BASEBALL / DAILY REPORT : AROUND THE MAJORS

Jim Bowden, Cincinnati Red general manager, may not have the money to acquire a starting pitcher for the pennant stretch, but he certainly has a couple of nonconformist ideas.

Bowden not only is entertaining offers to make the first trade with a Japanese team, but he’s soliciting responses from various sponsors to actually pay for a player.

“Say we want to get a pitcher for the stretch, and company X is willing to pay his salary,” Bowden said. “We’d get the guy and say company X is sponsoring him. We could provide advertising, and every time his name came on the scoreboard, we’d remind people that he was acquired because of his sponsor.”

Finding a company willing to pay a player’s salary certainly would be one of the most unorthodox methods of acquiring a player, but then again, no major league team has ever traded for a Japanese player.

“Japan has three or four pitchers who we feel are better than Hideo Nomo,” Bowden said, “and we all know Nomo’s success here. We’re already targeted the players we like.

“I think it’s the wave of the future. I’ve already called the commissioner’s office, and we’re going through the proper protocol.

“I think you’ll be able to convince some young prospects to go over there too. You’re not going to make big money over here for at least three years, but you can make big money in Japan right away.

“I’m not saying it’s going to work, but we’re sure looking into it.”