The Toyama Wind Dancers Blog

[Wind Dancers]

WinD’s through to the Divisional Round
October 10, 2033
Toyama Wind Dancers Blog

A series years in the making, the Toyama Wind Dancers have swept the Shin Seiki Evas in 3 games to advance to the Divisional Round of the playoffs where they will meet the Akira. The years-long rebuild has culminated in top-tier Wind Dancers team that was built in the shadow of the great Evas empire.

Despite a shaky regular season, the Toyama pitching staff took charge giving up just 5 runs all series. Veteran Dylan McIntosh led the way in game 1, tossing 8 terrific innings of 1 run ball before former Eva Jesus Lopez finished the game off in the 9th. A big game front the front 3 of Salinas, Alejandrez, and Gandarilla were enough to take an early advantage. Game 2 was a shock to many, an 11-1 beatdown against Golden Arm favorite Roberto Rivera. Zenko Okada pitched 7 innings giving up just 1 run before rookie Jeroen Smit cleaned up the final two innings. Rodrigo Vasquez and John Pulsifer both had 4 hits with the latter driving in 3 runs and scoring 3 of his own. Game 3 sent us to Nagoya, the home of the Evas where many thought they would rally. And rally they did, going up 3-2 in the first 7 innings of play. But in the top of the 9th, series-MVP and team captain David Trujillo drilled a ball over the left field wall bringing in 2 run to take the lead off of Evas closer Ricardo Montoya. And then poetically, former Evas closer Jesus Lopez came in during the 9th and closed out the game, completing the 3-game sweep for Toyama. A surprise series for many, the Toyama Wind Dancers are through to the next round in their first playoff berth since 2024, the season before GM Krupilis took over the team.

[Wind Dancers]

Toyama Falls Short
November 15th, 2033
Toyama Wind Dancers Blog

After an impressive run through the wildcard and divisional rounds, Toyama came up just short losing game 7 of the league championship to the Fargo Dinosaurs. A Jeff Prat walk-off homerun in the bottom of the 9th sealed the deal of what was eventually an impressive season. With Florida taking home the Rodriguez Cup, the journey of the 2034 season begins now.

Outgoings
With a young core group of players, those leaving out of contract this offseason are slim. RP Randy Zimmerman has elected to not entertain any offers after his move from Florida and rather test his value in free agency. A natural SP, Zimm was a short term target to improve an aging bullpen this season. RP Cleve Douglas was another mid-season pickup who provided solid left-relief but his age profile isn’t a long term fit. The final Toyama ML player to be out of contract is RP Takahiro Takaki. Takaki has been with the team as a closer since 2031 but regressed heavily this season. The 36-year-old was a great member of the team while he was here, but a changing of the guard was very much needed.

[Wind Dancers]

Maeda Wins Takes Home Two Trophies
December 10th, 2033
Toyama Wind Dancers Blog

Following an up and down rookie season, 3B Yoritomo Maeda has won the 2033 SL Wundkind Award & an All-Leather Award at third. The 23-year-old made his highly anticipated debut since joining from Crystal Lake way back in 2027. His season started strong but tapered off a bit as the year progressed. In the end, Maeda ended up hitting .249/.295 but provided 20 HR’s and 75 RBI’s with a 4.3 WAR.

Alonging with being the rookie of the year, Maeda won the All-leather award for being the best defensive player at third base. Following in the footsteps of Ivan Juarez, Maeda finished with a +7.5 Zone Rating and only 7 errors all season. This culminated in 96 putouts, and 282 assists as well as 12 double plays.

[Wind Dancers]

Wind Dancers Come Up Short
Toyama Wind Dancers Blog

After a grueling 7-game series, the Toyama Wind Dancers finish just short of the elusive Rodriguez Cup dropping that 7th game to the Florida Featherheads. But with failure, comes a learning experience and a grateful city. 8 years ago, in mid-2026, GM Krupilis made the leap over from Hartford to Toyama. And in his move, outlined the plans for a successful long-term future for the Wind Dancers that gets the club back to where it ended in the LRS, at the top. Now for the first time since 2024, the Wind Dancers won the tough Rising Sun division and for the first time, made it to the PEBA championship. Long-term progression and development became the likes of Rodrigo Vasquez, Kevin Newton, Guang Liu, Zenko Okada, Yoritomo Maeda, and more. And while the loss in game seven hurts now, the team is in a better place than it’s already been, and this writer is excited to see more.

Going into the offseason, there will be some changes to the roster as many have expected. Long-time Wind Dancer Dylan McIntosh has left for free agency. Arguably the first player in the long-term rebuild, McIntosh was not renewed as top prospect Alfredo Vargas is expected to take the final rotation spot. Vargas had a massive season in AAA and impressed during a September callup last season. There are also rumors of Sean Peters being involved in a trade and rookie Takeichi Kobayashi possibly becoming the starting RF. As the young Toyama roster starts moving through arbitration, salaries start going up so the game of keeping the roster together has begun in Toyama.

[Wind Dancers]

Maeda Re-signs Long Term
Toyama Wind Dancers Blog
12/08/2037

Free agency has opened across the PEBA world but Toyama’s biggest news so far comes from their own backyard. 3B Yoritomo ‘Matsukaze’ Maeda has signed an extension with the Wind Dancers for 5 years and $97.5m. The news was met very positively by the Toyama faithful as Maeda has been a key piece on the Toyama infield since making his debut in 2032.

Maeda is fresh off of the worst season of his career which was cut short by a fractured cheekbone in late September. But, Maeda is a career .264 hitter and is good for 20+ HRs and 60+ RBIs per season. This extension locks down the Toyama infield for the foreseeable future with teammates SS Rodrigo Vasquez and 2B Sadaharu Harada also signing deals in recent seasons.

Toyama will now look to make a splash in free agency and the trade market with the Winter Meetings just around the corner.

[Wind Dancers]

Yokohama Plumbers Win Ambassador’s Cup
Toyama Wind Dancers Blog
10/11/2038

For just the second time since the PEBA/LRS merger, the Yokohama Plumbers have won AAA’s coveted Ambassador Cup, defeating the Eindhoven Electric 4-1. Spearheaded by series MVP 1B Sergio Gonzalez, the Plumbers capitalized early winning their first two away games in the Netherlands. Despite dropping game 3, the Plumbers put away the Electric in games 4 and 5 in front of the home Yokohama crowd. Squeaking into the playoff via the wildcard, the Plumbers had a bit of a down season relative to their normal standards and were certainly not favorites to make a deep run. But at the end of the day, the trophy goes home with them.

Alongside Gonzalez, standouts this season included RF Katsuhito Kato, RP Rintaro Fukui, SP Dave Costello, and CF/LF Bae Son. But it was late-season call-ups of CF Pedro Hurtado, 3B Troy Davis, RP Seishiro Iwata, and RP Carlos Marin that led to an August surge of 18-11. A good handful of those names are all in contention for a spot in the PEBA next season. What’s most impressive, and a rarity in Yokohama, is where the runs came from. Traditionally a power-hitting force anchored by Yokohama greats Javier Garcia and Zach Oglethorpe, the Plumbers finished 14th in the RML this season. But it was the league-leading .274 team batting average, 1309 hits, and 2nd best 397 extra-base hits that made up the difference as they ended the season tied for 3rd in runs. With some big names potentially moving up and some additional prospects on the way, 2039 is slated to look like a very different Yokohama team.