I haven’t covered in-NPB transactions much since the Shimizu trade, so let’s catch up. Here’s a summary:
Yokohama signed catcher Tasuku Hashimoto away from Lotte
Yakult signed infielder Atsushi Fujimoto away from Hanshin
Lotte brought pitcher Yasuhiko Yabuta back from the Royals organization
Nippon Ham signed pitcher Masao Kida away from Yakult
Lotte signed pitcher Hidetaka Kawagoe, released by Orix
Lotte signed pitcher Akichika Yamada and catcher Noaki Matoba, both released by SoftBank
Lotte extended a spring training invite to infielder Makoto Imaoka
Nippon Ham traded pitchers Yataro Sakamoto, Suguru Matsuyama and infielder Naoto Inada to Yokohama for pitchers Takeharu Katoh, Takahiro Matsuka and outfielder Yuta Sekiguchi
Yomiuri signed Masahide Kobayashi, formerly of the Indians
Yomiuri traded pitcher Hiroshi Kisanuki to Orix for pitcher Yasunari Takagi
Yomiuri is about to sign no longer shaggy pitcher Shugo Fujii
I think that brings us up to date… did I miss anyone?
Clearly Lotte, Yokohama and Yomiuri have been the most active in the last few weeks. Yokohama is clearly retooling, and I think they’re heading in the right direction. Signing Hashimoto is a solid move.
The deal with the most upside is Orix fleecing Yomiuri for Kisanuki. The Buffaloes basically got a guy who’s proven he can start effectively when healthy for a lefty reliever who has two good seasons to his name, most recently 2007. Yomiuri certainly knows more about Kisanuki’s health than I do, but it looks like a great deal for Orix to me.
Out of the 87 players eligible to file for free agency this off-season, only five players filed for free agency including Ryota Igarashi and Hisanori Takahashi declaring as international free agents.
The other three players filing for free agency are thought to make a move within the NPB. The Yakult Swallows remain the team interested in INF Atsushi Fujimoto and the Yokohama BayStars are the front runner for C Tasuku Hashimoto. LHP Shugo Fujii from the Nippon Ham Fighters has also declared free agency and his destination is still up in the air, but a re-connection with the Fighters is unlikely.
It’s that time of the year again when each team starts to look forward to the offseason stove league, aside from the Giants and Fighters who are set to do battle for this year’s big prize. The main talks of the off-season will be centering around the movement of the free agents and today the list of qualifying players was released.
Potential candidates that might consider a move overseas are starting to buzz around the rumor mill and Ryota Igarashi and Naoyuki Shimizu are two of the bigger names in the news at this point. Toshihisa Nishi is another guy who wants to play in MLB, but he’s 38 and looking at MLB as a swansong. The situation might change once the offseason begins, but there have been no talks about big names being posted and it might be a relatively quiet offseason for new Japanese players coming to the States for a new challenge.