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FA Maeda to become a Giant (and FA roundup)

Discussion in the NPB News forum
FA Maeda to become a Giant (and FA roundup)
The first of seven free agents playing the market this off season has made up his mind. Chunichi's left handed pitcher Maeda has decided to go where all left handed free agent pitchers go, to the Giants.

The "official" announcement will be held today (11/21), but the unofficial word is that Maeda has decided to sign with the Giants for a four year, 5-oku (500,000,000) yen deal.

The other Dragon free agent, Yamasaki, is apparently leaning toward Yokohama. The two clubs have offered him similar deals, although Yokohama's is for a year longer, but Yamasaki said that since Yokohama is willing to pay the additional 1.5 times his salary to Chunichi on top of their offer, that he feels that they value him more. That's an interesting look on things.

Yokohama's two free agents have both gotten interest from the Majors. At last count, six MLB clubs have expressed interest in Tanishige, including my SF Giants. And it looks like New York is interested in Komiyama, but it's unsure yet if Komi-chan is interested in their standing offer. It seems that there is a gap between what Komiyama thinks is reasonable and what his agent thinks.

Hanshin is talking with Pacific League stars Kataoka (Fighters) and Taguchi (BlueWave), hoping to win them over to help raise the four year last place finishers out of their tiger pit. Meanwhile, Taguchi has recieved some interest from the MLB as well.

So, who did I leave out? Ah, Orix's Katoh. If I remember correctly, Kintetsu talked with him a few days ago, but that's the only offer he's had.
Comments
Yamasaki Sticking with the Dragons
[ Author: westbaystars | Posted: Nov 24, 2001 8:45 AM | YBS Fan ]

Just a day after writing:
Yamasaki, is apparently leaning toward Yokohama.
Yamasaki announced that he was going to resign with Chunichi. He sited the tremendous amount of fan mail for him to say as the main reason. (See, fans can make a difference.)

Nikkan Sports reported that Yokohama's offer was 7-oku yen for 3 years while Chunichi's was 6-oku yen for 3 years. But I was sure I had read before that Yokohama's offer was for 4 years earlier, making Yamasaki's statement about Yokohama's offer "seemingly" more valuable make sense.

Nonetheless, the two Dragon free agents have made their decisions.
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