Foreign Limit Expansion

In yesterday's (8/1) Nikkan Sports, editor "Mayuge" Nozaki voiced his opinion about a proposal to expand the suketto quota. In his editorial, he says that the current situation of 4 foreign players, 2 pitchers and 2 fielders/batters, 3 on the field at a given time, will be change to 5 players on the 1-gun roster with 4 in the line up at a given time. The details of how each team may combine pitchers and fielders/batters is still under discussion.

This is the first I've read about the possibility of expanding the quota next season. I would have thought that it would have at least been mentioned after the last owner talks. But then, the "exudus" seems to be the topic of focus in the press.

Mr. "Eyebrows" does ask if the expansion is really for the betterment of Japanese baseball, as did one bench warmer with Bull-san's article. But unlike the intelligible questioning of the bench warmer, asking if the imports really help educate and raise the level of play of the natives, Nozaki just points out that 67 foreign players are making a total of 44-oku (4,400,000,000) yen. He says that the money saved from purchasing yet another foreigner could be better spent on educating a young native player.

I don't have any arguement against the last part of that last statement, that educating young players is important. But several teams already have more than 5 foreign players. Giving them another spot on the top roster is not going to cause a spending spree on AAA players, and it can help see more of a return on the money the teams are spending anyway. Sorry, Nozaki, you need a bit better explaination there.

Also, as Bull-san pointed out, the fans would like to see the foreign roster limits changed. Yet Nozaki commented that fans may be against the expansion as the Players' Union is. Is this the first time that the owners are doing something that the fans will be happy to see?

Nonetheless, my question (not answered in the editorial) is, why are the owners suddently interested in pushing for a higher limit. Is it just because the Players' Union is against it and they need a new barginning chip? (I do like conspiracy theories.)

[Layout edited by: westbaystars on Jun 7, 2002 6:57 PM JST]