Those lucky Japanese ballplayers

brewerfan99 · Jan 12, 2014

Tanaka has never thrown a baseball in the big leagues yet he will become one of the highest paid players in the game. It's not a fair system! Our young ballplayers here have to be drafted, developed, and perform at a high level sometimes for years before getting their life changing contracts. I think the only way you should be able to become a big leaguer is thru the draft. We need an international draft period. Why should the big $ teams get all the stars. End rant. How do you guys feel about it?

https://twitter.com/brewerfan99/status/422430877130313728

#tanakarules

TBTwinsFan · Jan 12, 2014

What's sad is that he'll probably end up being a bust.

aarne13 · Jan 12, 2014

Expecting him to be ace is unrealistic. A strong #2 would be great (after adjusting to the league). There is nothing to suggest that he would be another Kei Igawa.

OscarOne · Jan 12, 2014

I saw that names of the teams that are the front runners: Dodgers, Yankees, California Angels.

And I also read that he only wants to play in the big cities like Boston, NY.

So yea, the deck is stacked against the small market teams, and it will not change anytime soon. The rich run the sport, and they will make sure to keep the status quo--its just too profitable.

Lars · Jan 12, 2014

Tanaka is a ready made talent who can jump into a MLB rotation and be No.1 or No.2 - however no one is pointing a gun to a MLB team to sign him however - so I don't see the problem in him being 'lucky' to be in his position.

George_Calfas · Jan 12, 2014

Strasburg was a big league talent on draft day yet in 2010 he was only paid $2M.

sportscardtheory · Jan 12, 2014

Wait. Why argue that it's unfair that big spending teams can get him ahead of the smaller spending teams and in the same breath argue that he's not worth the money he will get? That makes no sense.

#tanakaisastarbutshouldntbepaidlikeone

George_Calfas · Jan 12, 2014

sportscardtheory said:
Wait. Why argue that it's unfair that big spending teams can get him ahead of the smaller spending teams and in the same breath argue that he's not worth the money he will get? That makes no sense.

#tanakaisastarbutshouldntbepaidlikeone

I dont see the argument that he is not worth the money, but rather he will get PAID from day one when MLB ready guys are forced to accept small dollar contacts via the draft rules (Stasburg, Wacha, Harper, etc).

sportscardtheory · Jan 12, 2014

George_Calfas said:
I dont see the argument that he is not worth the money, but rather he will get PAID from day one when MLB ready guys are forced to accept small dollar contacts via the draft rules (Stasburg, Wacha, Harper, etc).

That seems to be the exact argument, that he's not worth the money he will get. Unless the argument is that Minor Leaguers are worth more than they get?

sportscardtheory · Jan 12, 2014

The guy is 25 and has been playing professional baseball since 2007. That's 7 years in the top Japanese league. If you think he should be paid like an 18-21 year-old draftee, I don't know what else to tell you.

George_Calfas · Jan 12, 2014

sportscardtheory said:
That seems to be the exact argument, that he's not worth the money he will get. Unless the argument is that Minor Leaguers are worth more than they get?

No, the argument is there is a system in place but not for everyone, if you are an international star you can do come straight in and go where you want.

Tanaka may be worth the money; Fine, but so were the names I listed. Had Strasburg been on an international team his first contract would have been huge. If MLB players must be drafted and accept small contract so should international players regardless of how good they are.

Also, if in the draft Tanaka would go #1 rather than going to the team of his choosing.

AmishDave · Jan 12, 2014

Bad teams shouldn't sign mediocre starters, like Kyle Loshe, give up their 1st Round Draft Pick and then have a depleted and marginal farm system.

sportscardtheory · Jan 12, 2014

George_Calfas said:
No, the argument is there is a system in place but not for everyone, if you are an international star you can do come straight in and go where you want.

Tanaka may be worth the money; Fine, but so were the names I listed. Had Strasburg been on an international team his first contract would have been huge. If MLB players must be drafted and accept small contract so should international players regardless of how good they are.

Also, if in the draft Tanaka would go #1 rather than going to the team of his choosing.

This might make sense if Stasburg, Wacha, and Harper each played 7 years of professional baseball before signing a MLB entrance contract.

You are comparing apples to oranges.

jrinne · Jan 12, 2014

55_marlins_sp said:
Bad teams shouldn't sign mediocre starters, like Kyle Loshe, give up their 1st Round Draft Pick and then have a depleted and marginal farm system.

I would never want to see the Brewers sign a guy like tanaka. Pitchers from Japan rarely pan out. He will be dice-k part 2. Loshe was a great signing as most Brewers fan like him. At least I'm a fan.

Sent from my SCH-R970 using Freedom Card Board mobile app

brewerfan99 · Jan 12, 2014

George_Calfas said:
I dont see the argument that he is not worth the money, but rather he will get PAID from day one when MLB ready guys are forced to accept small dollar contacts via the draft rules (Stasburg, Wacha, Harper, etc).

Exactly ... your better with words than me

gmsieb · Jan 12, 2014

OscarOne said:
I saw that names of the teams that are the front runners: Dodgers, Yankees, California Angels.

And I also read that he only wants to play in the big cities like Boston, NY.

So yea, the deck is stacked against the small market teams, and it will not change anytime soon. The rich run the sport, and they will make sure to keep the status quo--its just too profitable.

It was la ny bos

brewerfan99 · Jan 12, 2014

55_marlins_sp said:
Bad teams shouldn't sign mediocre starters, like Kyle Loshe, give up their 1st Round Draft Pick and then have a depleted and marginal farm system.

I'd argue that Kyle Loshe is better than most 1st Round picks ... thats another flawed system ... the player is a free agent ... why should you have to give up anything more than $ to get him.

brewerfan99 · Jan 12, 2014

sportscardtheory said:
This might make sense if Stasburg, Wacha, and Harper each played 7 years of professional baseball before signing a MLB entrance contract.

You are comparing apples to oranges.

and you are comparing apples to oranges as well ... It maybe professional baseball but its not the big leagues.

thats like saying so and so played 7 years in the Arena football league thus he's superior to a kid coming out of college baseball

sportscardtheory · Jan 12, 2014

Other countries have leagues and contracts. It's not like Tanaka was playing in the streets of Japan and some team is handing him over 100+ million dollars. Due to many years of success, he was making millions a year playing for the Rakuten Golden Eagles in a professional baseball league. To think that a team from MLB should be able to simply draft a guy making millions on a contract is absurd. He played for 7 years and is just now being "let go" by the Golden Eagles after his contract is up. They offered him 8 to 10 million PER-YEAR to stay with the Golden Eagles. Do you expect him to sign for $250,000 a year with a MLB team and work his way up the system? Why would ANYONE do something so stupid. lol Come on now.

sportscardtheory · Jan 12, 2014

brewerfan99 said:
and you are comparing apples to oranges as well ... It maybe professional baseball but its not the big leagues.

thats like saying so and so played 7 years in the Arena football league thus he's superior to a kid coming out of colledge baseball

No, that's just a stupid strawman argument.

Welcome to our community

Be apart of something great, join today!

Those lucky Japanese ballplayers

New member

New member

Active member

New member

Active member

Well-known member

Active member

Well-known member

Active member

Active member

Well-known member

Featured Contributor, Collector Showcase, Senior M

Active member

New member

New member

New member

New member

New member

Active member

Active member

Similar threads

Log in