Shortstop Hiroyuki Nakajima

[RockCoCougars]

Although if you were bidding a player, you probably wouldn't be making that public knowledge.

 

Point taken, but I don't see how Melvin could sign a guy that he admittedly knew little about and didn't scout.

[reillymcshane]

Nakajima asked to be posted last season. Everyone knew he'd ask again this year. The Brewers knew Yuni was a one year guy (please, God, let it be so). I said this before, but it just seems foolish to not have scouted Nakajima in some fashion over the course this past year.

 

Perhaps Melvin's recent statements about Nakajima are a smokescreen - just to keep people from competing for the player. If so, then nice job, Doug. But if we pass on bidding - even a small bid - just because we never took the time to find out more about Nakajima - it's a wasted opportunity.

 

If the team really did scout Nakajima and found him lacking in some fashion - that's fine. I don't have a problem with skipping him. But to just dismiss him is a waste - especially because everyone knew he'd ask to get posted again this year, and the team knew it would be looking at an upgrade at SS this offseason.

[brettac1]

I do hope Dagu is smokescreening here, but I don't think so.

[Baldkin]

I don't understand why a guy who plays on Japanese television would be difficult to scout. I mean, don't they have guys who can go through tape?

[jmeks23]

I don't understand why a guy who plays on Japanese television would be difficult to scout. I mean, don't they have guys who can go through tape?

Would you buy a $10,000 car you saw a picture of?

 

Probably not. Now magnify that by many millions of dollars and you'll see why it's not smart to go exclusively off of tape.

[mothershipconnection]

Would you buy a $10,000 car you saw a picture of?

 

I would if I thought it was a $15,000 car and I could send a knowledgeable employee to go check it out for me.

[Baldkin]

I don't understand why a guy who plays on Japanese television would be difficult to scout. I mean, don't they have guys who can go through tape?

Would you buy a $10,000 car you saw a picture of?

 

Probably not. Now magnify that by many millions of dollars and you'll see why it's not smart to go exclusively off of tape.

I'm curious as to what you learn by seeing someone in person that you can't learn on video,

especially HD video that I'm sure the japanese games were broadcast in.

[PKBadger]

Can someone explain to me how a Major League Baseball franchise doesn't have at least one guy scouting Japan? That seems ridiculous. Build a huge training camp in the D.R., but don't pay one guy to live in Tokyo and take notes?

[Invader3K]

Can someone explain to me how a Major League Baseball franchise doesn't have at least one guy scouting Japan? That seems ridiculous. Build a huge training camp in the D.R., but don't pay one guy to live in Tokyo and take notes?

I have to believe there's quite a bit more to it than that. Maybe someone more knowledgeable about how baseball scouting works can chime in.

[reillymcshane]

The winner of the bid for Nakajima will be announced on Thursday.

 

http://www.mlbtraderumors...t-expected-tomorrow.html

 

I thought it would be SF, but they say no.

 

The Orioles were supposedly interested, with the idea of using him as a utility guy. Or perhaps move to 3B, playing Reynolds at 1B.

 

The other option might be Seattle - and then they'd move Brendan Ryan.

[jjkoestler]

Yankees win rights to Nakajima

 

They plan on using him as a utility player.

[reillymcshane]

$2 million for the rights. Gotta wonder if he'll just stay in Japan for another year and be an unfettered FA next off season. He reportedly wants to play on the west coast. And could target a team that needs him as a starter.

[PrinceEatMeat]

Yeah, I see no reason why he'd come back to serve as a utility player. He'll probably wait to be an everyday player, and play where he wants to.

[Bombers]

$2 mil - That seems pretty low ... really dont' understand why the Brewers wouldn't have bid that. Seems worth the risk

[RightFieldCoder]

When you are in person you can tell defense a lot better. You can see where the guy started a play. You can see (direction and how quickly) his first reaction. There are plenty of times that players make bad reads off the bat and takes a step in the wrong direction. By the time the camera focuses on the player, he is already 4-5 steps slow to the ball. Sometimes the camera can catch that he made a bad read, sometimes fans assume the player is just slow, sometimes fans think it was just out of reach. Or sometimes he makes a great running catch that someone with a good jump would be waiting for. The same can be said about scouting their abilities on the base paths. I won't single anyone out, but we do have a player on the team that does this and his name rhymes with Hory Cart.

