How Does the Posting System Work?
One person riding the 66 bus this morning was up in arms about the Red Sox supposedly offering upawards of $38 million just to get Daisuke Matsuzaka to the bargaining table. Anyone with a scrap of Sox gear on was being harassed for some sort of answer. He eventually came over to me and I tried my best to explain how a player is transferred from Japan to America.
The highest level of professional baseball in Japan is called "Nippon Pro Baseball". Transferring from NPB to the MLB is a complicated process. In 1995, Hideo Nomo retired from NPB, and subsequently claimed free agency in the US. This prompted Nippon officials to tweak the rules about retirement (without notifying the MLB). In 1997 Alfonso Soriano retired and relocated to America as well. Bud Selig disapproved of the NPB's secret rule change and supported Soriano's free agency.
As a result of the retire and relocate loophole, the Posting System was devised to transfer players between the NPB and the MLB. To be posted, both the player and the team must agree on the terms of the posting. After a player is posted, MLB teams have four days to place a blind silent bid. Then the NPB team is notified of the highest bid, and given the option to accept or reject it. If it is accecpted, the NPB team gets the bid money, and the winning team has 30 days to negotiate a contract. If it is not accepted, the bid money is returned, and the player is not posted. If a contract agreement cannot be reached, or the player is not posted for any reason, that player is not eligible to be posted that season.
What that amounts to, is the Red Sox offering $38-$45 million to not only potentially improve their team, but to also potentially prevent their competitors from improving. No other team would have a chance to sign Matsuzaka this season if the Red Sox don't. The Seibu Lions get a sum of money much larger than the trade value of their player. It works out nicely for everyone.
This might not be news to everyone, but I figured we should start this blog off with plenty of background information.
The highest level of professional baseball in Japan is called "Nippon Pro Baseball". Transferring from NPB to the MLB is a complicated process. In 1995, Hideo Nomo retired from NPB, and subsequently claimed free agency in the US. This prompted Nippon officials to tweak the rules about retirement (without notifying the MLB). In 1997 Alfonso Soriano retired and relocated to America as well. Bud Selig disapproved of the NPB's secret rule change and supported Soriano's free agency.
As a result of the retire and relocate loophole, the Posting System was devised to transfer players between the NPB and the MLB. To be posted, both the player and the team must agree on the terms of the posting. After a player is posted, MLB teams have four days to place a blind silent bid. Then the NPB team is notified of the highest bid, and given the option to accept or reject it. If it is accecpted, the NPB team gets the bid money, and the winning team has 30 days to negotiate a contract. If it is not accepted, the bid money is returned, and the player is not posted. If a contract agreement cannot be reached, or the player is not posted for any reason, that player is not eligible to be posted that season.
What that amounts to, is the Red Sox offering $38-$45 million to not only potentially improve their team, but to also potentially prevent their competitors from improving. No other team would have a chance to sign Matsuzaka this season if the Red Sox don't. The Seibu Lions get a sum of money much larger than the trade value of their player. It works out nicely for everyone.
This might not be news to everyone, but I figured we should start this blog off with plenty of background information.
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