December 26, 2022

As the Christmas season descended upon the PEBAverse, fans of the newly minted Toyama Wind Dancers were going casually insane pretty much day-by-day.

“We told everyone that this was going to be the year,” said General Manager Ron Collins. “We’ve been working under pretty tight budgets for a couple seasons, and we’ve done our best to avoid making wholesale changes to the roster as we transitioned from baseball in Japan to baseball on the global stage. But we think the moons are lined up for us this year. So now’s the time.”

Now indeed.

The club came into North Carolina, traditional home of the league’s Winter Meetings, already having made huge news with the signing of big-ticket free agents Clayton Lewis and John Martin. Fans wanted more, of course, but even the halest of followers could not have predicted the avalanche of events being reported from the eastern seaboard of the United States: four trades, capped by another major signing in free agency. It was a mini-Christmas every day.

 EVERYTHING’S COMING UP ROSAS!!!

The biggest move of the collection is clearly the acquisition of a young superstar in 22-year-old right fielder Iván Rosa from the New Jersey franchise. The biggest issue that new manager Hirotada Suzuki may have with Rosa is deciding where to play him. Seriously. As a 21-year old, Rosa pitched in 46 games for the Hitmen, tossing an astounding 3.66 ERA. Last year in the outfield, the mutli-talented Puerto Rican hit 20 homers and slashed .329/.362/.513. For good measure, he threw in 24 steals.

“Iván” is the kind of guy we like to have in this organization,” Collins said. “He’s productive, and he’s a guy who comes to work every day.” He’s also a guy who will come to the club on a league minimum salary this season, and two theoretically cheap arbitration years. Club insiders say they think Rosa is a rare left-handed bat who can hit left-handed pitching, though he sometimes struggled against them last season. “He’s 22,” one of the team’s scouts said. “He’ll be fine.”

The cost for Rosa (a #1 draft pick and two nice looking prospects from down in Osakasayama) was understandably high, but for now fans are not complaining.

BULLPEN GOES ON CRUZ CONTROL

Maybe the best indicator of the possible upside of Iván Rosa is the fact that his acquisition gets top billing over the inclusion of ex-Tempe closer Raúl Cruz. But it’s true. The club capped its winter meeting activity with a presser in which they introduced Cruz and announced they had opened up their wallets to the tune of $40M for three seasons, and a$15.6M option for a fourth.

“You can’t believe how excited I am to be here,” Cruz said. “Ron and Paul (owner, Paul Walker) are clearly making a statement this season, and it’s great to be a part of it.”

Cruz (28) was one of two elite closers available on the market this season. He’s registered 103 saves over his career, though only the last three has he been to go-to man in the 9th. He threw a 2.33 ERA in 77 innings last season. The acquisition most likely moves last year’s rookie phenom Chad Miller into a set-up role, though there was a shiver of a rumor that the club might attempt to convert Cruz into a starter.

“I don’t know about that,” Collins said at the Q&A session afterward. “The rotation is already pretty full, and I’ve still got a few of Paul’s bucks left to spend. You never know who we might acquire next.”

The fans laughed, then went to check the list of available arms.

WIN-Ds GO GREEN

In a second move to help shape the club’s outfield, Toyama dealt longtime franchise favorite Kuniyoshi Kato to (once again) New Jersey, receiving 28-year-old switch-hitter Clifford Green in return. New Jersey also received two middle-round draft selections in the upcoming draft.

Kato (28) has been a solid and sometimes spectacular performer for the club over his eight seasons, but he suffered through injuries over the past three seasons, and the club was beginning to find his contract prohibitive ($5.2M this season, with a $6.2M option for 2024). Green (29) comes at the much more palatable price of $800K, and has proven he can get on base from both sides of the plate. He hit .288/.339/.408 with limited power last season, and projects to fill the team’s 5th outfielder role.

TWO “MINOR” DEALS

As a growing franchise, the organization has lived off the draft the last few seasons—flooding the organization with interesting prospects. Despite trading several stronger picks this year (and possibly losing their #2 for the signing of free agents) Collins made a mega-lottery ticket deal with Hartford, sending their 5th-round selection to the Harpoon in return for seven selections in the later rounds. “We’ve liked the guys we got in the last half of the draft last year,” Collins said. I expect several of them will make an impact someplace down the road, and I’m sure the same will be said for the players we get with these picks.”

And finally, the club made an administrative deal with New Orleans, purchasing “Get Into Winter Ball Tickets” from the Trendsetters for a reported $2.2M. Toyama insiders suggest they will be sending left-handed pitcher Bill Courtney out to finish rehab on his mended knee and hone his repertoire.

FINAL ASSESSMENT

The truth is that the final assessment of the team’s off-season maneuvering is still premature. As Collins suggested, the rumor mill is still churning around the team—many folks saying that the Wind Dancers are still working the room looking for a more elite shortstop to replace aging captain Shiro Adachi. They also suggest that the club could be looking at another free agent or two, though it seems obvious that Walker’s cash machine is going run dry sometime.

But even if the carrousel were to stop right now one would think the Toyama prospects for 2023 look to be seriously upgraded. The team has seen a strengthening of the rotation, the bullpen, and the outfield (arguably both offensively and defensively). Rivals in the Rising Sun Division are best served to take notice.