THE DANCE CARD - Community Blog of the Toyama Wind Dancers

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THE DANCE CARD - Community Blog of the Toyama Wind Dancers

#1 Post by roncollins »

_*_*_ THE DANCE CARD _*_*_
A Blog of the Toyama Wind Dancers
Walker Increases Wind Dancer Budget
Big Fish Get Bigger, Little Fish Get Eaten

November 7, 2022—In another of the long string of front office capitulations, it appears that Wind Dancer owner, Paul Walker, has caved. News comes that the team’s budget will be increased from last season’s miserly $121.5M to $138M, an increase of $16.5M. “We’re happy to work with whatever we can get,” general manager Ron Collins said. “But the fact is that the big boys grew even more than we did, so it’s always a tough world out there.”

Collins was referring to the league’s financial report, which was released last week, and which showed more of the same—the rich getting richer, and the rest of the league treading water. When looked at as a combined group, we see that the top seven teams in the league will increase their expenditures by a total of $125.75M while the bottom 25 teams as a whole will have $19M less to spend.

So, yes, the rich get richer and the poor … well, there’s a bit of shuffling, but shuffling is all it appears to be. Lupin/Toyama, for example, will jump from owning the 21st biggest budget in the league to owning the 13th largest (tied with Kentucky, who also grew by $16M). Teams #8, #9, and #10 will all have between $8-$10M more to work with in 2023 than they did in 2022, but that comes at the expense of the bottom half of the league. Teams ranked 16 and below will all be working with considerably fewer resources than teams in those slots the previous season. Reno’s owner, for example, cut them $36M, San Antonio $34M. Fargo and New Jersey will be down $24 and $22M respectively.

We at the Dance Card have no idea if this is good, bad, or indifferent. But we can say that it’s another step in the same direction that has been discussed before here:

here and here.

Here are the 2022 and 2023 budgets, ranked from first to last (regardless of who owns them).

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Last edited by roncollins on Sun Dec 27, 2015 8:44 pm, edited 3 times in total.
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Re: THE DANCE CARD - Community Blog of the Toyama Wind Dance

#2 Post by Simon »

You see that big blue column, and almost invisible red one next to it? Thats me.
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Re: THE DANCE CARD - Community Blog of the Toyama Wind Dance

#3 Post by roncollins »

_*_*_ THE DANCE CARD _*_*_
A Blog of the Toyama Wind Dancers
Rumors and Other Gossip in the Wind

November 9, 2022

* Team Insiders are saying that veteran infielder Shiro Adachi and outfielder Sadatake Sato have made a work-out pact in an attempt to keep each other in top form this off-season. It's early, but one scout suggests he already sees improvement in both players. We're guessing it's just bluster at present, but we'll keep our ear to the ground.

* True to his word, beleaguered manager Kinnosuke Iwasaki has cleared out his locker. Rumors are that, like so many others last season GM Collins is considering taking the seat himself. The scuttlebutt says that sucha decision would be financially based, and that the club doesn't want to put themselves in a financially strapped position by spending $1M (or whatever it would take to get a top-flight manager to come to town) when so few others are incurring that kind of expense.

* The team is apparently considering letting François Gosselin, last season's Rule 5 draftee, hang out in AAA Yamauchi for a season in order to gain a bit more seasoning. Gosselin's representation was not pleased with the idea. "We expect the team will see that François belongs with the big club before everything is said and done," his agent said.
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Re: THE DANCE CARD - Community Blog of the Toyama Wind Dance

#4 Post by Matt »

Cliff Hangers wrote:
_*_*_ THE DANCE CARD _*_*_
A Blog of the Toyama Wind Dancers
Rumors and Other Gossip in the Wind

November 9, 2022



* True to his word, beleaguered manager Kinnosuke Iwasaki has cleared out his locker. Rumors are that, like so many others last season GM Collins is considering taking the seat himself. The scuttlebutt says that sucha decision would be financially based, and that the club doesn't want to put themselves in a financially strapped position by spending $1M (or whatever it would take to get a top-flight manager to come to town) when so few others are incurring that kind of expense.
League sources say a ruling on whether to allow GM's to act as their own manager (or not) could be coming down within a manner of weeks.
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Re: THE DANCE CARD - Community Blog of the Toyama Wind Dance

#5 Post by roncollins »

Be very, very careful. :)

Will there be a post season flyer on this, as well as the minor league age limit levels ... or whatnot?
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Re: THE DANCE CARD - Community Blog of the Toyama Wind Dance

