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Giants to the Pacific League

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Giants to the Pacific League
I mentioned elsewhere that Jim Allen (Daily Yomiuri) had hinted that Watanabe-previous owner may take his team to the Pacific League if the Central League owners refused to the One League proposal. Well, it was released yesterday (September 4, 2004) that Watanabe had just such a conversation with Pacific League chariman Koike back on July 16. To me, this explains why the Pacific League is working so hard to get a second merger.

Nonetheless, with this "new" threat being brought out by the Giants' former owner, the Central League owners have gone into panic mode, suddenly warming up to the possibility of One League.

The thing that bothers me most is that they don't see the easiest way to prevent such a scenario from coming to be: reject the Orix-Kintetsu merger! With no first merger, there's no chance of a second, and any team moving to the Pacific League has no merit. And they can avoid the players' strike at the same time!

Is this too obvious? Have they already made up their collective minds to follow each other off the cliff like a bunch of lemmings?

Owners, don't merge! Talk with the players to find a way in which they can be compensated within your means. The players have already said that they're willing to talk about salary caps. Fix the problems while you have a chance. Merging will not solve any of your problems.
Comments
Re: Giants to the Pacific League
[ Author: Guest: John Brooks | Posted: Sep 4, 2004 10:20 AM ]

- The thing that bothers me most is that they don't see the easiest way to prevent such a scenario from coming to be: reject the Orix-Kintetsu merger!

I wholeheartlely agree, though as I have stated, the corporations that run the teams have no idea how to run a team or a league. If they did, we wouldn't have this merger.

- Have they already made up their collective minds to follow each other off the cliff like a bunch of lemmings?

The corporations have made up their minds that we (the owners) don't care about the current situation of the NPB. This is sad but true. I hope that the owners will wake up and realize that they need to reject the Orix-Kintestu merger, though the owners sadly just don't look like they care about the good will of the NPB.
Re: Giants to the Pacific League
[ Author: mijow | Posted: Sep 4, 2004 10:37 AM | HT Fan ]

I wonder what would happen if they called the Giants' bluff, or insisted on inter-league play as part of the move. Frankly, as a Tigers fan, I'd love to see the Giants out of the Central League. If you consider the history of the two clubs, we may have a better chance of winning the pennant that way.

But I don't think the Giants' sense of history will allow them to switch.

There are so many options - from revenue sharing schemes, unified marketing of NPB (as opposed to the present "every-man-for-himself" situation), inter-league play, to seriously considering Livedoor's proposal to purchase the Buffs. And what about allowing foreign investors in? After all, Nintendo owns the Mariners; surely there's some potential foreign owner out there waiting to invest in a yakyu team.

But it's funny when you think that the Japanese have a reputation for moving so slooowly when making business decisions/implementing government policies. Why the rush in this case? Slow down guys! Let's consider a merger for 2006 if necessary. 2005 is too close!
Re: Giants to the Pacific League
[ Author: Guest: Jim Albright | Posted: Sep 4, 2004 11:44 AM ]

Generally I agree with you, Michael, but salary caps really will most serve to help the major leagues skim off the top NPB talent, as NPB teams will be hard pressed to pay those players close to the salaries they could command in MLB if the cap is low enough to solve the immediate economic issue. Something far more radical like profit sharing with the players might do the trick, but I can't see this management bunch doing anything so revolutionary as treating the players like partners.

Jim Albright
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