Posting system

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A Japanese man wearing a grey Seattle baseball uniform fielding a ball in the outfield.
Ichiro Suzuki was the first high-profile NPB player (second overall) to use the posting system.

The posting system (ポスティングシステム posutingu shisutemu?)[1] is a baseball player transfer system that operates between Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) and the United States' Major League Baseball (MLB). Despite the drafting of the United States – Japanese Player Contract Agreement in 1967 designed to regulate NPB players moving to MLB, problems arose in the late 1990s. Some NPB teams lost star players without compensation, an issue highlighted when NPB stars Hideo Nomo and Alfonso Soriano left to play in MLB after using loopholes to void their existing contracts. A further problem was that NPB players had very little negotiating power if their teams decided to deal them to MLB, as when pitcher Hideki Irabu was traded to an MLB team for which he had no desire to play. In 1998, the Agreement was rewritten to address both problems; the result was dubbed the "posting system".

Under this system, when an NPB player is "posted", MLB holds a four-day-long silent auction during which MLB teams can submit sealed bids in an attempt to win the exclusive rights to negotiate with the player for a period of 30 days. If the MLB team with the winning bid and the NPB player agree on contract terms before the 30-day period has expired, the NPB team receives the bid amount as a transfer fee, and the player is free to play in MLB. If the MLB team cannot come to a contract agreement with the posted player, then no fee is paid, and the player's rights revert to his NPB team.

Up to the end of the 2010/11 posting period, fifteen NPB players had been posted using the system. Of these, eight signed Major League contracts immediately, three signed minor league contracts, three were unsuccessful in attracting any MLB interest, and one could not come to a contract agreement during the 30-day negotiation period. The two highest-profile players that have been acquired by MLB teams through the posting system are Ichiro Suzuki and Daisuke Matsuzaka. They attracted high bids of $13.125 million and $51.1 million respectively, and have enjoyed successful MLB careers. However, since its implementation the posting system has been criticized by the media and baseball insiders from both countries.

Contents

[edit] History

The first instance of a Japanese-born player playing in Major League Baseball was in 1964, when the Nankai Hawks, an NPB team, sent three exchange prospects to the United States to gain experience in MLB's minor league system. One of the players, pitcher Masanori Murakami, was named the California League Rookie of the Year while playing for the Fresno Giants (the San Francisco Giants' Class-A team). Giants executives were impressed with this talent and on September 1, 1964 Murakami was promoted, thus becoming the first Japanese player to play in MLB.[2] After Murakami put up good pitching statistics as a reliever, Giants executives sought to exercise a clause in their contract with the Hawks that, they claimed, allowed them to buy up an exchange prospect's contract. NPB officials objected, stating that they had no intention of selling Murakami's contract to the Giants and telling them that Murakami was merely on loan for the 1964 season. After a two-month stalemate the Giants eventually agreed to send Murakami back to the Hawks after the 1965 season. Thus, after pitching one more season for the Giants, Murakami returned to Japan to play for the Hawks. This affair led to the 1967 United States – Japanese Player Contract Agreement, also known as the "working agreement", between MLB and NPB, which was basically a hands-off policy.[3][4]

[edit] Complications

A Japanese man wearing a Devil Ray baseball uniform points his arms upward as he prepares to pitch in the bullpen.
The second Japanese-born player to play in MLB, Hideo Nomo used a loophole to void his NPB contract.

MLB and NPB officials created the posting system as a combined reaction to three cases in the 1990s, involving NPB players who moved to MLB. The first of these occurred in the winter of 1994 when pitcher Hideo Nomo, with the help of agent Don Nomura, became the second Japanese-born player to play in MLB, 30 years after Murakami. Nomo, who was not yet eligible for free agency in Japan, was advised by Nomura that the Japanese Uniform Players Contract's reserve clause limited the Kintetsu Buffaloes' control over him to Japan only.[5][6] Nomo utilized this loophole by voluntarily retiring from NPB to terminate his contract with the Buffaloes, circumvent its reserve clause and play in MLB. He announced his retirement from NPB in late 1994 and signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers in February 1995, where he won the National League Rookie of the Year award.[5] The following year, the Dodgers signed Nomo to a three-year, $4.3 million contract.[7]

With baseball in hand, an African-American man wearing a white and red Nationals baseball uniform cocks his arm backward as he prepares to throw.
Alfonso Soriano's move to MLB helped prompt the creation of the posting system.

