Orlando Roman is Tokyo's newest candidate for the starting rotation.

As announced yesterday, we have a new friend. Orlando Roman has signed a deal to pitch for the Swallows during the 2012 season.

¡Bienvenido a Tokio, Señor Román!

Call me crazy, but looking over his numbers from the past several years, it seems like there’s a bit of a climate-linked variable in terms of how well he does in a given season. I’m not saying that his pitching is affected by El Niño or anything, but his ERA seems to drop when he pitches in warmer places.

It’s just a casual observation, but he has pitched well in Mexico and Taiwan while struggling in cooler locales such as New Hampshire (Toronto’s double-A affiliate).

I wonder if that means that he’ll struggle in the spring before hitting some consistency in the summer and then disappearing again in the fall.

See also:

Did the Tokyo Swallows sign RHP Orlando Roman?

Fresh off a two year stint with the Elephants, welcome to the Swallows, Mr. Roman.

It’s official. The rumors that we reported earlier this month were the real deal. The Swallows now have a little extra competition brewing in the starting rotation.

Meet Orlando Roman.

The 33-year-old RHP has significant minor league experience in North America with the New York Mets, Baltimore, and Toronto. He has also spent time in Mexico and, for the past two years, Taiwan.

Here’s the team’s official Japanese-language press release, and Yakyu Baka’s English-language summary.

It’s an incentive-laden one-year deal starting at a reported 25 million yen (roughly US$325,000).

So what does the competition for the starting rotation look like at this point?

Ishikawa, Muranaka, Akagawa, and Masubuchi appear to be healthy right now. Tateyama is coming back from surgery, and there’s still a big question mark hanging over Yoshinori’s delicate cabeza. Hopefully we’ll hear some noise from a resurgent Nakazawa, Shichijo, and the cast aside Mikinori Katoh.

Roman enters the fray with a shot at the fifth or sixth starter’s slot. He’ll need to be steady early on and learn to communicate his preferences with Aikawa before May roles around.

We hope he does well. It would be nice to give the kids an extra kick in the pants and finally discover a modicum of reliable depth after the team’s third starter.

He’ll be wearing number 53, Josh Whitesell and Ryota Igarashi’s old number.

Milledge's MLB numbers and youth suggest good things for Tokyo.

I’m not any more willing to predict how well Tokyo’s brand-spanking-new left fielder, Lastings Milledge, will do in NPB than I was about Norichika Aoki and his possible transition to MLB. There are several doubters out there, perhaps due to a collective pessimism related to Aoki’s departure, so I would like to make sure that everyone understands just what type of player the Swallows were able to add to the roster this off-season.

There is little doubt that Lastings Milledge is going to help the team win.

Alrighty then. Let’s start with something that we all agree on. Aoki is one hell of a talent and the team won’t find a commensurate replacement to fill his shoes in center (apologies, Ueda-senshu).

Alright, now let’s move on to something that several of you have already openly disagreed with me on. Lastings Milledge.

I’ve gotta’ say, I’m borderline-ecstatic about the Milledge acquisition, and now please give me a couple of minutes to explain why you should be, too.

First, let’s look at the mediocrity we dealt with (mostly) in left last season. After it was finally determined that Hatakeyama’s range is far too farcical to play him in the outfield, Tokyo started a veritable “who’s who” of second string outfielders. Ueda, Fukuchi, Iihara, Yuichi, Miyade and Hamanaka all got a shot.

Ueda eventually took over and started throughout the playoffs, and he seems to be in the lead for the center field job this year.

Fukuchi featured as a pinch runner for most of the season and led the league in steals for a while before ever collecting his first base hit. Weird.

Iihara, Yuichi and Miyade continued to be Iihara, Yuichi and Miyade, unfortunately. And Hamanaka was a mistake to begin with.

The funny thing is that Hamanaka was actually the opening day left fielder. That didn’t last long.

And the Swallows struggled early in the season with waiting for either Josh Whitesell to stake a claim to first base, or for a second string outfielder to lock down left field. Neither potentiality transpired. Ogawa’s plan of attack ended up being to keep Hatakeyama at first, thus turning Josh into a bench-bound-bat, and allowing left field to turn into a revolving door of OK gloves that can’t hit.

Fukuchi played in 40 games and hit .155/.210/.224 with only nine hits but 10 stolen bags. Iihara had a slash line of .126/.229/.169, and Yuichi clocked in with .193/.270/.291 (in 64 and 51 games, (dis)respectively).

Miyade only remains in management’s good graces because he’s an abnormally tall human being (6’4″/192 cm). His offensive numbers from a limited number of at-bats looked promising, and he also sports a decent arm, but let’s not forget that we traded him to Tohoku (because he plateaued years ago), got cut, and then we re-signed him on the cheap before the 2011 season.

