THE TAKETO EFFECT

March 19, 2014: Kawaguchi, Saitama Prefecture – Life as the Kawaguchi front office knows it changes when the phone rings in general manager Ron Collins‘s office.  It’s Rikiya Taketo’s agent, and he cuts straight to the chase.  Taketo is flying to Kawaguchi as they speak.  The deal is a two-year, $25.8M pact that includes a $100K plate appearance bonus each season.  It makes Taketo the LRS‘s third highest paid player behind Hyakujuu‘s Jon Wood and Jesús Luna.  He will be the highest paid native-born player in the league.

Collins downplays whether he paid too much or not.  “There aren’t many guys like Rikiya,” he says.  “He’s still got a Gurabukin-caliber defensive game, and 15 homers, 90 RBI, and a .300/.360/.450 bat is not impractical to predict.”

A press conference is arranged, and Ms. Yi delivers the news that Internet wires have been buzzing about since the early morning hours.  Manager Biao Ci is giddy with delight.  He is going around the office goosing everyone in sight.

The Taketo deal leaves Kawaguchi with about $9.5M left to spend, but Collins thinks he needs to put at least $4.5M aside to pay for his scouting budget and to ensure the team can sign their top draft picks come June.  This leaves him something around $5M left to play with.  “It’s always good to have a little cash left to throw around going into the season, though,” the GM tells me at a luncheon meeting.  “I’m hoping to add a guy to the bullpen and maybe another starter for about $3-$4M.  If we can pull that off, then we’re cooking with gas.”

Later in the day, the team signs minor league free agent pitcher Taheiji Rin, who will come to spring training looking to win a job but is probably injury insurance at best.

Here’s the overall situation with efforts to fill existing holes:

Starting Pitcher: Mitsuharu Takano has decided to sit on the team’s one-year offer of $2M.  Takano is really a reliever, but the team is thinking he could stretch to be a low-inning starter and they need to add one more to the mix.  They may well get two more, though, because Sotatsu Sai seems happy with the team’s $400K offer, though he, too, is waiting.

“It’s that time of year,” pitching coach Mitsuoki Ueda said.  “Everyone is desperate as spring nears, but they still are trying to get the best deal they can.”  Ueda is nowhere near as ebullient as Ci is, but a quick scan of the staff suggests that this is with cause.  “There’s not much help on Taito‘s roster right now.  We can use another couple arms.”

The good news is that Hisamitsu Osawa is back from his Winter Ball assignment, and the team is anxious to see if he might be able to help either in a starting role or as a major part of the bullpen.  At 23, he’s probably due, but no decisions will be made until further information is available.

Relief Pitcher: Yoshiteru Jouon, an interesting player who has recently been in the U.S., wants more than $4.1M over two seasons.  Collins doesn’t want to go much over what he’s offered (which is an escalating deal starting at $2M a year), but the team definitely wants Jouon.  Thirty minutes of discussion results in the decision to add a year and escalate the salary offer a bit.  The final package is a $6.6M over three seasons.  Ueda seems particularly concerned that this may not be enough.

Just to cover all the bases, Collins also takes this time to reach out and inquire about Yataro Kawaguchi one last time.

OFFICE PARTY

The bottom line is that the team has $4.4M in outstanding offers – a little more than Collins planned, but not so much as to seem overly risky.

Just as the afternoon is beginning to wind down, the Transmitter brain trust is provided a surprise visit by the team’s owner.  Hoso Kyokai is so excited about the progress being made in building the roster that he’s provided party favors and a spread of sushi, sashimi, wine, and cheese that is second to none.

As the party is winding down, Collins’s phone rings.  It’s Mitsuharu Tanako himself calling to tell the team that he is accepting their one-year offer.  This causes champagne to flow once again, and the uproar of good vibrations nearly causes Collins to miss the phone call of Sotasu Sai’s agent, who also provides news of his client’s willingness to sign.  This leaves only Yoshiteru Jouon with an outstanding offer.

The team is very happy.