Official July 2nd IFA Thread

[BramptonYute]

http://www.sportsnet.ca/baseball/mlb/blue-jays-pick-scouting-otani-signing-unlikely/

shi changing the title to make it less obvious that they're not signing him lmao.

[Schad]

It's kinda silly, because there really is no "pursuit" here. Every team can offer $20m for the posting fee, and probably every team that thinks they're even remotely in the frame will. Every team can offer a minor league deal with a bonus varying from "negligible" to "doesn't matter that much". No teams can negotiate past that until he has already signed, and MLB is undoubtedly keeping a close eye to ensure that teams are not talking long-term contracts before he signs with a club.

So, basically, there's not a lot of wooing to go on beyond promising that he'll get to do what he wants, and that a large to-be-determined contract will follow. It's the extremely rare circumstance where no one is competing on dollar figures. We almost definitely won't get Otani, but it won't be because we were cheap or didn't do enough in some respect. It'll be because he has his pick of 30 teams, and we're just not going to be that pick.

[Skin Blues]

He has his pick, but teams will certainly be letting his agent know what they're willing to pay him for his follow-up contract. They won't be bound to that informal agreement, obviously, but it won't end up well for them to have lied, and he will certainly take into account the amount each team has said they will be able to offer in the future.

[JaysRule15]

I'm still puzzled as to why he's doing this. Stay in your comfort zone in Japan for a couple more years and continue to dominate while still making millions, then come to MLB at 25 and get a $100+ million contract. Coming to MLB for peanuts is such a risky move for him. Even with an informal agreement for a future contract in place, what if he comes here and struggles badly with the MLB game these next few years? Would that team honor the informal agreement? Many Japanese pitchers have arm problems when they come here because of a more frequent pitching schedule. Considering he throws so hard already, who's to say that he doesn't develop problems as well while still under the entry level deal? Very risky decision by him.

[Skin Blues]

Yeah it really doesn't make sense to me, either. $100M is the absolute floor, he's looking at a couple hundred million, easy. How bad could it be to play two more years in Japan??? He'll probably make as much in those two years in Japan as he would in MLB, and then he has free agency $$$ coming at him in 2020 rather than 2024.