Should the Cubs and Dodgers get draft pick compensation for Imanaga and Yamamoto winning awards?

[MN_ExPat]

Say Shota Imanaga and Yoshinobu Yamamoto finish at the top of Rookie of the Year (or other eligible awards) voting in the National League, will the Cubs and Dodgers get the draft compensation for having them in the majors the whole season?  Is it even right (even if technically allowed)?

Considering they both signed MLB contracts (especially given Yamamoto's record deal), that seems antithetical to the new draft compensation for well performing rookies rule.

[chpettit19]

I don't believe either is on the requisite top prospect lists to be eligible for the draft pick compensation.  

[Doctor Gast]

Absolutely they shouldn't

[MN_ExPat]

26 minutes ago, chpettit19 said:

I don't believe either is on the requisite top prospect lists to be eligible for the draft pick compensation.  

Good point.  I had forgotten about that part of the equation.

[MN_ExPat]

2 minutes ago, Doctor Gast said:

Absolutely they shouldn't

I would concur, as even if they were/are eligible, they are not truly "Rookies" given that they played at Japan's highest level for multiple years.

 

[chpettit19]

As for just whether or not they should be eligible, I'd say they shouldn't be eligible for the draft pick compensation, but I'm good with them being eligible for winning the rookie of the year award itself. The Japanese leagues are very good, but they aren't the majors. They're still rookies to the major leagues and I think they should be recognized as rookie of the year (like Ichiro was) even if they shouldn't bring an extra draft pick to their team.

[chaderic20]

I buy the argument they shouldn't be eligible due to the fact they're not prospects coming up through a team's minors, and the point of the compensation is to encourage teams to call up prospects from the minors.

But I don't buy the argument that "they're not really rookies". Japan and other countries are catching up in terms of quality, but they still don't match MLB, and there's no guarantee they will succeed in the MLB.  Exhibit A: Nishioka.

[DJL44]

Sounds like they are ineligible for compensation. If Imanaga wins ROY instead of a rookie on the PPI list it would block a different team from getting compensation.

I did notice that the Twins will get a pick if Joe Ryan ends up in the top 3 of AL CYA voting.

[bean5302]

They are ineligible. This was covered on MLBTradeRumors Podcast this morning.
28:05 in.

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2024/05/mlbtr-podcast-the-likelihood-of-a-juan-soto-extension-whats-in-store-for-pete-alonso-and-corbin-carrolls-struggles.html

[MN_ExPat]

3 hours ago, chpettit19 said:

As for just whether or not they should be eligible, I'd say they shouldn't be eligible for the draft pick compensation, but I'm good with them being eligible for winning the rookie of the year award itself. The Japanese leagues are very good, but they aren't the majors. They're still rookies to the major leagues and I think they should be recognized as rookie of the year (like Ichiro was) even if they shouldn't bring an extra draft pick to their team.

Very good point (from the consideration for the award angle) and I can concede that they do deserve some form of recognition for positive accomplishments in MLB.  But like Chaderic said above... I personally have a hard time considering them as "Rookies" due to the sustained level of success that many have had before coming over.  I get that Japanese baseball (on the whole) may not exactly match up with MLB, but given what we've seen the last few WBCs, that gap is closing quickly.

2 hours ago, bean5302 said:

They are ineligible. This was covered on MLBTradeRumors Podcast this morning.
28:05 in.

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2024/05/mlbtr-podcast-the-likelihood-of-a-juan-soto-extension-whats-in-store-for-pete-alonso-and-corbin-carrolls-struggles.html

Correct... saw that as well.  Although I keep hearing many talking head baseball personalities referring to them as "rookies", which has always struck me as somewhat odd and in some ways mildly disrespectful.  Especially in the case of players such as Ichiro and Yamamoto who had attained sustained high levels of success and accolades in the NPB.

[bean5302]

I don't know as I consider it disrespectful. Not sure how to rank the Japanese leagues vs. MiLB. If you consider it AAA level, I think it's fair to consider those guys to be rookies. There's a pretty significant shift in competition level between Japan and Korean leagues to MLB, and many of the players can't make it work. For every Imanaga, there's a Nishioka.

Most players take 3-5 professional years to make it through the minor leagues, and Japanese players don't make much more than high end draft picks/prospects in the minors. For example, last year's #30 pick made 8x more money than the average Japanese league player's yearly salary. Skenes' signing bonus was double the highest paid position player in Japan.

I think Japanese league players are fair to call "rookies" when they first come to MLB, even if they are very high end "prospects" before that.

[DJL44]

30 minutes ago, bean5302 said:

I don't know as I consider it disrespectful. Not sure how to rank the Japanese leagues vs. MiLB. If you consider it AAA level, I think it's fair to consider those guys to be rookies. There's a pretty significant shift in competition level between Japan and Korean leagues to MLB, and many of the players can't make it work. For every Imanaga, there's a Nishioka.

The Japan leagues probably have more MLB ready talent than there currently is in AAA but their worst players would fit right in on a Double-A team. On average they're AAA but the range of talent is larger. I would say there is at least an entire team worth of MLB-ready talent playing professionally in Japan.

The best baseball player in the world is from Japan. I expect them to continue to produce MLB level talent. Young people in Japan are much more interested in baseball than young people in the USA. Kids in the US are becoming more interested in basketball and soccer.

[MN_ExPat]

16 hours ago, bean5302 said:

I don't know as I consider it disrespectful. Not sure how to rank the Japanese leagues vs. MiLB. If you consider it AAA level, I think it's fair to consider those guys to be rookies. There's a pretty significant shift in competition level between Japan and Korean leagues to MLB, and many of the players can't make it work. For every Imanaga, there's a Nishioka.

Most players take 3-5 professional years to make it through the minor leagues, and Japanese players don't make much more than high end draft picks/prospects in the minors. For example, last year's #30 pick made 8x more money than the average Japanese league player's yearly salary. Skenes' signing bonus was double the highest paid position player in Japan.

I think Japanese league players are fair to call "rookies" when they first come to MLB, even if they are very high end "prospects" before that.

That's a fair assessment.  Although I would add that the divide between the two leagues at least appears to have grown closer over the years.

[MN_ExPat]

16 hours ago, bean5302 said:

I don't know as I consider it disrespectful. Not sure how to rank the Japanese leagues vs. MiLB. If you consider it AAA level, I think it's fair to consider those guys to be rookies. There's a pretty significant shift in competition level between Japan and Korean leagues to MLB, and many of the players can't make it work. For every Imanaga, there's a Nishioka.

Most players take 3-5 professional years to make it through the minor leagues, and Japanese players don't make much more than high end draft picks/prospects in the minors. For example, last year's #30 pick made 8x more money than the average Japanese league player's yearly salary. Skenes' signing bonus was double the highest paid position player in Japan.

I think Japanese league players are fair to call "rookies" when they first come to MLB, even if they are very high end "prospects" before that.

I completely respect that take on it, and even agree for the most part.  Although, I think on some internal level I will always have a hard time calling the top tier talent from Japan "rookies".