Saturday, July 19, 2014

“We may be entering a golden age when it comes to shortstops in Japan,” said Fantasy analyst Eichiro Ikeda.  “We could see two-thirds of the league fielding young, All-Star-quality players in the role, and that’s without any team going outside and hiring PEBA rejects.”

Ikeda’s phrasing may have been a bit blunt, but when TransmitterTalk.com spent a little time looking around, we couldn’t help but come to the same conclusion.  Indeed, the future LRS looks like it may be full of shortstops.

Just how full?  Two weeks ago saw the arrival of 23-year-old António Pérez in Seoul, and league insiders are all abuzz about Shin Seiki‘s 24-year-old phenom Mitsunari Yamada (currently at AAA Kyoto).  Kawaguchi has its own future hopeful in 22-year-old Kisho Suzuki (who, as we wrote about recently, is showing signs of being ready for a promotion from A Yamato to AAA Tatio).  These three add to a mix that already includes young shortstops like Edo‘s 25-year-old Bing-zhang Chien and Hyakujuu’s 23-year-old Razan Okada (who was an All-Star last season but slumped so badly this year that he’s spending time in the minors).

Edo and Seoul are deep enough at the position that guys like 24-year-old Ietsuna Oyama and 23-year-old Tadamichi Sato appear to be blocked out, which suggests trades are imminent.  That Seoul GM Mark Kierstead hasn’t already dealt Sato for a future star and a case of gin is perhaps one of the modern age’s great unsolved mysteries.  In Edo’s case, it should be noted that Chien’s arrival forced 26-year-old, two-time BBG Gurabukin winner Jorge Rivera to move from shortstop to the hot corner.

At 28, Kuwana’s Dean Jefferson seems to be ancient.  Jefferson won a Gurabukin last season, and amid the noise surrounding guys like Chen, Enrique Ortíz, and Rikiya Taketo, Jefferson is quietly turning in one of the league’s best overall seasons in the 6-slot once again.

“A lot of eyes go toward the U.S. when they think of great baseball,” said Masuhiro Takahashi, owner of the Guchiko Noodle Company, a new restaurant and brewery in downtown Kawaguchi, “and they have had some outstanding players.  But Japan has some great players, and I hope that the next few years will see us rise to new prominence.”  He made no secret of which player he liked the most, unveiling a signed photo of Kisho Suzuki that he placed on the wall above the best seat in the house.  “This is reserved for the great Suzuki,” he said proudly.

It’s an emotion that a lot of Transmitters fans can buy into.  But regardless of your affiliation, it’s certainly an exciting time to be an LRS fan.  For the next decade, it looks like fans will get to watch all-out battles for All-Star and Gurabukin commendations between some of the best young players to hit the shortstop position in the history of the league, and perhaps in the history of baseball itself.