Offseason Changes: Yomiuri Giants

» 27 January 2011 » In npb »

Coming: Brian Bannister, Hideki Sunaga, Toshimasa Konta, Jonathan Albaladejo, Carlos Torres, Rusty Ryal, Adam Bright

Going: Masahide Kobayashi, Seung-Yeop Lee, Wirfin Obispo, Marc Kroon, Edgar Gonzalez, Toru Murata, Noriyoshi Ohmichi, Soichi Fujita, Noel Urena

Staying: Seth Greisinger, Dicky Gonzalez

Summary: The top three teams in the Central League (Chunichi, Hanshin, and Yomiuri) all finished the 2010 season within one game of each other in the standings. While the order of finish might be different, it doesn’t look like any of the three will falter and miss the post-season party in 2011.

While the Giants failed in their quest for a fourth straight pennant last season, there were many positives. Owners of NPB’s most powerful lineup, only the Tigers were able to outpace the Giants’ 711 runs scored. Yomiuri’s stars like Alex Ramirez and Michihiro Ogasawara aren’t getting any younger, but both still put up terrific numbers. Ogasawara defies the laws of nature each season, staying remarkably consistent at the plate. Shinnosuke Abe set career highs with 44 home runs and 303 total bases. Hisayoshi Chono and Hayato Sakamoto have emerged as superb young hitters, offsetting a potential future offensive decline.

Once heralded but now out of favor, management decided that Seung-Yeop Lee’s time as a Giant would end this off-season. Since joining the team five years earlier, both Lee’s numbers and playing time steadily decreased each season. Edgar Gonzalez was not retained; the infielder hit .263 with 12 home runs in 2010.

The plan right now seems to be one of replacing the holes that were created by off-season departures. Rusty Ryal spent 2010 with the Arizona Diamondbacks. He’ll battle with for time at third base, as it looks like Tatsunori Hara will slide Ogasawara over to first base. Taishi Ohta and Yoshiyuki Kamei will undoubtedly be squeezed for playing time at ichi-gun if Ryal sticks; the latter is transitioning to the infield this season.

On the pitching side, closer Marc Kroon and Masahide Kobayahi departed.  I expect former New York Yankee Jonathan Albaladejo to fill Kroon’s spot as the 9th inning man. He might have some competition from Tetsuya Yamaguchi or Daisuke Ochi, but I believe Albaladejo will win the role barring injury or severe early underperformance.

As for the rotation, Shun Tohno and Tetsuya Utsumi are set, then the Giants brass has to figure out how to cobble together a winning rotation from Shugo Fujii and a gaggle of foreigners. New arrival Brian Bannister should be part of the rotation, and Seth Greisinger will also get a look after an abbreviated 2010 campaign. Dicky Gonzalez (5-13, 5.29 ERA), who couldn’t come remotely close to his 2009 performance (15-2, 2.11 ERA), was also invited back and is an option. The odds are longer for hurlers such as Chih-Lung Huang or Carlos Torres to win a regular rotation spot, but hopes are high for 2010 top draft pick Hirokazu Sawamura.

Of note, Hideki Sunaga and Toshimasa Konta arrived in a trade with Nippon Ham, as Wirfin Obispo was sent to Hokkaido in exchange. Toru Murata departed for the American minor leagues, but the aforementioned Greisinger took a harsh pay cut to stay with the Giants.

The positional battles, newcomers, and high-powered offense should be fun to watch this spring. We’ll see if it all goes according to plan for the Kyojin when the games count in a few months.

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  1. Ken
    passerby
    28/01/2011 at 2:52 am Permalink

    Speaking of the Giants, I found a good podcast about Left O’Doul for those who have time to kill.
    http://www.sparkletack.com/2007/05/27/61-lefty-odoul-the-man-in-the-green-suit/

    Just in case, the school the podcaster pronounces “ichiko” is 一高, the present-day University of Tokyo.

  2. Ken
    DeGavph
    28/01/2011 at 5:21 am Permalink

    It seems that Kroon signed a Minor League contract with the San Fransico Giants organization. Unless SF was the only team that put up a decent contract, it’s rather puzzling why Kroon chose SF. It’s a great team that just won the World Series, but the chances of him stepping up to the Majors there looks somewhere near zero. Too many good pitchers both in the rotation and in the pen. Maybe he didn’t really care what with his age and (which got even more dismal) control.

    Oh, and is Huang that Taiwanese sidearm pitcher? If so, I think with a bit more improvement in command, Yomiuri may find more uses for him in the pen than the rotation. It always pays to have a sidearm with velocity in the pen, especially since Yomiuri isn’t exactly rich in bullpen depth right now.

  3. Ken
    Patrick
    28/01/2011 at 9:24 am Permalink

    I actually don’t think the Giants are such a terrible choice for Kroon. They have a good righty bullpen core of Romo/Casilla/Wilson, but after that there some uncertainties. Guillermo Mota wasn’t that great last year, Ramon Ramirez had a great ERA but was actually very shaky if you watched him. Chris Ray is gone, Brandon Medders is gone. He’ll open spring as probably the sixth or seventh bullpen righty on the depth chart but he could move up with the guys ahead of him.

    I think the sidearmer you’re thinking of is Lin, but he only played in two games last year and I didn’t actually see him. I did see Huang and he’s a more conventional righty sinkerballer.

  4. Ken
    Patrick Wilson
    28/01/2011 at 2:55 pm Permalink

    Could somebody explain what happened with Kamei?

    I find the move to the infield strange because you need to hit with some power if you play third or at least be a gold glove… So perhaps Kamei should be a utility guy, playing third, left, center, right and third…

    Of course, this is just my take of stats and no actual on the spot scouting.

  5. Ken
    EJH
    28/01/2011 at 5:43 pm Permalink

    Kroon has never struck me as the most intelligent sort of guy. Maybe he just got confused. He probably does not realize he signed with the wrong Giants. Same name, same uniforms.

  6. Ken
    Tye Ryal
    30/01/2011 at 4:11 pm Permalink

    Good luck Rusty keep us up to date . We are going miss watching u play
    Tye