All-Stars
* LHP Yoshimitsu Ota returns to the All-Star Game, this time as the starter. 7-4, 1.98 ERA, 1.14 WHIP in 118 IP
* RHP Enmanuel Mejia's 2.70 ERA over 46 2/3 IP and 11 K/9 has earned him a spot in the bullpen
* C Yasutoki Kato heads to his third All-Sar Game as a reserve
* DH Kikuo Kawamoto has his 5th straight All-Star nomination, with 23 HRs and a .265/.372/.580 slash line
* RF Shizue Uchino's 23 HRs and 23 SB offset his .229/.319/.510 slash line and get him a sixth invite to the big game

(at the All-Star Break, the Shizuoka Arrows purchased Edgar Gonzales from the Road Warriors of the Atlantic League)

Shizue Uchino would win MVP at the All-Star Game, too!

Future Stars
* LHP Rintaro Yakashima started his career in AAA, and is already 4-0 with a 3.60 ERA in 30 IP
* CF Shigejiro Matsunaga couldn't hang with the big league club, but has done enough in AAA to get the nomination

TWELVE-PLAYER DEADLINE DEAL STUNS ***
SHIZUOKA - July 31, 2032

Okay, hands up - who had last year's Japan Series opponents making a massive deadline deal this year?

Heading to the Yomiuri Giants are basically a ready-made package to retake the Central League pennant - RF Kenjyu Kuwahara, LHP Tetsuya Yoshimoto, RHP Yoshihide Yonamine, RHP Yoshihiro Ito, 2B Taisei Murakami, and the prize - 1B Kikuo Kawamoto.

Coming back to Shizuoka was hardly a bundle of loose prospects - C Motoichi Hoshino, 1B/DH Katzumi Watanabe, SS Keiichi Sugiyama, 1B Mamoru Fujimori, RHP Yuto Kanakubo (55% retained for the next two seasons), and the centerpiece - CF Yukiichi Tsuchiya.

Murakami leaves the Arrows as the franchise's single-season Stolen Base threat, while Kikuo Kawamoto was the 2030 PL MVP and reeled off seasons of 5.2, 3.9, and 6 WAR over the last three years. Maybe the best pure hitter Shizuoka had developed.

That said, the centerpiece the Giants sent in Tsuchiya has his own WAR streak and four Golden Gloves to his name, and may be best described as a hybrid between Kawamoto and Murakami with a better attitude. The power and bat are also present in Katzumi Watanabe, the team's new DH, as he had a .381/.433/.581 slash line in 81 games for Yomiuri this year.

GM Notebook - August 1, 2033

It's not an explicit giving-up on this season, but our team runs scores and batting average are 7th, and our OPS is 5th. Kawamoto was becoming disruptive in the locker room, Kuwahara wanted a trade, and I had to do something to make a change.

We went 8-11 in July. We're 5 games back of the Orix Buffaloes for the 3rd playoff spot with two months to try and catch them. At this point, refilling the coffers was the wisest move.

I'll have to make a decision about the captaincy during the offseason. I can't pay that much money to Arakawa for this kind of performance. It's time we moved on.

GM Notebook - September 1, 2033

Yep, 9 games back of Orix with one month to play. 12-13 in August.

New guys are doing well - my bullpen needs to be shot into space.

These losing years just aren't that fun to write about, y'know? At this point, finetune the squad and see what next year holds...like a full year of Shigejiro Matsumoto.

2033 Season Review

Basically everything that could've gone wrong did in the early going, all my batters had career worst years, our pitching staff suffered serious setbacks...and yet we still finished 72-71 thanks to a 13-7 September. Heck, we closed the gap on Orix to 5 games!

The next step is going to be seeing if the youth movement pays off. We still have a CF in the minors who's a top-10 prospect.

Gonna be a fun offseason.

2033-34 Offseason

Well, the Yomiuri Giants won their second straight Japan Series and 26th overall. Good for the guys I traded there to get another ring.

