興味深い対比

中村がマイナー契約というほぼ予想通りの提示が出てきている状況で、少しデニーのことが気になって、調べていたら面白いものを見つけた。

King of Japan: Soon after the season ended, Ray King participated in MLB's All-Star tour of Japan, and he came away impressed with some of the opponents he faced."They've got a couple guys who could come over and do what Ichiro is doing in the game, if not better," King said. "We saw a little center fielder, we knew this guy was gonna bunt and we couldn't get him out. He'd get on first and we'd pitch out, did everything, and the guy still stole. I think there will be a lot more guys coming over from the Japanese league to the U.S. to play baseball."King was less impressed with second baseman Tadahito Iguchi, who may come to the states this year. He suggested that while Iguchi may have success eventually, the second baseman could endure a significant adjustment period due to the greater velocity of many American pitchers' fastballs.

Kingは来日したSTLのリリーバー。"a little center fielder"は間違いなく赤星を指しているのに、名前すら出てこない。これはちょっとかわいそうだ。一方、Iguchiは日米野球に出ていないのだから、当然"less impressed"だろう(笑)。
MLBはそろそろ実績のある選手にマイナー契約が出され、結ばれている。デニーもマイナー契約なんだろうなあ。稲葉はあきらめモード。中村も恐らくマイナー契約では渡米しないだろう。そうすると、最後の砦?はやはりデニー。経緯からすれば彼はマイナー契約でもOKのはずなのだが、どうなるだろう。