In early 1997, after months of negotiations, the San Diego Padres signed a working agreement with the Chiba Lotte Marines that gave the Padres exclusive signing rights to another Nomura client, Hideki Irabu. Although both Irabu and Nomura stated that Irabu would only sign with the New York Yankees, neither the Padres nor the Marines consulted Irabu before finalizing their deal. The Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA) sided with Irabu, stating that the arrangement unfairly disregarded a player's expressed wishes. However, MLB's executive council ruled that the Padres had not violated any existing rule, and therefore legally held the rights to Irabu. Following this decision, Irabu contemplated a number of different options, including playing in NPB until he became a free agent, and taking the matter to the U.S. judicial system. By May, however, the Padres gave in and traded Irabu to the Yankees, who signed him for $12.8 million over four years.[8]

The final incident occurred in 1998, when Alfonso Soriano was unable to leave the Hiroshima Toyo Carp due to contract restrictions. Soriano disliked the intense Japanese practice schedule, and the Carp denied him a salary increase from $45,000 (the league's minimum) to $180,000 per year.[9][10] Like Nomo and Irabu, Soriano hired Nomura to help his situation. After first attempting to void Soriano's NPB contract by unsuccessfully arguing that the player was legally a minor when he signed it Nomura advised him, like Nomo, to retire from NPB and pursue a career in MLB. This prompted Carp executives to file an injunction against Soriano and send letters to MLB teams demanding that they cease all negotiations with him.[11] NPB officials claimed that after the Nomo case they had privately amended the Player Contract to give NPB teams the right to prohibit a player from signing a new contract anywhere after voluntarily retiring.[12] Since MLB officials were not consulted and they did not agree to any changes, MLB Commissioner Bud Selig declared that MLB would recognize Soriano as a free agent on July 13, 1998, and the Carp backed down.[11] He signed a 5-year, $3.1 million contract with the New York Yankees the same year.[10]

[edit] Resolution

In 1998, Orix BlueWave general manager Shigeyoshi Ino rewrote the 1967 United States – Japanese Player Contract Agreement, when he drafted the "posting system".[13] Selig and NPB Commissioner Hiromori Kawashima signed this new agreement in December 1998.[14] It seeks to address each of the problems brought up by the Nomo, Irabu and Soriano cases, by requiring MLB teams to place "bids" for NPB players. These bids become the basis of transfer fees that are paid as compensation to NPB teams whose star players sign for the MLB.[15] NPB players are also allowed to negotiate with MLB teams over the terms of their new contracts. Presently, the agreement is in effect on a year-to-year basis, terminable at the option of either the MLB Commissioner or the NPB Commissioner provided notice to terminate is given by June 18th of any given year.[16]

The system only applies to players currently under contract with a Japanese team, although players who have nine or more years of playing service with NPB are exempt.[17] It does not apply to free agents, or to amateur players who have never played in NPB.[18] Mac Suzuki, Kazuhito Tadano, and Junichi Tazawa are the only Japanese players to have debuted in MLB without previously playing in NPB.[19][18][20] The system does not work in reverse; it does not regulate MLB players, such as Alex Cabrera, who moved to NPB.[21]

[edit] Process

When a player under contract with a Nippon Professional Baseball team wishes to play in Major League Baseball, he must notify his current team's management and request that they make him available for posting during the next posting period (November 1 – March 1).[4] The NPB team can reject this request, and the player will not be posted.[22] However, if the team consents, the player is presented to the MLB Commissioner. The Commissioner then notifies all MLB teams of the posted player and holds a four-day-long silent auction during which interested MLB teams submit sealed bids in U.S. dollars to the Commissioner’s Office. After the allotted four days have passed, the Commissioner closes the bidding process and notifies the posted player's NPB team of the highest bid amount but not who the bidding team is. The NPB team then has four days to either accept or reject the non-negotiable bid amount.[16]