#6 Post by Borealis »

Cliff Hangers wrote:Be very, very careful. :)

Will there be a post season flyer on this, as well as the minor league age limit levels ... or whatnot?
:-o :-?
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Re: THE DANCE CARD - Community Blog of the Toyama Wind Dance

#7 Post by Matt »

Cliff Hangers wrote:Be very, very careful. :)

Will there be a post season flyer on this, as well as the minor league age limit levels ... or whatnot?
Yeah, I'm working up to all that. I'm sort of decompressing after a stressful few months outside of PEBA. So as I sit here on my Christmas break, I'm mostly staring at my to do list while viewing the Walking Dead episodes for the 200th time and watching the dishes pile up.
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Re: THE DANCE CARD - Community Blog of the Toyama Wind Dance

#8 Post by roncollins »

_*_*_ THE DANCE CARD _*_*_
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Hirano Named Minor League Pitcher of the Year
Hotly Contested Award Makes For Tough Vote

November 11, 2022

In the past, the (then) Lupin Cliff Hanger decisions around naming a Minor League Player of the Year have been relatively simple. What a difference a season can make, however. 2022 saw the club spend considerable time and money bolstering their minor league system (some estimate that total expenditures on the draft, scouting, player development, and signing of Free Agents to have been upward of $60M, though we’re not sure how much faith to put into that figure). Whatever the finally financial tally, the result is clearly a much more robust organization.

Three of the team’s four minor league level made it to the post season, and the fourth had a fine enough year but ran into an elderly buzz saw that deprived them of their own just desserts (Not that we’re bothered by that in the teeniest bit. No. Not us.).

Today the club announced that AA hurler Sotatsu Hirano had been named the Wind Dancers Minor League Pitcher of the Year. The 6-foot right-handed hurler carries a 97 mile-an-hour fastball to the hill, which he augments with a forkball and a change of speed. He was the club’s 5th round draft pick in 2020—their first season at the PEBA table. He led the Ranma organization, posting a 14-7 record to go with his 2.86 ERA.

“This is a true honor,” Hirano, who turned 24 this past August, said. “I look forward to pitching in front of the fans at Toyama soon.”

That opportunity may come earlier than some would have expected. Toyama struggled to find a 5th starter this past season (and a 4th starter after Nishiyama went down). Hirano has exceeded expectations at every level (3.90 ERA at SSA, 2.12 ERA at A). Don’t be surprised to see Hirano given every opportunity to win the slot next spring.

Despite Hirano’s high level of performance, rumors say that the decision was not unanimous. A scan of the organization would suggest this is likely true. To give Toyama fans a flavor of this, let’s take a spin through the rest of the organization.

Short Season A: Osakasayam Swamp Dragons

New manager Glen Wallace was under tight rein to keep his starters at 90 pitches or fewer all season—and the team went to a 6-man rotation. This means that the rotation’s W/L records may not have been as blazing as they could have been, but they were all pretty much healthy throughout the year, with only Orlando Ramirez losing a couple starts to a strained biceps. It also meant the bullpen got plenty of work.

As usual, however, several of the players at this level were not qualified to be awarded a POY honor (*)

* - Eligibility requires the player be part of the organization prior to the beginning of the major league season. This is a silly rule, of course, as it means no current-season draft pick can be considered, even if they play the exact same season as every other player on the team. We, however, don’t make the rules … we just pick on them.

This means guys like Tsuginori Yamamoto and his 4-1 record and 24 saves (to go with a 1.27 ERA) cannot be considered. Nor can young hoss Riley Bozarth and his 97-MPH fastball. Bozarth, who came to the club out of a Roseville, California high school, struggled at times, but was also blazingly brilliant at others. His numbers say he couldn’t win (4-5, 4.50), but he’s an interesting guy, why shouldn’t he be eligible? 2022 draftee Felipe Morán (5-2, 2.67) can’t win. Kanzaburro Murayama (6-4, 3.46, 10 K/9) is not eligible either, but he was signed as a minor league free agent (after Niihama-shi picked him in the 8th round, then released him)—so his 15 starts don't qualify him. He was there from the first wee of the season, though, so how is he any different than …


A lot of the guys who are eligible, however, had a pretty solid seasons.

