Baseball Team's Payroll Formula: Cash for Stats

One team in Japan's Pacific League apparently has found a way to simplify its payroll calculations: paying for stats, reports CBSSports.com's David Andriesen.

According to a link on yakyubaka.com, the Nippon Ham Fighters (who do not fight ham) give young players raises based on performance. Pitchers get a million yen (about $12,000) per win, while position players get 100,000 yen ($1,200) per hit.

It's a perfect example of the kind of oddities you see in Japanese baseball that would never fly here. U.S. major-league teams are allowed to give incentives for pitching appearances, plate appearances and awards, but not directly for statistics. Can you imagine the chaos? If every lineup and pinch hit and pitching change had financial implications for the players involved, I'm not sure you'd find anyone who would want the hassle of managing.