I guess this makes sense if you never heard of Hideo Nomo.

Ichiro Suzuki, Kazuhiro Sasaki, Yu Darvish, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Kodai Senga, and how can we forget about the immortal Ken Takahashi? None of whom picked the Yankees:

“Since Ohtani...these are three major players that basically had no interest in New York, or the Yankees specifically.”

Sal doesn’t see it as a knock on the Yanks, but it does show that the days of Hideki Matsui and Masahiro Tanaka are over, as the Bombers are now underdogs with the best players from Japan, as many modern players are choosing the Pacific coast.

“It’s the world famous New York Yankees,” Sal said. “They’re still that, even with not winning the World Series since 2009. It’s still the biggest brand in sports. Have the Dodgers eclipsed that now?”

This is not a story.

The Yankees can't lose their pre-eminence among Japanese players because they never had it.

Four prominent Japanese players signed with the Yankees: Matsui, Tanaka, Irabu, and Igawa. Two were good.

Kuroda was a good free agent signing, but he is overlooked because the Yankee teams he played for aren't legendary.

That's it.

That's all I can think of.

Those are the only Japanese players who played for the Yankees.

Oh, wait. Ichiro stopped by on his way to the Hall of Fame, but that's only interesting if you are using that information to fill out a cell in the Immaculate Grid.

It's an answer to a Yankee trivia question, joining the ranks of Kenny Lofton, Andruw Jones, Jose Canseco, Ivan Rodriguez, Lee Smith, and many others you don't associate with the Yankees.

"Oh, yeah!" if you're a big fan, and "they did?" if you're not a big fan. 

There is one other Japanese player who played for the Yankees and I have no recollection of him. His name is Ryota Igarashi. He pitched three innings for the Yankees.

If Sal Licata is so worried about the Yankees' waning influence in Japan, I'll bet Ryota Igarashi would agree to a $100 million contract from the Yankees right now.

It's a troubling trend for the Red Sox.

The Red Sox haven't signed a prominent Japanese player since Koji Uehara and the Red Sox only won 81 games last year.

It's a troubling trend for the Rays, who haven't signed a prominent Japanese player since Akinori Iwamura and have never won a World Series.

It's a troubling trend for the Chicago White Sox who need all the help they can get.

 

The Yankees are not going to sign every free agent.

The Yankees are not going to sign every available player from every country in the world.

For every Ichiro Suzuki there is a Kei Igawa, so chill out.

"Not signing a player" is not troubling and it also isn't a "trend." Three teams are on the table for this guy, which means 29 are not.

"Sasaki continuing the trend of rejection is troublesome moving forward, especially next season. Slugging corner infielder Munetaka Murakami is expected to make the jump to MLB next offseason and he would fit the Bombers like a glove. The left-handed hitter has a career .938 OPS in NPB with 241 homers in seven seasons.

The 24-year-old will be a normal free agent, so he will be able to earn a legitimate contract unlike Sasaki who came over as an International Free Agent and is only limited to signing bonus money and a standard rookie-scale contract. Not to mention, the Yankees will have a clear hole at first base as Paul Goldschmidt was signed as a stop-gap on a one-year deal for whatever long-term plans they have for first.

Murakami’s swing in Yankee Stadium is what dreams are made of for Brian Cashman and company. However, they will have to buck the trend of rejection and pony up the most cash.

If Juan Soto taught the Bombers one thing, it’s few people truly care about the allure of pinstripes and the legacy of the Yankees. It’s merely become a soundbite for players at press conferences who decided to sign the dotted lines with the Bombers because they were the highest bidder.

Sasaki confirmed that sentiment when he became the latest to reject the Bronx."

"Confirmed."

I mean, of course this is true, and it has always been true.

It's also bad news for the Mets and "confirms" that no one wants to sign there unless they are paid $765 million.

I also like the way this guy is not even talking about this player, he's talking about the next player, one year from now, who is expected to come to America, but because Ohtani and Sasaki didn't consider the East Coast, then that means Murakami will not consider the East Coast.

It's a lot to worry about.

Maybe the Yankees will pay Murakami $2 billion and move the team to Hawaii so Murakami is closer to home.

Alonso had a bad year in 2024.

I was going to remind Sal Licata, but then he remembered:

"With that said, Sal does acknowledge that Alonso lost a lot of negotiating power after having arguably the worst season of his career when it was time to secure a payday.

'Pete had a chance to prove himself in a walk year...and he didn’t,' Sal said. 'He wilted like a little flower until the postseason.

'This is part Pete’s fault for not producing the last couple years.' "

I think the Red Sox have a potential superstar in CF who is underappreciated and overlooked.

Does anyone care about my opinion about the CFer in Boston?

Is anyone in Yankee Universe even paying attention to the Red Sox?

Rivalries ebb and flow and the Yankees rivalry with the Red Sox is in a trough.

Except, of course, in Lupica Land.

Where he dusts off one of his favorite go-tos: Pick a player for the Red Sox (81-win team, third place in AL East, 13 games behind the Yankees, missed the playoffs for the fifth time in the past six seasons) and then compare that player to a Yankee player:

"The Red Sox getting Garrett Crochet could turn out to be as big a pitching move in the AL East as the Yankees getting Max Fried.

And the Sox are spending a lot less money to do it."

And?

Lots of things could turn out lots of ways.

If the Red Sox don't win the World Series, does it matter? Just using the Lupica tried-and-true criteria for success.

So it's a "big pitching move." 

Which means what? 

Which means the Red Sox win 100 games? 120? Or just hang around and go for a wild card?

The baseball analysis isn't even why I am fascinated by this blurb.

It feels like turning on the radio and hearing Electric Avenue by Eddy Grant or some blast from the past you hadn't thought of in a while.

Coco Crisp is better than Jacoby Ellsbury ... and the Red Sox are spending A LOT LESS MONEY.

Sandy Leon is better than Brian McCann ... and the Red Sox are spending A LOT LESS MONEY.

Jonathan Papelbon is better than Mariano Rivera ... and the Red Sox are spending A LOT LESS MONEY. (He probably never said that, but I remember some big Papelbon worship period. I think I remember.)

Babe Dahlgren had half the production of Lou Gehrig ... and the Red Sox spent A LOT LESS MONEY.

Who cares?

I mean, the Red Sox are not irrelevant, but they're not top of mind ... and no one expected the Red Sox to field a team in 2025 without a pitching staff.

Yet every move the Red Sox makes is a Reverse Babe Ruth.

The Garret Crochet signing is an epochal shift.