Guys like 20-year-old, hard-throwing Orlando Ramírez (6-4, 2.38). Ramirez has come up through the club’s international system, and impressed each step of the way. The staff says his breaking stuff is a s good as he needs, so if he can manage to keep his 96 mile-an-hour heater over the plate, we could see him in Toyama sometime soon. Tashiaki Kamimura (a 5th round pick in 2020) stood up this year, posting a 4-6 record, but turned in his third-straight solid ERA (3.39, 2.90, 3.43). He’s been a nearly 2-WAR pitcher each of the last two seasons. And let's not discount Pablo Jiménez (5-5, 3.29)

In the bullpen we saw 20-year-old Pat Cluff (1.87 ERA in 68 innings), and the enigmatic 18-year-old youngster Yoo-ngan Situ. Situ threw an eye-popping 1.88 ERA in 29 innings the season prior (2021, and at 17 years old), so the team wanted to expand his opportunity this year. Imagine the chortles of glee as Situ and his 95-MPH fastball turned in a 1.29 ERA in 42 innings this year. Ron Thompson, a 21-year-old signed after Kentucky released him, posted a 2.23 ERA in 43 innings (beating a rapidly dying horse ... Thompson, who is in his third professional season, was, of course, ineligible for the POY since he was signed in May--prior to the SSA season, but after the beginning of the PEBA year).

None of these guys are the Toyama minor league pitcher of the year, however … which may say something about the organization.

A-Ball: Cagliostro Thieves

Thieves fans were the lucky recipients of one of the more interesting rotations in the organization, and perhaps in the BCL. There was no pre-warnings of this, and in fact, the early news looked bleak when 22-year-old Sotaro “Kip” Kimura ruptured a tendon in his finger at the end of spring training and was lost for three months. Kimura would eventually return to post a 3-1 record and a 3.03 ERA in 18 games—but only 4 of them starts.

So the organization went about trying to cobble a rotation together.

They sent last season’s #1 pick, LHSP Ken Thompson (9-6, 3.00 ERA) up from their SSA team even though he had stunk up the place in his debut season. He was, however, brilliant at times in 2022, and appeared to recover from that rugged first season. They assigned 19-year-old RHSP John Gillard to A-Ball despite thinking he might better be served to throw another season at the SSAS level, but Gillard (8-6, 3.90) came out of the blocks nearly unhittable (though he faded at the end of the season, which makes one worry a little about his fitness—Gillard did K 10 hitters a game, though, which racks up a bunch of pitches). Unsung prospect, 22-year-old Armando Navarro pitched himself into a competitive rotation 9-5, 3.48 performance that has scouts buzzing and using that ever-tantalizing term ‘sleeper.’ The 6’4” New Yorker struck out 10.2 hitters a game while walking only 2.6. He had pitched well in SSA last season, but hadn’t been considered as anything beyond a filler until the mid-point of this season. Then came the draft and the acquisition of both RHSP Roberto García (2nd round pick, 6-5, 4.27) and RHSP Mike Miller, a 7th round selection who went 13-1 and posted a 2.41 ERA in his 101 innings. Miller struck out 9.1 hitters per 9 innings, walked only 1.7, and gave up about a homer every two and a half games. Will Miller pan out? He's a pitcher, and he's a kid. Who knows? But for one summer, every time the kid picked up a baseball, the hairs on your arms would stand up.

In a just world, Miller would probably be the club’s Pitcher of the Year. But (you got it) he’s not eligible.

Bottom line, every guy in this rotation was a contender for the award. But none of them received it.

Nor did Cagliostro bullpen ace Alexander Cooke with his 1.26 ERA, his 10.0 K/9 rate and his 26 saves. Or Toro Rin, a 22-year-old who threw 67.2 innings of 2.53 ERA ball, striking out 10.9/9 and walking only 1.7.

AA-Ball: Ranma Pandas

Let’s face it, the Ranma club wasn’t the highlight of the year. It was merely adequate, which is saying a lot for the organization. The Pandas finished above .500 (71-69), and had a few stellar moments.

Five pitchers stood out, including journeyman lefty Hoshi Suzuki, who’s 9-0 record and 1.27 ERA in Ranma was a startling turn-around from his past. The 26-year-old struggled to a 6.70 ERA in 18 AAA starts, however, suggesting the possibility that his value to Ranma was more tied to his age than his stuff. 25-year-old “Seeker” Okazaki however, posted a 2-0 record at Ranma before jumping to AAA and dropping a 7-3, 1.78 ERA there—which was good enough that some in the organization were lobbying for him to receive the final award.

In addition, Ranma received Mexican League free agents RHSP Carlos Gómez (2-4, 3.46) and RHRP Éric Huot (2-3, 2.12) at mid-season and saw them post effective numbers.

