Red Sox/MLB Atlanta’s Chris Sale wins the National League Cy Young Award

Mione134

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Please. I beg
 

EvilDead

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It's times like these where I wish the posting scale was removed so that Lotte could a respectable return for time, money, and effort they put into developing this Sasaki. Sadly, the Marines are going to get pennies because of the IFA rule. Something which, I would imagine, NPB is going to patch up to prevent this from happening, Japanese Labor Board be damned. This has to rub NPB officials the wrong way in more ways than one. Especially if this could happen to other star pitchers like Hiroto Takahashi, Shunpeita Yamashita, Sochiro Yamazaki, etc.

As for my confidence in the Red Sox landing Roki? Not a chance in hell. Not when money isn't a determining factor in where he goes now, unless Henry and co give Breslow the green light to give Sasaki the same contract Yoshinobu Yamamoto got last season. He probably ends up with the Mets or Dodgers.
 

GatorMike

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As for my confidence in the Red Sox landing Roki? Not a chance in hell. Not when money isn't a determining factor in where he goes now, unless Henry and co give Breslow the green light to give Sasaki the same contract Yoshinobu Yamamoto got last season. He probably ends up with the Mets or Dodgers.
Because of Sasaki's age, MLB teams literally can't offer him the Yamamoto deal.

The most they can do is sign him to a minor league contract with a signing bonus using available money from their IFA pool.
 
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Mione134

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I still say the only reason the Sox lost out on Yamamoto last winter is because he didn't know about the majesty and splendor that is Route 1 North in Saugus.
He needed the crab rangoon and scorpion bowl badly.


The Sox brass doesn't get it.

If Kowloon didn't work and Weylu's was still there, I'd say take him to Weylus.


Rip Weylus.

That place WAS majestic.
 

EvilDead

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Because of Sasaki's age, MLB teams literally can't offer him the Yamamoto deal.

The most they can do is sign him to a minor league contract with a signing bonus using available money from their IFA pool.

Not even as an immediate extension after he signs the IFA pool deal?
 

EvilDead

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To say the fans of the Chiba Marines aren't taking this well would be an understatement. They are enraged over this. So much that a small few are suggesting things...violent things. This, sadly, isn't the first time where hooligans in Japanese baseball have threatened players and followed through with it. In the 70s, a generational talent by the name of Takashi Arakawa had refused to sign with the team that drafted him in the Yokohama Whales (now the Yokohama BayStars) because Arakawa wanted to play in Tokyo for either the Giants or the Atoms (now the Swallows) to be close to his adopted father. Whales fans were outraged at what they deemed was arrogance with two of them giving Arakawa a beat down in a dark alley with a baseball bat. Facing a PR nightmare from the attack, the Whales had to ship out Arakawa to the Atoms but the damage was done. Arakawa suffered permanent damage in his right eye from the attack and eventually went blind in said eye, ending what could've been an amazing career.

It's been over 50 years since the Arakawa incident and NPB has solved its hooligan problem for the most part. But every now and again...it rears its ugly head. I hope no one does something stupid and attacks Sasaki.
 
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DKH

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Wow, I am just as close to D’Orsi’s as you are, I go with the Italian or steak and cheese when I am there.
I blew it…..the steak & cheese is what I went there for and messed up

I have not had the Italian but I’m going to this week

The Mayor’s two daughters (great athletes) sat in my seats tonite - bummer they lost in OT

You ever get take out from Petrillo’s ? Great place as well
 

Chevalier du Clavier

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The Dodgers have the most money left in the International Pool, Roki will wind up there.
The rich get richer.
Are they drawing from the 2025 pool? If so, has it been earmarked/spent yet? I've been trying to find what each team has left, but the only article I can find is how much each team has to start. The Sox start with $6,261,600 and the Dodgers start with $5,146,200.

 

EvilDead

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Are they drawing from the 2025 pool? If so, has it been earmarked/spent yet? I've been trying to find what each team has left, but the only article I can find is how much each team has to start. The Sox start with $6,261,600 and the Dodgers start with $5,146,200.


The Marines are trying to delay the posting of Sasaki so they can get whatever they can for him given how much he's left their ball club in the lurch. I would imagine Sasaki's agent Joel Wolfe, the man most likely behind strong arming Chiba into posting the Japanese pitching prodigy, isn't thrilled about them trying to do the right thing for their ball club and getting the most they can for the kid.
 

