New CBA Ramifications & Shohei Otani Watch

[Neddy]

it has been a life long dream to watch the summer Koshien at the stadium with Babe' paw print on its wall for a very long time. my dream retirement is to get rid of all assets and just go with an RV, watching baseball games in every ball park in USA, Canada, and eventually the Koshien. I don't know if I can ever come around to achieve that goal, but it is a dream....

[Ranma]

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Dylan Hernandez, Los Angeles Times (9/29/17)

Ohtani has an unusually graceful delivery for a pitcher his size. Like Darvish, he nearly always starts from the stretch position, and with no visible sign of strain, the baseball explodes out of his right hand. Last season, one of his fastballs was clocked at 102.5 mph, the fastest pitch recorded in Nippon Professional Baseball.

Equally fluid and dynamic is his left-handed swing, which has produced several home runs of 500 feet or more. He kicks his front leg and turns his back enough that his uniform number is visible to the pitcher, then shifts his weight forward as he drives his bat through the strike zone with a slight uppercut.

The technique is similar to that of many contact hitters from Japan — only they haven’t launched a ball through the open roof of the Tokyo Dome as Ohtani did in November as a member of Japan’s national team in a game against the Netherlands. If he had launched a similar ball at Dodger Stadium, it would have cleared the right-field pavilion and landed in the parking lot.

He can run too. Scouts have timed Ohtani in as few as 3.8 seconds from the batter’s box to first base. That’s as quick as Billy Hamilton and Dee Gordon, two of the fastest players in the majors.

Babe Ruth, the legendary player with whom Ohtani has been compared, was a Hall of Fame-caliber pitcher and a hitter in his day. But Ruth would not have covered the ground from the plate to first base in anything close to 3.8 seconds.

Major league teams don’t allow their scouts to give opinions on players publicly, but one who watched him recently offered this about Ohtani’s athleticism: “An absolute freak.”

“It’s easier to project him as a pitcher because he throws 100 [mph],” a high-ranking MLB executive said.

Counterpoint: Former batting champion Ichiro Suzuki has said Ohtani is a more talented hitter than pitcher.

Sasaki’s view: “When he’s hitting, I see a ‘yakyu shonen’ having fun in the batter’s box. When he’s on the mound, he thinks of it as his job. It’s a business, his true work.”

Ohtani has said he prefers to remain a two-way player, and most MLB teams have become convinced they will have to present him with that opportunity in order to land him.

“I’m interested to hear what the teams have to say,” Ohtani said.

Creativity will be necessary. Starters in Japan pitch once a week compared to every five days in MLB. When Ohtani was healthy last season, he often was the Fighters’ designated hitter from Tuesday to Thursday. He spent the next two days preparing to pitch and started Sunday. He rested Monday, which is generally a day off across NPB.

MLB teams could create a similar schedule by expanding their rotations to six or seven pitchers. The Dodgers have the depth to try something like that, only they would have to play Ohtani in the outfield or at first base instead of as a designated hitter.

Japanese Baseball Star Shohei Ohtani Could Be Double Threat in Big Leagues

[Ranma]

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[Quake Griffin]

I feel like that ankle surgery gives him enough time to stall and buys us enough time to sign him w/o getting penalized.

On another note, it's troubling that he's having ankle surgery and it may take some time for him to get his delivery back perfect.

[Ranma]

I feel like that ankle surgery gives him enough time to stall and buys us enough time to sign him w/o getting penalized.

On another note, it's troubling that he's having ankle surgery and it may take some time for him to get his delivery back perfect.

I had those same thoughts, but it's becoming apparent that he doesn't want to wait even if he's not fully healthy. Otani came back and played in NPB while he was dealing with his nagging injury and even pitched in his last few games.

I obviously prefer that he rehab and take his time while waiting for us to be able to offer him the most money that we can, but I get the sense that he wants to start his MLB experience as soon as possible, especially since he is willing to forgo so much money in order to do so already.

He seems to have some Corey Seager in him with regards to being a workaholic.

[Ranma]

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[Ranma]

Bazelo was part of the team that took over responsibilities for from Kershaw's current agent at Creative Artists Agency. He also went through quite the personal ideal ordeal, but apparently persevered with an ever optimistic outlook.

