All posts by Jim Allen

sports editor for a wire service in Tokyo
Baseball, Free, News

Hawks unlikely to block Colas deal

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With strong-armed slugging outfielder Oscar Colas having defected and in pursuit of a major league job, the SoftBank Hawks are in a position to block his signing since he remains on the club’s 70-man roster.

The Hawks have the right to sign Colas for 2020, and even if he doesn’t sign, they can still put him on the restricted list, preventing a major league team from signing him. In an ideal world, they could sell their rights in him to an interested party.

Unfortunately, transfers of players from NPB to MLB are governed by the posting system — and the window for posting players for 2020 closed on Dec. 5.

Putting Colas on the restricted list would also require the Hawks to expend a roster spot on him, so it’s a no-win situation for the three-time defending Japan Series champs. The last player to go on NPB’s restricted list was Lourdes Gurriel Jr. who refused to report to camp after signing a contract to join his older brother Yulieski with the DeNA BayStars.

Baseball, Commentary, Free, News

Buffaloes’ Eppler to attend Nationals’ spring training

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Tyler Eppler, who got less than a real shot with the Orix Buffaloes last year, has been invited to the Washington Nationals spring training camp next month according to MLB Trade Rumors’ Steve Adams.

According to analytic site Delta Graphs, his fastball was effective, but his progress was hamstrung by the Buffaloes converting a team-low .594 defensive efficiency rating behind him. On the farm, too, he was the Voros McCracken poster boy, allowing one home run and eight walks over 47 innings, while striking out 37 — yet allowing 62 hits, 31 runs, and a 5.36 ERA.

His NPB English language page is HERE.

HERE is our Japan Baseball Weekly Podcast episode when Tyler was our guest.

Eppler had good movement on his secondary pitches but adjusting to the high percentage of slap hitters in Japan sometimes takes a while. He came back from an extended trip to the farm team to work out the kinks and was fairly effective in middle relief.