Yokohama to Post Sanada
Here’s one I didn’t see coming: according to the Jiji Press, Yokohama has agreed to post righthanded reliever Hiroki Sanada. This will be Yokohama’s first usage of the posting system, as previous BayStars alumni Kazuhiro Sasaki and Takashi Saito moved MLB via free agency.
I don’t expect Sanada will be a hot commodity on the posting market this offseason. He’s never been a strikeout machine, but he dipped to just 18 over 49 innings of work in 2011. That may be explained by a drop in velocity. But more importantly, I doubt he drew much scouting attention over the course of the season, as few would have anticipated him being posted. As such, he’s probably headed for a minimal posting fee and a minor league contract.
As a side rant, this is exactly the kind of player the posting system works against. If Sanada were a free agent, he could fly to Arizona and throw a few bullpen seasons for scouts and potentially find a fit for himself. Instead, he’ll have to hope that a team that has already seen him chooses to bid during the four days they are allowed to.
22/11/2011 at 2:36 pm Permalink
In other words, Yokohama could have just released Sanada and retained one of the players they senryokugai-ed a few weeks ago? I guess they thought they could gain a little bit with Sanada. If a team with rights thinks that way, there’s not much that can be done.
22/11/2011 at 3:32 pm Permalink
Maybe they’ll get $50k for him. Maybe no one will bid and they’ll grant him his release. If there was a system where they could negotiate a transfer directly with an MLB team, he’d likely have a better shot at landing in a situation that could work.