anything that NPB can do specifically to Boston, though.”

But at what point will NPB say enough is enough? At least when a player is posted, such as Daisuke Matsuzaka, an NPB team receives a cash posting fee in return for his departure. In the case of Tazawa, all NPB is left with is a new rule, which may make others think twice about following in his footsteps.

“If Tazawa does well, others may be more willing to attempt to make the MLB leap,” Newman said via e-mail. “If he doesn’t, future amateurs may be a little more cautious. I don’t think we’ll see too many top Japanese amateurs go this route, but we’ll find out next October, when it’s time for next year’s draft.”

So, Tazawa is the guinea pig, if you will. The test subject for other Japanese amateurs who hope to play in Major League Baseball sooner rather than later.  If he fails to make an impact with the Red Sox, the “Tazawa Rule” could scare off those looking to jump ship prior to even boarding.

************************************

NPB is not without its share of MLB players. The difference is these players are — for the most part — MLB rejects. That phrase is harsh, but the reality is they were either AAAA players, past their MLB prime or incapable of making an impact on the Major League level. NPB was their shot at playing serious professional baseball and making some money doing it.

Without the move to add the posting process, following Hideo Nomo’s “retirement” from Japanese baseball in 1995, NPB would get little out of their home-grown players.  The posting process was enacted to stop the flood gates then, just as the “Tazawa Rule” has been put in place now.  Newman’s take on players leaving Japan for Major League Baseball?

“Generally speaking, I like that Japanese players are getting a chance to play in America, but I hope that in the future we’ll see more partnership and exchange,” Newman said via e-mail.  “Right now it feels like the MLB teams are more of a consumer of Japanese talent, rather than a partner.”

It feels that way on this end, too.  Should that change?  Yes.  Will it change?  Doubtful.  If one thing is certain, professional sports leagues in America have little regard for anyone’s interests but their own.  Ask cable providers about the NFL Network or the MLB Package.  Ask the 10-year-olds who are unable to watch the Celtics in the NBA Finals because games start past their bedtime.  They’ll tell you it’s true.

Thanks to Patrick Newman for his insight regarding all things NPB.  We will continue to update you on what we can concerning Tazawa and any other Japanese players making the transition into the Red Sox organization.  But, I suggest going straight to the source for a more direct understanding of Japanese baseball.

* Updated from 10 years to 9, thanks again to Patrick:

It’s actually nine years of service time, where a year is defined as 150 days on the top team’s roster. Time spent on the injured list is not counted as service time, but sometimes players will receive credit for it. Koji Uehara missed free agency last off season by eight days, and Kenshin Kawakami took 11 years to meet the service time requirement because of injuries.

Final analysis concerning Tazawa: No fall out, boy…