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For those people who are interested in professional games, December must be an exciting season, when each team struggles for prominent, hopeful players among amateurs and high school students.
But this year, this too exceeding struggle resulted in a suicide. Katsutoshi Miwata, who was the director of player personnel for the Orix Blue Wave, took his life to try unsuccessfully to sign the team's first-round draft choice, Nagisa Arakaki, who is expected to be a prominent baseball pitcher.
Reportedly, Miwata's superiors ordered him not to return without Arakaki's signature on a contract. But Arakaki has strong will to go to the university because he was not designated by his most favorite team, Daiei Hawks. Taking his warm-hearted and considerable personality into account, contradiction between his conscience and pressure to pursue the contract may have been the last straw.
It is not too late for the persons concerned to reconsider about some defects about the draft system that have been pointed out. They have to estgablish convincing system as soon as possible in order not to have another victim.
The draft system was instituted in '65 for two purposes : one was to keep balance of power among teams, the other was to stop exceeding the amount of contracts, bonuses, and year insentives. But in '92, the Yomiuri Giants successfully lobbied to change the draft rules so that players college seniors or others fo equivalent age could designate a team to be drafted by, which is known as "gyaku shimei", or reverse designation.
Some people say the draft system has been smeared with excessive under-the-table case incentives. Of course, players wouldn't ask for sucvh sums from themselves, but who rejects to get the best price for his talent if provided ?
However, the rule does not apply high school players only because they are not intelligent enough to judge his own talent. So, they have to belong to the designated team or amateur team, otherwise they have to go to the university to play baseball, not to study.
Think about another better system, some experts propose "Waver System", which has been already introduced in Major Leagues in America. According to the system, the nominated players are designated in order the team that is ranked as the bottom, which sounds better than the current system.
Others recomend to regurate the maximum and the minimum amount of the contract deposit for the amateur players more strictly, because the fact that the teams have agreed to limits on bonuses paid amateur players of 100 million yen for signing and 50 million yen for the first-year incentives has been substgantially fragile.
For example, the Seibu Lions has offered as much as 163 million yen as a whole to Daisuke Matsusaka of yokohama HS, who is designated firstly by the team besides for his most favorite one. And Sasaki, who is experienced pitcher of the champion team of this year, the Yokohama Baystars has recontracted with the year incentives as much as 480 million yen, which means 600,000 yen for a pitch. It's beyond our imagination.
All we hope is to enjoy the exciting games according to fair plays, let alone fair system.

Question 1: Do you want to be a professional player if possible ?

Opinions 1:

• Yes. I can get money based on the result (my ability).
• No. I can not share much time with my family because I have to travel frequently.

Question 2: What do you learn fromm the death of Miwata ?

Opinions 2:

• Many males in his 50s are very sensitive. To some extent, his death puts spot-light on the draft system itself.

Question 3: Do you think the current draft system is good or bad for the players and persons concerned ?

Opinions 3:

• No, it is not good. It is similar to "Seiryaku-Kekkon". Because, on Seiryaku-kekkon, lady or man may have to a hate person even though she or he loves another person. This is not natural. So, all player has the right of "gyaku shimei" regardless of college student or senior high student.

Question 4: Anything about this topic.

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