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.