Arbitration and Free Agency
* The Shizuoka Arrows have declined arbitration for the following players: RHP Danny Bergeron, C Motoichi Hoshino, 1B/3B Takahiko Arakawa, 1B Hirotaka Hayashi.
* The Arrows traded RF Reizo Nishimoto, 3B Ryota Miyake, and RHP Tetsuzo Kobayashi to the Ehime Honda Comets in exchange for RHP Eiji Hoshida. Hoshida put up 2 WAR in 32 games (19 starts) with his groundball profile and pinpoint control; he also brings fresh leadership to the roster.
* The Shizuoka Arrows have signed RHP Tetsuro Shishido to a 1yr/290K contract. Shishido had a rough year for the Spirit last season, but still good for 0.9 WAR. He's expected to be a swingman between rotation and bullpen.
* Also joining the Arrows from the Spirit via free agency is 1B Kosaku Matsui on a 1yr/330K deal. He's been above average with the bat all but one of the last seven seasons, and will compete for the DH role (he hit 38 HRs in 2028).

Awards Season
* Catcher Yasutoki Kato and left fielder Bobby Ochampaugh were awarded Mitsui Golden Gloves.
* RHP Shigejiro Matsumoto finished 4th in the Rookie of the Year Award voting
* LHP Yoshimitsu Ota won the Eiji Sawamura Award in a sweep. HIs 13 wins tied for the *** lead, his 1.93 ERA was the best by far, and a .214 oAVG showed just how dominant he was.
* Ota also finished 7th in MVP voting

2033 First Year Draft
1. Akitada Taira, because it's been a while since we've drafted a power hitter. Decent speed and fielding, but that BAT is intense.
2. Shuta Kurokawa, college rightie reliever. He'd be a starter if his stamina was better, but a groundballer reliever is always welcome in Shizuoka.
3. Makoto Fukuhara, high school leftie 1B who could develop into a decent threat at the plate.
4. Masamitsu Hagiwara, taking a flyer on a high school leftie who's likely best in the bullpen
5. Akifumi Mizutani, likely a proper RF/DH with power and discipline
6. Kiyoshi Morita, more of a line drive hitter with decent contact. Still a 1B though.
7. Atsushi Ueno, right-handed high school pitcher. Lottery ticket.
8. Ryuzo Muramatsu, the usual high-ability catcher
9. Eiji Kura, 2B/CF defensive stud
10. Mitsuru Arakaki, leader and defensive 3B (who is probably going to university)

Winter Meetings and After
* The start of the Winter Meetings brought news of another free agent signing, this one a youngster. LHP Kikaku Nakayama joins a deep bullpen on a 1yr/290K deal that gets him into arbitration territory. Last year, he went 5-9 in 21 stars for the Ehime Honda Comets.
* The Shizuoka Arrows and Hanshin Tigers have linked up for another trade - this time sending 2B Hatsuhiko Tanimoto and OF Edgar Gonzales to Nishinomiya with RHP Yasuyuki Uno, LF Yu Tanaka, and RHP Yoshiaki Kobayashi back the other way.
* RHP Danny Bergeron was able to parlay his *** experience into a job stateside, signing a 2-year, 3.76M deal with the Los Angeles Angels.
* RHP Hironori Watanabe was posted to the Philadelphia Phillies for a 2M fee. Watanabe will receive 11.76M over 3 years.
* The Shizuoka Arrows purchased RHP Mike Illiano from the Sugar Land Skeeters of the Atlantic League; he reports to AAA Shinano.
* The Shizuoka Arrows announced the signing of RHP Bill Monterrosa to a 1 year, 2.9M contract. The 28-year-old Monterrosa has appeared in 233 games for the Milwaukee Brewers, 77 of them starts, over the last seven seasons. The expectation is that Bill will slot into a rotation that now features top prospect Shigejiro Matsumoto and stalwart lefties Kikuo Aoki and Yoshimitsu Ota, giving the Arrows a fierce 1 thru 4 for opponents to deal with.
* The Shizuoka Arrows purchased RHP Joe Rogers from the Tupper Lake RiverPigs of the EPBL and assigned him to AAA Shinano.