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Liz Mullen, SportsBusinessDaily.com (2/28/11)

Close’s departure was somewhat expected. Hired originally to run the CAA Sports baseball division, he worked out of the New York office of Century City, Calif.-based CAA. After hiring Close, CAA beefed up the baseball practice by hiring several younger agents.

But for at least a year now, Close has not been running the practice. As reported last year, CAA quietly shifted the management of the division from Close to Nez Balelo, Brodie Van Wagenen, Jeff Berry, Joe Urbon and Greg Landry.

While the speculation that Close would leave has been going on for at least a year, in recent months there was also talk that CAA had been in discussions to extend his contract. Sources said those talks fell through, though, and Close has left.

Baseball Agent Close Leaving CAA


Jeff Fletcher, Los Angeles Times (7/23/95)

Nez Balelo was on his way to the major leagues in 1987, a 23-year-old ballplayer only weeks away from reporting to spring training to compete for the job as the Seattle Mariners' starting shortstop.

But, while working in construction during the off-season to make some extra money and stay in shape, he took one wrong step and dropped 38 feet down an elevator shaft onto the concrete below.

A plywood sheet, which was teetering over the opening to the elevator shaft, swung down like a trap door, dropping Balelo three floors.

Rather than becoming a major leaguer, as Balelo had anticipated, he played two mediocre minor league seasons and two more in Italy, then embarked on his current career. He owns and operates five successful baseball schools in Southern California.

But Balelo was born with his focus fixed squarely on the bright side, which his wife, Lisa, found out when she hurried to the hospital that fateful day and found her husband lying on a gurney, his body broken, scratched and bloody, but his attitude unchanged.

"He looked up at me and smiled," she said. "And he said everything is going to be OK."

Still, Balelo was impressive enough on the field that he beat out three other shortstops and would have started for the Braves had the strike not ended two days before the team's scheduled opener. Balelo said he was not upset when the major league carrot disappeared again. "I was happy because I have a ton of friends that play in the big leagues and I was glad to see they had their jobs back," he said. "I have a job. I have a career."

Of course, it could have been a much different career had Balelo picked some other way to stay in shape eight years ago.

"It was like a workout," he said of his construction career. "But it didn't really . . . work out."

After the Fall : Construction-Site Accident Ended Nez Balelo's Chances of Making the Major Leagues, But Now He Has a Career in Baseball Instruction

[Neddy]

Bazelo was part of the team that took over responsibilities for Kershaw's current agent at Creative Artists Agency. He also went through quite the personal ideal, but apparently persevered with an ever optimistic outlook.

Read on Twitter

Liz Mullen, SportsBusinessDaily.com (2/28/11)

Close’s departure was somewhat expected. Hired originally to run the CAA Sports baseball division, he worked out of the New York office of Century City, Calif.-based CAA. After hiring Close, CAA beefed up the baseball practice by hiring several younger agents.

But for at least a year now, Close has not been running the practice. As reported last year, CAA quietly shifted the management of the division from Close to Nez Balelo, Brodie Van Wagenen, Jeff Berry, Joe Urbon and Greg Landry.

While the speculation that Close would leave has been going on for at least a year, in recent months there was also talk that CAA had been in discussions to extend his contract. Sources said those talks fell through, though, and Close has left.

Baseball Agent Close Leaving CAA


Jeff Fletcher, Los Angeles Times (7/23/95)

Nez Balelo was on his way to the major leagues in 1987, a 23-year-old ballplayer only weeks away from reporting to spring training to compete for the job as the Seattle Mariners' starting shortstop.

But, while working in construction during the off-season to make some extra money and stay in shape, he took one wrong step and dropped 38 feet down an elevator shaft onto the concrete below.

A plywood sheet, which was teetering over the opening to the elevator shaft, swung down like a trap door, dropping Balelo three floors.

Rather than becoming a major leaguer, as Balelo had anticipated, he played two mediocre minor league seasons and two more in Italy, then embarked on his current career. He owns and operates five successful baseball schools in Southern California.

But Balelo was born with his focus fixed squarely on the bright side, which his wife, Lisa, found out when she hurried to the hospital that fateful day and found her husband lying on a gurney, his body broken, scratched and bloody, but his attitude unchanged.

"He looked up at me and smiled," she said. "And he said everything is going to be OK."

