A little more on Batista

Came across this piece in the Star Tribune today about the Twins signing Tony Batista it actually a more complete way of saying what I was trying to say. There's a link to the whole story at the bottom

"While the Twins were stumbling to an 83-79 record last season, Batista was dealing with his own set of failed expectations in Japan.
According to Gaku Tashiro, a reporter from the Japanese daily Sankei Sports, Batista's contract was the biggest a Japanese team had ever given to a foreign player with no experience playing there.
"He was released for several reasons," Tashiro wrote in an e-mail to the Star Tribune. "Manager Sadaharu Oh expected a lot. [Batista] was predicted to hit many home runs. But his numbers were not high enough for a high-paid foreign player and No. 3 hitter.
"Another reason Softbank released him was they had a good third base prospect. The team wanted to give an opportunity to the young player. ... Batista's fielding as a third baseman was also a problem."
Batista played in 134 of his team's 136 games, but he led Pacific League third basemen with 14 errors. Five of the six teams in that league play on artificial turf, which is interesting as Batista moves to the Metrodome, with its slower and more forgiving FieldTurf.
"Everybody knows the story -- that his range wasn't what it once was when he was younger," Gardenhire said. "That's expected. All we ever ask here is that you catch the balls you're supposed to catch. That's one thing he's always done against us."
http://www.startribune.com/509/story/269599.html

O.K. so let me get this straight the Twins admit his range is bad, they know what kind of hitter he is and they're still going ahead with this. The Japanese team released him from his contract and wanted him gone so badly they let him keep the entire $15.5 he was supposed to make over the life of the contract.