So I think that we can all agree that we have a gaping hole in left. Especially if Ueda, who only played in 12 games toward the end of the regular season, ends up staring in center.

Wonderful. That’s now two things that we agree on.

Last fall, the team was faced with a few options for dealing with the hole in left:

a) Trade for a decent outfielder, but that rarely happens in NPB when you’re talking about players who could have an immediate impact.

b) Promote an in-house minor league player to the starting job in left, but we tried that with Iihara, and he still doesn’t know which way is up.

c) Import a quick fix.

As you’re probably well aware, option c is what NPB teams normally do with corner outfielders and first basemen. We’ve seen it a million times before, and I’m sure that’s exactly what many pundits are thinking when they process the Milledge signing. “Great. We have another AAA guy coming in,” or “He has a chip on his shoulder and hasn’t lived up to the hype.”

Yes, there was a bundle of hype surrounding this guy as he was the youngest player in the National League in 2006. But hear me now. Adjustment issues notwithstanding, Lastings Milledge represents the most talented MLB player to land in NPB since Matt Murton.

Murton, Hanshin’s god-loving, Ichiro’s-single-season-hits-record-breaking right fielder was a bonafide big league player before agreeing to play for the Tigers. What’s my definition of a “bonafide big league player”? It’s someone who was a regular player in the big leagues for the majority of a single season. Murton fits that bill.

Matt Murton was the everyday left fielder for the Chicago Cubs during the 2006 season. In 144 games (508 plate appearances) he hit a mouth-watering .297/.365/.444 and ended the season near the top of several offensive categories for the team. Over five seasons, Murton played in 346 games and notched 1,048 plate appearances. Both of those numbers are way above average for NPB imports. He arrived in Japan at the age of 28, transitioned smoothly, focused on baseball, and has two accolade-drenched seasons to show for it.

The Tokyo Swallows have had several high-quality non-Japanese players on the roster over the past decade. Roberto Petagine (2001 Central League MVP; last played for Fukuoka) and Alex Ramirez (2008-09 CL MVP; now with Yokohama) were there for the team’s most recent Central League Pennant and Japan Series Championship. Tony Barnette, Chang-yong Lim, Aaron Guiel (retired), Josh Whitesell (Chiba), and Seth Greisinger (Chiba) have made solid contributions since then.

Lastings Milledge is definitely within the order of magnitude just listed, and then some. Milledge has featured heavily for two major league teams over the past several years, and he’s still just heading towards his prime. In 2008, at the age of 23, Milledge was the everyday center fielder for the Washington Nationals and hit .268/.330/.402 in 138 games (134 starts; 587 plate appearances) with a .986 fielding percentage.

The 2009 season was split between the Nationals and Pittsburgh, but Lastings was a full-time starter again in 2010 when he played in 113 games (both corners of the outfield) and hit .277/.332/.380 and contributed a fielding percentage of .995 (perfect % in left).

It’s clear that Lastings Milledge compares favorably with Matt Murton who is bar-none the best all-around position player to hit NPB since I’ve been paying attention.

The similarities are striking. Both sought an alternate career advancement route after cutthroat competition shunted them to AAA despite strong top team numbers. Both have a solid work ethic and desire to play day-in and day-out. And both plan to use NPB as a way to play in the big leagues once again (see Colby Lewis).

In other words, they posted big league numbers that project far more confidently in NPB than what we’re used to seeing.

There is one big difference, however. Unlike Murton, who was 28 when he began his NPB career, Milledge will be 26 when he hits the scene in less than a month’s time. Also, compared to Murton’s 346 major league games and 1,048 plate appearances in the majors, Milledge will arrive with 433 games and 1,659 plate appearances under his belt.

And to Milledge’s credit, he’s reportedly on a steady dose of Rosetta Stone and is well ahead of the curve in terms of preparing himself for this fast-approaching shock to the system.

If he can take things in stride half as well as Murton, Barnette, Whitesell and Balentien have, then expect big things from him.

Barring injury or any unforeseen growing pains, Milledge could be NPB’s best position player import since Murton.

So hopefully you now understand why there’s plenty of room for optimism about the situation in left this season. Hopefully you’re now Thrilledged as well.

Tsubamegun wishes you a speedy recovery, Yuji.

2011 fifth round draft pick, Yuji Nakane, had surgery on his ACL (right knee) today. Recovery and rehab are expected to consume the entirety of the 2012 season.

The official announcement comes through the Tokyo Swallows Japanese-language website.

The Swallows were aware of Nakane’s knee issues when they selected him late in the draft but felt that his upside was worth the risk of time off.

The Swallows are confident that he would have gone earlier in the draft if not for his ACL injury. Kozo mentioned a history of injuries shadowing his potential in his draft recap at the end of last year. Oh, and he’s Yoshinori’s former teammate from high school.