We closed down the Japanese scouting to save money. We would not have been able to build the facility in the D.R. if we had been spending money on Japanese scouts for the past eight years. The Stache specifically said he was shutting down Asian scouting so we could use all of that money scouting south of the US. He figured that the Brewers weren't in a position to fight for these players since there was a posting fee on top of FA salary. He felt the money was better served to get players from one part of the world than partially scouting the whole world and getting fewer players.

[ot]I am typing this while looking at the last two posters' avatars. They look so good next to each other.[/ot]

[brewtank34]

$2 mil - That seems pretty low ... really dont' understand why the Brewers wouldn't have bid that. Seems worth the risk

I for one thinks it's quite insane to spend $2 million Just to talk to someone. What a horrible system and if I were Mark and DM, there's no way I would ever entertain an idea that would make me spend that much money just to be able to speak to someone about a deal. Horrible x Infinity!

[Baldkin]

When you are in person you can tell defense a lot better. You can see where the guy started a play. You can see (direction and how quickly) his first reaction. There are plenty of times that players make bad reads off the bat and takes a step in the wrong direction. By the time the camera focuses on the player, he is already 4-5 steps slow to the ball. Sometimes the camera can catch that he made a bad read, sometimes fans assume the player is just slow, sometimes fans think it was just out of reach. Or sometimes he makes a great running catch that someone with a good jump would be waiting for. The same can be said about scouting their abilities on the base paths. I won't single anyone out, but we do have a player on the team that does this and his name rhymes with Hory Cart.

I agree, and this is out of my own pure curiosity... but don't teams have access to the sort of video NFL guys do? The "Raw feed" if you will, multiple camera angles, etc, etc. to access this sort of stuff? Heck, they even gave it to people for free at mlb.com for the playoffs I think.

 

Anyway, I'd imagine that Nakajima will sign a 1 year deal with the Yankees, and be a FA after next season. He gets the chance to prove himself vs MLB pitching, and be a free agent as well.

[endaround]

$2 mil - That seems pretty low ... really dont' understand why the Brewers wouldn't have bid that. Seems worth the risk

I for one thinks it's quite insane to spend $2 million Just to talk to someone. What a horrible system and if I were Mark and DM, there's no way I would ever entertain an idea that would make me spend that much money just to be able to speak to someone about a deal. Horrible x Infinity!

The posting fee is usually refundable if you don't sign the player

[reillymcshane]

$2 mil - That seems pretty low ... really dont' understand why the Brewers wouldn't have bid that. Seems worth the risk

I for one thinks it's quite insane to spend $2 million Just to talk to someone. What a horrible system and if I were Mark and DM, there's no way I would ever entertain an idea that would make me spend that much money just to be able to speak to someone about a deal. Horrible x Infinity!

The posting fee is usually refundable if you don't sign the player

That's correct.

 

You could even use the system to prevent a player from coming to the big leagues. For Yu Darvish - you could put up $70 million to win the rights to him, then simply offer him a five year contract at $1 million/year. No way he takes it. He then goes back to Japan.

[endaround]

Its actually a pretty good bet that Yankees might have been actually blocking another team (*cough* Red Sox *cough*)

[jerichoholicninja]

Ya I really don't think the Yankees had any intention of actually winning. They just put in a bid and it happened to be the highest so they now have to make it look like they have a plan.

[CheezWizHed]

They just put in a bid and it happened to be the highest

 

So guys, how much money did you find in the couch seat cushions? $2M? OK, put that in as the offer...

[TooLiveBrew]

Could he can legitimately back up the whole infield (sans 1B)? If so, that might be a nice addition. Like getting a Nishiyoka but not asking him to start immediately.

 

 

I for one thinks it's quite insane to spend $2 million Just to talk to someone.

 

It's similar to the international soccer free agent process. You compensate the team for the loss of the player, then work out a contract with said player. As endaround said, if you don't work out a deal you typically get your money back from the club.

[reillymcshane]

Maybe we can trade K-Rod to the Yankees for Nakajima.

[brettac1]

The Yankees failed to come to terms with Nakajima.

 

Maybe Dagumerubin can strike next year.