Farewell to the 2016 Gaijin The Tigers made it official today. My hometown player, Matt Hague, is among the foreign-born players that won’t be returning to the Tigers in 2017. Honestly, it was to be expected. He only hit .231 with two home runs for Hanshin, and that’s after his 2015 season in Buffalo, where…
Original article can be found here 元の記事はこちら Hanshin officials divulged on the 15th that the team will not be signing infielder Mauro Gomez (32) to a contract next season. Team management has said they are “leaning towards cancelling his contract.” In his third year with the club, Gomez appeared in 139 games, hitting .255 with…
Here’s a basic rundown of the free agency situation in NPB. For players to acquire the right to become domestic free agents, they must have served on a team’s top squad for at least seven years (if involved in a trade, the years from the previous team count). Then they must apply to the commissioners’ office…
Various reports are out (including this one) that Hanshin Tigers hitting assistant coach Tom O’Malley will not be with the club in 2017 and beyond. According to articles I’ve read, O’Malley’s contract expires at the end of 2016 and the club has opted not to renew it. A team official has said that O’Malley was…
The obvious top choice for the draft appeared to be pitcher Seigi Tanaka (from Soka University). Five of the 12 clubs entered the draw: the Fighters, Hawks, Marines, Carp and Giants. In other words, the five teams that finished above .500 this season. Whether the other teams chickened out or had other obvious needs is…
On Wednesday, I got to line up and get an autograph from Mauro Gomez. Many others were around me, but I was the only one who could speak with him in English… so I said he was looking great and that we are excited for a great 2016 from him. He said thanks and that…
Randy Messenger arrived at Kansai International Airport late Friday night. This will be his seventh season with the club, tying him with all-time greats Gene Bacque and Jeff Williams for longest tenure with the team by a foreigner. Should he remain on for an eighth season, he would hold the mark by himself. When he…
The three imports from the Dominican Republic – 3rd year veteran Mauro Gomez and newly-signed relievers Marcos Mateo and Rafael Dolis – arrived safely in Japan on January 27th. The two newcomers had a press conference at team headquarters the following day. Here is a brief look at what the press reported on all three…
I’m really excited to be heading to Okinawa for the first week of spring training! Here is a list of the players who will be joining me down south. (Those not here will take part in the farm team camp in Aki, Kochi.) Pitchers Daiki Enokida, Atsushi Nohmi, Yuta Iwasada, Kyuji Fujikawa, Shintaro Fujinami, Minoru…
The original article can be seen here 元の記事はこちら Hanshin announced on the 18th that they have signed a contract with Rafael Dolis (formerly of the Detroit Tigers AAA club in Toledo). He will wear number 98, becoming the first foreigner in team history to wear it. Dolis had this to say through a club representative:…