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Here's what some of the members
of the Japan baseball media thought about the season prior to Opening Day 2008.
(We'll keep this up until shortly before the next season, so you can see how
they did.)
From the Yomiuri
Shimbun Online
Tokyo
Yakult Swallows -- Predicted
Finish: 5
Swallows manager Shigeru Takada is going back to
his roots. At Jingu Stadium, where he played for Meiji University, and back in
the Central League, where he starred for the Yomiuri Giants, things must seem
awfully familiar to the man who helped shape two straight PL titles as GM of the
Fighters.
The Swallows are sort of a poor man's version of
the Fighters. They are fast, young, extremely good at catching the ball
and--like his 2007 PL champs--entering a season following a serious talent
drain, having lost both top RBI man Alex Ramirez and 16-win pitcher Seth
Greisinger to local rival Yomiuri. If that weren't enough, the CL's cellar
dwellers from 2007 also forfeited lefty Kazuhisa Ishii to the Saitama Seibu
Lions as a free agent.
Greisinger and Ishii combined for over 375
innings and the Swallows followed their losses by dealing away their fourth
starter, Shugo Fujii (123 innings) to the Fighters, leaving a vast shortage in
Yakult's arm inventory.
Takada's answer to the problem has been youth,
speed, and a South Korean shopping spree.
In South Korea, Yakult found Daniel Rios (22-5
with Doosan) and former Samsung closer Lim Chang Yong, while the starting
rotation could include a pair of rookies, teenager Yoshinori Sato and college
star Mikinori Kato along with 25-year-old right-hander Kenichi Matsuoka and
20-year-old right-hander Kyohei Muranaka.
On the other side, Yakult acquired veteran
outfielder Kazuki Fukuchi and Fighters minor leaguer Keizo Kawashima.
Both have speed to burn as does center fielder
and two-time batting champ Norichika Aoki, second baseman Hiroyasu Tanaka and
utility man Yasushi Iihara.
The Swallows have more growth potential than any
one and could be the surprise of the season.
-----
From
Jason Coskrey of The
Japan Times
Former Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters manager Trey Hillman
was fond of saying he was "focusing on the guys still here" last year
when questioned about the players the Fighters were missing from the 2006
championship team.
New Yakult manager and former Fighters General Manager
Shigeru Takada may find himself repeating that statement often as he takes over
a team that incurred massive losses.
Takada will be without the services of All-Stars Seth
Greisinger and Alex Ramirez, as well as pitcher Kazuhisa Ishii, as he tries to
lead the Swallows back to their glory days.
There is some pop in the lineup, even without Ramirez,
with Aaron Guiel, who finished second in the league with 35 home runs in 2007,
and CL batting champion Norichika Aoki (.346) still roaming the outfield.
In the infield, Yakult will be hoping Adam Riggs can put
up big numbers and that second baseman Hiroyasu Tanaka can become an offensive
threat alongside veteran shortstop Shinya Miyamoto.
Ryo Ishikawa, Masanori Ishikawa and Kenichi Matsuoka will
likely be asked to shoulder much of the load for the pitching staff with the
hope that highly touted youngster Yoshinori Sato and Tatsuyoshi Masubuchi can
have solid seasons.
The Swallows also brought in Daniel Rios, who was last
year's Korean Baseball Organization MVP and could become the top pitcher in the
Swallows rotation.
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