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Yusei Kikuchi countdown


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3 minutes ago, Inside Pitch said:

Indeed.   

You heard back on the whole 10 hours, 10 days thing? How soon before we start asking if its been 10 weeks yet?

right after we hear players and their agents bitch about collusion on the part of the owners. I'd love an owner to respond to an accusation by merely stating:"we're not colluding, you just suck"

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9 hours ago, Second Base said:

This information comes from a member of an organization that has chosen not to be involved in the Kikuchi bidding. He's just relaying what their front office believes. The bidding isn't as aggressive as some other international free agents, and they think if anyone has the inside track at signing him, circumstantially, it's the Angels. And there are a lot of reasons for this. They know the two sides have been in contact at least once, and while they've made it clear all teams are welcome to bid, there's still a belief that Kikuchi would prefer to stay out West. Then there's need, money and Japanese rapport to consider, all of which the Angels have.

In fact, I'll even go one further and say that many in the business believe Billy Eppler had more to do with the Ohtani signing than anything. There was a solid 5+ year period from about 2008 and beyond when Billy Eppler spent more time in Japan than any front office executive. The teams out there are well aware of who he is and he's built and fostered great connections and relationships. After signing Ohtani, Eppler didn't have to go to Japan. He's a major league executive, this all could have been done over the phone. But one of the things that's so special about Eppler (according to other sources) is how humble he is. You'd think as a member of the Yankees, he would've come in all high and mighty, but instead, when he spoke with Japanese teams, he asked questions and wanted to learn what they did and why. 

His willingnes to move to a six man rotation is no coincidence. His understanding of Japanese team building and preparation has been integrated into the Angels system. His hiring of Doug White and promoting Jeremy Reed all fit into what he saw in Japan. 

And there's a lot more back story here that I won't get into it, and a lot of it, I still don't know or understand. But there's every reason for other teams to believe the Angels may be favored in the Kikuchi negotiations. 

Thanks for the info. The more I think about it, the more it makes sense. Kikuchi, which could be an injury concern, is a “risk” worth taking if say 6/42m is the number being tossed around. This sets the Angels up with great depth come 2020 and beyond when Ohtani is back plus Canning and Suarez. 

Thinking more about it, the sense of how the organization is run and how Ohtani, out of all other teams, liked the Angels the most speaks highly of how this can work. 7million for 6 years of Kikuchi sounds very feasible. And if he’s not as sought after as most people originally thought, then that price can come down. 

I’ve got a feeling that Kikuchi to the Angels makes more and more sense every day. We will find out very soon if it’s true.

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22 minutes ago, Angel Oracle said:

But no rumors of Ottavino though, correct?    

No, but he's been connected to other teams pretty frequently.

It sort of goes both ways...when the Angels sign a FA in the Eppler years, there was virtually no advance warning. But those players are also usually not being discussed much otherwise either. There weren't tweets leading up to the Harvey signing saying "Harvey expected to sign soon, #Athletics, #Reds, etc. in the mix" or "RHP Matt Harvey drawing strong interest, expects a two-year deal". We're seeing tweets like that about Ottavino.

The Angels signings just...happen. Which makes Robertson and Ottavino less likely, and someone like Herrera, maybe Britton, more so.

 

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Mariners frontrunners for Kikuchi

This report coming from Nikkan Sports. Also states "..negotiations with multiple teams are entering a climax..". Based on a few conversations we've had in this thread, I believe that the Angels are in the mix. Though I doubt we will hear anything until either A: The Angels sign him..... or...... B: After he's signed elsewhere we could find out we made a strong push.

But it all makes too much sense since the Angels organization has a proven system that they can adapt and create a brand new player structure (Ohtani) and create success. 

Not to mention Boras (his agent) has his office in Southern California and Kikuchi has been relaxing here for about a month so he must start to like how the weather is. Also, he attended a Ducks game before teams could negotiate with him so I'm sure he saw Angels Stadium while driving to the Honda Center. 

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Just now, Second Base said:

It actually wouldn't surprise me if the Padres or Rangers landed him.

Makes me wonder what type of market or system he's looking for. Padres and Angels aren't winners this year, but give 1 or 2 more years and they look pretty strong for years to come. I'd say Angels, Padres and Mariners are top 3. 

Mariners seem like a typical Dipoto cluster F*** so I wonder if Boras is low key saying "You don't wanna go there...."

