Rakuten Eagles General Manager Kazuhisa Ishii will add field manager to his portfolio, replacing first-year skipper Hajime Miki at the Pacific League club the team announced Thursday.
Ishii will be the third Japanese former big leaguer to manage after the Lotte Marines’ Tadahito Iguchi and the Yakult Swallows’ Shingo Takatsu.
Miki has a multiyear contract and will return to manage the farm team, where he was skipper in 2019. Ishii, who played for the Yakult Swallows, Dodgers, New York Mets and Seibu Lions.
The last manager to essentially serve as general manager, although without that title, was Bobby Valentine, who assumed that role in 2005 and held it until 2008, when he was ousted from the GM role in a coup.
Orix to stick with acting manager Nakajima
The Orix Buffaloes announced Thursday they will promote farm team manager Satoshi Nakajima, and change his status from acting manager to manager for 2021.
Nakajima is the fifth acting manager since Orix purchased the franchise from the Hankyu Railroad after the 1988 season, and all four of its Japanese interim skippers have stayed on for the following season. The one American, long-time Japan veteran Leon Lee, is the only one not to be invited back.
Yudai Ono, who appears to be a lock to win the Eiji Sawamura Award as Japan’s most impressive starting pitcher, will not exercise his right to file for domestic free agency, a source told Kyodo News on Wednesday and will remain with the Central League’s Chunichi Dragons.
The Tokyo Chunichi Sports reports the 32-year-old lefty, who has been on some MLB teams’ radar, has agreed in principle to a three-year extension worth 300 million yen a year ($2.9 million), with additional performance incentives.
Swallows want to ground Yamada
The famously penurious Yakult Swallows have offered star second baseman Tetsuto Yamada a seven-year deal worth 4.5 billion yen ($43 million) a source has told Sponichi Annex.
The 28-year-old was the Central League’s 2015 MVP when he put up one of the most valuable season in NPB history. Three times he’s batted .300 with 30 home runs and 30 steals, something no other player has done more than once.
Yamada is eligible to file for domestic free agency. The Osaka native grew up a fan of the Yomiuri Giants, who one assumes might be happy to match that offer in order to have him hold down second base — not that manager Tatsunori Hara would be happy with anyone at second base, but that’s another story.
JBF moves to qualify youth coaches
The Baseball Federation of Japan announced Monday it will introduce a “certified baseball coach” qualification system for those coaching children under the age of 12 in either hardball or rubber “nanshiki” leagues according to the Nikkei Shimbun.
The certification will require applicants study — among other things, sportsmanship, training methods, and injury prevention. Japanese youth ball, with its focus on intense year-round practice and weekend tournaments, has long been a concern for reformers, who say many of Japan’s most talented players are wiped out as youngsters after suffering injuries that could easily have been prevented.
In its first guise, the qualifications will be voluntary, but the federation hopes they will become mandatory in the future, while expanding the qualification courses to other age groups.
Fujinami hits high note
Shintaro Fujinami had a good night at Koshien Stadium, striking out nine over five innings in a pitching duel against the DeNA BayStars’ Shinichi Onuki, who wrapped up his solid season with nine strikeouts over seven scoreless innings. The Tigers won 1-0, with former ace Atsushi Nomi getting the save.
Nomi, whom the Tigers said they will cut, got a farewell ceremony, while DeNA manager Alex Ramirez, who will be stepping down, received flowers from classy Tigers skipper Akihiro Yano.
Yanagi comes oh so close
Yuya Yanagi’s bid for a shutout crumbled in the ninth inning after he issued a two-out walk. The Chunichi Dragons right-hander surrendered two runs over 8-2/3 innings to improve to 6-7 in a 3-2 win over the Hiroshima Carp at Mazda Stadium.
Carp right-hander Allen Kuri (8-6) ended a solid season with a complete-game loss, while the Carp’s Ryosuke Kikuchi became the first second baseman in Japanese pro baseball history to make no errors in a season.
Active roster moves 11/11/2020
Deactivated players can be re-activated from 11/21
