The Akira had a solid start to the contraction draft by selecting ace Tadamasa ‘Six Pack’ Hashimoto. One of their most pressing needs, though was the outfield. While Ken’ichi Fukuda surprised everyone in his first year as a starter, hitting 24 HR with 79 RBI, he hit a tailspin after the All-Star break (.182/1 HR in August) that questions whether he can be counted on as a full time starter. Taheiji Kiyomizu was acquired from Kawaguchi with the expectation that he would continue his 27 HR/.284 BA career averages in left field for years to come. Injuries only partially explain his 6 HR/ .238 2019 campaign. He was the epitome of the teams’ under-performing this past season. It was clear the Akira needed some solid additions to booster their outfield performance. 3 OF candidates were selected in the draft that could have a long term impact for the team.

Keitaro Sato may have the most upside of all. At the age of 25, he has already passed through 4 different teams. A second round pick by Duluth in 2015, he subsequently traded to Florida and Kalamazoo before ending up on the Hyakujuu roster as one of the first inter-league trades in PEBA history, shortly before scandal broke out in the League of the Rising Sun. He never met his Shinkansen teammates before being drafted by Neo-Tokyo in the second round of the contraction draft. A solid corner OF, Sato appears ready to have a breakout season at the plate. Still at league minimum salary for several more years, he could prove to be the best value the Akira picked up.

Some are questioning the 5th round selection of Kiyonori Kato by GM Ron Hiscock. Like Sato, Kiyonori has an outstanding glove that can anchor the RF positon, and he has proved he can hit for average in the LRS. However, with less power than Sato and a $10 million dollar price tag courtesy of this years arbitration hearings, Kiyo could prove to be a costly pick.

Toshikazu Yamauchi, a 7th round selection was the third OF the Akira picked up. Yamauchi has had an interesting year. He actually started 2019 in the Akira organization and was traded 3 times before ending up back where he began the year. GM Ron Hiscock dealt Toshikazu to Kawaguchi to acquire the aforementioned Taheiji Kiyomizu. At 24 years old, Toshikazu still has some room to grow and may very well start the season in AAA, having yet to prove himself at the major league level. Now with a plethora of OFs to choose from, NeTo may very well have filled their biggest need.

Interestingly, the front office passed over Okakura Ishikawa in the draft. Ishikawa was last years first round selection in the amateur draft by Neo-Tokyo (number 3 overall). He was trade for Kensaku Gato, who was a former number one overall selection by Kawaguchi in 2016. Ishikawa, at the tender age of 23, has already shown he is ready for the big time in his rookie season, hitting 15 HR and batting .321 in less than a full season, and was selected by Lupin with their first round pick.