On the Mets beat

OSAKA -- Bobby Valentine, former Met manager and current skipper of the Chiba Lotte Marines, strolled onto the field before tonight's game at the Kyocera Dome and immediately was swarmed by photographers. Valentine hugged Jose Reyes, chatted with Julio Franco and shook hands with David Wright. Before heading upstairs for dinner with the U.S. consul general in Japan, he also chatted with reporters. Here's a transcript of that interview.

Q -- Did you think David Wright and Jose Reyes were going to be can’t miss prospects when you were manager of the Mets?

BV -- You never know. But they were my picks to click. But it wasn’t just me. David was a guy that I didn’t get to see. When Tom Robson was fired (as batting coach) he was a special assignment guy. We were going to have a draft, and a scout did a good job of finding [Wright], but there are questions about different guys and that was Robby’s assignment – go out and see if David Wright could hit. That was my thing with David Wright. Robby came back and was like, ‘Don’t let them draft anyone else. Don’t let them draft anyone else.’ And Jose I just love. He came to my spring training camps and I remember throwing batting practice to him as a switch-hitter when we were first making him a switch-hitter. People didn’t think he could hit lefthanded. You go ask him. I said he could hit lefthanded.

Q -- What do think of Daisuke Matsuzaka?
BV -- If he’s stays healthy, he’ll be just fine. He’s a world-class pitcher.

Q -- You know what it’s like in New York. Can he handle all of that stuff?

BV -- Well, I don’t know. He’s been the biggest star of his team in his league since he was 15 years old. So the thing he might not be able to handle is not being the biggest star. But I don’t think expectations are going to be a problem. He’s legendary. He’s the [Hideki] Matsui of the pitching world. The pitcher-prodigy.

Q -- What do you think about Hanshin Tigers lefthander Kei Igawa?

BV -- He’s in the other league. But I favor lefthanders anywhere in the world. I saw him four years ago and he was a lot better than he is now. But he’s still good.

Q -- I know you’re happy here, but every time you see a managerial opening in the States, are you intrigued by the idea of that?

BV -- No. I think people understand that when the Dodgers talked to me last year and I didn’t wind up there, that was it.

Q -- You don’t have any desire to go back?

BV -- Not right now.

Q -- What do you enjoy most about it?

BV -- I’m not good at mosts and worsts comparison stuff.

Q -- What do you like?

BV -- I like the salary. I like my team, I like the job that I have to do. I have more vision and hope to build international play than other people. I hope that if I talk about it enough, it can come to fruition because I think it’s needed both economically and for our fan base.

Q -- What do you want to do for international play?

BV -- That it should truly be international play. Not exhibition play. It should be championship team against championship team. That’s what I’d like to see. I’d like to see this league, with good players leaving, still maintain a status. This country happens to be the only country in the world where baseball is the No. 1 sport -- the only major country in the world. If they lose their major-league game, there will be no country in the world where baseball is the no. 1 sport. It’s in everyone’s interest for Japanese baseball to be as good as it can possibly be. I’ll just see if people were listen and do things a little differently and make the benefits a little better for the players, make the fans understand the relationship they should have a little better. Do some things that we did after the strike, where our game took off. I’d like to see that happen here on this island.

Q -- How much has the level of play improved since you were here for the first time?

BV -- Immensely. Five-fold. Everything’s better, except for the players’ conditions and all of those things. It’s getting better. This kid [free-agent first baseman Michiro] Ogasawara will get $7 or $8 million. When those salaries come up, it will make the team more business oriented.

Q -- Do you think they can get to the point where there’s not as much status to play in the Major Leagues?

BV -- Yeah, if the conditions are the same. They’re not going there because there’s some gyro-pitch they think they have to try to hit, that’s not thrown over here. That’s not the case. They can play with these guys. They guys go over there and are successful. See those guys (points to the White Sox’ Tadahito Iguchi and Mariners Kenji Johjima). The second baseman wasn’t even the star of his team. The catcher wasn’t even the star of the team. They played on the same team. You know? The money’s better and the conditions are better. The economy here is pretty good – the second economy in the world. So the conditions could be better here. They could do more TV and more sharing.”