The Right to Negotiate

Earlier this month the Boston Red-Sox bid $51.1 for the right to negotiate a baseball contract with Daisuke Matsuzaka, a right-handed pitcher for the Seibu Lions of Japan. Not wanting to be left out of the spending spotlight, the New York Yankees have agreed to pay an undisclosed amount (rumored to be around $25 million) for the exclusive rights to talk to Kei Igawa of the Hanshin Tigers. The situation is made interesting only because the Japanese League requires its players ten years of service before allowing them to seek free agency and American contracts. This explains why most Japanese players, by the time they arrive in the American Major League, are seasoned veterans who are “better than average” to say the least. But clearly everything has a price, even Japan’s attempt to hold on to its own players.

The fact that teams are paying millions of dollars to even begin negotiations with these Japanese players seems mind-boggling to most Americans. But then again, most Americans are shocked that the average MLB player earns $2.5 million. Remember, that’s arithmetic mean, not the big boys! But even fans are curious as to whether or not teams have gone too far. Perhaps the next step will be paying millions to families for the right to negotiate with their 8 year-old little league phenom.

Is it worth it? Ichiro is undoubtedly the most exciting player to watch in Major League baseball, but would any team have paid tens of millions simply to negotiate with him? Considering his production and his $6 million a year contract, yes. Japanese players, for some reason or the other, earn far less than their American counterparts of comparable skill. But most Japanese imports are not worth the hype. Think Irabu, Matsui, Nomo. At times, they are explosive, but nothing compared to expectations.

Considering there are more Hispanic players in the league than of any of any other origin, it is a wonder that there have never been such high profile contract negotiations. Although players in the Americas are more free to move around than in Japan, the shear mass of players and countries involved make friction impossible to avoid. The Western hemisphere prefers to argue over issues of political asylum and refugee status than bidding wars for contract negotiation.

Baseball is no longer an American sport; it is truly global in scope. Multi million dollar bids simply to negotiate speak of the owner’s confidence in the potential to grow. Certainly more to come…