Closer Shihei Matsubara (4.63, 31 saves) continued to be enigmatic. The good news is that he still hits 99 on the gun, and dropped his walk rate in tantalizing fashion this season (2.3/9). But pundits point to the 13 gopher balls he threw in his 68 innings this year (compared to only 1 in 63 innings last season), and they wonder what’s going on.

Which brings us to…

AAA-Ball: Yamauchi Plumbers

Despite serving as the triage center for the big-league club’s bloodiest season, and despite posting a tepid 69-71 record, the Plumbers managed to capture their third-straight division title. They did it with smoke and mirrors and a patchwork staff that posted one of the better K/BB ratios in the league.

The aforementioned Yoshimichi Okazaki was nearly untouchable, and both Burt Johnson (4-2, 3.70) and LHSP Bill Courtney (4-2, 3.19) provided extensive service to the big league club. Courtney hurt himself in the last game of the season, but performed well with Lupin, and will certainly be given an opportunity to win a slot in the rotation next season. 26 year-old Chad Miller threw his 101 MPH fastball past AAA hitters for 9 saves before moving on to register 30 more before Lupin’s fans, and is now receiving some support as the SL's Rookie of the Year. This season saw both Toyokazu Goto (6-2, 2.68) and Motoki Ando (8-7, 5.09, 12 saves) move to the bullpen, which may have saved their careers. Ando in particular was no the verge of being released at age 26, but was massively more effective when put on the hill in the 9th inning.

26-year-old Yorikane Nagai turned in one of the more intriguing performances, posting a 7-0 record to go with his 3.17 ERA at Yamauchi. Nagai has flown completely under the radar everywhere he’s pitched, but his last three seasons have provided a 2.72 ERA at A-Ball (112 IP), 2.08 at AA (30.1 IP), and now that 3.17 in 48 IP. Given that he throws from the left side of the plate, one has to think the club would be happy to see him perform well enough in the spring to take him to Toyama.

---

So that’s the deal on the hill in the Toyama minor league system. Let’s all crown Sotatsu Hirano, who is a deserving recipient of the award. But there are pats on the back enough to go around, and the future, while not perhaps as predictable as one would like, certainly appears to have its bright corners.
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Re: THE DANCE CARD - Community Blog of the Toyama Wind Dance

#9 Post by roncollins »

_*_*_ THE DANCE CARD _*_*_
A Blog of the Toyama Wind Dancers
Lupin/Toyama Tabs Marcox as Minor League Hitter of the Year


November 12, 2022

As with the previous discussion regarding the naming of the (then) Lupin Cliff Hanger Minor League Pitcher of the Year award, the selection of the team’s Minor League Hitter of the Year was not without its controversy. The team saw solid performances up and down the organization, a fact boosted by the draft and by various mid-season acquisitions (who, of course, per league requirements, remain ineligible for the award regardless of their performance—we’ll not be re-hashing that here, though … not too much, anyway).

So, without too much fanfare, the club announced today that 22-year-old Brazilian Marcox David has been named their Minor League Hitter of the Year. David, a stellar 3B, was claimed off waivers from London in the early off-season last year, where he had struggled at the AA and AAA ball levels. The Lupin/Toyama front office assigned him down to single-A Cagliosrto, where he savaged opponents to the tune of 21 homers, and a .318/.403/.600 slash, good for 5.4 WAR. On top of this, David gladly made way at third base when the club signed Mexican League phenom Héctor Morales (whose 15 HR, .262/.361/.542 performance in 252 PA would also made him a candidate for the award if he had been eligible).

“We felt Marcox just needed a little space to breathe,” said Caglostro’s hitting coach Travis Taylor. “So I told him to relax, and that he was going to be here all year.”

David himself downplayed his acceptance of his move to DH in mid-season. “The club told me they already knew I could field, but they wanted me to focus on the bat. Then I saw Hector and I knew he could be a huge value if he got more time in the field. It all made sense.”

Although not as prospect-rich as the pitching situation, the club had several hitters to choose from this year. Here’s a brief run-down of them:

Short Season A: Osakasayam Swamp Dragons

18-year-old Trevor Tully fulfilled the expectations the front office had when they acquired him as part of the Adrian Fuentes deal. Tully blistered opposing pitching in the first half of the season, and was named to the SSA All-Star team as a result (the only 18-year-old to be assigned such a role). He finished the year with a .296/.403/.479 slash, and 8 homers. The team is hoping that 8 homers is a predictor.


