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Very info-taining. Emphasis on the Info.
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Major League Baseball has asked the Rakuten Golden Eagles to submit in writing an assurance that the club does not have a side deal with Masahiro Tanaka, Bill Shaikin and Dylan Hernandez of the Los Angeles Times report. Rakuten has not yet responded to MLB's letter.
Late last week, Shaikin and Hernandez reported that MLB would make sure that Tanaka was not donating to Rakuten. A donation would violate MLB's deal with NPB, which stipulates that Japanese teams not receive any money beyond a player's posting fee, which has a $20MM limit.
Rakuten's president, Yozo Tachibana, had reportedly said that Tanaka would "cooperate and donate . . . starting with improving the environment for the players and to make sure it’s the kind of stadium that can be loved by [local] fans." Rakuten has considered adding a dome.
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Poster EA, and Mojician was it? ... pointed out that the Nintendo company and Rakuten do business in Japan. How in the world would MLB police that? Here are Dr. D's cornball thoughts on the matter:
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1. The "invisible hammer," out of the Commissioner's office, is never to be underestimated.
Pick up the newspaper in any given week, and you'll find stories about this player or that club official who never worked in his sport again. This extends even to the most famous celebrities -- Barry Bonds, Barry Sanders?, Michael Jordan, Alex Rodriguez, Mike Holmgren, whoever. They'll find something you did wrong, or they'll get pictures of you in private, and they'll feed a "cover story" to the public.
If the Commissioner's office thought that Howard Lincoln arranged a Nintendo-Rakuten deal, it might do who-knows-what to him. Lincoln is well aware of this.
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2. The Mariners and Masahiro Tanaka are -- in theory -- highly motivated to arrange such a clandestine deal.
It seems that Tanaka would dearly love to compensate Rakuten for the way it got shafted out of $50M in posting fees. For those who missed Taro's and IceX's comments out of Japan ... Tanaka has a Felix-, Edgar-, Junior-like persona in Japan. The way he's leaving, the damage it does to Rakuten, that's a factor.
This means that Tanaka-san might very well be motivated to sign with the Mariners -- even at a lesser salary -- if it meant that Nintendo was going to treat Rakuten with favor in the future. Tanaka then moves on, "graduating with honor" from Rakuten, a clear conscience and sense of integrity intact.
Remember, Japan is its own culture. Different things are valued differently over there, and some athletes have a vestige of the "samurai mentality."
In America, our athletes feel perfectly free to widdle all over the clubs that have treated them with honor, for no reason at all. Remember Alex Rodriguez smirking over the table at Pat Gillick as the M's presentation was made? Much less likely with Tanaka-san.
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3. It wouldn't have to be Lincoln, as such, who told Tanaka's associates, "Nintendo deeply sympathizes with Rakuten's situation," wink wink.
In these situations no specific deal needs to be arranged. Tanaka need only buy into the idea that Nintendo sincerely agrees with Rakuten's resentment of the "gaijin" exploitation of the posting rules. The rest of it takes care of itself.
This much is a given: if the President of the USA wants somebody tax-audited, he doesn't say "Audit Rush Limbaugh." They're discussing Limbaugh, and the President gives a particular look, and his underling knows what to do. For sure that is the way it (usually) works.
You don't need a signed deal between Nintendo and Rakuten (hypothetically speaking). You need a couple of sympathetic words between power brokers.
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Nintendo might very well -- in theory -- call Rakuten and arrange such an understanding without Lincoln's knowledge or wishes.
Why Nintendo -- at a level higher than Nintendo of America -- would be motivated to do this, Dr. D has no idea. Taro or IceX would have to chime in.
One way in which it could happen, would be if --- > one of the Japanese members of the board of Nintendo of America, were interested in Tanaka and then --- > alerted a friend at Nintendo Inc. of an opportunity to strengthen its relationship with Rakuten.
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If Nintendo were to treat Rakuten with favor, I don't think MLB would be able to keep ahold of the situation. If the two giants routinely do business, and Nintendo plans to (generously!) purchase services from Rakuten 18 months down the line, that F-500 relationship is not within the realm of issues that Bud Selig can get his arms around.
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4. There aren't that many things, in sports, that offend Dr. D any more.
This one does. MLB's treatment of the NPB, and the way it clomps in jackbooted to tell Japanese companies how they will do business, that rubs me the wrong way. Why should Rakuten and Nintendo be, in any way, affected by MLB's preferences?!
Our NPB posters might be able to speak to this better than I could.
