Okinawa, Japan>

Another day and another announcement of from your Okinawa Shisa that they hired a former, relatively obscure player into their minor league system coaching ranks.  This time, the team tapped former Shisa 3B Gerald McKnight to come on board as the hitting coach for the Magami Ako and will be joining the staff of Hsin who was announced as the new Magami manager a couple of days ago.  McKnight, you may need to be reminded, had a cup of coffee with the Shisa appearing in 565 games, 539 as a starter and was known to be a balanced players across most aspects, who didnt really wow you with his bat or his glove, but was able to put together a few impressive seasons.  In 2035 McKnight was a 3.8WAR player on the strength of his 141 OPS+ rating and followed it up when 29 with a 2.2 WAR season.  Those were really the only two memorable PEBA seasons but it was apparently enough to have made an impression with the organization.  After spending the last 3 seasons mostly in AAA he decided to hang up the cleats and the Shisa came calling.

While his 35k will pale in comparison to what he was making as a player, it looks like he’s in this for the long haul, and that at least for now, the money isnt a main consideration.  Who knew that the mid 2030s Shisa would be such a goldmine for future coaching, but McKnight brings to the table a diverse skillset and is already recognized as one of the best in developing younger players.  We’re not sure where that reputation comes from, but the tales are LEGENDARY, along with his infield defense of all things.  The organization may be eyeing him as future club manager, but he will need to work on his ability to get the most our of the pitching staff, and alleviate concerns there or he may not progress further than a hitting coach.  Time will tell.

With these promotions, and the Shisa trolling the bottom of the barrel to fill out their coaching staffs at each level, they will now turn their undivided attention to the preseason, where for the second year in a row, early projections are coming in at 60ish wins.  Normally we would be concerned, but the team was also projected for a cool 60 last season and came in 30 better than that.  I guess the odds makers do not value the having ladies in the stands.