Yusei Kikuchi Staying Home For Now

by Jeff Sullivan on Oct 25, 2009 1:09 PM PDT in Seattle Mariners Regular News

For those of you hoping the Mariners would land the 18 year old hot Japanese prospect, you can forget about it - he's elected to stay home, and while he's strongly suggested that he'll want to make the move later in his career, that won't happen for a while, if ever; unless he's posted, he has to play nine years in Japan before becoming a free agent. So, so much for that. Not that the M's were ever being talked about as frontrunners, but it was an appealing possibility. Now we're back to being stuck with the young pitchers we already have, and aw God dammit Brandon Morrow

0 recs | 21 comments

Comments

Would have been nice!

Morrow is going to be traded anyway

Poochie - October 25, 2009 reply

He better hope he is compensated as well as he would have if he came to the U.S.

I wonder if this was his decision or a recommendation from his agent or family. This was an opportunity to with a major league team, get paid like a major leaguer, and develop for a few years in the best player development system in the world. If he didn’t like the way things were going in a few years, he could simply go back to Japan with millions in his pocket and millions more likely waiting for him without the 9-year commitment attached.

I won’t speculate on his circumstances or what kind of compensation he is going to get in Japan, but this was a stupid decision on the surface. This is like a college basketball star wanting to play another three years while risking injury and giving up millions. If the best league in the world wants you and is willing to pay, you should take that opportunity. You can always go back to get that degree– or in this case go back to play in Japan.

Wilder. - October 25, 2009 reply

See, if you actually read what I wrote, you would know I didn't discount this.

But time has proven this to be a stupid decision on his part. Look at Sam Bradford as a recent example. He has a busted up shoulder and now his draft stock is in jeopardy. You can point to Tim Tebow as the other side of the coin, but just because he might get through the year without a major injury doesn’t mean it was the right decision to return. Personally it was likely the right decision, but he took a career risk that won’t improve his future compensation in the NFL.

This is a site that discourages results based analysis. I am not saying this is a stupid decision on a personally basis, I am saying it is a stupid decision on a career basis. Sure, he will likely be well compensated in Japan, but he is giving up the opportunity to play in the best league in the world for nine years. He might get posted. He might not get injured. However, he is going up against the odds. Maybe he doesn’t have aspirations about playing in the U.S.? Maybe he has rock star status in Japan and he will cash that in to live the life he wants to life? Those are understandable reasons and why I said “I won’t speculate on his circumstances.” But if he has aspirations to play in the U.S. while not having a big payday waiting in Japan to satisfy his lifestyle, then this was a bad career move.

It’s funny to debate this because we likely wouldn’t have signed him anyway.

Wilder. - October 26, 2009 reply

Tebow's a bad counter example

his draft stock hasn’t improved at all by staying this year. If anything post concussion Tebow might be worse than pre concussion Tebow and he wasn’t a big pro prospect before hand.

bluemax - October 26, 2009 reply

That's the key though

But time has proven this to be a stupid decision on his part.

No, it hasn’t. Time has proven it to be a stupid decision for other people. As you said, you don’t know what went into his deciding to stay or to go; he’s not other people.

I am saying it is a stupid decision on a career basis.

Why? Not everyone has to follow the American path to stardom. If the kid wants to stay in Japan and be a big fish in a comparatively smaller pond, why is that stupid?

pdb - October 26, 2009 reply