Atlanta Braves Third Base Vacancy – Nobuhiro Matsuda
By Fred Owens
Kenshin Kawakami’s time in Atlanta wasn’t a success and the way his career was handled by the then Braves front office was considered disrespectful by some. Photo Courtesy of Tim Evearitt
Obstacles?
The biggest question mark surrounding the idea of signing Matsuda aside from money is the view of the Braves organization. Without rehashing one of our less sterling moments, the way the Braves treated Kenshin Kawakami was not viewed favorably in Japan. The Braves now have a new front office and it’s been a few years since the KK incident so it’s not fresh in the minds of most players.
The Japanese are big on respecting the individual. Ichiro was impressed with the fact that the Marlins front office flew to Japan to meet with him and it was a factor in his signing in Miami. Matsude is a folk hero in Japan as well though not on the scale of Ichiro. He even has his own personal cheer.
The Padres went to the Premier 12 tournament as part of a scouting trip to the far east and according to MLB.Com’s Quinn Roberts AJ Preller and Padres director of player development met personally with Matsuda. They didn’t discuss contracts but the meeting in and of itself was a mark of respect.
As with Hwang there could easily be multiple suitors for Matsuda but at least the negotiation process is free of any hidden money issues.
That’s A Wrap
In many ways Matsuda make a bit more sense than Hwang. He’s going to get the same sort of deal; four or five year with perhaps a higher AAV but without the posting fee. He’s s steady defender who won four Gold Gloves in Japan but reports say he’s expected to be above average in MLB terms.
The Braves are looking for a dependable bridge to their next third baseman and Matsuda could provide that as well as add some power to a power starved lineup. His international and extensive league experience mean he isn’t going to be overwhelmed by playing in this country.
The questions are the same with Matsuda as with Hwang. Are the Braves interested and if so to what level of monetary commitment? If as has been reported recently they have about $20M is payroll to spend, a player like Matsuda represents a good ROI, arguably better than a player like David Freese who is the same age but will cost more money and isn’t a good defensive third baseman (-23 DRS since 2012).
At this point we don’t know if the Braves are shopping in the international aisle or not. looking around at the alternatives and their cost, The Braves could do a lot worse than signing Matsuda.