2034 Opening Day Roster

Re-loaded and re-armed, the Shizuoka Arrows are ready to get back in the playoff race.

Pitchers
Rotation: LHP Yoshimitsu Ota, RHP Shigejiro Matsumoto, RHP Bill Monterrosa*, LHP Kikuo Aoki, RHP Yoshinobu Yamamoto, RHP Giichiro Kaji
Bullpen: LHP Isamu Hiratsuka, RHP Enmanuel Mejia, LHP Kikaku Nakayama*, LHP Rintaro Takashima*, RHP Eiji Hoshida*, RHP Yuifumi Nishimura
Closer: RHP Yasunaga Suzuki

Fielders
Catcher: Yasutoki Kato, Asakichi Shimoda
First Base: Katzumi Watanabe, Kosaku Matsui* (DH)
Second Base: Masari Miyamoto, Tsuyoshi Taguchi*
Third Base: Ryouhei Tanaka, Tetsuo Numata
Shortshop: Natsuki Hashimoto, Chris Bowling
Left Field: Shigejiro Matsunaga, Kouichi Nakaoka, Kenjyu Kuwahara
Center Field: Yukiichi Tsuchiya, Ayuta Yoneda*
Right Field: Shizue Uchino, Bobby Ochampaugh

Note that a captain has not been named by the squad - they have decided to go into the start of the season without one.

GM Notebook - May 1, 2033

We're not in as strong of a position as I had hoped. 11-14 so far, and the Hawks, Lions, and Eagles are all 3.5 to 4 games ahead of us. It is a long season, though, and adjustments need to be made.

Matsui stunk at DH, called up Mamoru Fujimori who did great, but now Fujimori's injured for 6 weeks. Matsunaga has been delivering in a big way so far out of left field, and I'm thrilled to have him. Our pitching staff has been disappointing to various degrees, where Yoshimitsu Ota has been demoted out of the rotation and back into the closer role. Isamu Hiratsuka just hasn't been able to get right yet, so he's been demoted. And if Hashimoto and Nutama continue being so meh, they're looking at demotions themselves.

That said, looks like we've got a Captain at last in Eiji Hoshida. I'll give him a bit before making it official, but he's done well so far given the rest of the rotation.

Oh, and Takahiko Arakawa made it to the Swallows as their new captain. Good to see!

GM Notebook - June 1, 2033

It almost feels like we're back where we started as a franchise. 11-14 in May, so now we sit 6 back of Tohoku Rakuten for the last playoff spot, and there's three teams ahead of us. Might be time to pull a few more trades.

For example, Natsuki Hashimoto finally bowed out of our squad, and Chris Bowling is about to join him. The pitchers have been vastly better in May, but our offense, despite being 1st in batting average and 3rd in OPS, is still 6th in runs scored. At least the minor league squads are looking good?

GM Notebook - July 3, 2034

I hate interleague. We got absolutely rinsed this year, going 9-17 in June and 10-14 in interleague play. The Hawks won the interleague title with a 19-5 record, and the Lions were right behind them at 18-6.

At least we've got a new second baseman so Masari Miyamoto stops fumbling the ball. Sent Bubba Wallace and Tetsuro Shishido to Rakuten for Soji Sakata. Natsuki Hashimoto looked terrible coming back from the minors, so Shinji is patrolling shortstop again. And we got Mamoru Fujimori back, and he's doing what he's expected to.

Yoshimitsu Ota returned to the rotation and is back to doing OK; with Bill Monterrosa injured, we need the arms.

Did we get that 300th home run ball back for Shizue Uchino yet? I need to make sure we did...

Okay, we've got to make some trades to make room for prospects. We've got the 4th best system, and I want to see it closer to top-3 (so does my owner).
And I need to extend Yukiichi Tsuchiya for a few more years; he's carrying this squad offensively.

