[tehsuigi]

2044-45 Offseason Review

Arbitration and Free Agency
* Another year, another trade between the Yomiuri Giants and Shizuoka Arrows. This one sees the Arrows' center fielder Takatoshi Tamaki and left-handed reliever Tetsuzan Akiyama heading to Tokyo with left-handed starter Tsuyashi Endo and #38 prospect Hidetsugu Fuchigami coming back.
* The Arrows non-tendered RHP Katsushi Sato and 2B Nobuyoshi Ito.
* Heading to free agency are third basemen Tetsuo Numata and Koji Kashima.
* The Arrows also released shortstop Yui Nakamura to try and find a starting role in the majors elsewhere, buying him out of the final year of his contract at 395K.

Awards Season
* Catcher Kiyonori Nakashima and third baseman Koji Kashima were honoured to receive Golden Gloves for their efforts this season
* Right-fielder Yoshikuni Yokota and his .354/.401/.642 slash line, 36 HRs, and 14 SBs (200 wRC+!) earned Best Nine at RF, the only Arrow awarnded
* Paul Paez earned Manager of the Year for the PL
* Another year, another unanimous Eiji Sawamura for Shigejiro Matsumoto (13-8, 2.47 ERA, 279 Ks). Kim, his rotation-mate, finished 3rd.
* In the most hotly contested MVP race in PL history, Lions LF Yoshio Shimaoto beat out Arrows RF Yoshikuni Yokota by a single point, as they split the first-place votes down the middle. Matsumoto and Kashima finished 3rd and 4th, with Kim in 11th.

2044 First Year Draft
The Shizuoka Arrows drafted high-school center fielder Shosaku Aoki, son of ex-Arrow pitcher Kikuo Aoki. The center fielder brings a balanced approach to the plate and fleet feet.
2. Tatsuo Mochizuki, college left-fielder with a half-decent four-pitch mix. More stamina gets him to starter territory.
3. Tamon Yoshizawa, contact-first right fielder/DH.
4. Mincho Fukuhara, big bopper out of high school. Probably profiles better at a corner outfield than 1B.
5. Ryujiro Aoki, high-ability catcher as usual.
6. Satoharu Oyama, switch-hitting slick fielding 2B.
7. Harutomi Kinoshta, versatile fielder probably miscast at 3B.
8. Chitomi Ueda, who can throw magic bullets if they can find the plate
9. Shigeo Hirabayashi, leftie reliever with six pitches, only two of them good
10. Tomoaki Tateishi, another second baseman.

Signings and Trades
* November 20, the Shizuoka Arrows announce an open competition for their center fielder spot. Joining Shojiro Murakami are free agent signings Eisaku Aihara (1yr/900K) and Akiho Sana (1yr/260K). Sana should be a familiar name, as he was an Arrow from 2038-42 before getting traded to Ehime Honda for current Shizuoka LF Tomoki Yamauchi.
* November 22, the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles re-armed their farm team and offloaded some salary to...Shizuoka? The Arrows sent OF Brandon Cottle, LHP Shissho Takaki, RF/DH Hiromi Ishimaru (#78 prospect), C King Bagnall, and RHP Jose Aguilar in exchange for C Itaru Miyamoto and the prize, LHP Keisuke Nakanishi. The 32-year-old has a career 121-101 record with an ERA of 3.33 for the Swallows and Eagles, who will be retaining 40% of the last year of his 5yr/35.6M contract.
* November 23, the Shizuoka Arrows made an intriguing signing, adding right-handed pitcher Takatomi Fukuda to a 1-year/490K deal. Fukuda went 3-13 with a 5.94 ERA for Lotte last season, but that was powered by a 2.0 HR/9 rate that's unsustainable. Fukuda is expected to challenge for a rotation spot this year, or at least find a home in the bullpen.
* December 8, the Shizuoka Arrows added 3B Kodai Matsuoka to a minor league deal with a 260K option. Matsuoka had a rough year last season for SoftBank, but could do well as a backup for Mendez or de la Cruz.
* January 1, and it's a happy new year for Giants fans. Yomiuri inked ex-Arrows starter Katsushi Sato to the richest contract this offseason, 4yr/17.64M. The first year of that will be mostly rehab from his torn flexor tendon.
* February 21, after getting shut out of offers from ***, ex-Arrow Koji Kashima took his talents across the sea to South Korea, signing a 2-year/3M deal with the SK Wyverns of the KBO.
* Concurrently, the Shizuoka Arrows announced what was long suspected - OF/DH Masami Matsuura has been named the 7th team captain in team history, joining the fraternity of Keita Sano, Sosuke Genda, Takahiko Arakawa, Eiji Hoshida, Alex Gallardo, and Koji Kashima.
* Among the final cuts at spring training were Akiho Sana and Kodai Matsuoka, who failed to make the big-league roster. Eisaku Aihara did well enough to win the starting CF job, with Shojiro Murakami doing well enough to stay the backup OF.