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Free Agents

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Free Agents
This is the list of free agents to which I'm knowledgeable of. Note these players qualify for free agency. If there are any I forgot, please let me know. I didn't add ones that were re-signed by their teams like Maeda of the Giants.

As for the FA schedule, you should read this post from the 2004-05 Free Agents topic.

Giants- (5)

IF- Akira Etoh
1B- Kazuhiro Kiyohara
P- Kimiyasu Kudoh
3B- Hiroki Kobuko
OF- Tuffy Rhodes

Swallows- (5)

IF- Katsuyuki Dobashi
C- Atsuya Furuta-(re-signed as player-manager of the Yakult Swallows)
SS- Shinya Miyamoto
P- Tatsuki Yamamoto
P- Futoshi Yamabe

Baystars- (4)

IF- Takuro Ishii
IF- Takehiro Saeki
IF- Hitoshi Taneda
IF- Takashi Manei

Dragons- (4)

P- Eiji Ochiai
IF- Kazuyoshi Tatsunami
P- Masahiro Yamamoto
OF- Kazuki Inoue

Tigers- (4)

P- Hiroshi Ishige
IF- Teruyoshi Kuji
OF- Kojiro Machida
C- Akihiro Yano

Carp- (6)

IF- Itsuki Asai
OF- Koichi Ogata
OF- Takuya Kimura
P- Shinji Sasaoka
P- Ken Takahashi
OF- Tomonori Maeda

Eagles- (12)

OF- Tetsuya Iida
IF- Koichi Ohshima
P- Yasuyuki Kawamoto
P- Makato Kitoh
P- Hideo Koike
IF- Tadahuru Sakai
OF- Koichi Sekikawa
P- Hiroshi Takamura
C- Takeshi Nakamura
IF- Osamu Hoshino
P- Toyohiko Yoshida
P- Masahiko Kaneda

Lions- (5)

IF- Hiroaki Ueda
P- Fimuya Nishiguchi
P- Takashi Ishii
IF- Hiroyuki Takagi
P- Kiyoshi Toyoda

Marines- (5)

OF- Tetsuya Kakiuchi
IF- Kiyoshi Hatsushiba-(Going to retire)
IF- Koichi Hori
OF- Kenji Morozumi
OF- Jun Inoue

Buffaloes- (4)

C- Tetsuya Matoyama
IF- Eiji Mizuguchi
C- Kosuke Yoshihara
OF- Yoshitomo Tani

Hawks- (6)

OF- Tatsuya Ide
OF- Noriyoshi Ohmichi
C- Masanori Taguchi
IF- Yusuke Torigoe
P- Shuji Yoshida
C- Kenji Johjima

Source: 2005 Free Agent Qualifiers - Official NPB Site - in Japanese
Comments
Re: Free Agents
[ Author: Guest: baseballfan | Posted: Oct 21, 2005 1:04 PM ]

Have any of these guys mentioned whether they have interest coming to the States? I've heard Johjima wants to come, anyone else?
Re: Free Agents
[ Author: locked_up | Posted: Oct 21, 2005 3:03 PM | SL Fan ]

I heard Fumiya Nishiguchi from a Seattle Mariners' forum.
Re: Free Agents
[ Author: Deanna | Posted: Oct 22, 2005 5:39 AM | NIP Fan ]

Brooks-san, you forgot the Fighters.

Yoshinori Ueda
Makoto Kaneko
Yukio Tanaka
Satoshi Nakajima
Tsutomo Ishimoto

I have to admit that I'm a little out of touch with what's going on with the team as I started following Lotte instead in the second half of the year, but the only retirement I heard of was Kazuteru Shimada. I would think Yukio Tanaka would stick around another year and try for 2,000 hits (he's up to what, 1,967?).
Re: Free Agents
[ Author: Guest: Jeremy Gelman | Posted: Oct 22, 2005 11:22 PM ]

Hi, Marines fan here. I heard Kazuya Fukuura wants to go to the majors sometime. I personally don't think he'd be that great there and I'd hate to see him leave the Marines, but hey, it would be cool!
Re: Free Agents
[ Author: Guest | Posted: Oct 24, 2005 8:40 AM ]

What foreigners are free agents?
Re: Free Agents
[ Author: Guest: Guest | Posted: Nov 11, 2005 7:56 AM ]

RHP Jeremy Powell, of the Orix Buffaloes, is a free agent at the end of this season.
Re: Free Agents
[ Author: Ogasawara2 | Posted: Oct 26, 2005 10:43 PM | HNHF Fan ]

Hi, I'm Fighters fan.

Shimada is retired, and with him, they decided to retire two pitchers, Iwamoto and Shibakusa, and catcher Yamada. Iwamoto wanted to continue to be with the Fighters, but the Fighters want young people, so then he decided to retire.

About Yukio Tanaka, I think he'll be another year with the Fighters to try for 2,000 hits because he's very near to this number.