If the bid is rejected, the NPB team retains rights to the player. If it is accepted, the successful MLB team is granted the exclusive rights to negotiate with the player for 30 days. If the player and the MLB team agree on contract terms before the 30-day period has expired, the NPB team receives the bid amount as a transfer fee within five business days. The player is then free to play for his new MLB team in the coming season.[16] The transfer fee is not included when calculating an MLB team's total payroll, which is subject to a luxury tax when it exceeds $155 million.[23][24] If the MLB team cannot come to a contract agreement with the posted player, then no fee is paid and the rights to the player revert to his NPB team. A player can request to be posted again in subsequent years, and the process is repeated with no advantage to the club that had won the bidding the previous year.[16]

[edit] Past postings

Of the 45 Japanese-born players who have played in MLB,[25] ten have entered the league using the posting system. Since the system's creation in 1998, the fifteen players that have used it have experienced a range of success.[4] Of the fifteen, eight were immediately signed to Major League contracts. These contracts range from $1.4 million to $52 million. Of the remaining seven, three were signed to Minor League contracts, one was unable to reach a contract agreement and three were unsuccessful in drawing bids from any Major League clubs. The following tables outline each posting and its outcome.

Successful postings
Player Posting date NPB team MLB team Winning bid Date of contract
agreement		 MLB contract Notes
Quezada, AlejandroAlejandro Quezada 01999-02-02 February 2, 1999 Hiroshima Toyo Carp Cincinnati Reds $400,001 01999-03-02 March 2, 1999 $0Signed minor league contract [26]
Suzuki, IchiroIchiro Suzuki 02000-11-09 November 9, 2000 Orix BlueWave Seattle Mariners $13,125,000 02000-11-30 November 30, 2000 $4,666,6663 years, $14 million [27][28][29]
Ishii, KazuhisaKazuhisa IshiiP 02002-01-03 January 3, 2002 Yakult Swallows Los Angeles Dodgers $11,260,000 02002-02-08 February 8, 2002 $3,075,0004 years, $12.3 million [30][31][32]
Ramírez, RamónRamón RamírezP 02003-02-06 February 6, 2003 Hiroshima Toyo Carp New York Yankees $350,000 02003-03-05 March 5, 2003 $0Signed minor league contract [33][34]
Otsuka, AkinoriAkinori OtsukaP§ 02003-11-11 November 11, 2003 Chunichi Dragons San Diego Padres $300,000 02003-12-09 December 9, 2003 $750,0002 years, $1.5 million [35][36]
Nakamura, NorihiroNorihiro Nakamura 02005-01-28 January 28, 2005 Orix Buffaloes Los Angeles Dodgers $0Undisclosedψ 02005-02-03 February 3, 2005 $0Signed minor league contract [37][38]
Mori, ShinjiShinji MoriP 02005-12-12 December 12, 2005 Seibu Lions Tampa Bay Devil Rays $750,000 02006-11-11 November 11, 2006 $700,0002 years, $1.4 million [39][40]
Matsuzaka, DaisukeDaisuke MatsuzakaP 02006-11-02 November 2, 2006 Seibu Lions Boston Red Sox $51,111,111.11† 02006-12-14 December 14, 2006 $8,666,6666 year, $52 million [41][42]
Iwamura, AkinoriAkinori Iwamura 02006-11-06 November 6, 2006 Tokyo Yakult Swallows Tampa Bay Devil Rays $4,500,000 02006-12-15 December 15, 2006 $2,566,6663 year, $7.7 million [43][44][45]
Igawa, KeiKei IgawaP 02006-11-17 November 17, 2006 Hanshin Tigers New York Yankees $26,000,194‡ 02006-12-27 December 27, 2006 $4,000,0005 years, $20 million [46][47]
Nishioka, TsuyoshiTsuyoshi Nishioka 02010-11-17 November 17, 2010 Chiba Lotte Marines Minnesota Twins $5,329,000 02010-12-17 December 17, 2010 $3,000,0003 years, $9 million [48][49]
Aoki, NorichikaNorichika Aoki 02011-12-12 December 12, 2011 Tokyo Yakult Swallows Milwaukee Brewers $2,500,000 02012-01-17 January 17, 2012 [50]
Darvish, YuYu DarvishP 02011-12-08 December 8, 2011 Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters Texas Rangers $51,703,411€ 02012-01-18 January 18, 2012 $10,000,0006 years, $60 million [51][52]
^§ This was Otsuka's second attempt to play in MLB after an unsuccessful posting the previous year.
^ψ Though MLB teams traditionally disclose bid amounts after negotiating rights have been won, the Dodgers chose not to publicly reveal their amount.[53]
^† This specific amount was chosen by Red Sox owner John Henry because he deemed it lucky.[54]
^‡ The final three digits, 194, represent Igawa's total strikeout count for his 2006 season.[47]
^€ The final four digits represent two significant player numbers—34 was the number that current Rangers minority owner and CEO Nolan Ryan wore when he played for the team, and 11 was Darvish's number with the Fighters.[55]
^P This player is a pitcher.