Still, Balelo was impressive enough on the field that he beat out three other shortstops and would have started for the Braves had the strike not ended two days before the team's scheduled opener. Balelo said he was not upset when the major league carrot disappeared again. "I was happy because I have a ton of friends that play in the big leagues and I was glad to see they had their jobs back," he said. "I have a job. I have a career."

Of course, it could have been a much different career had Balelo picked some other way to stay in shape eight years ago.

"It was like a workout," he said of his construction career. "But it didn't really . . . work out."

After the Fall : Construction-Site Accident Ended Nez Balelo's Chances of Making the Major Leagues, But Now He Has a Career in Baseball Instruction

WOW THIS IS A GREAT NEWS!

if we can land Otani, and he did sign with us out of high school until NPB threw a fit, I have to believe that we are still the team he wants to join. he would immediately be a top 3 pitcher of our rotation.

Kershaw
Otani
Wood
Hill
Ryu
McCarthy
Maeda
Urias
Buehler
Stripling
Stewart
Oaks
Kazmir (LOL)

this is my our starting totem pole.

[CF55]

Bazelo was part of the team that took over responsibilities for Kershaw's current agent at Creative Artists Agency. He also went through quite the personal ideal, but apparently persevered with an ever optimistic outlook.

Read on Twitter

Liz Mullen, SportsBusinessDaily.com (2/28/11)

Close’s departure was somewhat expected. Hired originally to run the CAA Sports baseball division, he worked out of the New York office of Century City, Calif.-based CAA. After hiring Close, CAA beefed up the baseball practice by hiring several younger agents.

But for at least a year now, Close has not been running the practice. As reported last year, CAA quietly shifted the management of the division from Close to Nez Balelo, Brodie Van Wagenen, Jeff Berry, Joe Urbon and Greg Landry.

While the speculation that Close would leave has been going on for at least a year, in recent months there was also talk that CAA had been in discussions to extend his contract. Sources said those talks fell through, though, and Close has left.

Baseball Agent Close Leaving CAA


Jeff Fletcher, Los Angeles Times (7/23/95)

Nez Balelo was on his way to the major leagues in 1987, a 23-year-old ballplayer only weeks away from reporting to spring training to compete for the job as the Seattle Mariners' starting shortstop.

But, while working in construction during the off-season to make some extra money and stay in shape, he took one wrong step and dropped 38 feet down an elevator shaft onto the concrete below.

A plywood sheet, which was teetering over the opening to the elevator shaft, swung down like a trap door, dropping Balelo three floors.

Rather than becoming a major leaguer, as Balelo had anticipated, he played two mediocre minor league seasons and two more in Italy, then embarked on his current career. He owns and operates five successful baseball schools in Southern California.

But Balelo was born with his focus fixed squarely on the bright side, which his wife, Lisa, found out when she hurried to the hospital that fateful day and found her husband lying on a gurney, his body broken, scratched and bloody, but his attitude unchanged.

"He looked up at me and smiled," she said. "And he said everything is going to be OK."

Still, Balelo was impressive enough on the field that he beat out three other shortstops and would have started for the Braves had the strike not ended two days before the team's scheduled opener. Balelo said he was not upset when the major league carrot disappeared again. "I was happy because I have a ton of friends that play in the big leagues and I was glad to see they had their jobs back," he said. "I have a job. I have a career."

Of course, it could have been a much different career had Balelo picked some other way to stay in shape eight years ago.

"It was like a workout," he said of his construction career. "But it didn't really . . . work out."

After the Fall : Construction-Site Accident Ended Nez Balelo's Chances of Making the Major Leagues, But Now He Has a Career in Baseball Instruction

WOW THIS IS A GREAT NEWS!

if we can land Otani, and he did sign with us out of high school until NPB threw a fit, I have to believe that we are still the team he wants to join. he would immediately be a top 3 pitcher of our rotation.

Kershaw
Otani
Wood
Hill
Ryu
McCarthy
Maeda
Urias
Buehler
Stripling
Stewart
Oaks
Kazmir (LOL)

this is my our starting totem pole.

Urias should not be listed he's out all of 2018...

Also Maeda should be above Ryu and McCarthy

I also heard Otani wants to play with Darvish so where ever Darvish goes has the huge upper hand in the Otani sweepstakes. (Otani idolized Darvish growing up and the two are good friends and work out together in the offseason)

I want Otani I just don't see him coming here when an AL team will let him pitch and possibly DH.