Further transactions:
* Sent SS Natsuki Hashimoto (all remaining salary retained) to Chunichi for LF Homari Niimi and 3B Keiki Arakaki
* Traded OF Bobby Ochampaugh (lack of playing time) to Ehime Honda for 3B Norio Oki and CF Katsutoshi Otani.
* Added RP/1B Spencer Jones from Niigata Komatsu for RHP Hidenori Kawasaki

All-Stars
* RHP Shigejiro Matsumoto has delivered on his promise as a prospect, with an 8-5 record, 2.95 ERA and 1.07 WHIP over 109 2/3 IP, and a 13 K/9. He's going to be the rock of the Arrows rotation for the next decade, easily.
* LHP Rintaro Takashima will likely join him in the rotation next season, but this year he's in the bullpen and boasting a 2.98 ERA and 1.03 WHIP over 51 1/3 IP.
* 2B Soji Sakata gets into the game based on his work with both the Eagles and Arrows, but that's good for a .303/.399/.462 slash line and 2.5 WAR
* CF Yukiichi Tsuchiya signed a 5-year plus team option contract extension with the Arrows worth 27.35M, and now he's all-star bound with a .264/.334/.414 slash line, 41 SB, and 3.4 WAR.

(also, GM tehsuigi has been busy heading into the all-star break, acquiring RHP Keitaro Onishi for cash from the Kishu Rangers of the Kansai independent league, and SS Noah Smith from the Somerset Patriots of the Atlantic League)

Future Stars

* RHP Mike Illiano's 3-2 record and 2.56 ERA over 52 2/3 IP with AAA Shinano are why he's the #2 prospect in baseball, and likely Shizuoka-bound next season
* RHP Joe Rogers is struggling a bit more, but his promise is enough to get him a nod here too
* 1B Tomosaburo Morioka's .418/.557/.878 slash line and 29 HRs are all kinds of ridiculous for AA Hamamatsu, so he may get a call-up to Shinano before the season's out
* SS/3B Keiichi Sugiyama keeps bouncing between AAA Shinano and Shizuoka, but his .229/.327/.385 slash line and 1 WAR in limited time with the Grandserows has earned him recognition

(Noah Smith is out for the season after injuring his hip)

GM Notebook - August 1, 2034

I am this close to firing my entire coaching staff. 7-10 in July.

GM Notebook - September 1, 2034

So I didn't fire all my coaches yet, but there's going to be some serious bloodletting this offseason. 11-16 in August, 49-71 and in 8th place, and 31 games back of Seibu for the pennant. What a fall from grace...

At this point, it's just playing out the string and hoping we get that top 5 draft choice. Lots of good selections this year!

2034 Season Review

Well, we got the first overall pick? 58-85 is the worst season we've had since our inaugural one 12 years ago, and that's even with our batting average and ERA improving from last year.

I've fired all our major league coaching staff - the minor league guys have done well for themselves (Shinano won the BCL championship, AA Hamamatsu won the Western League and lost the ni-gun title to Rakuten), so they get to stay.

This rebuild is about to kick into high gear next year, and with Tsuchiya locked up long-term, our outfield is going to be among the best in the majors for years to come.

2034-35 Offseason

Awards Season
* Catcher Yasutoki Kato and left fielder Shigejiro Matsunaga each won Golden Gloves for their efforts. For Kato, it's his 6th in a row.
* LHP Rintaro Takashima finished 4th in PL Rookie of the Year voting. Fighters RF Yoshto Miyashta won the award unanimously, in part because he also won the PL batting title.
* RHP Shigejiro Matsumoto earned some Eiji Sawamura award votes

