Chris Burke career OPS+ = 80 Kazou Matsui career OPS+ = 82 A 2.5% improvement for 10 times the salary.
I heard on the radio this morning that his numbers away from Coors field last season: .247 batting average and a .667 OPS Not too good. Sounds a bit Burke-esque However, at least we didn't spend a ton of money. Now if we could focus on somehow miraculously getting a good starter in this thin market
If you are confused by this deal then you are probably forgetting that baseball is a business. If you can play a Japanese player that costs 5 million but produces 10 million in additional revenues than why would you play Chris Burke who brings in $0 in revenue, if their production numbers are about a wash. You can count on seeing a lot more Japanese business men sitting in the TV seats next year too If there were any Chinese free agents out there, you can bet Drayton would be hot on their trail.
The big difference is whether Burke bounces back because Matsui was a much better hitter last year. Burke did look good at plate two years ago. Having both gives the Astros options.
What a naive sports fan. You probably believe the free agents that say "it's not about the money" too. Everything, is always about the money.
Your logic is fine in a sport without a salary cap, but I don't think matsui brings in much more publicity and/or revenue for the Stros like Clemens.
So, you believe that Matsui being Japanese had nothing to do with this signing at all? I certainly do and I am a big fan of this signing for his baseball ability alone. I think Matsui turned a corner in Colorado. I think getting out from under the extreme pressure in NY helped him immensely. Sometimes it just doesn't work out for players in the big city, i.e. Randy Johnson....
I like this move. Matsui is a gold glove type defensive player at 2nd. He also has a lot of speed and is a switch hitter with good gap power. Also he is looks like he is coming on as a major leaguer hitter since he has been with the Rockies. This move also enables you to move Burke for some pen or starting pitcher help.
I'm not a huge fan of the move. However, that's a very, very misleading post that shows only one side of the equation. Matsui is considered one of the best defenders as well as one of the best baserunners in the league. For example, Bill James ranks him as a +44 baserunner (fifth best in baseball)... the highest on the entire Astros' team was Chris Burke at +7. I'm as much of an OPS fan as anyone. However, the logic behind this move was rooted in his outstanding defense and baserunning, so I don't think it's realistic to make an OPS comparison and act as if it tells the entire story.
A. You don't have Clemens or Biggio anymore B. In one move you've added a whole baseball crazy nation to your market for jerseys, memorabilia and broadcast rights. C. Billionaires have baseball teams as sidelines, their real business is something else. Business at that level is done by courting other CEO's, developing trust and working out contracts. If Mr. McLane were thinking about a grocery supply export to a chain in Japan do you think the meetings might take place next summer at Minute Maid? With the dollar dropping in value, exporting for foreign currency is going to become huge. The one thing the US still exports is agricultural products, oh and who just happens to have made his money in the transportation of agricultural goods? Well, Drayton Mclane. And where is there a state of the art container ship facility about to open up? Well, Houston Texas. Where thousands and thousands of containers will be off loaded and emptied. Empty containers, empty ships, a weak dollar, land poor Japanese? No, he was just the best free agent we could get, a big step up over what we had!
There are incidentals with this signing, but it's not so much about revenue (which would be meager in the grand scheme of things) as it is about exposure. How many games did the Astros have on TV in Japan last season? How many times were their highlights shown? The Stros hired their first Pacific scouting director this offseason and have publicly stated that they would like to be a player in that market. Exposure is key. But it's incidental becuse by most to all accounts, Matsui is a better ballplayer (hitter, fielder, and baserunner) than Chris Burke. If he can stay healthy.
The McLane Group (his holding company) owns a bunch of food service & other businesses, in a bunch of countries. He's still very much involved.
http://www.houstonhistory.com/whoswho/history19hof.htm It won't cut and paste but look about half way down. Drayton McLane's expertise is combining agriculture and logistics. I'm really only about half serious, but nothing ever makes sense till you look at the money trail. If he hasn't thought of this, then he needs to put me on the board of The McLane Group L. P. as head of strategic planning
The thing about this deal that I like is it gives the Astros more options now. Matsui may not be much better than Burke at the plate, but he has tons of speed and great defense. And the contract certainly won't tie the Astros hands. But by getting Matsui, along with Bourne earlier in the offseason, the team is stockpiling chips that they can trade away for a potential starter. Sure the team could have stayed with Burke and paid a lot less in the process, but then what could they offer teams down the road when they go searching for another pitcher, which obviously is gonna come in a trade, if it comes at all.
Here's my .02. Matsui plays better defense than Burke's fairy dance out there at 2B, there is no doubt about that one. This solidifies up-the-center defense, which most people will tell you any pitcher will appreciate. So try not to downplay or not recognize that.. it is important. Burke's defense is average to below average there. And while Matsui's offensive numbers may not impress you as much as you'd like, the key is their approach at the plate. Matsui hits like a #2 hitter, which is what Wade wanted. He hits the ball on the ground and uses his speed to get on base, and can advance runners. Burke thinks he is Lance Berkman and hits most of his balls in the air. Not what you want out of a #2 hitter. We don't need a #6 hitter, which is what Burke's approach at the plate is like. And 3yrs/$15M is not going to break the bank.. so let's not kid ourselves. Plus, like others are saying, the added revenue its going to bring in because of new Eastern markets is huge for income.
The rest of your post made a lot of sense - but this part is just silly. Where on earth do you think this income is going to come from? We ran the numbers for Roger Clemens and it didn't even come out to $5MM / year? It's not like Kaz Matsui is one of the stars - Ichiro or Matsuzaka or someone like that. He's one of about a growing number of average Japanese players in the majors. What kind of revenue stream do you expect him to bring? And if every Japanese player did that, why aren't they all significantly overpaid?
