Seibu Interested in Nakamura

Sports Hochi suggests that Nori may be destined to Korea or Taiwan. There is no mention that Nori is thinking about such a thing, but the Hochi writers (in their infinite creativity) figure that going to another Japanese team or the Majors will be very difficult, so Nori's only choice may be one of the other Asian leagues. (Is that condensation I hear in the voice of Hochi writers? I'm glad I subscribe to Nikkan Sports.)

- With a league second worst 85 errors in 2006, the Lions are looking to do something to shore up their defense, and the 5 time Golden Glove winning third baseman may be the answer (if he's healthy).

Though what I'm wondering at this age and production is, is he really even as valuable as Takeya Nakamura, who I thought Seibu was grooming as the third baseman of the future?

Maybe they want Nori for another big name player, and will probably use part of the Matsuzaka posting fee I'm guessing. I wonder if Seibu is thinking of moving Cabrera to a full-time DH and playing Nori at first. Although he hasn't played much first in his career, he is very athletic and played shortstop while with AAA Las Vegas of the Dodgers and while with the Kintetsu Buffaloes. It will be interesting to say the least.

Also, while there has been a movement of former NPB players to Taiwan and Korea (that has mostly been foreign players or gaijin that are heading to the CPBL and KBO). Kenny Rayborn, Jamie Brown, Mike Romano, Cedrick Bowers, and Pedro Valdes come to mind. There's always the occasional Japanese player in Korea and Taiwan, but I don't hear about them much.

Closing out about the Hochi Sports report, I also agree, I don't know where Hochi is thinking of this from? Maybe it's a slow time of year for Yomiuri's Hochi Sports right now?

If he comes cheap enough, then I can see taking a chance on Nori (a la Oakland's reclamation projects), but it would not be wise to spend a good chunk of after-tax Matsuzaka money on an injury riddled, declining veteran player who's last full season came in 2002. (Not to mention hindering Okawari's development.)

I'm curious (after reading the Mainichi Daily News piece), whether more players, like Nakamura, have agents now to represent them in contract negotiations. Is it still a rarity?

From what I remember, agents were not allowed at all up until recently, and only a few players retained them.

While the rules governing agents are there to try to prevent player agents from becoming a specialized profession (must be registered with the Japanese Bar Association and may represent at most one player), agents are becoming more and more prevalent in negotiations. Some teams have even found it easier to talk with the agents than the players (less emotional distress on both ends). Others don't recognize the existence of agents (the Uehara "adviser" incident).

Back on topic, Orix doesn't seem to want to recognize Nori's agent in these negotiations. They want to talk with Nakamura one-on-one without anyone else in the room who might recognize an unfulfillable promise.

I figure that it's just a matter of time before the players realize that they can use their agents to get them clauses written into their contracts to essentially shorten their time to free agency or to guarantee a posting after so many years if certain conditions are met. If a high school student wanted to be drafted by another team, have the option to be traded to that team within three to five years written into the first contract, otherwise he takes the college or Industrial League route.

But both Nori and Orix are definitely screwing up. I know that the ball club can require having the player present at the meetings, but everything would go much more smoothly if Nakamura were not attending.