Traded Away as a Prospect, Abiola Returns to Ghosts in Twilight of Career

The Dirt Dog is back, finally, in Ghosts green.

(Niihama City, July 14, 2019) — “It was my one of biggest regrets as GM.”

That’s the assessment of Ghosts GM Mike Dunn about his trade eight years ago of then-prospect Muhammed ‘Dirt Dog’ Abiola to the Shinkansen of Hyakujuu.  “We were in playoff contention, and we were desperate for pitching help.  We wanted (SP Yasuhiro) Noda, and the Shinkansen GM wanted the Dirt Dog.  It was the classic star-for-a-prospect swap.  But I always regretted it.”

Now, eight years later, the Dirt Dog has returned to the Ghosts, this time as a 32-year old part-time player claimed off waivers.  “Muhammed may be past his prime,” reflects Dunn, “but we’re thrilled to have him back.”

For the Dirt Dog, the feeling is mutual.  “I am hoping to close out my career with a championship,” he told the Niihama beat reporters through an interpreter.  “I have never played in the Neo-Tokyo Cup, and I believe my best chance to do so is here, with the Ghosts, the team that drafted me 12 years ago.  To end up here, in the same organization where I started as a professional — I’m still pinching myself about it.”

What a journey it has been for Abiola.  The Ghosts drafted him in the Inaugural LRS draft in 2007, the 33rd overall pick for the newly-formed league.  His progress was slow but steady, and in 2011 Baseball Japan named him the 63rd best prospect in the LRS.  That’s when the trade talk arose.

“I didn’t actively shop Muhammed around,” says Dunn.  “But in my discussions with the Shinkansen about Noda, his name quickly came up.  Because Muhammed was an outfielder, where we had some depth, and because he was a gaijin, I decided I could move him easier than a native-born prospect.  But you have to give up quality to get quality.”

And quality, Abiola was.  Just two years later he was named the Shining Star Group 2013 Shinjinshou (rookie of the year).  “That’s really when the regret set in,” Dunn said.  “I knew then he’d be a star.”  The Dirt Dog had four outstanding seasons in Hyakujuu, was voted an All-Star in each of those years.  The stretch culminated in a phenomenal 2016 season in which the Dirt Dog, at age 29, hit .271 with 24 homeruns and an even 100 RBI.

Abiola’s skills at the plate began to erode in ’17 (though not in the field: he won the the 2017 LRS-JPN SSG Gurabukin Award at RF) as he hit just .234 with 46 RBI.  By May of ’18, the Shinkansen front office opted to demote him during a gaijin roster crunch, and he was claimed off waivers by the Kure Arsenal.  “It was humbling,” says the Dirt Dog now.  “I thought my time as a starting outfielder would go on forever.  I learned otherwise.”  Abiola saw limited duty last season with the Arsenal.

Then, on July 9th of this season, he was placed on waivers again.  “The timing was excellent,” says Dunn.  “We just had just lost (SP Juan) Quezada for the season, which opened up a one of our four gaijin slots.  And the same time, I’d been unhappy with the production of our 4th and 5th outfielders, both of whom are untested youngsters.  I was looking to add a veteran for the stretch.  That’s when I saw Kure had waived Muhammed.”

And the fortuitous timing is what brought the Dirt Dog back to the team that drafted him.  How much playing time he’ll see is unclear; his role will be as back up at LF, RF and DH.

Dunn is thrilled:  “Frankly, we consider ourselves a contending team, and to be able to add a veteran who three years ago drove in 100 runs is a stroke of good fortune.  He boosts the depth of our bench, he has playoff experience (with the Shinkansen in ’15), and he is a great presence in our clubhouse.”

All that, without the Ghosts having to give up anything in return.  Should he contribute to the team in its 2019 hunt for a championship, it will go a long way to easing Dunn’s regret over that day away eight years ago when he traded away the Dirt Dog.

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