A-Ball: Cagliostro Thieves

In addition to Marcox David and Héctor Morales, Cagliostro fans got to watch the blossoming of center field candidate Katsumoto Yamaguchi, and the arrival of 1B Mike Patrick (a 6th round pick in the 2022 draft).

Yamaguchi, though only 21, has already been through the wringer as a professional. He was drafted in the 4th round in 2019 (when the organization was in Japan), but carried the aura of a possible break-through player. Scouts saw his 30 SB speed, and his grace in the field, and combined it with the 29 homers he hit as a sophomore in high school ball. The saw his 22-game hitting streak in high school, and they wondered. But Yamaguchi struggled as a teen-ager to the point that at the beginning of last season, some in the front office were ready to give up on him. Then came August and September of 2021, and an explosion of offense that saw Yamaguchi finish with a 107 OPS+. That explosion got him a ticket to Cagliostro, where Yamaguchi hit 21 homers, and matched his .351 OBP of his last season in SSA.

Patrick (22) arrived from Notre Dame in a swinging mood, and proceeded to hit .313/.371/.513, good for 2.2 WAR in 346 PA. His 11 homers were a little more than expected.

A third interesting performance came from fellow Mexican League signee Xavier Reyes (22) who came to the squad in mid-season and played 49 games at 2B. Reyes posted a .364 OBP (despite a .217 average) and stole 13 bases in his stint with the club, good enough to make the front office perk up.


AA-Ball: Ranma Pandas

Ranma was home to scads of intriguing performances, seasons that catch your eye even if they don’t take your breath.

Ranma was where 24-year-old 3B Ichiro Hasegawa hit 13 homers and dropped 3.7 WAR on opponents, which was good enough to keep both Marcox David and Hector Morales down in single A. His +15.3 ZR at 3B has pitchers paying attention.

Then there’s 24-year-old 1B Mario Silva, who blasted 25 homers and drove in 87 runs while slashing .300/..338/.505, and LF Hector Alaniz who hit 12 homers and slashed .308/.372/.461 from the left side of the plate.

First round draft pick CF Donald Allen was assigned to AA and was perhaps underwhelming at .285/.341/.368, and ex-first round CF Noriyuki Matsui was so bad early in the season that he spent time in A-ball to get his act together, he returned to Ranma finish with an otherwise respectable 91 OPS+, complete with 22 steals (on the year he stole 33 bases and posted a +12 ZR in stints between CF and RF. With the club’s CF position an open book going into the spring, there’s no doubt that the club would like one of these guys to step in.

And then there’s 23-year-old 1B Junior Rogers. The kid just hits. Rogers was originally drafted as a 2B, but was moved to 1B due to his hands of stone. He’s also a bit of a clubhouse enigma, but Rogers posted a .313/.375/.458 slash in 226 PA at Cagliostro A before being called up to Ranma, where he was arguably better at .326/.392/.380. He was a 3rd-round pick in 2021, and has been discounted as being a step too slow for the middle infield, and without enough power for the corners. But the guy just hits. And his 13 steals at Ranma are, admittedly, intriguing, too.


AAA-Ball: Yamauchi Plumbers

Yes, LF Stanton Bryant blasted 20 homers this year, and spent time with the big club, but probably the two most interesting hitting prospect at Yamauchi were 1B José Romero and 3B Iván Juárez, both 23 years old.

Romero came to the club in February after being inadvertently released by the Crystal Lake organization in a Rule-5 screw-up. He started the season in AA, promptly was promoted to AAA, where he slugged 17 homers and drove in 76 runs in 439 PA. He also saw 20 games with the parent club.

Juarez was signed in mid-season out of Mexico and is expected to have the inside track to starting at 3B in Toyama unless the club makes a splash in the trade of Free Agent market. His 36 games with Lupin as a September call-up were lukewarm (.230/.331/.310), but he was Mexico’s #5 prospect, and posted a .397 OBP with Yamauchi. The front office clearly likes his plate discipline.
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Re: THE DANCE CARD - Community Blog of the Toyama Wind Dance

#10 Post by Apollos »

Yes, LF Stanton Bryant blasted 20 homers this year, and spent time with the big club, but probably the two most interesting hitting prospect at Yamauchi were 1B José Romero and 3B Iván Juárez, both 23 years old.

