EVIL EMPIRE STRIKES AGAIN

The Yankees won the right to negotiate with a young Dominican pitcher, Ramon Ramirez, who played for the Hiroshima Carp in Japan last year. The Yanks bid of $350,000 beat out 13 other teams; they now have 30 days to sign Ramirez to a contract.

I don't know much about the kid other than the fact that he's young and throws gas. The fact that the Yankees beat out the competition for the rights to negotiate with the kid should only serve to add fuel to the already raging, anti-Yankees fire.

MEANWHILE, IN RED SOX NATION...

Gordon Edes, who I think is one of the best beat writers in the country, has an excellent article on Theo Epstein in today's Boston Globe.

In his Sunday column , Edes talked with starting pitcher Derek Lowe, who, like Pedro Martinez before him, expressed skepticism about the Red Sox closer-by-committee plan. Lowe was, however, happy to have our old friend Ramiro "El Bruho" Mendoza on his side.

''I think Mendoza is the biggest pickup of all we made this winter. I can't tell you how many times, facing him over the years, we'd have guys at first and second, one out, he'd come in and get someone to hit into a double play.

''He's a guy who can come into the game in the third inning and throw six shutout innings. I think he could be a fantastic starter; he has the pitches. Mendoza is basically the same as me. When I see him pitch, I see me.

''He throws a lot of strikes, he's 87 to 90 [m.p.h.], he has a good changeup, he throws a breaking ball for strikes, he lives and dies with his sinker. You can't put the guy in a situation that he hasn't already been in. He's pitched in Yankee Stadium, he's pitched in the World Series. Any situation you put him in, he's confident.''

Edes also added some choice information regarding the Kevin Millar situation in his "Notes" section:

This observation on the Kevin Millar situation from reader Kae Lee of Newton: ''I am an avid baseball fan who comes from Japan, and have followed your articles on Kevin Millar with a great interest. One thing I want to point out is the feudalistic way players are treated by Japanese owners, which is best illustrated in the Japanese word, kai-goroshi [keep to kill]. Kai-goroshi is just to retain the player's contract for the purpose of not letting him play for any teams, including his own. The kai-goroshi tactics are very commonly employed by Japanese owners to ruin the baseball careers of players who are not loyal to them, or who may damage their teams if they are allowed to play for other teams. The president of the Chunichi Dragons has expressed repeatedly to the Japanese media his intention to do kai-goroshi on Millar if he does not play for Chunichi. Chunichi does not gain anything by doing kai-goroshi, but the goal is to punish Millar for insulting them by not honoring the contract. The way they treat players in Japan is worse than the way American players were treated before Curt Flood.''

... Another e-mailer, Phil Sinrich, writes: ''I have been puzzled by the enormity of space spent on Kevin Millar. I've never heard of him, and by July he'll either be gone from the Sox or deep on the bench. It's not exactly like we're talking about Barry Bonds coming to the Red Sox.'' He is by no means the only reader - or reporter - who has tired of the Millar saga. But it matters on a number of levels: 1) the Sox believe he will be a vital, complementary piece; 2) it is a case apparently without precedent in the annals of US-Japanese baseball relations; 3) it could have a lasting impact on those relations; 4) it could impact on any future business the Red Sox wish to conduct. But you can trust no one's head is spinning more over this than Millar. He's a villain in Japan without ever having set foot there, and he's created a much bigger fuss in Boston than he ever would have wanted ...