Unsuccessful postings
Player Posting date NPB team Result Notes
Pérez, TimoTimo Pérez 01999-02-02 February 2, 1999 Hiroshima Toyo Carp Pérez re-signed with the Carp for one season.
His contract was purchased by the New York Mets on March 27, 2000.		 [56][57]
Otsuka, AkinoriAkinori OtsukaP 02002-12-18 December 18, 2002 Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes Otsuka did not draw any bids from an MLB team.
He signed with the Chunichi Dragons on March 20, 2003 for ¥95 million ($800,404 in 2003).		 [58]
Iriki, YusakuYusaku IrikiP 02005-11-22 November 22, 2005 Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters Iriki did not draw any bids from an MLB team and was released by the Fighters on December 5, 2005.
He was later signed by the New York Mets on January 18, 2006 to a one-year, $750,000 contract.		 [59][60]
Mitsui, KojiKoji MitsuiP 02008-12-18 December 18, 2008 Saitama Seibu Lions Mitsui did not draw any bids from an MLB team.
He was re-posted the next month.		 [61]
Mitsui, KojiKoji MitsuiP§ 02009-01-08 January 8, 2009 Saitama Seibu Lions Mitsui did not draw any bids from an MLB team.
He was re-signed by the Lions on January 20, 2009, to a one-year, ¥57 million ($594,453 in 2009) contract.		 [62][63]
Iwakuma, HisashiHisashi IwakumaP 02010-11-01 November 1, 2010 Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles The Oakland A's were awarded exclusive negotiating rights on November 7 after bidding $19.1 million.
Contract negotiations broke down and Iwakuma returned to the Golden Eagles.		 [64][65]
Sanada, HirokiHiroki SanadaP 02011-11-23 November 23, 2011 Yokohama Bay Stars Sanada did not draw any bids from an MLB team. He was later released by the Bay Stars. [66][67]
Nakajima, HiroyukiHiroyuki Nakajima 02011-11-28 November 28, 2011 Saitama Seibu Lions The New York Yankees were awarded exclusive negotiating rights after bidding $2.5 million.
Contract negotiations ended without an agreement and Nakajima resigned with the Lions.		 [68][69]
^§ This is the only instance that a player has posted more than once in the same posting period.
^P This player is a pitcher.

