The Days of Being Outraged by Kevin Brown's Private Jet Are Over

From "Baseball contracts check out the bonus room" (reg.) by Kevin Baxter at the LA Times:

Japanese players, meanwhile, have never been shy in requesting perks -- so much so that the size and breadth of those bonus packages have become a status symbol back home.

When pitcher Masahide Kobayashi negotiated his contract with the Cleveland Indians in early December, in addition to a $3-million annual base salary, the big league rookie got the club to agree to pay for eight round-trip business-class plane tickets between Japan and Cleveland, plus a translator, a personal trainer, a car and a moving allowance of up to $25,000.

He also got the team to promise not to demote him to the minors without his written consent.

So when Hiroki Kuroda signed with the Dodgers two weeks later, he made sure to one-up his countryman, asking for eight first-class tickets, an interpreter for his family as well as English lessons for himself, a personal trainer who doubles as a masseuse and a moving allowance of $30,000.

And the Dodgers, who will also pay Kuroda's visa fees, agreed that he, too, cannot be sent to the minors without written consent.

I guess we just got married to Kuroda, because we're stuck with him for better or for worse.