Arbitration and Free Agency
* At their request, 3B Ryouhei Tanaka and LHP Kikaku Nakayama have been posted (really hoping Nakayama doesn't get taken)
* The Orix Buffaloes and Shizuoka Arrows completed a trade, sending RHP Yoshiaga Saga and 3B Toshiharu Ishikawa to Shizuoka with SS Chris Bowling, RHP Spencer Jones, SS Shinji, and RHP Akitada Honma heading to Osaka.
* The Hanshin Tigers acquired C Asakichi Shimoda and CF Ayuta Yoneda from the Shizuoka Arrows, returning RF Morio Takano.
* The Shizuoka Arrows completed arbitration hearings with four players - 2B Masari Miyamoto, 3B Ryouhei Tanaka, LHP Kikaku Nakayama, and RHP Eiji Hoshida. The arbitrator ruled in favour of the team each time.
* Leaving in free agency are 1B Kosaku Matsui, RHP Yuto Kanakubo, RHP Yoshinobu Yamamoto, RHP Bill Monterrosa, SS Noah Smith, RHP Mitsukuni Matsuda, and RF Morio Takano.

2034 First-Year Draft
For the first time in franchise history, the Shizuoka Arrows had the first overall pick, and they may have selected their next ace. Fuyuhiko Yasuda, a high school right-hander with four major-league ready pitches, was taken by the Arrows first overall.
2. Nobuyoshi Ito, probably profiles better defensively as a 2B, but durable and good hands. Bat has some pop too.
3. Taju Kawada, right-handed high school starter who may have some personality issues.
4. Usaburo Takai, bat-forward shortstop from high school.
5. Naotaka Muto, college center fielder whose defense and wheels should get him playtime.
6. Seishiro Nakatani, best reliever left at this point in the draft.
7. Kanji Uehara, highschool 2B who may play better at 3B. His bat, if it matures, looks exciting.
8. Kiyohito Jakushi, 1B/2B out of college who slugged 16 HRs in 30 games in his junior year
9. Yoji Yamaguchi, college OF who could play in field too
10. Yasuaki Suyama, high school catcher, not as high in ability as our tradition. He's not going to sign, likely.

Winer Meetings and After
* The Yomiuri Giants acquired 2B Masari Miyamoto and LF Matsuyo Sugiyama from the Shizuoka Arrows for RF Makio Komatsu, RHP Atsunori Maeda, and SS Kikuma Miyata. Maeda is the current #13 prospect in baseball, and Komatsu is expected to add leadership to the Arrows dressing room.
* It's homecoming time - LF Yuta Takano is coming back to the Shizuoka Arrows organization, with a pair of 3Bs Masao Yamamoto and Toshiharu Ishikawa heading to the Tokyo Yakult Swallows.
* An equally familiar face returns, as 2B Satoshi Onishi comes over from the Hanshin Tigers for 1B Makoto Sato and LHP Daisuke Kato.
* The Orix Buffaloes acquire 1B Takenori Koga and RHP Yasuo Sawada for RHP Atsushi Kameda and RF Fumitoshi Izumi.
* The Philadelphia Phillies have signed LHP Kikaku Nakayama, with the Shizuoka Arrows receiving a 3M posting fee.
* And just before Spring Training, the Shizuoka Arrows announced the signing of RHP Alex Gallardo. Gallardo's had two seasons of 2.5 WAR or more with AAA Rochester the last three years, and at 1yr/2.225M, is not going to break the bank. He'll be ready and willing to fill in for Bill Monterrosa.

2035 Opening Day Roster

The rebuild may be turning a corner, as some unexpected faces broke out during spring training, and some youngsters are getting a chance to show their stuff.

