Naha Shisa 2010 Transactional Analysis
By Wat Duino
9/21/2012: Naha, Japan – During the month of July 2010, the Naha Shisa found themselves in a favorable position to try for a Neo-Tokyo Cup. With that in mind, GM Fees and I scoured the list of available free agents. Starting-caliber Japanese free agents were non-existent in our price range, so we took advantage of the fact that we only had one gaijin starting for us and grabbed a couple of very useful pieces:
7-11-10: Loren Mathis. Fees found out early that many ex-PEBA players that were ash-canned still had a lot to offer. We were frankly astonished to find a pitcher of Mathis’s caliber available. He had won 14 games with Reno just the year before and there was nothing wrong with his arm. He gave us a great effort, going 8-4 with a 3.39 ERA during the wildcard chase. Most of all, he was a shining star in the clubhouse; even with the language barrier, his charismatic presence lent itself to more clubhouse unity. I’m convinced that if he had spoken Japanese, he may have helped us to stay in the race until the very end. He is still toiling with Duluth, but at the age of 38 and with a record of 4-14 and an ERA of 5.22, his sun is setting rapidly.
7-25-10: José Ávila. Ávila broke in strong for Omaha in 2007 but then faded steadily until he found himself laboring in AAA. He chose to sign with us for just under $1,000,000. He turned out to be the versatile #2 hitter we were looking for and was able to take over 3B so that Ton Nakamura could move over to 1B, where he was a wizard with the glove. José produced very well, getting on base at a .376 clip. He even was able to move over to SS when José Escalante arrived and accorded himself quite well at that most challenging position. We were sorry to see that he wanted a bundle to stay with us, and he left for greener pastures in 2010. It turned out that those pastures were the ones rolling by as he rode minor league busses with the PEBA’s Sandgnats and Bears organizations. He’s still only 29, but it’s a long way from Chula Vista (class A) to Bakersfield. Good kid – sorry to see him go like this.
As mid-August approached, we found ourselves having a small lead for the wildcard. GM Fees and I made a decision to sacrifice a piece of our future and go for broke. This brings us to the first trade transaction up for analysis:
(The following transactions were reviewed on June 22, 2011 in an earlier article titled Naha’s Big Day by Wat Duino. His grades have been reproduced here without his expressed written permission. Sue me.)
8-14-2010: CF Tomiji Watanabe, 2nd round pick (CF Shinkichi Ohayashi), 6th round pick (LF Yoritomo Ohayashi) to Neo-Tokyo for José Escalante, 7th round pick (SP Shigochiyo Ichikawa), 9th round pick (CF Tokuma Endo).
I knew Watanabe would be good, but not as good as he’s shown. Although a five-tool player, I felt he was expendable because he was not a true centerfielder. I believe we now have our outfield general of the future in the person of 2012 7th overall pick CF Yosai Ikeda. Still, losing a player of Watanabe’s caliber hurts. In addition, the Akira used that 2nd round pick to grab Ohayashi, a centerfielder with a nice blend of speed and potential power.
For our part, Escalante gave us two great years and was a great clubhouse presence. His hitting during the 2010 stretch drive was phenomenal. When we traded him to Lupin, we were able to reduce our salary by $4,000,000 and drafted 2B Masamune Honda with the pick we got for him. Honda is not generally well regarded, but the more savvy scouts are impressed with his infield versatility and power potential.
Duino’s Grade: B- My Grade: C-
12-5-2010: CF Xavier Salinas to Kure in exchange for a 3rd round pick (SP Masaru Nishikawa).
It wasn’t steroids that brought Xavier down; it was the nightlife. A hedonist to the core, this “anti-Escalante” never saw a woman, a drink or a drug he didn’t like, and he indulged in them all to excess. It is small wonder that the injuries were numerous and the healing times longer than expected. By the time Xavier finally was forced to retire, he was a virtual cripple, looking for all the world like a man in his forties rather than his early twenties. Even if we had been flush with cash, I would have recommended that we unload this reprobate. I hope he gets the help he so desperately needs.
Duino’s Grade: A+ My Grade: A+
12-9-2010: RF Eitoku “Mjølnir”Yamada, MR Kosaku Sakamoto and MR Shiro Aoki to Shin Seki in exchange for SP Yaichiro Hayagawa, MR Anastasio Granero, MR Kiyoshi Shinohara and SP Alberto Ramón.
