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Ibata and Company Are At It Again

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Ibata and Company Are At It Again
The Chunichi Dragons' shortstop is just a class act when it comes time to sign a new contract. He held out a couple years ago and literally said, "If there were a triple crown for lead off or #2 batters, I won it this year." Basically acting like a conceited little brat to the press until he got more of a raise. This year he claimed that he's the #1 shortstop in all of Japan and deserves a lot more than what's being offered.

Chunichi seems to have a lot of problems when re-signing guys lately. Koji Uehara happily signed a 4-oku contract with the Giants while Hitoki Iwase shrugged off an even bigger contract, despite the fact that Uehara is an ace who eats up many more innings.

Kenshin Kawakami recently turned down a deal from the Dragons. His explanation to the press as to why he turned it down was, "I'm not doing volunteer work here."
Comments
Re: Ibata and Company Are At It Again
[ Author: Christopher | Posted: Dec 27, 2007 10:34 AM | HAN Fan ]

Recently, Chunichi always seem to have salary problems. I suspect the parent company is very aware of the costs of running the team and tries to keep them low. However, they do also seem to have an arrogant bunch of players as well. I remember Fukudome getting in a huff because he was not offered as much as Iwase. Iwase, though, is pondering which option to take, and that is not an easy decision.
Re: Ibata and Company Are At It Again
[ Author: Shinigami | Posted: Dec 27, 2007 11:15 AM | FSH Fan ]

Kawakami and Iwase could both be gone next year if they decide to sign 1 year deals and opt for free agency to the MLB next season. With Fukudome already gone, that could be hell for the champs.

Chunichi's always been struggling to re-sign their star players in recent year, as noted by BigManZam.

I think Fukudome held out over the New Year as well last season before signing a deal. Ibata and Iwase have been shrugging off things thrown at them as well.

Sometimes I am glad the Hawks have some nice personnel around when it comes to signing deals. When Sugiuchi held out on his 1.9-oku offer, both Saitoh and Wada spoke up and said that he needs to do more to crack the 2.0-oku barrier. A few days later Sugiuchi signed for the 1.9-oku, and sets his goal to prove himself to be able to do it back-to-back years (as to what Saitoh and Wada told him to do to convince the upper management he's worth the money).
Re: Ibata and Company Are At It Again
[ Author: Deanna | Posted: Dec 27, 2007 11:30 AM | NIP Fan ]

I got the impression that there's something weird going on with Chunichi trying to convince Ibata to stay beyond his FA time and him going "No way," at least from this article in Nikkan Sports.

But to be fair, Ibata is the best shortstop in Japan. Well, at least, at fielding, and his bat is decent enough that I don't think there's a real case for the other shortstops being better than him just basing it on hitting. I mean, I just love watching Ibata play. He makes really difficult plays look routine just by figuring out where to play in advance, and getting a good jump on it. I mean, even though Morino is my favorite Dragons player, if someone asks me what the best thing about the team is, I'm pretty likely to say Arakibata, the Two-Headed Double Play Monster.

I really don't know what the deal is with the Chunichi front office though. It feels like they regularly have to fight with their players over salary - and considering they've been in the Japan Series 3 out of the last 4 years, you'd think players would be happier playing on such a team.
Re: Ibata and Company Are At It Again
[ Author: Guest: Gary Garland | Posted: Dec 28, 2007 9:16 AM ]

Araki was making noises, too, about also leaving Chunichi at some point due to some feeling he had that that event may be in the cards down the line. I don't know what is up with that. Clearly, there is some dissension in the ranks and who is the source of it would be interesting to find out.

With Tatsunami being slowly pushed out the door and Fukudome gone, Chunichi would do well to keep Ibata happy. Guys who hit .290 against both lefties and righties with a .317 average with runners in scoring position, steal 20 bases, and field like Omar Vizquel don't grown on trees.

It's almost like the Dragons are sorry their key players are doing so well.
Re: Ibata and Company Are At It Again
[ Author: Christopher | Posted: Dec 28, 2007 8:27 PM | HAN Fan ]

The Chunichi management really do want to keep their salary costs down. In this respect they are like the Swallows and the Carp, but not quite with the same destructive tendencies.
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