Godzilla Contract Extension

I think that Hideki Matsui is terrible. He should go back to Japan because he can't hit. He was the entire reason that the Yankees lost to the RedSox this year - he is a complete choker. One time he struck out four times in one game and he was smiling after his last at bat. Is he stupid? Stienbrener shouldn't waste his billion dollars on that guy when he can waste it on steriod users like Giambi. (Jeter's one catch that he made wasn't very good, even though people thought it was. He caught it before he even went into the stands.)

[by Admin: I'm not sure if this is a troll or sarcasm. Please don't feed the trolls if that's how you read it.]

This guest sounds like a bitter Mets' fan who cannot stand to see the Yankees succeed.

I think Godzilla's stats speak for themselves. A guest that makes this statement just makes himself look foolish.

- One time he struck out four times in one game

Matsui went 14-34(.412) in the ALCS, he never struck out 4 times in one game, either. He struck out twice in Game 2, once in Game 4, and once in Game 5. [Link - Baseball Reference] [ALCS Game 2 - RetroSheets] [ALCS Game 4 - RetroSheets] [ALCS Game 5 - RetroSheets]

The reports out of New York are that Matsui will definately sign an extension, that he does not want to play MLB on any other team, and that he will probably want to end his career in Japan down the road.

I am not fond of the Yankees, but I think Hideki Matsui is a very fine ballplayer and one tough cookie to come over to MLB, get in the NY Yankee spotlight, and emerge as a success. He will continue to get better.

Hideki is Awesome. This guy deserves huge props. He is a solid ball-player, handles the tough NY media well, and he is very low-maintenance. An excellent Yankee.

Give him his jack!

Matsui said Saturday (February 19), "I don't have any plans to go back to Japan." [Link - MLB.com]

Thanks for your post. I had not read that article.

It is what I had expected to hear from Matsui. Now it is a matter of what Steinbrenner prefers to do. Will he try to extend for about 3 years now, or does he wait until the end of the year and base it on the 2005 performance? Matsui will not be eligible for free agency, but would be for arbitration.

$55 million for 5 years has a nice ring to it.

Actually I stand corrected. I do recall that when Matsui signed his 3 year contracted he had a clause in it that would allow him to become a free agent after 3 years. But that would be a moot point unless he cannot come to an agreement with the Yankees.

Hideki Matsui wouldn't mind wrapping up a contract extension with the New York Yankees before the end of spring training.

"I'd like to stay a Yankee as long as possible. That's my desire right now," Matsui said Saturday through a translator at New York's minor league complex.

Matsui, who worked out at camp for the first time Saturday, is due $8 million in 2005, the final season of a $21 million, three-year deal. He has a clause in his contract that requires the Yankees to put him on waivers unless a new contract is agreed to by November 15.

[Source?]

Yankees' GM Brian Cashman and Hideki Matsui's agent Art Tellem will begin negotiations on a new contract on Saturday (February 26). [Link - Japan Ball]

The New York Daily News is reporting that Matsui could get a salary in the 3 year $30-34 million range.

Getting Hideki for the small money the New York Yankees laid out over three years was the greatest robbery in New York since they got Manhattan for $19.95 worth of beads from the Indians. However, the new 2 or 3 year contract will surely triple in value from his present contract. The Yanks will pay him. They cannot argue his value to the team or the American League.

I was in Tampa last year for the 2004 spring training. I went to watch Media Day. There were about 30-40 sports writers at the A-Rod area. Over at the Hideki area there were about 75 writers. They never question his stats, as they all love the "human interest story" about hard work. Kids love to read about him. The New York Yankess get positive praise because of Hideki, not A-Rod.

Aside from being an excellent ballplayer, he generates some serious coin for that franchise. 3 and 40 is where I feel the talks will center around. With a couple high priced players coming off the books at the end of the year, this would be a small price to pay to keep one of the league's better talents happy.

You make it sound like Matsui is going to milk the Yankees for all their worth with fierce, long, drawn out negotiations.

While with the Giants, Matsui met on Christmas day (or was it Christmas Eve?) every year, hanko (stamp that acts as a signature) in hand. Every year except the last he accepted the Giants' first offer, pressing his stamp to the contract minutes after the "negotiation" meetings started. He never argued with what the ball club thought he was worth. His final year was the first time he didn't press his hanko that day, claiming he forgot to bring it. The Giants had two contracts prepared, one multi-year, one single-year. He chose the single-year contract.

There are a lot of ball players that haggle over salaries in Japan, as in North America. Hideki Matsui never was one of them here. Why will he start now?

- Why will he start now?

There's no reason to expect Hideki Matsui to start now. It's just some people seem to think everyone will try to milk a team, and then they'll turn around and say that the player isn't worth the money, which in Matsui's case is a big no. Hideki Matsui is a class individual, on a team that doesn't have a lot of them. I sure would of wish the Orioles would have signed him.

Matsui's agent, Tellem, will have an influence here. But he's got a reputation as a "get a reasonable deal done" kind of guy.

Jim Albright

Today's (Febuary 28) Nikkan Sports has Steinbrenner quoted as saying, "Matsui is a good player. But I don't like his agent." (Warning: Translation of translation. What was actually said may vary.)

Matsui has already stated that he wants to continue playing for the Yankees. In negotiations, this puts the ball in the ball club's court, giving them a tremendous advantage. I'm sure that this makes it a bit harder for Tellem, the agent in question, to boost Matsui's price tag.

If Tellem is the same agent that represented Yokohama's Robert Rose, then I understand Steinbrenner's dislike. After the 2000 season, Rose's agent threatened the BayStars to sign Rose to a multi-year deal or he'd go to the Giants. Neither of these things happened, despite Rose himself saying that he wanted to continue playing in Japan. I don't feel that his agent was truely representing him.

Now, Matsui is saying that he wants to remain a Yankee. Is his agent working toward that end? Not from what I've read. In the first round of negotiations, Tellem told the Yankees that he's more than happy to stretch out negotiations until next November. This strong-arm tactic reminds me a great deal about Rose being forced into retirement by his agent.

Who is Tellem representing? Or is he representing some sort of ideal? If Matsui has already stated that he wants to continue to play for the Yankees, what good would haggling for a few extra million dollars do for anybody? I realize that some agents think that it's their job to get as large a contract as possible, but there's got to be something more, something that doesn't have a price tag.

It would be interesting to see how much input Matsui has in the negotiations. I am not sure about Tellum, but there are agents like Scott Boras who always seem to go after the most money, even if it is not the best situation for their client. That is why there is the very rare case where a player represents himself without an agent. No commission fee to be paid.

Tellem also represents Giambi, and he supposedly used to have a good relationship with Steinbrenner and the Yankees. I read here [MLB.com] that Steinbrenner thought Tellem was being overly protective of Giambi. Basically, Giambi is supposed to be free to tell the whole truth now.

However, my guess is that Tellem advised him never to admit in public that he had used steroids, and that the reason is that that might give the Yankees legal grounds to void the contract. So far, there is only illegally leaked grand jury testimony, which cannot form a legal basis. But if Giambi ever admitted it, I bet that would give the Yankees a legal basis to cancel his contract. And I'm sure they would do it in a heartbeat if they had legal grounds.

This, I think, is why Tellem has had a falling out with Steinbrenner. From a professional standpoint as Giambi's agent, he probably gave him correct advice.

This article from the New York Post elaborates a little bit more on the reason for Steinbrenner's wrath, and is probably a better read as well.