During 2011, I was roundly criticized for this transaction. It was born from a necessity to ameliorate an upcoming budget disaster that was foisted upon us by the previous GM, Yoriyoshi Goto. Fees rightly did not allow that blithering idiot the honor of death by hara-kari. Last I heard, he was following an elephant with a shovel and wheelbarrow at a circus.
Anyway, back to the transaction at hand. The principal of the deal, Eitoku Yamada, seemed to be a steal for Shin Seiki. He performed brilliantly last year for the Evas and looked to be worth the over $10,000,000 a year salary he was making. Of course one thing Evas GM Kevin Vail didn’t consider when he picked him up and gave him all that cash is that the real reason Eitoku was given the moniker “Mjølnir” is because he has a penchant for getting hammered after pretty much every game. Now he is having a horrible season, his OPS falling from last year’s sterling .1002 to its presently very tarnished .630. His career was destined to be marked by these ups and downs.
While some players lose value because of their partying, others lose it because of apathy. In addition to his love of barhopping, few players were lazier than Eitoku Yamada. His sense of entitlement was appalling. He showed up right before game time, and the door didn’t hit him in the butt when he left. He has all the talent in the world, but only his love for the cheers of the crowd draws him into the park in the first place. He is a bright guy; he just plain doesn’t love the game. That’s a shame because he could have been great.
For our part, we received Ramón, who is beginning to tame his wildness and is becoming a Nolan Ryan-type pitcher. If he stays healthy, he will be a solid 3-4 starter for years.
As to the subject of character, the lack of it was so apparent in our clubhouse that even the child Shin Suitagakari was aware of its cancerous effects on morale. We had so much talent but so little heart. Fees quickly agreed with me that we should try to draft nothing but high-character players, and I believe the crop coming up will be shining examples of professional ballplayers.
Duino’s Grade: D+ My Grade: C+
11-19-10: SP Koto Sekiguchi to Edo in exchange for 1B Kichibei Kumagai and a 2nd round pick (SP Tadahisa Sanu).
Sekiguchi is a fine young pitcher and has been consistently good year after year. We just couldn’t afford to keep him. Kumagai hasn’t developed his power stroke, but he’s still very young at 24. Sanu didn’t handle the jump to AAA well this last month. Still, he has great stuff and he will get another shot at that level next year. I believe he will be a frontline starter for years.
Duino’s Grade: B- My Grade: B
2-11-10: 1B Ton “Dracula” Nakamura and CL Cristián Rosado to Shin Seki in exchange for CL León Fernández, MR Shiba Kamida, SP Naomichi Nakagawa, a 1st round pick (SS Yukinaga “Gigolo” Komatsu) and a 2nd round pick (C Yo Horiuchi).
Ton has been sensational for the Evas and shows no sign of slowing down. We knew we wouldn’t be ready to compete for the duration of his relatively cheap five-year contract, so we did him a favor and sent him to a contender. Rosado didn’t respond well to being demoted to a setup role, but still has some value.
We are delighted with the talent we got in return. Fernández was converted to a starter in AAA this year. He has made the transition very well. His 100 MPH fastball is straight as an arrow, but if he can continue to develop his breaking stuff, he will be a nice middle-of-the-rotation pitcher for us. Nakagawa has “ace starter” written all over him. As converted relievers, both he and Fernández must develop more stamina.
Komatsu made the jump pretty well to AAA and looks to be a solid shortstop prospect. He may not be an All-Star, but he does everything well and will be a solid piece to our future championship puzzle. I feel Horiuchi has been underrated. Left-handed hitting catchers are rare, and I’m looking for about .275 and 20 homers a year from him when he hits his stride.
Duino’s Grade: A- My Grade: A
One other notable from that team was Tetsu Konishi. He is a lifetime .312 hitter that became a free agent after the 2010 season. I kept checking with him to see if his price would come down, but he wanted multiple years in the $5 million range. Imagine my surprise when he signed a minor league contract with Crystal Lake. The Sandgnats later traded him to Kentucky, where Tetsu performed right at his career norm in America during 2011. Once again, though, he priced himself out of the market, and to this day is languishing this year as an inactive free agent. Hitting .300 loses some of its luster when it’s combined with base-clogging speed and a glove of iron.
Well, so much for past “glory”. The Shisa draft classes of 2010-12 are progressing rapidly, and the next article by Jim Bouton will feature what I believe will be the faces of a future championship contender.