Pitchers
Rotation: LHP Yoshimitsu Ota, RHP Shigejiro Matsumoto, RHP Alex Gallardo*, RHP Sachiko Hoshino, RHP Mike Illiano*, RHP Akira Yamane
Bullpen: LHP Isamu Hiratsuka, RHP Shuta Kurokawa, RHP Enmanuel Mejia, LHP Masahiko Maruyama*, LHP Rintaro Takashima, RHP Eiji Hoshida
Closer: RHP Yasunaga Suzuki

Fielders
Catcher: Yasutoki Kato, Takekazu Nakamura*
First Base: Tomosaburo Morioka*
Second Base: Soji Sakata, Tsuyoshi Taguchi
Third Base: Keiichi Sugiyama, Ryouhei Tanaka (DH), Tetsuo Numata (DH)
Shortshop: Tadasu Shimizu*, Yasuyuki Nakano*
Left Field: Shigejiro Matsunaga, Brad Chapman*
Center Field: Yukiichi Tsuchiya, Takatoshi Wakabayashi*
Right Field: Shizue Uchino, Makio Komatsu*

LHP Kikuo Aoki will start the season on the IL, and is expected back before interleague ends.

And yes, the Shizuoka Arrows have named a captain - two, in fact.
GM tehsuigi and manager Paul Paez have made the unconventional move to name captains for each of the pitchers and the fielders. The former is Alex Gallardo, the latter is Makio Komatsu.

The Quiver - May 1, 2035
Your Shizuoka Arrows News Source!

Let's face it - this is the Lions' league now. They're 19-6 and leading the entire *** by a factor of 50%. They as a team are slugging .568 - no one else is over .450.

Oh right, this is an Arrows newsletter. Sorry. After winning both of the opening games, Shizuoka finishes April 11-15, so still in 6th place. That said, 3rd place is only 2 games away, so there's hope for something good.

Tsuchiya, Sakata, and Kato have been strong to start the season, and Tsuyoshi Taguchi has done well as platoon partner for Tomosaburo Morioka.

It's real feast or famine pitching-wise. Matsumoto has been the ace we were promised, Gallardo's pitched well even with a 1-2 record, but Maruyama, Yamane, and Illiaro were NOT ready for the season's start; Giichiro Kaji, Yuifumi Nishimura, and Hisaji Sakaguchi have been called up to replace them, with Eiji Hoshida joining the rotation accordingly.

The Quiver - June 4, 2035
Your Shizuoka Arrows News Source!

For the first time in over a calendar year...the Shizuoka Arrows had a winning month. 14-11 in May, and after a series win against Orix, now 5th place in the PL at 27-27. The jump to 3rd has shrunk to 1.5 games, and the team is doing things.

That includes Tomosaburo Morioka, our Rookie of the Month! The hulking first baseman slugged 8 home runs and 16 RBIs with a .306 average. I think we finally have a replacement for Kikuo Kawamoto (miss you, big guy).

In a stunning move, the Arrows demoted Yasunaga Suzuki from the closer role and gave Shuta Kurokawa a shot. Will be interesting to see if Shuta's 1.99 ERA holds in higher pressure situations. At least the rotation's doing what's expected, with the top three guys below 3.00 ERA (and Eiji Hoshida not far behind!).

Batting-wise, Katzumi Watanabe couldn't rekindle his good work from a few seasons ago, so Tetsuo Numata's moving into the spot from 3B after handling the hot corner less-than-capably for the last month.

And as we went to print, we heard Kikuo Aoki's starting his rehab in Hamamatsu. We could have him back before interleague wraps up!

The Shizuoka Volley - July 2, 2035
Arrows updates, quick and on target!

* The Arrows went 16-10 in June, and after losing yesterday, Shizuoka is tied for 3rd place with Chiba Lotte! They're only 4 back of Seibu for the PL lead!!
* Shizuoka also went 14-10 in interleague; given the team's usual swoon in June, this is a welcome change. The Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks won the interleague title with a 15-9 record.
* Unfortunately, CF Yukiichi Tsuchiya went down with an injury that'll keep him out until the trade deadline. The Arrows are rumoured to look for a player to add alongside Shizue Uchino, especially since Brad Chapman has been an utter pylon so far.
* LHP Kikuo Aoki suffered a setback in his rehab, so he's likely also gone until the trade deadline. We hate to see the poor guy suffering.
* RHP Shigejiro Matsunaga mowed down opponents in a big way last month, his last start an EIGHTEEN-strikeout effort over 8 innings against the Yomiuri Giants. It's the most in Arrows history, and second-most in *** history.