Let’s hope that the Tohoku Fukushi University alum experiences a swift and complete recovery.

Kusuki enters the outfield mix.

As of 2PM on Monday this bit of news still hasn’t been reported by either Tokyo or Tohoku’s websites, but it appears that 32 year old RHP Yoshitaka Hashimoto is being sent to Tohoku in exchange for 27 year old OF Yusuke Kusuki.

Hashimoto made 17 appearances for the Swallows in 2011 and had a 4.34 ERA through 18 and two-thirds innings of work.

This marks the second time in his career that Hashimoto has been traded. He was initially drafted in 2004 by the Fighters.

Tokyo’s new acquisition, Kusuki, spent the entirety of 2011 at ni-gun (farm team) and put up half-decent numbers. He had a .248/.338/.371 slash line and hit four homers in 210 at-bats. Other than that, Kusuki had four lackluster top-team appearances in 2010.

It’s a little difficult to see how a pitcher for an unproven outfielder is a fair trade, but Kusuki is rumored to have a little bit of pop, so he could prove to be an OK competitive addition to the field of players aiming to lock down one of the two open outfield spots (left and center).

Hopefully the change of scenery will rouse whatever potential greatness Tohoku saw when they drafted him from Panasonic back in 2008.

Check Yakyu Baka for detailed top team stats for both players.

Ueda had another great year at ni-gun.

Before spending a good deal of time on the top team toward the end of the 2011 season, Tsuyoshi Ueda had himself a very strong season on the farm team. Number 50, who turned 23 in October and grew up in Okayama Prefecture, stole 55 bases this year to easily win the Eastern League crown.

He also hit .281/.373/.355 in 349 official at-bats while collecting 98 hits and 37 RBI.

In addition to winning the stolen bases crown, Tokyo’s utility outfielder was selected as one of the two best players in the minors this season. The award in question is the “Doryokushou” which can loosely be compared to a MVP award for players that weren’t good enough (or liked enough) to break into the top team for any extended period of time.

The other recipient of the Doryokushou was Hanshin’s RHP, Kai-wen Chen. Hanshin plays in the Western League in the minors.

For the record, Ueda was able to steal a few bases during his limited time playing on the top team. He only featured in 12 games, but he stole six bases and hit .267/.333/.300 in his 30 at-bats.

Ueda told reporters at the awards ceremony today in Tokyo that he worked hard on his lower body during the off-season and that made a big difference in terms of his explosiveness this season. Ueda figures to be a front-runner for the opening-day job in center if Aoki is posted successfully to MLB during the off-season.

For complete details on the farm team awards handed out today, check this post over at Yakyu Baka.

Miyamoto is the oldest player to ever earn a Best 9 selection.

Tokyo third baseman, Shinya Miyamoto, and center fielder, Norichika Aoki, were voted into the Central League’s best nine today.

Miyamoto earned the award for the first time in his 17-year career while it was the seventh time that Aoki has been voted in during his eight seasons as a pro.

This comes just after both players won Central League Golden Gloves for their exceptional defense in 2011.

Miyamoto easily beat Hanshin’s Takahiro Arai by a tally of 184 to 57 in voting for the league’s best third baseman.

Aoki collected 156 votes and was third in outfield voting behind Yomiuri’s Hisayoshi Chono (238) and Hanshin’s Matt Murton (226).

Balentien and Hatakeyama were fourth and fifth, respectively, in balloting for outfielders, so it was a very strong showing for Tokyo’s fence-minders this year.

Hatakeyama also finished second in voting for first basemen. He was outpaced by Hiroshima’s Kurihara by a count of 157 to 78.

Aikawa (C), Tanaka (2B) and Kawabata (SS) all finished third in voting for their respective positions.

Central League

Position	Player	Team	Times
P	Kazuki Yoshimi	Chunichi	1
C	Shinnosuke Abe	Yomiuri	6
1B	Kenta Kurihara	Hiroshima	1
2B	Keiichi Hirano	Hanshin	2
3B	Shinya Miyamoto	Tokyo	1
SS	Takashi Toritani	Hanshin	3
OF	Hisayoshi Chono	Yomiuri	1
OF	Matt Murton	Hanshin	2
OF	Norichika	Tokyo	7

Pacific League

Position	Player	Team	Times	Notes
P	Masahiro Tanaka	Tohoku	1
C	Toru Hosokawa	Fukuoka	2	1st Best Nine was with Seibu in 2008
1B	Hiroki Kokubo	Fukuoka	1	3rd time overall Won award at 2B in 1995, 1997
2B	Yuichi Honda	Fukuoka	1
3B	Takeya Nakamura	Saitama	3
SS	Hiroyuki Nakajima	Saitama	3
OF	Yoshio Itoi	Hokkaido	2
OF	Seiichi Uchikawa	Fukuoka	1	3rd time overall (twice with Yokohama) Won award in outfield in 2008 and at 1B in 2009
OF	Takumi Kuriyama	Saitama	3
DH	Jose Fernandez	Saitama	1	2nd time overall (once with Tohoku) Won award at 3B in 2006

Another new project for Mr. Araki.

