Is Kazuo Matsui a Hypochondria? A Quitter? Or Really Hurt?

His entire existence just seems to be cursed with the Mets. Whether he's cursed in the majors in general, I'd like to find out through a trade to another team (his salary's likely too high for any team to take a chance on his unknown upside). And later, I'd like to see if he can make a comeback in NPB. He went from being one of the top NPB players, to being injured all the time and playing below replacement level, and Shinjo level, in the majors.

You said it all! So, who would take him in a trade?

Across town the other Matsui gets hurt and fans send cards and well wishes. I think his image is one of desire. He, too, was asked to play different positions and bat in different spots in the lineup.

Today at the 6:20 pm Mets' update, the talk was about who to trade. Kazuo's name was not mentioned, but to get Barry Zito, the Mets have nothing to give.

I still think that Kaz will not play his third year in MLB.

I doubt he would be able be traded. Who would try to get him? He's only a good fastball hitter and an OK curveball hitter. He's horrendous hitting sliders in and out, and sometimes seems lost in the batter box. The boos have obviously affected his defense because he's constantly worrying about not making an error or the fans will get on him. The same can be said about not producing with runners in scoring position.

Now my analysis is this on Matsui:

1. His eyes are a problem whether he wants to admit it or not. I've watched every Mets' game, and if you pay attention to him he's constanly adjusting his eyes.
2. Last year the fans were on him because he wasn't Ichiro in the infield and moved Reyes. But through that, the fans weren't on him like this year. The #1 reason Mets fans are on him is because of that one game against the Yankess where his error cost the game. And since he couldn't produce in a big time moment, they've completely given up on him. The money is also the problem, but that game was his turning point in New York.
3. He needs to adjust his approach in the batter's box. He should know by now, in year two, what the pitchers are gonna throw in certain counts. It still seems he's lost.
4. He's not comfortable on the team. Sure he's talking to Jose Reyes, Mike Cameron, and Kaz Ishii, but he's still seems like the outsider. If anyone remembers the first time Cairo played three straight games, they showed Kaz sitting in the dugout all alone and just annoyed.

I saw the play on Thursday. He was hit by the ball on his knees when he was batting. But I think he went overboard with the slide incident. Kendall kicked him and was wrong for that, but being put on the 15 day DL because of a bruise is not gonna make it any easier on him.

I think he absolutely needs to regain his credibility back. He needs to lift his no-trade deal and go someplace like the Kansas Royals, the Reds, or Colorado. He's basically killing his name by staying here for the money, and that's a real shame.

I don't think he is a quitter, simply because players from Japan aren't thought to quit - they are able to play even if they have an injury. Kazuo must go to another team and refresh his game at shortstop. He couldn't bear New York expectations, and I think he must reconsider his no trade clause and find some peace in another contest (Seattle, Los Angeles Dodgers could be right, and even Colorado can inflate his average and power numbers).

I think that a possible good match for him is in San Francisco. The current second baseman, Ray Durham, is horrible on the field and is always injured.

Playing for the New York Mets seems to be very painful for him and so a change may help him.

Today was another bad day for Kaz on WFAN talk radio. The latest is that he is going to the Mets' Florida Rookie team. Fans call it his twice yearly vacation. They said he should be paid that league's salary because he spends so much time there.

With the upcoming Subway Series with the Yanks, Mets' fans say that if you have pride you play hurt. They feel he is running away and has no class. One guy from Flushing said to pay him off and send him back to NPB before he effects the rest of the team.

- They said he should be paid that league's salary because he spends so much time there.

Before Mets fans villify Kaz, they should remember Wilpon and Phillips signed his contract.

- They feel he is running away and has no class. One guy from Flushing said to pay him off and send him back to NPB before he effects the rest of the team.

If Kaz didn't have class he would of jumped ship a long time ago. The fact that he stays and takes the criticism of him by Mets fans, the New York news media, and their announcers shows he has class regardless of his performance.

Also, send Kaz off before he effects the team? Why don't Mets fans look at the rest of the team before spitting out such self-righteous comments. They would be better if Reyes wasn't hitting .262, Beltran hitting .267 with 8 home runs, Piazza hitting .266 with 8 home runs, and Glavine wasn't pitching to a 4-7 record with a 5.06 ERA. So before Mets fans critcize only Kaz for their problems, they need to take a look in the mirror, and look at the rest of the team also, as it's a 25-man roster, not a 1-man roster.

With all that said, I say it would be better for Kaz to play in Seattle, Los Angeles, or even Kansas City and drop his no-trade clause so that he may play away from hypocritical Mets fans and their news media.

I like Matsui and think he's starting to do well. He's definitely hurt, and I hope he continues to play well. As for my fellow Mets fans, if they had half a brain they would agree with me and support the only guy on the team that tries 1000%.

Kaz unfortunately has become a victim of the hype the Mets organization heaped on him when he first was signed to that contract. When he was brought here he was touted as the Japanese version of Barry Larkin and the best shortstop in the world not currently playing in MLB. That's a ridiculous amount of hype to live up to, and he obviously hasn't been able to do so (but who could?).

So Mets fans were led to believe they were getting a player to rival Ichiro or Hideki Matsui, and when they discovered that in reality Kaz was average at best, certainly not a player worthy of $7 million a year, everything hit the fan.