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It's a complex business situation. Howard Lincoln isn't going to be around so long that he has to worry about repercussions 15 years down the road ... there are some situations that elude a Commissioner's Office. There are times when the Office is annoyed, or suspects nefarious play, and can't do much about it.
All things considered, it looks to me like the Mariners could get away with exploiting their Nintendo-Rakuten inside track.
Just my opinion,
Dr D
Comments
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I think I was the one that raised the topic here. I agree with all you say, but there was an additional issue besides the MLB telling private companies and individuals what to do with their money. The stated need that Tanaka was going to contribute to was improving the stadium, particularly the clubhouses. Although someone brought up that Rakuten has been interested in adding a dome to the stadium, the actual need Tanaka was to address was the condition of the clubhouses and training rooms, which were apparently totally destroyed in the tsunami, and only partially restored.
The thing is... the stadium is owned by Miyagi prefecture - basically something between a county and a state - and they have had their tax base totally destroyed by the tsunami, while their needs have grown astronomically. To expect the prefecture to spend any significant amount of money on the player's comforts right now is ridiculous. Apparently Rakuten hoped for a windfall to do it themselves. For me, for MLB to stand in the way of deals which allow the stadium to be renovated without the use of public funds from a government that is desperate for resources, is reprehensible.
Besides my (classical) liberal objections to interferences with free trade/disposal of property, this situation is ludicrous because all MLB has to do is say " O.K., in honor of our relationship with NPB and Japan, we'll take $5M from MLB funds and give it to Miyagi Prefecture for stadium renovations, to help Sendai and say thanks for the NPB players who enrich our game". Then it's not a team trying to get leverage, but a recognition of the needs there.
But to NOT be magnanimous, and then to turn around and essentially expect the public to pay for these things by interfering with Tanaka's, the M's, Nintendo's, the Yankee's, Guggenheim's, or anyone else's willingness to do so, is just plain stupid and callous. Let the teams interested in Tanaka compete to help people who need help! By the grace of God, maybe next year the NPB team posting a player won't represent an internationally recognized disaster zone.
The other thing I fear is that, if the Ms sign Tanaka, some New York reporter will decide to monitor Nintendo charity spending to try to make the point that it is a payoff. Nintendo has already spent $4M+ in Tohoku relief spending (including giving every affected family a Wii), so spending more is to be expected until all the little software firms are healthy and the infrastructure up there supports their business and ethical purposes. That's only reasonable. MLB seems to be making it unreasonable.
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For those who don't know what Rakuten is, besides the fact they own Buy.com - they are an outfit that aspires to be the Amazon of the Orient/Newly Industrialized/Newly-Middle-Class World. The important point to note is, that whereas Amazon started with books, Rakuten started with, yes, video games and other Japanese-made products. They are either the largest, or among the largest, on-line merchants in Japan, China, Brasil, and Indonesia, with sites throughout the Asian "Tigers", with expansion into India and Africa in process, while also they now have Buy.com and a European site as well. For those keeping score, that's about 1/2 of the world's population right now as potential customers, with another quarter coming fairly soon. Lots of rice cookers, lots of video games, mostly ordered by cell phones, all sold by Rakuten.
The scope for Nintendo and Rakuten to make deals is vast. But more to the point, they SHOULD be able to. Both companies have been incredibly generous already to the people affected by the Tohoku disaster. If the Tanaka signing gives an excuse for anyone, any company, any organization, to be MORE generous, WHY NOT?
Japanese culture can be said to be built on obligations - to those who raise you, who help you, who offer advice and support, and, yes, who employ you. I have no doubt that, regardless of the exact circumstances of his posting, Tanaka feels a definite obligation to both the Golden Eagles organization and his teammates, and to the Sendai region and the fans there. While obligation to the Emperor is no longer a part of at least the public Japanese discourse, most Japanese are deeply loyal to the nation, their region and their neighbors, to a point most Americans cannot understand.
In this case, I think MLB has really stepped into it. If any MLB action (other than the empty request for a written acknowledgement of understanding) comes from this which interferes with Tanaka's, Nintendo's or anybody else's attempt to help the Sendai community, Caroline Kennedy (U.S. Ambassador to Japan) ought to be on the phone to Bud Selig. (I suspect he would take HER call), and his attempt to interfere with this quashed.
I don't think anyone on the Japanese side sees Rakuten as trying to expand their "take" the way that maybe Loria would, gaming the system for their personal gain. I think most Japanese would see Tanaka's giving back part of his gain to renovate the clubhouses as an indication of his recognition of his obligation to his community, and to his teammates. If Michael Jordan can buy a bus, why can't the Rakuten Golden Eagles players, fans, and Miyagi Prefecture get something out of this deal?