Which leaves Padres and Angels. 

Padres, to me, seem like a place where stars go to disappear. (Matt Kemp, Eric Hosmer). Both players saw their average and overall game fall off the face of the earth. Let alone, if you thought east coast biased was bad against the Angels and Trout then tell me when the last time was that you saw the Padres on any highlight reels or prime ESPN broadcasts.... 

Angels have proved last year that they can implement a new system and have hired certain people to make sure it works. Ohtani was able to thrive and Kikuchi can be surrounded by a friend that speaks Japanese and he gets to be around future HOF players that will help him acclimate to the new environment. I'm not saying he's the next number 1 pitcher for us. He's probably a number 3 or 4. All i'm saying is it just makes sense. 

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27 minutes ago, Dochalo said:

I could see Seattle getting him just so that we don't.  They're probably still butt hurt over Ohtani.  They can obviously spend more.  

I still hope we get him but on a Maeda type deal.  

FWIW, I know dipoto felt very burned by ohtani. Which is funny. And makes it almost racist if they sign this guy.

"We'll get our own one!"

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Putting my own personal feelings aside, I'm split on whether a Seattle makes a good destination for him.

On the one hand, they have a rich history of Japanese players, have a Japanese ownership, and a large Japanese fan base. They had a good record last year and while they've begun a rebuild, they believe they'll be competitive again in 2020 or 2021, and have money to spend. And.....much as we dislike a Dipoto, he was a semi-finalist for Ohtani. Clearly Ohtani was interested in whatever he was selling because the Mariners were getting all the international money they could, and making some pretty foolish deals in the process. They legitimately believed Ohtani would be a Mariner if they could just sweeten the deal a little. 

On the their hand, this is a team that has proven incapable of winning games on a consistent basis in 20 years, really don't have much a farm system still, and their current front office is under investigation or at the very least serious scrutiny because of some pretty racist viewpoints and shady actions. Not only that, their current manager was unable to properly navigate a losing streak from tearing his team apart as multiple fights broke out in ththe clubhouse, the most serious among them was a skirmish between Jean Segura and Dee Gordon, which resulted in Segura being traded in a deal where the return was seen as far too light. 

If money and west coast are all that matters, then the Mariners are the perfect fit. If money is all that matters, someone back East will offer more money. Personally, if I'm looking to make the leap, I'm looking at a lot more factors than just those two. I'd want a healthy environment where I could develop, win some games and be surrounded by other talented ball players for the experience of it. 

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3 minutes ago, Second Base said:

Putting my own personal feelings aside, I'm split on whether a Seattle makes a good destination for him.

On the one hand, they have a rich history of Japanese players, have a Japanese ownership, and a large Japanese fan base. They had a good record last year and while they've begun a rebuild, they believe they'll be competitive again in 2020 or 2021, and have money to spend. And.....much as we dislike a Dipoto, he was a semi-finalist for Ohtani. Clearly Ohtani was interested in whatever he was selling because the Mariners were getting all the international money they could, and making some pretty foolish deals in the process. They legitimately believed Ohtani would be a Mariner if they could just sweeten the deal a little. 

On the their hand, this is a team that has proven incapable of winning games on a consistent basis in 20 years, really don't have much a farm system still, and their current front office is under investigation or at the very least serious scrutiny because of some pretty racist viewpoints and shady actions. Not only that, their current manager was unable to properly navigate a losing streak from tearing his team apart as multiple fights broke out in ththe clubhouse, the most serious among them was a skirmish between Jean Segura and Dee Gordon, which resulted in Segura being traded in a deal where the return was seen as far too light. 

Which is why my joke is Boras telling Kikuchi "You don't want to go there"

Despite Japanese ownership and how well Ichiro and others have found success there, it feels like the tide has changed. Ohtani took a chance with the Angels and whatever Eppler said to him in that meeting must have been something great. If a star from Japan trusts a new team in the Japanese saga, then I'd assume that will open a golden door for the Angels. 

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55 minutes ago, Second Base said:

Putting my own personal feelings aside, I'm split on whether a Seattle makes a good destination for him.

On the one hand, they have a rich history of Japanese players, have a Japanese ownership, and a large Japanese fan base. 

Japan hasn't owned the Mariners in a few years. John W. Stanton is the majority owner ... founder of T-Mobile (coincidence on stadium name .... nahhhhh).

edit : As ukyah stated before me.

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