Apparently, my ability to predict where Japanese free agent ballplayers would sign new contracts is no better than my infamous skill at picking pennant winners. You may recall in the Nov. 21 Baseball Bullet-In, I speculated on which teams the three high-profile Japanese free agents would eventually sign contracts with for the 2000 season. Missed them all: O-for-3.
I said ex-Hiroshima Carp third baseman Akira Eto would go with the Yokohama BayStars, former Fukuoka Daiei Hawks pitcher Kimiyasu Kudo would join the Seattle Mariners or Colorado Rockies, and departing Yokohama bullpen ace Kazuhiro Sasaki would check in with the New York Mets.
As we now know, Eto and Kudo were bagged by the Yomiuri Giants, and Sasaki accepted the offer of the Mariners (at least I had the right country in two of three!). Of interest will be how NHK-TV handles the situation with Sasaki. Are they going to satellite broadcast every Mariners game? Break into the action in the eighth or ninth inning of a contest when Sasaki gets the call?
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