Shiba Taguchi, Ryukyu Sports News

Naha, Okinawa – November 1, 2019 – In part one of our interview, back in March, we spoke with the new Shisa GM, Morris Ragland. Then, we spoke about the GM’s plans for the club. Now we print our follow up with him, which took place two weeks ago when Naha’s post-season fate was not yet known. As it happened, Naha lost the Wasei Junkesshou in seven games. The Shisa, who won the Bright Blade Group in three of the past four seasons, finished in second place, ten games behind Lupin. In this, the second part of our exclusive interview, Taguchi speaks with the GM about the recent changes to the working agreement between the League of the Rising Sun and the Planetary Extreme Baseball Alliance and what they might mean for the future of the LRS.

It’s been said that the new working agreement between the LRS and PEBA transforms what was a wall dividing the two into a fence. As the off-season approaches, do you foresee a significant increase in trade activity between the two leagues?

It’s very difficult to tell. While PEBA teams will continue have certain financial advantages allowing them to more easily take on salary, the amount of cash that can be included in trade deals is limited to just $2,000,000. Non-Japanese players and prospects have less trade value here in the LRS than they do in the PEBA, which will limit both the ability of LRS teams to rebuild using PEBA-drafted prospects and the ability of PEBA teams to attract veteran LRS talent with players from their major and minor league franchises. Traditional posting of LRS players may still be the best route for LRS teams looking for an infusion of cash or relief from salary pressures. Cash from traditional postings has no upper limit, and teams can turn around and use it in the free agent market. Finally, under the new rules the volume of trades will itself be capped. Both the number of trades and the number of players that can be included in a trade will be capped.

For our part, we have been mostly concerned with the post-season, and haven’t really explored the possibilities of the new trade market, but it looks to us like traditional posting may be the best fit for the Shisa during this upcoming off-season. I can tell you that, to date, we have fielded no inquiries from PEBA teams regarding any of our players, which should give you some idea of what to expect this winter. Here in Okinawa, at least, we don’t feel the ground shaking.

This new agreement is surely a sign that the LRS is catching up to the PEBA with respect to prestige, though, is it not?

While the LRS might be catching up, we are by no means pulling even. In this past season, the highest payroll team in the LRS, Shin Seiki, would have been near the bottom in payroll among PEBA teams, with all other LRS teams trailing well behind. We in the LRS continue to rely on a more ownership friendly CBA and salary structures, and we are already hearing grumblings from the LRSPA that the fruits of recent LRS revenue growth aren’t currently being equitably distributed. The bottom line is that the PEBA has significantly more teams, a vastly larger footprint, greater revenues, and a much larger pool of talent from which to draw. Unfortunately, some of the current LRS rules regarding roster make-up will, in the long run, stunt the natural growth of the league if allowed to remain in place and assure our position as ‘little brother’ to the PEBA.

What further changes would you like to see to help the LRS bridge that gap?

To begin with, expansion. Recent rumors surrounding PEBA expansion into Canada, Cuba, and Europe should serve as a wake-up call for LRS executives. If it is to have any hope of keeping pace with the PEBA, the LRS must expand into other Asia-Pacific markets outside of Japan. This means not only opening up the league to clubs in other countries, but opening the league to players from those countries as well.

The current gaijin rule would have to be revisited. I would like to see roster rules similar to those of European soccer clubs, which define ‘foreign’ players a bit more broadly. As the LRS expands into other nations, those nations’ players ought to be considered ‘native’ to the league, that is, they should be exempt from the gaijin rule. This would help eliminate the current disincentives to expansion and relocation that continue to favor only Japanese players and Japanese teams.

As revenues grow post-expansion, in part as a result of more lucrative media contracts commensurate with a larger league footprint, the players will need to see a greater share of that revenue. Rules regarding player contracts will necessarily have to start to move closer to what they are in the PEBA as well. We might see some very close cooperation between the PEBAPA and LRSPA as they themselves attempt navigate the changing landscape. This will not go down easily with many owners in the LRS, but it’s an unavoidable consequence of league growth. This change might be a long way off, but if prospects start to get traded between the two leagues, this change may have to happen sooner rather than later.

And where should such expansion take place?

Just as the PEBA ought to consider expansion into markets in Canada, Cuba, and Europe, the LRS should take a long look at Australia, China, South Korea, and Taiwan. The LRS already has a foothold in South Korea with the franchise in Seoul. A list of other cities that ought to be considered candidates for future expansion might include Busan, Shanghai, Xiamen, New Taipei, Taichung, Taipei, Sydney, and Melbourne, among others. The quality of baseball played in South Korea is already world class, and Australia, China, and Taiwan are not very far behind.

Many traditionalists would be reluctant to alter the roster rules of the LRS.

That’s true, but one should bear in mind that there are currently about 1/10 the number of professional baseball players from all of these other Asian and Oceania countries combined in comparison to Japanese players. Even with relaxed gaijin rules, the LRS would remain a predominantly Japanese league for quite some time. On the field, the change would be very gradual. Generations may pass before these other countries catch up to Japan in terms of talent production. To be frank, the LRS can remain a purely Japanese league, as it is now, and remain a AAAA feeder league for the PEBA for the rest of its existence, or it can reach beyond the borders of Japan both for franchises and baseball talent and become a true rival to the PEBA. And honestly, if that’s not the goal, I don’t know what we’re doing here.

You’ve positioned yourself as an advocate for expanding the LRS into foreign markets. Is franchise relocation for the Shisa being considered?

Not at all. The Shisa have enjoyed great success in recent years. We enjoy great fan support here in Naha and relocation could not be further from our minds. My comments concern the long-term vitality of the LRS as a whole, and nothing more.