After agreeing to basic terms with three new players the day before, the Swallows announced on Friday that they had added another pitcher to the mix in the form of 23 year-old RHP, Tatsuo Kinoshita.

He actually turns 24 tomorrow (Nov. 28th).

Originally from Aichi Prefecture, Kinoshita was selected in the 2005 high school draft by Hokkaido (Nippon Ham). In addition to his fastball which reportedly sits in the 140s, he can throw several breaking and offspeed pitches including a fork, curve, cutter and slider.

He seems to be somewhat of a typical high school draftee though. He’s been in the league for six years but has little to show for it thus far.

And one slightly unwelcome quirk to report on Mr. Kinoshita: as he hails from Aichi, he’s been a Chunichi fan since he was a child. He was disappointed when he was drafted by the Fighters rather than his beloved Dragons in 2005, but he eventually was released by Hokkaido and found his way into the Chunichi organization through the 12-team tryouts and an ikusei contract signed at the end of 2010.

He pitched only one inning for the Dragons in 2011 and was cut for the second season in a row.

Hopefully that will have dulled his affinity for his hometown team a bit. At any rate, it looks like he’ll be rejoining his former teammates Itsuki Shoda (Hokkaido 2006) and Keisuke Mizuta (Chunichi 2011), both of whom were signed on the 24th by the Tokyo Swallows.

Tazawa, Shoda, Matsuzaka and Okajima take donations shortly after March 11th.

Yakyu Baka reported back at the beginning of October, and Kozo Ota relayed the same information here, that eight players are not having their contracts extended for the 2012 season.

Well, the Swallows reported on Thursday that they’ve basically filled three of those slots with a pair of out-of-contract players and another from the independent ‘Baseball Challenge League’.

Kenta Abe (RHP) played for Osaka Kintetsu/Orix before moving to the Tigers for the 2008 season. He had his best year in 2008 when he pitched 51.2 innings over 32 appearances and ended the season with a 2.96 ERA.

However, he hasn’t made a single top top appearance for Hanshin over the past two seasons.

Keisuke Mizuta (INF) played with Abe on the Hanshin Tigers before he got released at the end of last season. He was picked up by the Dragons and appeared in 14 games this season for the top team. In his 19 at-bats, Mizuta hit .133/.235/.133.

Mizuta has been traded around quite a bit recently. He was with Saitama until July 11, 2009 when he was traded to Hanshin for pitcher Taiyo Fujita.

After the 2010 season he was traded to the Chunichi Dragons for Ryota Arai. And he was released on Nov. 11th by the Dragons.

He has a little bit of pace and a decent arm and range. From what I’ve gathered he can play both the infield and outfield, so it looks like we’ve picked up an experienced utility player who is unproven at the plate.

Itsuki Shoda (LHP) is an interesting find. He was Pacific League Rookie of the Year back in 2002 (Nippon Ham). He was later traded to Hanshin (wow, all three of these guys played for Hanshin) but spent most of his time on the farm team. He hasn’t played very well since then though save for 2009-10 when he played for Taiwan’s Sinon Bulls.

At the beginning of 2011 he was at the Boston Red Sox spring camp, but was told to go home by the end of it. He has since been keeping busy with the Niigata Albirex Baseball Club. It will be interesting to see how the southpaw curveball-thrower fares under Araki’s care.

Things have gone well for Tokyo with Ogawa at the helm.

Tokyo’s Japanese language website announced next year’s coaching staff yesterday.

The top team is the same cast of characters as last year.

Top Team

 

Name	Title
Junji Ogawa	Manager
Daisuke Araki	Chief Coach / Pitching Coach
Tomohito Ito	Pitching Coach
Takao Ise	General Coach
Shinichi Sato	Batting Coach / Strategy Coach
Noriyuki Shiroishi	Infield Coach / Base-running Coach
Tetsuya Iida	Outfield Coach / Base-running Coach
Chikashi Nakanishi	Battery Coach

The farm team has seen a few changes though.

Farm Team

 

Name	Title
Mitsuru Manaka	Manager
Akimitsu Ito	Pitching Coach
Hiroto Kato	Pitching Coach
Takahiro Ikeyama	Batting Coach
Kenji Awaguchi	Batting Coach
Katsuyuki Dobashi	Infield Coach / Base-running Coach
Hirobumi Watarai	Outfield Coach / Base-running Coach
Kenji Furukubo	Battery Coach
Masanori Matsui	Ikusei Coach
Hirotoshi Ishii	Ikusei Coach (Strength-Training)

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