I agree with some of the posters in this thread who say that the fingers should be pointed at Mets' management for signing Kaz to that contract, and heaping all of that hype on him, in the first place. Unfortunately he has become the poster boy for the team's struggles.

Unlike David Wright, who has hit well enought to make the fans more forgiving of his atrocious defense, or Jose Reyes, who has shown flashes of brilliance, or even Tom Glavine, who has pitched extremely well over the last month after a bad start, Kaz hasn't had that one prolonged stretch where he played very well, well enough to make the fans more willing to forgive and forget his mistakes. Instead, he's struggled both offensively and defensively since the opening week. And it's easy when a team is struggling to pick on the one guy who is having the most difficulties.

It's also a shame that this latest injury has come at a time when he finally seemed to be playing better.

I don't think you can expect cool headed analysis and opinions from talk show radio callers, or even the hosts a lot of times. Jerry Springer style presentation seems to grab larger audience shares, unfortunately.

Former Yankee and World Series hero Jim Leyritz from his radio show "Baseball Brunch":

"If it was not for his seven million dollar contract he would have been gone long ago."

The Mets will use two subs at second base to fill out the team. However, it's still Willie R.'s call.

Also, there was talk that Kaz himself has distanced himself from the team. Player Floyd was asked about it and replied, "he got his own problems and he is trying to stay ahead, b ut Kaz has to work his things out."

I've been living in Japan for many years and have been a Seibu Lions fan for many years, where Matsui was consistently a star player. I did have my doubts about his jump to the bigs, though, because 1) he has a very big swing and uses a heavy bat - struck out a ton over here; 2) he's played little on natural turf; and 3) NY, where I hail from, is a tough town and the fans have high expectations and little patience.

IT SOUNDS LIKE WE ARE ONLY TALKING ABOUT HITTING...YET NATINAL LEAGUE SCOUTS TALK ONLY ABOUT HIS POOR FIELDING
AND QUESTIONED HIS RANGE AT SS...WITHIN THAT DIVISION A LEAD SCOUT STATED HIS ABILITIES AT SS ARE SOMETHING YOU WOULD EXPECT AT HIGH A OR FILL IN AT AA MINOR LEAGUE BALL.YES THE MET FANS ARE MAD,ESPECIALLY THIS YEAR AFTER ALL THE TEAM DID IN OFF SEASON THEY AT ALL STAR BREAK ARE THE SAME AS A YEAR AGO....OH BY THE WAY KAZ'S JERSEY BEEN TAKEN DOWN AT THE GIFT SHOP AT SHEA.

Kaz's jersey has been taken down at the Shea gift shop?

That's not good. The Mets are treating Kaz's knee bruise as a fracture, to be on the safe side. He is not expected back until August. Kaz and his knee are on ice, I'm afraid. he's in a heap of trouble.

The Mets had an attitude problem with Reyes a year ago, when he hung out in Florida endlessly, supposeedly doing rehab. They brought him up to Shea and the players gave him some love and a pep talk. He went back to Florida, got his head screwed on straight and came back fine.

Who knows what Kaz's problem is? However, maybe they need to bring him up to Shea for a few games to sit in the dugout, in the lockerroom get some encouragement from his team mates, see what he's missing and get himself together to try to win his job back. It's easy to feel sorry for yourself down in the Florida training camp, alone. A resurgent Matsui could be what the Mets need to break their .500 funk.

Here's a statement from another thread here:

http://www.japanesebaseball.com/forum/thread.jsp?forum=17&thread=13029

It's time for him to waive his partial no-trade clause to go play for a team like Seattle, Los Angeles, San Francisco, or Kansas City.

Once he's out of Shea, where he was overhyped by the management when he was signed, they unfairly hyped him to be the next Ichiro Suzuki. The management all the way up to Mr.Wilpton and Mr.Duquette. The NY media attacks him more than any other player in New York than I ever seen in my life. Some fans at Shea jump to all-time lows at their statements(calling for the Mets not to sign another Japanese player). This is an ethnocentric comment, like it or not.

Like former Mets manager and now former Chiba Lotte Marines manager Bobby Valentine said about Kaz:

"Once he signed with the Mets, he couldn't be successful."

"It's not his ability it's his circumstances"

"Jose Reyes was the child prodigy of the New York Mets and he's a shortstop. Once they said Matsui was going to take his position he was in a no-win position."

"I was asked by then-GM Jim Duquette and then-manager Art Howe what I thought of Kazuo Matsui. I told them my concerns about the exceptations, but they thought I was overeacting."

It looks like Bobby Valentine was right once again, Kaz Matsui was put in a position by the Mets where he was overhyped by the team, and then let to feel the burn.

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/getsp.pl5?sp20050713a1.htm

"Like former Mets manager and now former Chiba Lotte Marines manager Bobby Valentine said about Kaz:"

That's Like former Mets manager and now current Chiba Lotte Marines manager Bobby Valentine.

Kaz picked a tough situation for sure, but he signed on nevertheless. Bobby is very astute at these things.

I don't think Kaz is tradeable and the Wilpons, who were heavily involved in recruiting him, would lose face.

Still, Kaz has not hit or fielded well. Maybe a change of scenery would help, maybe not. Some guys just don't do well in NY. Others, like Godzilla do. The NY fans love him.