[edit] Criticism

Since its implementation in late 1998 the posting system has been heavily criticized. Ichiro Suzuki's agent remarked that "the player literally gets zero advantage from [the posting system]... the Japanese teams benefit by holding the players hostage". Don Nomura called the process a "slave auction".[13] Much of the criticism of the system stems from its forcing NPB players to negotiate their contracts solely with the MLB team that submitted the highest bid. The Japan Times columnist Marty Kuehnert believes that since no other team is allowed to submit competitive counter-offers, negotiations result in salaries below the player's market value. Kuehnert also believes the system fosters a "take-it-or-leave-it" situation; if the team and the player have not finalized contract negotiations by the end of a 30-day period, the team can make a low offer knowing that the player's only other option is to play in Japan for another year.[70] It has been suggested that this is a violation of the Anti-Monopoly Act, a Japanese antitrust law that prohibits parties from signing "an international agreement or international contract which contains such matters as constitute an unreasonable restraint of trade or unfair business practices".[71]

The Japanese Professional Baseball Players Association (JPBPA) was not consulted before the system was implemented by NPB club owners, and did not subsequently ratify it.[72] Since its introduction JPBPA has expressed many concerns, likening the process to "human trafficking".[73] Agreeing that the system takes unfair advantage of NPB players, the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA) offered to help JPBPA fight the posting system in court. However, according to one JPBPA official, the Japanese court process is too long and involved; therefore, the "problem can't be helped".[72]

Yomiuri Giants club representative Hidetoshi Kiyotake has expressed dislike of the system, because it enables Major League Baseball to poach players from Japan. By using the posting system, he says, Japanese teams make a profit in the short term, but by allowing Japan's best players to be sold to MLB, NPB teams and Japanese baseball suffer in the longer term.[74] When Giants pitcher Koji Uehara asked to be posted in 2005, Kiyotake denied his request, saying: "We don't recognize the posting system. I've said from the beginning that this is out of the question."[22]

[edit] 2006/07 controversy

A young Japanese man wearing a dark blue and grey Japan national baseball uniform stands on a pitching mound.
The posting system was criticized after the Boston Red Sox paid a total of $103.1 million to sign pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka.

The posting system was criticized by MLB insiders and by the U.S. media, after the controversial 2006/07 posting period. Before the posting of the period's first player, Daisuke Matsuzaka, in early November 2006, there was speculation that he might draw bids as high as $30 million—more than twice the previous record bid that Ichiro Suzuki had garnered in 2000–01.[75] After his silent auction was closed, it was revealed that Matsuzaka had drawn a bid of $51.1 million, shocking American and Japanese baseball executives.[76] The Boston Red Sox's winning bid was more than $11 million higher than the next largest.[75]

With the negotiations between Matsuzaka and the Red Sox at a stalemate as the negotiation period neared its close, The Washington Post's Dave Sheinin questioned both parties' intentions. Sheinin believed that the Red Sox had foreseen the contractual stalemate and had submitted a high bid simply to deny the New York Yankees an opportunity to negotiate with Matsuzaka. However, after Matsuzaka's agent Scott Boras threatened to take Matsuzaka back to NPB if his price was not met, Sheinin theorized that Boras intentionally wanted to hinder contract negotiations.[77] ESPN The Magazine's Tim Kurkjian described the situation as "the most obvious game of chicken ever."[75] Sheinin suggested that, should the negotiations fail, Boras could take legal action on the grounds that the requirement of MLB teams to pay large transfer fees to NPB teams artificially depressed the player's personal contract. Boras did not believe that the transfer fee should affect the player's compensation.[77]

Despite the negotiation difficulties, the Boston Red Sox eventually signed Matsuzaka. The team paid approximately $103.1 million in total, including the transfer fee and contract, to acquire the pitcher. Kurkjian believes that with fees and contracts this high, small-market teams could not afford to compete with large-market teams for the rights to negotiate with some posted Japanese players. Kurkjian blames the posting system's use of a blind bidding system as the cause of Matsuzaka's "outrageous offer."[75] He also postulates that Matsuzaka's high bid amount helped to inflate the bids for Kei Igawa who was posted two weeks later, perpetuating the problem further.[75] After winning the negotiation rights to Igawa, Yankees' general manager Brian Cashman told reporters that "the posting system, clearly with what took place this winter, might not necessarily be the best system". Kurkjian claims that other MLB executives already believe that a traditional free agent structure, where the highest bidder wins, would be better than the current system.[75] Cashman and Yankee's team president Randy Levine met with NPB team officials in early 2007 to discuss the posting system, among other things. These meetings did not result in any immediate changes.[78]