[Ranma]

During today's press conference that just concluded, Friedman was asked by a couple of presumably Japanese reporters about Shohei Ohtani. While he noted that it was premature to discuss Ohtani given that the official process has not even started for him, Friedman acknowledged that it is riskier to have a player both pitch and hit regularly rather than focusing on exclusively either pitching or hitting.

However, Friedman went on to say that they are definitely open to being creative in making that work for the few people talented enough to be a 2-way player. The creativity was noted as having to do with scheduling around recuperation time and the work necessary to hone skills. It is also noteworthy that the Dodgers are on the record to be closely monitoring the situation.

[Neddy]

Also Maeda should be above Ryu and McCarthy

how so? Ryu's first two years before his shoulder injury was clearly superior over Maeda's first two years, and McCarthy when he is healthy and his head is right, can be a staff ace for a dozen teams around the league as he has shown while with the A's and the Yankees in the past. as the shoulder got stronger for Ryu and his fastball's velocity went up from 88 mph to 90, 91, his changeup came back to life as well. McCarthy's sinker shouldn't just die as he is aging either, although getting up to 34 next season is a concern, he is the best out of the trio when pitching on regular MLB's 4 day rest.

Maeda will be a decent, back of the rotation guy for most teams, but if used correctly, he could be a dominant force out of the pen. his wild split between L/R handed hitters and home/away game stats, screams a right handed bats man specialist who can eat up 3-4 innings if needed. I would never trust him against any lefty heavy lineup in away game situation. I can with Ryu and McCarthy. both needs to get stronger, one physically and the other mentally, but Maeda's best pitch, his slider, just flattens out and become useless against lefties.

[CF55]

Also Maeda should be above Ryu and McCarthy

how so? Ryu's first two years before his shoulder injury was clearly superior over Maeda's first two years, and McCarthy when he is healthy and his head is right, can be a staff ace for a dozen teams around the league as he has shown while with the A's and the Yankees in the past. as the shoulder got stronger for Ryu and his fastball's velocity went up from 88 mph to 90, 91, his changeup came back to life as well. McCarthy's sinker shouldn't just die as he is aging either, although getting up to 34 next season is a concern, he is the best out of the trio when pitching on regular MLB's 4 day rest.

Maeda will be a decent, back of the rotation guy for most teams, but if used correctly, he could be a dominant force out of the pen. his wild split between L/R handed hitters and home/away game stats, screams a right handed bats man specialist who can eat up 3-4 innings if needed. I would never trust him against any lefty heavy lineup in away game situation. I can with Ryu and McCarthy. both needs to get stronger, one physically and the other mentally, but Maeda's best pitch, his slider, just flattens out and become useless against lefties.

Maeda as a rookie was better then Ryu in 17 and McCarthy since he's been here. I would rather have Maeda in the 4th or 5th spot in the rotation then McCarthy who health wise could be a better fit going 1 to 2 innings a few times a week as opposed to 5 to 6 as a starter.

Maeda went into last season with no confidence because he had a rough end to his rookie year. Going into 2018 I'm guessing he gets his confidence back and resembles the player we saw for most of 2016 before he got gassed. If Ryu shows he's closer to his 2014 self I would rank him even with Maeda but that's more or less to even out the rotation to L L R L R instead of 4 lefties.

[Neddy]

Also Maeda should be above Ryu and McCarthy

how so? Ryu's first two years before his shoulder injury was clearly superior over Maeda's first two years, and McCarthy when he is healthy and his head is right, can be a staff ace for a dozen teams around the league as he has shown while with the A's and the Yankees in the past. as the shoulder got stronger for Ryu and his fastball's velocity went up from 88 mph to 90, 91, his changeup came back to life as well. McCarthy's sinker shouldn't just die as he is aging either, although getting up to 34 next season is a concern, he is the best out of the trio when pitching on regular MLB's 4 day rest.

Maeda will be a decent, back of the rotation guy for most teams, but if used correctly, he could be a dominant force out of the pen. his wild split between L/R handed hitters and home/away game stats, screams a right handed bats man specialist who can eat up 3-4 innings if needed. I would never trust him against any lefty heavy lineup in away game situation. I can with Ryu and McCarthy. both needs to get stronger, one physically and the other mentally, but Maeda's best pitch, his slider, just flattens out and become useless against lefties.

