The appointment of Tsuyoshi Matsumoto by the Giants is not “Shinnosuke Abe’s favoritism”! A “Guaranteed 200 at-bats and veto contract” theory has emerged.

The “Privilege” of FA Players

Outfielder Tsuyoshi Matsumoto (32), who was an FA transfer from Nippon Ham to the Giants last offseason, has been a bit wet with the bat.

In March and April, he batted .221 with two runs batted in, and even in May, he was far from a regular. Matsumoto won the top hitter and best nine titles in 2010, but …….

He is already treated as a veteran in the highly metabolic Nippon Ham, and his appearances last season came in only 66 games. He was born in Saitama, but his family lived in Tokyo, and there were reports that he was interested in joining a Tokyo-based team when he won his FA rights. He says he was “torn” about the move, but he jumped at the chance to wear the uniform of the Giants at the Tokyo Dome, which he had attended since he was a child. If he had stayed with Nippon Ham, there was no doubt that he would have taken a substantial pay cut.

He has now joined the ranks of the Giants’ allies in the baseball world, but he is still expected to produce results.

He started the season opener as the No. 2 center fielder, but was benched as early as April 4, the eighth game of the season, against DeNA (Tokyo Dome). In his hero interview, he said with tears in his eyes, “I feel like I’m finally a member of the Giants,” but his form has not improved since then.

This season, Giants manager Shinnosuke Abe (47) has been aggressively using young players, and veteran player Yoshihiro Maru (37) was ordered to readjust to the second team on April 20 (he is now back with the first team). Meanwhile, Matsumoto, another FA warrior, has remained with the first team since the season opener. Many people involved with the team feel a sense of discomfort.

Some people in the team point out the “privileges” of FA players acquired under the leadership of the front office. One of the most promising is a “special clause” in their contracts. For example, “Until a player reaches at least 200 at-bats in the first team, he cannot be demoted to the second team without his consent, unless he is injured. There is a strong possibility that this is included in the contract.

Some fans have said that this is a favoritism move by manager Abe, but the situation is not as simple as it seems.

The reality is not as simple as it seems. “Since the middle of last season, Abe has been insisting to the front office that the Giants reinforce their pitching staff, not their fielding staff. However, Kohei Arihara (33) escaped, Kenta Maeda (38) was lost, and an outfielder was acquired halfway by the front office, which he did not want.

If he still hit, I would have no complaints, but with his low batting average and long-ball ability, there was nothing he could do about it. Manager Abe seems to really want to give priority to Shunsuke Sasaki (26) while promoting a youngster from the second team to compete. …… The leaders are disappointed because they had high expectations for him, and they say, ‘We can’t use him with the current Matsugo.

Even though Matsumoto is likely protected by his contract, his time left is shorter than one might think.