藪、オークランドA'sへ

http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/mlb/news/mlb_news.jsp?ymd=20050112&content_id=930439&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp/
A's agree to $1 million deal with Japanese pitcher Yabu
http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=ap-athletics-yabu&prov=ap&type=lgns
オークランドはエースを続々と放出し、来季は若手ローテーションで臨む。
http://d.hatena.ne.jp/umedamochio/20041219/p1
http://d.hatena.ne.jp/umedamochio/20041220/p1
よって藪は、

Yabu's deal calls for him to receive a $750,000 salary this year and gives Oakland a $1.5 million option with a $250,000 buyout. He could earn $300,000 in performance bonuses based on points, and also gets plane tickets, a housing allowance and English lessons.

というかなり厳しい条件で契約し、

Third-year righty Rich Harden, 23, likely will be the No. 2 starter for the A's, who lost three of their 2004 staples in the offseason trades of Tim Hudson, Mark Mulder and Mark Redman. Yabu will compete with 24-year-old Danny Haren (acquired from St. Louis in the Mulder deal), 23-year-old lefty Dan Meyer (picked up from Atlanta in the Hudson trade) and 24-year-old righty Joe Blanton, who spent the 2004 season with Oakland's Triple-A club, for one of the three openings in the rotation.

Haren、Meyer、Blantonというイキはいいが未経験の3人の若手投手たちと、ローテーション入りを競うことになる。開幕が楽しみ。