Yokohama to Acquire Three
According the local Kanagawa news website Kanaloco.jp, the Yokohama BayStars are working on adding three additions to their foreign roster.
- Chris Bootcheck, who appeared in the majors with Pittsburgh in 2009, and another guy from my list of foreign player candidates
- Jose Castillo, the former top prospect who spent 2009 with the 7-Eleven Lions of Taiwan
- Termel Sledge, Nippon Ham’s best power threat in ’09
Negotiations with Bootcheck and Castillo are in final stages, and while negotiations with Sledge haven’t started yet, Yokohama appears to be the favorite to land him.
Whoever Yokohama winds up with will join Stephen Randolph on the roster next season.
20/11/2009 at 8:31 pm Permalink
Could it finally be that Yokohama is actually trying to win? I don’t know if any of these moves will work out, but the team certainly does seem to be willing to spend some money this year. Of course, as a recovering former BayStars fan, I can tell you this team often looks pretty good until about the middle of May.
20/11/2009 at 11:28 pm Permalink
We’ll see. They picked up Shimizu already, and look like their going to get Tasuku Hashimoto, which would be a good move. Bootcheck could be another Tom Mastny or he could be another Brian Falkenborg. Impossible to say.
On the pessimistic side, I think ‘Hama took a misstep getting Tsutsugo in the draft and not trying for Imamura or Kikuchi, though they did draft a bunch of pitchers after Tsutsugo. And I don’t see a right fielder among Yoshimura, Murata, Uchikawa, Sledge and Castillo (though I suppose it would be Sledge). I see five guys for four corner spots, unless Castillo is going to play 2nd. I think Kevin Frandsen would have been a nice pick up for Hama.
25/11/2009 at 6:44 pm Permalink
Huh, a little late with my response here but better late than never I suppose. My guess is that Sledge has a good chance at becoming the regular first baseman by the Bay seeing as he can also play first in addition to the outfield although I’m not sure if he has done it on a regular basis before. I think it wouldn’t hurt to look into that option. With Uchikawa set in the outfield, I find it hard to believe that the Stars are going to move him from his position in left field UNLESS they are really dead set on signing Sledge to play the outfield in which case I see them moving Uchi to center and having Sledge in left and letting Tatsuhiko Kinjoh walk as a Free Agent which would also work for me (although losing Kinjoh’s switch-hitting ability would be a loss no doubt).
So far, things have been going OK for the Stars as it pertains to the off season but forgive me if I still sound a little pessimistic as I still haven’t gotten the bad taste out of my mouth from the drafting of Tsutsugo. There’s still a lot of off season to go so we’ll see what happens as time goes on.
But on another non Yakyu related comment, how about those Blackhawks Patrick? A 7 game win streak and Marian Hossa debuting tonight in San Jose (at the time of me writing this post). Simply amazing if you ask me. Here’s to continued success from one Hawks fan to another and let’s hope the boys can make a serious run for the Cup this season. And with this being the holiday season and all, Happy Hossadays to you and yours too! 😉
25/11/2009 at 8:13 pm Permalink
Ahh, but here’s the thing. I may be from Chicago, but I live about 20 miles north of San Jose now, and most of my hockey cheering is directed toward the now Cheechoo-less Sharks. It is fantastic to see the Hawks winning again though. Tonight is one of four nights of the year that puts my loyalties to the test, so like always I’ll just root for a good game. Happy Hossadays/Heatleydays!
25/11/2009 at 11:07 pm Permalink
Well, I didn’t get the good game I was hoping for.
http://espn.go.com/nhl/boxscore?gameId=291125018
You wouldn’t have guessed that Hossa hadn’t played yet this year. He had two goals, scored on a shorthanded breakaway, and was strong in all three zones.
26/11/2009 at 7:13 pm Permalink
Yes, Hossa showed no “rust” out on the ice after not playing at all for the past 4 or so months. He was awesome as were the rest of the Hawks against probably one of the best teams besides the Hawks currently in the NHL. Not to mention San Jose’s sheer dominance at the HP Pavilion. I was sweating this game and thought it would eventually end up in a shootout but I was rewarded for my patience thus far it seems in not jumping the gun by proclaiming that this is the year that Chicago wins the cup as most Hawks Fans are jumping into that mode already it feels like. Overall, a rare off night for the Sharks but they’ll rebound and look to get even next time they meet at the United Center in December no doubt. Also too, I didn’t know you were a Sharks fan Patrick (or that you lived close to San Jose) as I’d assumed that you were just a Hawks fan living on the West Coast so my apologies for that also. I know now that you have ties to both teams.
But jumping back to Pro Yakyu, it seems that Shugo “Shaggy” Fujii STILL hasn’t gotten any offers from teams for next season. I know that the Stars had interest in him earlier in the off season, but wouldn’t it be wise to look into him again seeing that he could possibly come cheap seeing as no one else has interest in him? If the Stars are indeed rebuilding their pitching, I think it would be a great pickup but if Terahara goes back into the rotation then I could see where they wouldn’t need him. Just speculation here on my part.
27/11/2009 at 10:10 am Permalink
Well, it looked like a shootout with all the breakaways the Hawks got. Hossa’s in particular was impressive, but I thought Nabby could have stopped his shot. The Hawks are a deep, talented team, but the Sharks are capable of playing better than they did.
On to baseball, I think you can be cautiously optimistic about the rotation Yokohama figures to have next year: Miura, Terahara, Randolph, Shimizu. All those guys have reasonable question marks but they’re all capable of performing well. I think there is room for Fujii in the rotation though, and ‘Hama could use some bullpen upgrades as well.