Shoji Kobayashi, JSPN

18 April, 2011: Kyoto, Japan – While there have been no headline-grabbing stories involving the Lupin Cliff Hangers as of late, all is not quiet on the personnel front.  The Cliff Hangers are not presently in a position to contend for a championship within several years.  The major focus of the organization is to wait out this less-than-stellar period of the club’s history while fresh talent can be germinated within the farm system.  The highlight of this season’s talent acquisition will clearly be that obtained through the amateur draft.  The fruits of the decisions surrounding the draft will not be evident on the Japanese major league playing field for as much as five or six years into the future.  The club is eager to put together a team which will produce more in the win column than the loss column, but that progression is a time-consuming process.  Fortunately the club has not forgotten the immediate desires of its fan base.  While committed to the long-range goal, the organization is to be commended for keeping a short-sighted focus as well.

Just over a year ago, the current management took over an organization that was in debt and losing money.  Since then, from a financial perspective, they have taken major steps to operate responsibly.  Though the club operated at a loss last season, the prior losing trend was curtailed.  Analysts project that the coming season will be a profitable one.  While it is not expected that the team be lifted from debt at the end of the coming season, a positive balance is expected as soon as the following season.  However, this monetary improvement has come at a cost in competitive performance.  This financial approach necessitates a long-term, delayed accomplishment strategy.  It is worth noting, however, that the best way to keep a team in a losing position is to keep it in financial troubles.  The Cliff Hangers will certainly not find themselves in that condition.

The player transactions of the prior season were planned with the long-term financial focus in the forefront.  Big players, who unfortunately had big contracts, were scratched from the team rosters.  This unfortunately depleted the amount of talent that the club had to offer up in transactions.  The result was a losing group of players without much ability to improve through big-time acquisitions.  Still, the owner is not content to sit back and wait idly for the future.  The fans rightfully demand a bit of excitement to continue contributing to the Cliff Hangers’ bottom line.  Without wins, there is not much excitement.  The guiding forces are committed to doing whatever they can to increase the team’s win potential.  They are progressing in small steps toward a rather gradual increase in talent to throw at the opponents.  But enough of this abstracted explanatory overview.  Let’s look in detail at the transactions that have transpired in this offseason.

Scouting Director Tamotsu Yoshida accepted a three-year extension to his contract with Lupin.  Yoshida is one of the best scouting directors – if not the best – in all the LRS.  His services will go a long way to ensuring that the Cliff Hangers improve the talent level of the team with each and every transaction.  His role will be the heart and soul of the rebuilding movement.  The team gets an A+ for taking this step.

Middle reliever Rikiya Ueno was traded to Neo-Tokyo for right fielder Joe Johnston and a fifth round draft pick.  While Ueno was quite valuable in the bullpen and may even have a long future as a starter, an improvement in the offense was needed.  Johnston will fill the role as slugger on the team.  He will hopefully drive in many runs that will convert games played to wins.  He does not have the heaviest bat in the league, but his presence goes a long way to filling a vacuum.  The draft pick will serve as consolation for the loss of Ueno and hopefully result in a reliever of Ueno’s caliber that can be counted on when the team is in a position to fully exploit such services in future save situations.

A theme of recent transactions is a movement toward native talent.  The foreigner limit of the LRS had left the Cliff Hangers in a bind, where lesser native players were being fielded while more talented foreigners sat idle in the minor leagues.

Starting pitcher Orinosuke Ohara was obtained from Neo-Tokyo for fifth and sixth round draft picks.  The team leveraged a bit of the future in draft picks for some current production.  Ohara is currently slated to fill a spot starter role and, while not an outstanding player, should perform his role adequately.  He will be called upon when the inevitable injuries occur.  It is important to note that Ohara is a native Japanese player.  This is important because, while the team has adequate starting pitching in the AAA minor league club, they are foreigners. They are therefore unable to step up due to the foreigner limit.

American shortstop River Nichols was traded to Naha for minor league third baseman Kozue Ogawa.  This was a move with an eye toward the future.  Ogawa will not be ready for the major league level for several years and is somewhat of a gamble to even make it to the bigs, but he’s not a bad pickup for an older player who could not serve the team due to the foreigner limit.

First baseman Hidemichi Kato was signed to a minor league contract.  He is expected to serve a role on the minor league teams.

Starting pitcher Nobuhito Daikawa, in the biggest transaction, was signed as a free agent to a twenty-seven million dollar, four-year contract.  He is expected to serve as the team’s ace during this rebuilding phase.  It is hoped that he will give the team a better than even chance to win one out of every five days.

Starting pitcher Glenn Carter and first base prospect Augusto Delgado were traded to Shin Seiki for starting pitchers Toyokazu Hagiwara and Eitoku Ito.  While this might seem like a losing deal, it is a winner because two foreigners who are not able to help the team were converted to native players who will have active roles.  Hagiwara is slated to be the fifth starter, while Ito provides much-needed depth and will be the first starter called up from triple-A in the case of an injury.

First baseman Kenji Maruyama was acquired from Kuwana for a seventh round draft pick.  This was another example of trading in some future potential for current ability.  In the absence of a first baseman, Lupin sought a player destined to another team’s triple-A roster to fill a starting role.  Perhaps this promotion will inspire the veteran to show what he’s got.

Starting pitcher Soetsu Takahashi was obtained from Shin Seiki for minor league center fielder José Serna.  This is another case where a foreigner who could not help the team was converted to a native player who can fill a role.  Takahashi is currently slated to serve as a spot-starter, adding even more depth to the starting pitching role.

Well, that rounds out the series of transactions that have occurred so far during the offseason.  Sources inside the organization reveal that negotiations are in progress for even more improvements to the team.  It would not be surprising if these small scale transactions continue right up until the trade deadline.  Keep in mind that the immediate focus of the team is not to contend for a title, but rather to become more and more competitive, step by small step.  This writer has admiration for the current management of the team.  It appears that the Lupin fans will have the opportunity to watch a more entertaining baseball performance than that of the recent past.  All the while, hopes should be in the future of the club over the next few years.  A championship race will surely be built on the foundation of these initial steps.  Temper your patience and enjoy the building excitement.