By Saruwatari Tsuyoshi, Kyoto Shimbun News

September 29, 2014: Kyoto, Japan – Left standing after the music stopped, Edo 1B Juan Otero learned the meaning of the pigeonhole principle. This principle can be applied to the children’s game of “Musical Chairs”, or 椅子取りゲーム (“Chair-Taking Game”) as it is called in Japan. It states that if the number of players is one more than the number of chairs, then one player is left standing.

It wasn’t too big of a surprise. We reported earlier, “The piper’s about to stop playing his tune in Edo’s game of “Musical Chairs”. We’ve got some gaijin getting healthy and soon to return from the DL. There aren’t enough seats for them all and Edo may ending up dumping big salary on the floor to keep the right guys around for the final stretch. They’ve all played well but somebody’s not gonna make the big dance, it appears.”

The music has stopped and Otero came up seat-less. The club announced his release today. Otero was signed as a one-year stopgap to help at 1B and potentially in the OF while RF Shimpei Adachi recuperated his broken kneecap. Otero’s return from the DL precipitated his untimely release.

Otero would likely have stayed with the team through the rest of the season but for the emergence of MR Paul Stone. The club had some extra salary and wanted to identify a potential replacement for CL Masamichi Takaki. Popular with management, Edo has been forced to find a replacement for Takaki due to his agent’s outrageous salary demands.

Edo owner Patrick Hildreth detailed the situation succinctly. “We’d love to retain Takaki, but frankly, his agent is unbalanced. We wouldn’t suggest he’s supporting any illegal habits. We would never do that. But there’s no way we’re paying $6.4 million to land a 33-year-old closer for four years. We signed Stone to a multiple year deal for just that reason. He was the best guy available. Unfortunately for Juan, we can only retain four gaiijin on the roster, and his poor fielding made the decision for us. Gaijin, gaij-out.”

Otero was signed to a one-year, $8 million contract in March.