All Japanese Battery... Why Not.

We all know the Mariner's made some bone head free agent moves in the past couple of years. It's completely amazing that GM Bill Bavasi still has his job. He has signed Beltre, Sexson, Spiezio, Everett, Lawton & Johjima in the past two years, with only the Japanese catcher in Johjima panning out. How does he still have his job? Of course, Art Shell is an NFL Head Coach at this very same moment.


Johjima was one of the only bright spots of the season last year. And as Bavasi's only good FA pickup, my thought is that Seattle tries to go get the biggest FA coming out of Japan since Ichiro in Daisuke Matsuzaka this winter. Matsuzaka's club, the Seibu Lions, put him up for bid for MLB teams and it's rumored that his posting price (which only gets you to negotiate with the player, not a guarantee to sign) could be above 25 million dollars. I'm sure the Mariner's hope the U.S. Dollar makes a recovery by then, because that's an assload of money to spend on one dude.

But let's break it down further. In the winter of 2000, Seattle bid $13.1 million for the right to sign Ichiro. That money was well worth it, with Ichiro now Seattle's only true remaining superstar. Daisuke Matsuzaka is only 26 years old (pitchers tend to mature and reach their potential at 27 years old), and he's a pitching superstar. The right-hander has dominated the Japanese game, finishing with an ERA under 3.00 the past four years. This season he's thrown 14 complete games and as of Monday was 17-5 with an ERA of 2.13 and 200 strikeouts in 180 innings. He was the MVP of this spring's World Baseball Classic.

Basically, the kid is a stud and would give the Mariners a 1-2 punch of Matsuzaka-Hernandez... wow. Plus, one more Japanese buddy for Ichiro to talk to. You have to keep your superstars happy. And step 1 to Bavasi keeping his job after 2007 would be to win the bidding war for Daisuke. Matsuzaka to Johjima... strike one.