Rasner Sold To Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles
Via the Yankees site -
The New York Yankees obliged Darrell Rasner’s wishes by selling his contract to a team in Japan’s Central League for $1 million, according to a Saturday night report by ESPN.com.
Rasner, a 27-year-old right-hander who spent much of the 2008 season in the Yankees’ rotation but wasn’t perceived to be in the team’s 2009 plans, was sold to the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles, with whom he is expected to soon sign a two-year contract.
Rasner’s agent, Matt Sosnick, told ESPN.com that Yankees general manager Brian Cashman “really bent over backwards to make this work for Darrell and his family.”
Cashman should have offered to throw in Kei Igawa if the Golden Eagles would have been willing to send over a few of those famous Eagles Bras as holiday presents for Jean Afterman and Jennifer Steinbrenner:
If they threw in Igawa the Yankees would probably have only gotten $500,000 back.
ROTFLMAO.
Steve, do you think you can give any credit to Cash for being a stand up guy? If he really did “bend over backwards” to accommodate Rasner and his family?
To get a million bucks for a Four-A Pitcher, a lot of GMs would bend over backwards.
Is Rasner’s wife japanese? This article is making it sound as though Rasner went to Cashman and said he wanted to be traded to Japan.
I assume they are offering him a pretty good two-year deal and making it worth his while. He’s not the first guy to do it.
Maybe Rasner figures “If Igawa was a K-champ in Japan with his stuff, I could be the next Greg Maddux over there…”
This article is making it sound as though Rasner went to Cashman and said he wanted to be traded to Japan.
———–
That’s the impression I get. Rasner could either start in NPB, or start in the minors… Seems to be an easy choice to make.
As stated before, he wouldn’t be the first player/pitcher to do go to Japan. Seems to be the reputation that they will pay more for players than these players can get here. I don’t know how true that is, tho’
Raf wrote:
Andruw Jones, who “hit” .197/.294/.408 last season with the Yanks has signed with the Golden Eagles for about $3.5M. He got a raise!