Tazawa Ignites Controversy

I can see a few likely scenarios:
1) Tazawa is draft and told to deal with it.
2) Tazawa is drafted by an NPB team and immediately posted (if that's not against the rules), ultimately selling a draft choice by and NPB team.
3) A new agreement by the MLB and NPB where an amateur player can be signed, but MLB has to pay NPB a fee.
4) The retaliation by NPB would have to be very specific, sign amateur Americans with the promise of posting them after 2-3 seasons. Alvarez/Crow to Japan would be interesting.

Ultimately, MLB will fold with NPB raises a fuss because a) Selig is a coward and b) MLB actually does need good relations with NPB if it wants its market to expand into Asia. Not to mention New York and Boston have already begun their own expansions in Asia meaning if NPB raises a fuss, all 3 of those teams will likely not offer a contract.

In some ways you have to sympathize with NPB, because we're taking all of their star players, or now they're potential star players. But I have to wonder why they think they deserve special treatment and why their amateur free agents are different then those in the Dominican Republic, ect.

I would still like to see some form of a Worldwide draft, perhaps it will have the same flaws as our current draft system does but it still levels the playing field some.

elmedius, NPB is different then US Baseball, instead of having individual owners the teams are instead owned by Major Corporations in Japan. It would be like having the Citi Mets and the Bank of America Yankees here. I'm not sure if there is anything preventing someone like Steinbrenner from purchasing one of those teams from a corporation, I would think that there would be years of legal battles between Steinbrenner and the owners of NPB and MLB sorting it out if Steinbrenner even tried to do so.

But hypothetically if he did, the rules strictly prevent trades in between MLB and NPB teams. Although it could create an interesting dilemma with the posting system where Steinbrenner could potentially post 100 million dollars to himself to talk to a Free Agent from his own team (All the more reason why they would never allow Steinbrenner to purchase an NPB team).

I would like the idea of using the NPB as a form of a winter league instead, but I find it highly doubtful that they have the ability to swallow their pride enough to the point where they would even consider it. Plus, Winter in Japan isn't ideal baseball conditions. They would need to have all indoor facilities to make that work.

Well couldn't he just be thrown into the MLB Draft?

"If NPB thinks that any American amateur players especially top of the draft talent would sign there and end up stranding themselves there for X number of years they are crazy, sorry NPB your system is lousy and is being exposed as that, let Tazawa and other Japanese talent sign wherever they please!"

Well, one could always do what Alfonso Soriano and Hideo Nomo did and use the retirement loophole.

"Well couldn't he just be thrown into the MLB Draft?"

Not how it works. Only Americans (excluding territorial Americans like Puerto Ricans) and Canadians are subject to the MLB Draft.

"Why wouldn't Crow of Alvarez go to Japan for a year or three?"

For one, the money is less. Also, who is to say those guys wouldn't still have to play in the Japanese minors for a year or three? It is not like Japan is a low level league. NPB is as good or a touch below MLB.

"Plus, Winter in Japan isn't ideal baseball conditions. They would need to have all indoor facilities to make that work."

It helps that most of the NPB facilities are indoor.

"I would like the idea of using the NPB as a form of a winter league instead, but I find it highly doubtful that they have the ability to swallow their pride enough to the point where they would even consider it."

Not to mention that we likely wouldn't have the same quality talent development that we get with guys like Ichiro, Nomo and Matsui.

Oh I know that. I meant as part of some agreement with the NPB would be that he couldn't be a free agenr. But he could be placed in the draft.

"Is this guy actually any GOOD??"

From what Ive read and watched of him he is good enough to be considered for the back end of someones rotation. He has the stuff. I just dont know how well it would work trying to coach such a young undeveloped talent with a language barrier.