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The kotatsu league: Wakui to join former Lions teammates in Sendai

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The Rakuten Eagles’ cadre of former Seibu Lions players was increased by one on Thursday when former Lions ace Hideaki Wakui moved to Sendai in a cash transaction from the Lotte Marines.

The Eagles, who finished third in the Pacific League this season, signed 2018 PL RBI champ Hideto Asamura away from the Lions last winter, when he joined Wakui’s successor as Lions ace, Takayuki Kishi. Eagles general manager Kazuhisa Ishii, a former teammate of Wakui’s has also brought in former Lions and San Diego Padres submarine righty Kazuhisa Makita this winter.

Wakui’s English NPB page is HERE.

While the Eagles have lost inning-eating starting pitcher Manabu Mima to the Marines as a free agent, they have signed former free-agent infielder Daichi Suzuki from Lotte.

The 33-year-old Wakui left Seibu as a free agent after the 2014 season to play for former Lions skipper Tsutomu Ito at Lotte, and one can be forgiven for thinking these Seibu connections are kind of like an extended hillbilly family.

Former Eagles Herrmann, Ono enlist with Marines

In addition to allowing Wakui to join his former teammates in Sendai, the Marines also announced Thursday the signing of former Eagles right-handers 35-year-old Frank Herrmann and 23-year-old Fumiya Ono, Rakuten’s second draft pick in 2014.

Herrmann’s English NPB page is HERE. Ono’s English NPB page is HERE.

Herrman’s numbers last year from his reliever’s small sample size were a mixed bag according to Delta Graphs. He wasn’t getting batters to chase as much, but got better results with his fastball than in his previous two seasons, got weaker contact and had worse luck with balls in play.

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NPB news of Oct. 27, 2019

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My prospective MLB player page “Guess who’s coming to dinner” has been updated HERE.

Eagles’ Mima to test free agency

Rakuten Eagles right-hander Manabu Mima, who posted a 4.01 ERA in 143-2/3 innings this year and has a career 51-60 record, said Sunday he would file for domestic free agency. He’s one of the few Japanese pitchers to regularly feature a two-seam fastball, and throws his slider nearly as often as his 143.6 kph four-seamer.

Nomura to stick with Carp

Saying that he “loves the Hiroshima Carp,” right-hander Yusuke Nomura said this week that he would not file for domestic free agency in order to remain in Hiroshima.

The 30-year-old, a 16-game winner when the Carp ended their 24-year championship drought in 2016, has struggled the last two season, not reaching 120 innings or having an ERA below 4.00.

Stewart heads home

Carter Stewart Jr returned to the United States on Sunday after completing his first season of pro ball in Japan competing for the SoftBank Hawks’ third team. The third-team is typically composed of players on developmental contracts and does not compete in a league, but rather plays amateur and independent minor league teams.

Nikkan Sports reported on his departure. According to their report, Stewart won four games with a 4.36 ERA, and said he hopes to impress in spring training so that he can compete for the Hawks’ top farm team in the Western League and make his Pacific League debut with the big club.

The 19-year-old right-hander who declined to sign with the Atlanta Braves in 2018 as the eighth player taken in MLB’s June amateur draft that year, will be eligible to enter MLB as an international free agent after turning 25 with six seasons of pro baseball under his belt.

Nikkan sports, translating his English into Japanese, reported that he said he had gotten used to Japanese ball. He pitched in two instructional league games prior to his departure and was handed an offseason training menu before his departure.

Stewart is a client of Scott Boras, who in December told me a player such as his client would be unable to qualify for international free agency and would have to re-enter MLB’s draft. So either Boras was lying to throw me off the scent, or didn’t know. If so, he was not alone, as two other agents also told me that week that U.S. and Canadian citizens could not circumvent the draft by playing abroad.

Don’t believe me, believe Scott:

Scott Boras in December 2018 on the possibility of circumventing MLB draft