See you!
Re: Free Agents
[ Author: Guest: Kuma | Posted: Oct 26, 2005 1:25 PM ]

I guess this is purely a rumor, but my brother (who does not follow NPB) said he heard something about the New York Mets pursuing a Japanese catcher. Yano was the first guy that came to mind, being one of my favorite NPB players. He then said his name was "like Ya-something." When I suggested Yano of the Tigers he said that was it.

So take that for what it is. I haven't seen any articles like that at all. But my brother doesn't know anything about NPB and came up with this somehow.
Re: Free Agents
[ Author: BigManZam | Posted: Oct 26, 2005 5:33 PM | CLM Fan ]

Yano is a good player for the Tigers, but I don't know. It seems like the Mets' Japanese scouts aren't too good. They've had Shinjo, Komiyama, Yoshii, Matsui, Ishii, and Takatsu. None of those guys are/were impact players in the U.S. Who knows what Nori would've been like if he signed with the Mets.

I think the next great Japanese player will either be Johjima or an ace starter like Kuroda or Matsuzaka.
Re: Free Agents
[ Author: JBKuma | Posted: Oct 26, 2005 9:33 PM | CLM Fan ]

I have found an article about a free agent catcher that the Mets might be interested in, but it's not Yano it's Johjima. [Link - Boston.com]
The Mets, Dodgers, and Mariners are expected to be interested.
I wonder how high the bidding will go on this one. There are a couple young free agents in the MLB that are expected to draw interest, too.
Re: Free Agents
[ Author: Guest: John Brooks | Posted: Oct 30, 2005 9:16 AM ]

Dragons catcher Motonobu Tanishige will file for free agency, but will sign a multi-year contract to stay with the Dragons. [Full Story - Daily Yomiuri]
Re: Free Agents
[ Author: Guest: John Brooks | Posted: Oct 30, 2005 9:20 AM ]

Dragons' pitcher Shigeki Noguchi is expected to file for free agency, and will the test the market. The Hanshin Tigers and Yomiuri Giants, along with several other teams, are said to be interested in Noguchi. [Full Story - Japan Ball]
Re: Free Agents
[ Author: Christopher | Posted: Oct 30, 2005 8:04 PM | HAN Fan ]

Given his record, I would expect the Tigers to steer clear of him. What is of interest is that Kroon might become available (things are not finalised with the BayStars). I would hope that they go for Kroon rather than Noguchi.
Re: Free Agents
[ Author: Guest: Jim Albright | Posted: Nov 4, 2005 11:32 PM ]

I'm doing my annual article on free agents who might come to MLB, and one thing I lack is Fukudome's 2005 salary (I don't think Fukudome is at all likely this year, but is a "Player to Watch" for the future). If someone can help, I'd appreciate it.

Jim Albright

[Editor's note: Fukudome signed late with Chunichi and his salary was not included in many of the pre-season Player Meikans. If anyone has it from another source, it would be greatly appriciated.]
Re: Free Agents
[ Author: Guest: John Brooks | Posted: Nov 6, 2005 2:49 AM ]

Seibu Lions' closer Kiyoshi Toyoda filed for free agency, Friday. So far the Yomiuri Giants are showing interest in the right hander. Toyoda went 3-1 with 19 saves and a 3.97 ERA this year with the Lions. [Full Story - Japan Ball]
Re: Free Agents
[ Author: Guest: Jim Albright | Posted: Nov 6, 2005 11:44 AM ]

I ran a Google search and found a Japan Times article indicating they signed him for 2-oku yen for the second year in a row.

Jim Albright
Re: Free Agents
[ Author: Guest: John Brooks | Posted: Nov 9, 2005 9:51 PM ]

Baseball sources have said that free agent pitcher Shigeki Noguichi has decided to join the Yomiuri Giants. He's expected to agree on a deal with Yomiuri by the end of this month. [Full Story - Japan Ball]
Re: Free Agents
[ Author: Guest: John Brooks | Posted: Nov 9, 2005 9:52 PM ]

As expected, Hanshin catcher Akihiro Yano will stay with the Tigers. [Full Story - Japan Ball]
Re: Free Agents
[ Author: Guest: John Brooks | Posted: Nov 9, 2005 9:54 PM ]

Catcher Motonobu Tanashige will stay with the Dragons and was re-signed to a 3 year, 220 million (2.2-oku) yen deal, plus peformance-related bonuses. [Full Story - Japan Ball]
Re: Free Agents
[ Author: Guest: Jim Albright | Posted: Nov 10, 2005 1:37 AM ]

Though I posted in another thread about all four new articles I put up on baseballguru.com, I think this is an appropriate place to say I've posted my annual review of Japanese league free agents who might come to MLB here

Enjoy!

Jim Albright
Re: Free Agents
[ Author: Guest | Posted: Nov 10, 2005 3:20 AM ]

He will actually earn 220 million next year, not over the course of the three years.
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