Archived Weblog Entry - 11/09/2003: "Japanese Baseball News: Daiei Players Boycott Team Trip in Protest; Otsuka San Diego Bound?"

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11/09/2003 Archived Entry: "Japanese Baseball News: Daiei Players Boycott Team Trip in Protest; Otsuka San Diego Bound?"

Team Reports

Hanshin Young southpaw Yasuhiro Nakamura, who had a promsing spring but then got hammered when the season began and was quickly sent down, is being counted on to take another lefthanded slot in the rotattion, especially since Tsuyoshi Shimoyanagi may be going to Yokohama via free agency.

Yakult If closer Shingo Takatsu leaves via free agency, manager Tsutomu Wakamatsu will use a so-called "double stopper" combination of southtpaw Hirotoshi Ishii and righthander Ryota Igarashi, meaning that instead of seeing Takatsu's 85-86mph heater at the end of games, the opposition will be seeing 95-98mph napalm. However, Igarashi still seems to not have fully arrived yet, so we'll see if the double soon becomes a single. A Sports Nippon report indicated that the Swallows are pessimistic about their chances of retaining Takatsu. On the other hand, it appears that the Padres, after some initial interest in Japan's all time saves leader, are going to backoff on acquiring him.

Chunichi Righthanded reliever Akinori Otsuka will be posted and the San Diego Padres are mulling his addition. Furthermore, Boston, the Chicago Cubs and Oakland are reviewing his career and scouting reports as well....The team announced that 6'2" 220 pound former Hiroshima pitcher Masaya Tsutsui passed his tryout with the Nagoya crew.

Daiei Even though it's been a few days since third baseman Hiroki Kokubo was given away to the Yomiuri Giants, the Hawks players continue to fume and now choosing to boycott the team's victory trip to Hawaii en masse in December. Sports Nippon suggested that Kokubo may have suffered retaliation from the club's ownership after, as the team's players association rep, he had objected to the manner in which Daiei had handled negotiations with the players. Owner Nakauchi also threw yet more gas on the flame when he remarked to employees of the Sea Hawk hotel that he was angry because Kokubo hadn't thanked him for acceeding to his wish to go somewhere else. Following the news of the boycott, club officials had no comment.

Seibu Lions shortstop Kazuo Matsui had what will probably be his last at bat on the Japanese mainland before probably leaving for MLB, as he struckout in the first inning of an offseason all star game (see further story below). The flashy infielder revealed that he is exhausted from the season and then taking part in "high tension" games with a Japanese dream team that assured the country's participation in the Athens olympic baseball tourney. Matsui was removed after his plate appearance and later took the first base coach's box. Matsui is really torn about wanting to be part of that olympic nine or crossing the Pacific, so some in the Japanese press think he may stay with Seibu for at least one more year. We'll see....The Lions have another problem, though with that olympic meet. Taiwanese moundsmen Hsu Ming-chieh and Chang Chia-chiah will be on the hill for that small island nation's contingent and then ace Daisuke Matsuzaka will be a big element of the Japanese squad. In addition, closer Kiyoshi Toyoda, who sat this past qualifier out due to injury, is a candidate to go, too and that leaves the Lions with a thin staff to be sure. So Toyoda will probably be compelled to stay home if manager Tsutomu Itoh gets his way.

Kintetsu Leftfielder Tuffy Rhodes is definitely gone, as a formal announcement to that effect will be made on the tenth. He is likely to accept a three year, $13.5 million offer from Yomiuri....Manager Masataka Nashida was admitted to hospital Sunday to have some polyps removed from his large intestine. Yikes! This will cause him to miss accompanying some of the team's players to Vero Beach for a fall camp there.

Lotte Manager Bobby Valentine watched from the leftfield seats as his second baseman, Koichi Hori, slugged two homers and drove in four runs during the East-West All Star Game in Shizuoka Prefecture Sunday. However, Daiei shortstop Yusuke Torigoe slammed a two run walkoff homer with two outs in the bottom of the ninth off of Nippon Ham hurler Masaru Yoshizaki to take home the MVP. Fans then quickly forgot about the game and swarmed Valentine asking for autographs, which the former Mets skipper obligingly signed for about an hour. Before the game, Nippon Ham shot caller Trey Hillman talked with Valentine for about an hour about what he's experienced his first year in Japan. When asked if they discussed Tsuyoshi Shinjo, though, Hillman said "no comment."

Orix Free agent centerfielder Arihito Muramatsu has been offered a nice four year deal for about $1 million a year plus incentives, topping Daiei's three year proffer. Muramatsu made about $370,000 this past season.

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