Maeda as a rookie was better then Ryu in 17 and McCarthy since he's been here. I would rather have Maeda in the 4th or 5th spot in the rotation then McCarthy who health wise could be a better fit going 1 to 2 innings a few times a week as opposed to 5 to 6 as a starter.

Maeda went into last season with no confidence because he had a rough end to his rookie year. Going into 2018 I'm guessing he gets his confidence back and resembles the player we saw for most of 2016 before he got gassed. If Ryu shows he's closer to his 2014 self I would rank him even with Maeda but that's more or less to even out the rotation to L L R L R instead of 4 lefties.

Ryu in 17 was recovering from shoulder injury as well as an elbow injury, LOL come on bro, that is not a balanced evaluation. despite that Maeda was still rocked against LHBs. L/R split shows both McCarthy and Ryu are more balanced than Maeda.

[CF55]

how so? Ryu's first two years before his shoulder injury was clearly superior over Maeda's first two years, and McCarthy when he is healthy and his head is right, can be a staff ace for a dozen teams around the league as he has shown while with the A's and the Yankees in the past. as the shoulder got stronger for Ryu and his fastball's velocity went up from 88 mph to 90, 91, his changeup came back to life as well. McCarthy's sinker shouldn't just die as he is aging either, although getting up to 34 next season is a concern, he is the best out of the trio when pitching on regular MLB's 4 day rest.

Maeda will be a decent, back of the rotation guy for most teams, but if used correctly, he could be a dominant force out of the pen. his wild split between L/R handed hitters and home/away game stats, screams a right handed bats man specialist who can eat up 3-4 innings if needed. I would never trust him against any lefty heavy lineup in away game situation. I can with Ryu and McCarthy. both needs to get stronger, one physically and the other mentally, but Maeda's best pitch, his slider, just flattens out and become useless against lefties.

Maeda as a rookie was better then Ryu in 17 and McCarthy since he's been here. I would rather have Maeda in the 4th or 5th spot in the rotation then McCarthy who health wise could be a better fit going 1 to 2 innings a few times a week as opposed to 5 to 6 as a starter.

Maeda went into last season with no confidence because he had a rough end to his rookie year. Going into 2018 I'm guessing he gets his confidence back and resembles the player we saw for most of 2016 before he got gassed. If Ryu shows he's closer to his 2014 self I would rank him even with Maeda but that's more or less to even out the rotation to L L R L R instead of 4 lefties.

Ryu in 17 was recovering from shoulder injury as well as an elbow injury, LOL come on bro, that is not a balanced evaluation. despite that Maeda was still rocked against LHBs. L/R split shows both McCarthy and Ryu are more balanced than Maeda.

Make what ever excuse for Ryu you need to shoulder injuries don't always have players come back 100 percent. What we saw last season might be all Ryu has left. As for McCarthy he sucks and has since we got him. Wether its mental or not I would much rather have Maeda in the 5th spot of the rotation then McCarthy.

[Neddy]

Maeda as a rookie was better then Ryu in 17 and McCarthy since he's been here. I would rather have Maeda in the 4th or 5th spot in the rotation then McCarthy who health wise could be a better fit going 1 to 2 innings a few times a week as opposed to 5 to 6 as a starter.

Maeda went into last season with no confidence because he had a rough end to his rookie year. Going into 2018 I'm guessing he gets his confidence back and resembles the player we saw for most of 2016 before he got gassed. If Ryu shows he's closer to his 2014 self I would rank him even with Maeda but that's more or less to even out the rotation to L L R L R instead of 4 lefties.

Ryu in 17 was recovering from shoulder injury as well as an elbow injury, LOL come on bro, that is not a balanced evaluation. despite that Maeda was still rocked against LHBs. L/R split shows both McCarthy and Ryu are more balanced than Maeda.

Make what ever excuse for Ryu you need to shoulder injuries don't always have players come back 100 percent. What we saw last season might be all Ryu has left. As for McCarthy he sucks and has since we got him. Wether its mental or not I would much rather have Maeda in the 5th spot of the rotation then McCarthy.

sounds like you wanna get personal.

okay.

[Ranma]

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[Ranma]

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