EvilDead

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And the scathing criticism for Roki Sasaki and his decision to force his way into MLB has continued to pour out of Japan, with former legendary Saitama Lions manager and Japanese Pro Baseball Hall of Famer Tatsuro Hirooka taking aim at the young pitcher. Hirooka, who was also the GM behind bringing in Bobby Valentine to Chiba in 1995, branded Sasaki as being a "selfish player" that was overly babied by Marines, which enabled this situation to happen. Hirooka continued to lay into the young pitcher by saying the following:

“Maybe the team simply got tired of him, since Sasaki complained that ‘this hurts’ or ‘something’s wrong’ over and over throughout the season. The 25-year-old rule? Forget about it. The team will be stronger without such a selfish player. The sooner they get rid of him the better. Honestly, it’s so sad and regrettable. More and more, Japan’s star players are leaving for MLB. Sasaki was a pro for just five years, and did absolutely nothing his first year, so it was really on four. How many games did he win? In MLB, where contracts need to be earned, he will get fired and end up back in Japan, where some players, like Yakult’s Norichika Aoki produced upon their return, while others, such as Daisuke Matsuzaka, just got a ton of money without doing anything to earn it. It’s time for the commissioner to take the lead on this and fix the rules that allow for this.”

When asked about whether he thinks Sasaki will succeed or not in MLB, Hirooka didn't hold back:

“He’s going to fail, no doubt about it. In MLB now pitchers have to work on four or five days’ rest, and if he tries that, he’s going to break down. He lacks the physical strength now. Even Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who won three straight Sawamura Awards (NPB's equivalent of the Cy Young) got hurt. When Sasaki goes over there, he’s going to get a reality check. MLB teams sign Japanese talent so they can be of immediate use. They give no thought to signing them in order to develop or bring them along.”

You can read more of Hirooka's comments in this jballenglish article from Jim Allen here.
 
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EvilDead

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The Dodgers have the most money left in the International Pool, Roki will wind up there.
The rich get richer.

That means nothing. Roki has said on numerous occasions that he would like to play with his mentor from the 2023 World Baseball Classic in Yu Darvish, who currently plays for the Padres. He's also said that he doesn't want to play on the same team as Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who was his rival back in NPB when Yamamoto played for the Osaka Buffaloes.
 

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And the scathing criticism for Roki Sasaki and his decision to force his way into MLB has continued to pour out of Japan, with former legendary Saitama Lions manager and Japanese Pro Baseball Hall of Famer Tatsuro Hirooka taking aim at the young pitcher. Hirooka, who was also the GM behind bringing in Bobby Valentine to Chiba in 1995, branded Sasaki as being a "selfish player" that was overly babied by Marines, which enabled this situation to happen. Hirooka continued to lay into the young pitcher by saying the following:

“Maybe the team simply got tired of him, since Sasaki complained that ‘this hurts’ or ‘something’s wrong’ over and over throughout the season. The 25-year-old rule? Forget about it. The team will be stronger without such a selfish player. The sooner they get rid of him the better. Honestly, it’s so sad and regrettable. More and more, Japan’s star players are leaving for MLB. Sasaki was a pro for just five years, and did absolutely nothing his first year, so it was really on four. How many games did he win? In MLB, where contracts need to be earned, he will get fired and end up back in Japan, where some players, like Yakult’s Norichika Aoki produced upon their return, while others, such as Daisuke Matsuzaka, just got a ton of money without doing anything to earn it. It’s time for the commissioner to take the lead on this and fix the rules that allow for this.”

When asked about whether he thinks Sasaki will succeed or not in MLB, Hirooka didn't hold back:

“He’s going to fail, no doubt about it. In MLB now pitchers have to work on four or five days’ rest, and if he tries that, he’s going to break down. He lacks the physical strength now. Even Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who won three straight Sawamura Awards (NPB's equivalent of the Cy Young) got hurt. When Sasaki goes over there, he’s going to get a reality check. MLB teams sign Japanese talent so they can be of immediate use. They give no thought to signing them in order to develop or bring them along.”

You can read more of Hirooka's comments in this jballenglish article from Jim Allen here.

Sincere question.

How accurate do you feel his assessment is?

His much is an old guy being pissed about how different a young guy is handling something that his generation would have.

There’s got be some truth in both.
 

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