Yankees and Seattle fans stop the Matsui

Truth be told. ONLY Hideki Matsui knows where Hideki Matsui is going to go (or stay) next year.

Right now his focus is on this season; a triple crown & getting the Giants to the playoffs.

Not mention that after this season, it's not even guaranteed that Valentine will be with the Mets, let alone Matsui...

Matsui is definitely going to the Expos.

Omar Minaya reasons, well we have a good team, trouble is no one comes to the games and thus our revenue sucks. What to do? Recruit all these Japanese players so the Expos can increase their earning through merchandise, and an exclusive contract with TV Tokyo and what not. Not to mention the hoards of Japanese tourists expected to come into town. So Omar goes off and signs up Big and Little Matsui, takes Shinjo away from the Giants (and tells him to dye his hair shocking pink so as to gain as much media attention as possible, e.g. front cover of Spin magazine along side Linkin Park), gets Tanishige, Tatsunami, Etoh, Iguchi, and anyone else available. Now, Frank Robinson is not happy with this. He says what the hell am I supposed to do with all these Japanese players? Omar scratches his head, and then comes up with an idea. We'll get Tuffy Rhodes! No luxury tax for years to come with this lineup.

Frank stays quiet for a while, but then the team does terrible for the first quarter of the 03 season. Frank gets disgusted and resigns. Omar scratches his head again. We need a new manager, but the press is always demanding ethnic diversity among baseball managers. What to do? Get Nagashima! First Asian manager in the big leagues! Half of what he says in Japanese is English anyway, so what's the difference?

As the season progresses, neither the Japanese nor the American players seem to understand what Nagashima is saying, except for "naisu purei." Everytime he says shuuto bouru, shuuto boru to his pitchers, it sounds like prosciutto, prosciutto, so some always calls an Italian bistro for a delivery.

The Expos do terribly, Omar scratches his head again and decides to take up a job as groundskeeper for the Kansas City Twins. Meanwhile, the Expos get bought out by Nokyo, the Japanese agricultural coop, and are relocated to Niigata, and are renamed the Niigata Riceballs (Onigiri's).

This is a very viable prediction. Wait till next year, folks...

Kansas City Royals, that is. I was trying to decide whether I should send Omar to Minnesota or Kansas City and got mixed up. Maybe I should be nice and send him to Tampa Bay. There, he could use his new Japanese contacts to recruit Wakanohana for the football team...

Surely you do not think he is going to one of the worst line ups in baseball? Sure the Mets will offer cash, but given that they are cutting the payroll because of the new collective bargin agreement, how do you see them making a significant offer for Hideki Matsui? Doubleday just bought off the other half of the franchise for 100 million. Now he stands to have his revenues cut and given to his competitors, and pay luxury tax on top of it all. No one even knows if Phillips and Bobby V. will be around this year and beyond.

While NY may be the market for Godzilla, he certainly is not going to lineup where he has no protection. Certainly hitting in a lineup with Soriano, Jeter, Posada, Giambi, Williams is much more appealing than Pizza and the scrubs. Besides, the Mets already have the American version (the movie version) of Godzilla at first base.

Rankdog, you are so clueless it isn't funny. Doubleday didn't buy out anyone, he got bought out. Also you point out the Mets will have to pay a luxury tax. Again you are clueless. The Mets' payroll is 94 mill. You have to have a payroll of 117 mill to pay a luxury tax. Finally you really contradict yourself by saying the Mets can't afford Matsui because of revenues and luxury tax and then you say the Yankees will get him when they are in fact the team hit the hardest and are one of the only teams that will have to make a big luxury tax payment with Mondesi, Williams, and Rondell, and Juan Rivera. You think they will be willing to pay Matsui around 6-8 mill a season? I don't think so. Especially if they think the Red Sox will go after Floyd, I am sure they will go after Floyd to keep the Red Sox from getting him.