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With young Japanese ace pitcher Junichi Tazawa bypassed, at his request, in the Nippon Professional Baseball league draft, he’s seeking a contract with a Major League team. The problem is, there are some unwritten rules about courting another country’s amateur talent.
Alan Schwarz and Brad Lefton provide a backdrop to the race for Tazawa, and how the bidders may be limited. New York Yankees general manager Brian Cashman: “I’m old school — there has been an understanding,” said Cashman, whose team has a formal cooperative relationship with the Yomiuri Giants, a team particularly upset with the Tazawa affair. “There’s been a reason that Japanese amateurs haven’t been signed in the past, so we consider him hands off.”
It’s doubtful that Tazawa will become a pariah, but with the posting system for professional pitchers, such as Daisuke Matsuzaka and perhaps Yu Darvish, being threatened by open bidding with no compensation for amateurs, expect some discussion to follow.
