Wishful Thinking (2010 Version)
It's the first day of spring camp, and the birds have flown south to Okinawa to open a couple weeks of "no pain, no gain" training sessions. After last year's very lucky appearance in the postseason, the first ever for the Swallows I might add, all of the usual suspects are back for another go at it. Yup, D'Antona, Lim, and Guiel re-signed, and Aoki hasn't been posted yet, so another half-decent season could be in the making if everyone can stay healthy. Wait. Scratch that. We did lose Igarashi to the New York Mets, so not everyone will be back. Anyway, I ...
D’Antona signs two-year deal!
Things finally got worked out behind the scenes, and thankfully D'Antona will be swinging the bat for the birds again in 2010. He reportedly signed a two-year deal that will see him taking home 73 million yen this year (plus incentives). The deal includes a club option for the second year. Phew! Glad that's settled. Welcome back, Jamie! Tsubamegun wishes you all the best in 2010!
Winter News Roundup
Well, the festive season is over and the 2010 baseball season can be spotted lurking on the horizon, just waiting to take over our lives again. Here's a round up of what's been going on in SwallowsLand so far this offseason that hasn't been covered elsewhere on the site: The Swallows made only their second ever free agency signing (the first being catcher Aikawa), bringing over Atsushi Fujimoto over from Hanshin. Seriously underwhelming news there then. Another light-hitting infielder to go with the collection we already have, but hey, an extra body is welcome I guess. Welcome to Tokyo Atsushi. He will, perhaps fittingly, wear now-retired ...
Swallows sign RHP Tony Barnette
The Tokyo Swallows reported that they have signed 26-year-old Tony Barnette, formerly of the Arizona Diamondbacks organization, to a one year deal worth four hundred thousand dollars plus incentives (just shy of forty million yen). Barnette, a right-handed pitcher who will be wearing number 64, spent all of 2009 with Arizona's triple-A outfit, the Reno Aces. He went 14-8 as a starter in 29 appearances and pitched 164 and two-thirds innings. While he ended the season with a 5.79 ERA (sound familiar?), it can be argued that he must have been doing a lot of things right to get 164-plus innings ...
Tokyo Picks up Eulogio De La Cruz
Rumored to be able to throw 160 kph (100 mph), Eulogio De La Cruz was released by the San Diego Padres in the middle of last week, and has now signed for 15 million yen (plus incentives) with the Tokyo Swallows. The 25-year-old RHP hails from the Dominican Republic and made his last major league appearance on April 25th of this year. That game was not pretty as he walked five in just two innings of work. He spent the remainder of the 2009 season at AAA Portland where he had a 3.12 ERA in just over 69 innings. At Portland he ...
The Team
D’Antona signs two-year deal!
Things finally got worked out behind the scenes, and thankfully D’Antona will be swinging the bat for the birds again in 2010. He reportedly signed a two-year deal that will see him taking home 73 million yen this year (plus incentives). The deal includes a club option for the second year. Phew! Glad that’s settled. Welcome back, Jamie! Tsubamegun wishes you all the best in 2010! Read More →
Winter News Roundup
Well, the festive season is over and the 2010 baseball season can be spotted lurking on the horizon, just waiting to take over our lives again. Here’s a round up of what’s been going on in SwallowsLand so far this offseason that hasn’t been covered elsewhere on the site: The Swallows made only their second ever free agency signing (the first being catcher Aikawa), bringing over Atsushi... [Read more]
Swallows sign RHP Tony Barnette
The Tokyo Swallows reported that they have signed 26-year-old Tony Barnette, formerly of the Arizona Diamondbacks organization, to a one year deal worth four hundred thousand dollars plus incentives (just shy of forty million yen). Barnette, a right-handed pitcher who will be wearing number 64, spent all of 2009 with Arizona’s triple-A outfit, the Reno Aces. He went 14-8 as a starter in 29 appearances... [Read more]
Tokyo Picks up Eulogio De La Cruz
Rumored to be able to throw 160 kph (100 mph), Eulogio De La Cruz was released by the San Diego Padres in the middle of last week, and has now signed for 15 million yen (plus incentives) with the Tokyo Swallows. The 25-year-old RHP hails from the Dominican Republic and made his last major league appearance on April 25th of this year. That game was not pretty as he walked five in just two innings of... [Read more]
Igarashi testing MLB waters
It was reported that Ryota Igarashi, long-time set-up and closer out of the Tokyo bullpen, will be spending the winter training in the United States as he works through the process of signing with a team there. A couple of teams have apparently [Read more] Read More →