Romero came to the club in February after being inadvertently released by the Crystal Lake organization in a Rule-5 screw-up. He started the season in AA, promptly was promoted to AAA, where he slugged 17 homers and drove in 76 runs in 439 PA. He also saw 20 games with the parent club.
Interesting to see Romero re-surface with Toyama. I'd forgotten about him after he walked in the rule V last year and had stopped following his progress this season. Romero was our first ever "big" international find. Our first scouting report on him was full of blue numbers and I thought the guy was going to be a legend (OOTP 12ish, when we transitioned to the individual country-specific budgets, if memory serves). Glad to see he's still hanging around and producing, even if he'll never be the HOF'er we'd hoped for when he signed out of Cuba.
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Re: THE DANCE CARD - Community Blog of the Toyama Wind Dance

#11 Post by Morris Ragland »

Sandgnats wrote:Our first scouting report on him was full of blue numbers and I thought the guy was going to be a legend (OOTP 12ish, when we transitioned to the individual country-specific budgets, if memory serves).
I miss that feature.
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Re: THE DANCE CARD - Community Blog of the Toyama Wind Dance

#12 Post by roncollins »

I miss seeing blue bars on my players. :)
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Re: THE DANCE CARD - Community Blog of the Toyama Wind Dance

#13 Post by roncollins »

_*_*_ THE DANCE CARD _*_*_
A Blog of the Toyama Wind Dancers
Toyama Declines Nishiyama Option
Both Sides Still See Possible Deal

November 13, 2022

The Toyama Wind Dancers announced today that the club has not picked up the option year on long-time starter Tsuyoshi Nishiyama’s contract. The deal had called for Nishiyama (who will turn 34 years old in a few weeks) to get a raise from $5.6M to $6.7M this year, with a subsequent option at $8.1M. Nishiyama has been with the organization since its initial founding in 2007, so the news is particularly heart-wrenching. His LRS career record was only 83-93, but he was a workhorse for the club through the early years, and was pitching with the big league club as early as age 22. His best season was a 17-7 year posted during the club’s run to the Neo-Tokyo Cup.

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Will Nishi Still Don a Toyama Uni?

“I hope we can arrange for Tsuyoshi to stay with us,” GM Ron Collins said. “The only issue was the option's price-point, which we both saw was not feasible given the team’s realities and Tsuyoshi’s recent physical issues.” Nishiyama ruptured a tendon in his finger last year, and herniated a disc this year. “We’re running short of time, but if we can work out another deal, I would love to let my manager pencil his name into the #4 slot this year.”

A team insider reported that the team is meeting with Nishyama’s representation later this afternoon in an attempt to find common ground within the PEBA constitutional guidelines which allow for legacy players to accept slightly cost-reduced deals.

“I absolutely love Toyama,” Nishiyama said during a phone interview. “And I love the whole branding thing going on around the city. I hope we can work something out.”
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Re: THE DANCE CARD - Community Blog of the Toyama Wind Dance

#14 Post by roncollins »

Interested in Toyama? Here is a very cool video I found about the home of the Wind Dancers, which specifically shows some footage of the Kaze no bon Harvest Dance (starting at 18:40)
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Re: THE DANCE CARD - Community Blog of the Toyama Wind Dance

#15 Post by roncollins »

_*_*_ THE DANCE CARD _*_*_
A Blog of the Toyama Wind Dancers
Koyama a Thoroughbred
Team in Transition

November 14, 2022

The Kentucky franchise has claimed Shoichi Koyama off waivers, ending the utility infielder’s time with the Toyama organization. He was acquired in 2019 as part of the deal that brought the club the services of Jo Kichida, and subsequently appeared in 307 games as a part-time starter at all infield positions. He was a plus fielder at both shortstop and second base, but his .567 career PEBA OPS made him available. This represents the second day in a row that the team has made news by parting ways with an established veteran, and leaves some wondering if the Wind Dancers are in the process of an organizational transformation.

"We certainly have plans," General Manager Ron Collins said, "but we're not cleaning house. Shoichi is a nice little player, but we do have some kids coming up and the free agent market is always a possibility."

The move leaves the question open about Toyama’s approach to the shortstop position. One assumes that Jose Escobido will again maintain his role at second, and rumors are strong that the club has been searching for a stronger situation at shortstop than having 30-year-old Shiro Adachi man it again. Collins was mum when it came to questions about whether there was any truth to the rumor the club had been engaged in conversations about a young shortstop to replace the veteran.
Ron Collins
GM - Toyama Wind Dancers
2020 Neo-Tokyo Cup Champions
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