[edit] See also

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ The agreement is officially called the "United States – Japanese Player Contract Agreement" (日米間選手契約に関する協定?). In English, the process is most commonly referred to as the "posting system", though it is also sometimes referred to as the "posting agreement". The corresponding Japanese term is most commonly written in katakana as "ポスティングシステム", though "ポスティング制度" is sometimes used.
  2. ^ Kleinberg, Alexander (December 24, 2001). "Where have you gone, Masanori Murakami?". Major League Baseball. Archived from the original on October 24, 2003. http://web.archive.org/web/20031024064230/http://www.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/mlb/news/mlb_news_story.jsp?article_id=sf_20011220_murakami_news&team_id=sf. Retrieved November 13, 2008. 
  3. ^ Whiting 2004, pp. 75–80
  4. ^ a b c Singer, Tom (November 14, 2006). "Matsuzaka posting system's latest gem". Major League Baseball. http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20061114&content_id=1740635&vkey=news_bos&fext=.jsp&c_id=bos. Retrieved August 24, 2008. 
  5. ^ a b Whiting 2004, pp. 102–112
  6. ^ Klein 2006, p. 137
  7. ^ "Sports People: Baseball;Dodgers Sign Nomo To Three-Year Deal". The New York Times. February 23, 1996. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C02E6DA1039F930A15751C0A960958260. Retrieved April 14, 2008. 
  8. ^ Whiting 2004, pp. 130–134
  9. ^ Klein 2006, p. 138
  10. ^ a b Pearlman, Jeff (August 26, 2002). "He's Arrived". Sports Illustrated. http://vault.sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1026510/index.htm. Retrieved November 21, 2008. 
  11. ^ a b Whiting 2004, pp. 142–144
  12. ^ Klein 2006, p. 139
  13. ^ a b Whiting 2004, p. 146.
  14. ^ Sandomir, Richard (December 5, 2006). "Baseball: Irabu's legacy is a high-stakes auction". International Herald Tribune. http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/12/05/sports/base.php. Retrieved April 9, 2008. 
  15. ^ Price, S.L. (July 8, 2002). "The Ichiro Paradox". Time. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,501020715-300682-2,00.html. Retrieved April 9, 2008. 
  16. ^ a b c d "United States – Japanese Player Contract Agreement" (PDF). Japanese Professional Baseball Players Association. http://jpbpa.net/up_pdf/1284364663-401673.pdf. Retrieved March 27, 2009. 
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  18. ^ a b Schwarz, Alan (November 19, 2008). "Japanese Are Irked by U.S. Interest in Pitcher". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/20/sports/baseball/20pitcher.html?_r=3&scp=1&sq=Tazawa&st=cse&oref=slogin. Retrieved November 25, 2008. 
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  20. ^ Browne, Ian (December 4, 2008). "Tazawa officially in fold for Red Sox". Major League Baseball. http://boston.redsox.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20081130&content_id=3695971&vkey=news_bos&fext=.jsp&c_id=bos. Retrieved March 19, 2009. 
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  22. ^ a b "Uehara eyeing majors for 2006". The Japan Times. January 19, 2005. http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/sb20050119j1.html. Retrieved March 17, 2009. 
  23. ^ Rockerbie, Duane W. (July 2007). "Peculiarities of the Major League Baseball Posting System" (PDF). University of Lethbridge. http://mopupduty.com///mnt/w0400/d33/s19/b0289d90/www/mopupduty.com///wp-content/uploads/2008/01/japanesepostingrules.pdf. Retrieved February 2, 2009. 
  24. ^ Singer, Tom (December 22, 2008). "Yankees, Tigers hit with luxury tax". Major League Baseball. http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20081222&content_id=3726222&vkey=news_nyy&fext=.jsp&c_id=nyy&partnerId=rss_nyy. Retrieved February 2, 2009. 
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[edit] References

[edit] External links

  • United States – Japanese Player Contract Agreement (posting system): English, Japanese
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