During the December 2018 offseason, Giants pitcher Uehara was released, but later re-signed with the Giants.
Some media outlets have reported that this is an attempt to avoid being required to provide a player as compensation for acquiring a free agent.
While that interpretation is certainly possible, I don't know the actual situation.
I'd like to summarize some of the issues surrounding this incident.
An examination of the issues surrounding Chunichi Dragons player Iwase's refusal to be offered as compensation for free agency.
Reasons for quickly re-signing a player who has been released from their contract
The first question is whether they will immediately re-sign a player who has already been released as a free agent.
There may have been similar cases in the past, but regaining it in just two months seems unusual.
I understand why he was released due to surgery on his left knee, but then the question arises: why did they re-sign him?
It might be possible to argue that the change in manager from Takahashi to Hara led to a change in policy.
However, the official announcement of Manager Hara's appointment was on October 23rd, while the announcement of Uehara's release from his contract was on the 29th, meaning the managerial appointment came first.
The reasoning behind this line seems a bit far-fetched.
However, Uehara wrote on his blog,I had a proper discussion with the manager and was released from my contract.It says something to that effect.
If that's true, it can be interpreted as a "good story" where he voluntarily became a free agent so he could negotiate with teams other than the Giants, but the Giants made a renewed offer to sign him, which he accepted.
timing of contract renewal
The reason for the suspicion is the timing of the re-signing of Uehara.
This happened immediately after they submitted their protected player lists to Hiroshima and Seibu, the teams that had acquired their free agents.
In this situation, it's understandable that they might be criticized for releasing Uehara as a free agent to prevent him from being taken as compensation in a player acquisition.
Some critics argue that if the goal is to prevent other teams from acquiring Uehara, then releasing him as a free agent might be counterproductive.
Certainly, if Uehara is released, any team will be free to negotiate with him.
However, if there is a secret agreement between Uehara and the Giants to re-sign him, then even if other teams were to negotiate with him, they would simply refuse.
There is no need to worry about him going to another team.
Is Uehara a player that you want to protect?
For the Giants, he was a long-serving player who played for the team from the start, and he could be considered the "face" of the organization. He remains a very popular player even now.
Although he temporarily left the team to pursue a career in Major League Baseball, I think Uehara is a player who should maintain the image of being associated with the Giants.
However, if you ask whether he can be included in the 28-man roster that needs protecting as a player, I would say no.
There are many pitchers who are more successful than Uehara, and if players are at a similar level, it's only natural to protect the younger player.
In other words, I suspect that, like pitcher Iwase of the Chunichi Dragons, he was a player who wasn't quite strong enough to warrant protection as a player on the team's roster, but they wanted to protect him as a veteran player if possible.
If such players are left off the protected list, they might become upset with the team.
It is precisely because of this delicate position the player is in that it has led to speculation like this.
speculation
The truth about this matter will likely never be revealed.
If I may speculate, knowing all that, I think the team may have taken advantage of Uehara's request to become a free agent to protect him.
As a premise, I believe that Uehara himself is not lying (because I don't want to be suspected of lying).
In other words, I'll believe that it's true that "he talked with the manager and was released from his contract."
With Uehara's suggestion, the team probably felt something like, "We've opened up a protected spot! Lucky us!"
I think they actually intended to sign him to next season from the beginning, but didn't bother to keep him because it would free up a protected player slot.
Perhaps the intelligent Uehara himself considered the protected player roster and made the suggestion to the team.
Perhaps he was being considerate by saying something like, "I imagine the team is in a bit of a mess with all the new players they've acquired, so if you're willing to sign us again after things have settled down, we'd really appreciate it."
Uehara himself said, "I don't know what the team was thinking."
Therefore, I don't think the team made any clear offer like, "We'll re-sign you later, so please let us release you for now."
In any case, as Uehara himself stated, "There were no offers from other teams," so it seems there was no demand for Uehara himself.
However, a common and misguided criticism is, "In the end, no team is trying to acquire Uehara."
However, the issue here isn't whether or not we want Uehara.
The problem is that by protecting Uehara, we end up protecting players who would otherwise have been left unprotected.
For Seibu and Hiroshima, that player might have been exactly what they wanted.
The reality is that many people are not convinced, to the point where they perceive this as a form of protection that exploits a loophole in the rules.
What is the essence of the problem?
The essence of this problem isThe system of providing compensation for acquiring free agents risks becoming meaningless due to the exploitation of loopholes in the rules.That's the point.
Certainly, before creating a protected list, you can protect players you don't want to lose by making them free agents or putting them on development contracts.
While it probably can't be done too blatantly, in a situation like this where it can be interpreted in multiple ways, it seems like an effective method.
It is important to clearly define penalties to prevent such problems from occurring.
Also, like in Major League Baseball, I think transferring draft picks instead of player compensation is a good option.
List of questionable protection methods
Here are some commonly used protection methods that have a proven track record.
Coach and Protector
This protection method relies on the unspoken understanding that "if a player also serves as a coach, they won't be able to be acquired even if they're not protected."
In recent years, this method has become less effective due to teams like the Nippon Ham Fighters, which seem to disregard the prevailing atmosphere.
So, what would happen if he were also the manager? I wish they had done that when Tanishige was the player-manager for the Chunichi Dragons.
Iwase-style Protect
This method involves threatening to retire the moment you are selected as compensation for a player being traded, in order to refuse the offer.
If this happens, the party that forced the nomination will only receive a small monetary compensation, resulting in a significant loss.
(There is an advantage (?) that the name of the last team you belonged to will become the name of the team you transfer to.)
In that case, choosing monetary compensation from the start would mean you'd receive more money.
In Iwase's case, it seemed like a combination of protection and coaching, but that plan was ultimately breached.
The veracity of this information is unknown.
An examination of the issues surrounding Chunichi Dragons player Iwase's refusal to be offered as compensation for free agency.
Uehara-style protect
This is the method I introduced this time.
This involves releasing players from their contracts before submitting the protected list, and then re-signing them after the list is submitted.
If this is allowed, then anything could potentially become permissible.
Wakitani-style protect
It's a little different from protection,This method involves leaving players with free agency rights unprotected, so that if they are acquired by another team, they can use their free agency rights to return to the team.
The downside is that once a player transfers, and if their salary is high, there's a possibility of them leaving again as compensation, so it might not be a very effective strategy.