All-Stars
* Not bad for a first season in ***! RHP Alex Gallardo's 7-4 record and 1.88 ERA and 1.00 WHIP over 95 2/3 IP earns him a role in the game.
* RHP Shigejiro Matsumoto isn't just getting an All-Star nom, he's starting for the PL. 2.50 ERA, 0.93 WHIP, 14.1 K/9 over 115 1/3 IP.
* LHP Yoshimitsu Ota continues to defy logic with his performance. 2.64 ERA, 1.27 WHIP over 112 1/3 IP.
* C Yasutoki Kato worked his way back into the game, slashing .257/.298/.403
* 2B Soji Sakata has been on a tear this season, slashing .304/.349/.496 with 10 HRs
* CF Yukiichi Tsuchiya is injured and can't participate, but he had the CF spot with .289/.371/.487, 13 HR, and 32 SB.

Future Stars
* RHP Taju Kawada is only an 18-year-old, but he's got a 2-2 record and 8.5 K/9 in the bat-heavy AA league
* RHP Chae-bong Kim has a 3-5 record and 6.07 ERA over 56 1/3 IP, but it's good for a 1.3 WAR
* RHP Joe Rogers is almost ready for the majors, having a 5-1 record and 3.75 ERA in 62 1/3 IP for AAA Shinano
* RHP Fuyuhiko Yasuda is scuffling a bit in his first pro season, but a 5.22 ERA and 8.1 K/9 over 50 IP is still good for 1.4 WAR in AA
* LHP Masaru Okada earned six saves with a 1.46 ERA for AAA Shinano
* LHP Narihira Kimura also has five says with an 11.1 K/9 for the same squad
* 3B Akitada Taira's .235/.356/.456 slash line has been solid, but his fielding is a mite suspect.

*** Trade Deadline - Arrows, Swallows Make Lone Deal
TOKYO - July 31, 2035

After the conclusion of today's game, the Shizuoka Arrows and Tokyo Yakult Swallows completed the trade deadline's lone deal. Heading to Tokyo is RHP Giichiro Kaji, while pending free agent SS Tomoaki Sakurai and LF/DH Yoshiaki Nishimura coming back to Shizuoka. Yakult will retain small portions of both players' salaries. The expectation is Sakurai will help add more punch at the SS position after the Shimizu/Nakano platoon contributed to below replacement value.

GM Notebook - August 1, 2035

6-10 in July to almost entirely wipe out our gains from June. At least Tsuchiya is working his way back from injury, he'll be back from rehab along with Aoki soon. The good news is that we're still only 1.5 back of Orix for the third playoff spot.

Somehow our pitching is back to best in the league...at least starter-wise. The bullpen needs a lot of work. Defense is strong, but our offense remains an issue. Hopefully adding Luis Alejandrez from the Atlantic League will help boost that. Nice to see Ryouhei Tanaka do well in the DH slot too.

The Volley - September 1, 2035
Your Shizuoka Arrows News Source!

WOW. OKAY. Everyone still with their faculties intact? The Shizuoka Arrows went 17-10 in August with an 11-1 run nestled in there for a 64-56 record...and a second place berth so far. They need to still stay ahead of the Marines, Lions, Buffaloes, and Fighters, but hopes for a quick turnaround have been answered.

Tomosaburo Morioka earned Rookie of the Month in the PL again, batting .277 with 10 dingers and 20 RBIs. He's got 32 HRs in his rookie season! Kawa-who?

It's also good to see Alejandrez bat well, and old friend Shizue Uchino getting revitalized to lead the team in WAR for the month. This team is better with Tsuchiya in it.

And hey, Kikuo Aoki is back for good (we hope) this time! The bullpen has been rocked somewhat, but there's still good news out of the starting rotation.

BNN has the Arrows' odds of making the playoffs at 68.3%. Considering they were 0 at this point last year, we'll take it.