Kuehnert to be Dismissed from GM Position

I'm amazed. Just when you think Japanese baseball will change, it is the same old game.

I can't believe Rakuten only gave Kuehnert about 6 months (and only 1 month since the season started) to see what he could do with that team. Sure, most of the foreign players that he signed are worthless, but come on, give the man a little more time. This is worse than the Giants giving up on Miceli after only 4 appearances.

I wonder why Kuehnert didn't go after an American manager to lead the team. He went after Kakefu and then hired Tao after Kakefu rejected his offer. Tao seems like a really nice guy, but it makes you wonder if the players on that team - mostly veterans - aren't taking advantage of Tao.

Poor Kuehnert - he never seems to succeed in the world of baseball. His stint with the Birmingham Barons lasted only 2 years I think, although he was lucky enough to have Michael Jordan on his team when he was there.

To go with the reassignment of Kuehnert, Rakuten has moved head coach Daisuke Yamashita to manage the farm team, farm team manager Masanori Matsui will take over for Yamashita, batting coach Norihiro Komoda will be demoted to the farm team (Komoda will take over as batting coach for Rakuten's ni-gun team), and farm team batting coach Koju Hirohashi will take over as batting coach. [Link - Daily Yomiuri]

I am digusted with the Rakuten Golden Eagles. There is nothing golden about them. They blame their poor start on Mr. Kuehnert and a few foreign players. How dare they blame Mr. Kuehnert and the few foreign players for the team's poor start? Manager Toad, I mean Tao, said that Mr. Kuehnert didn't have enough connections inside and outside of Japanese baseball. If that really is true, couldn't Rakuten have figured that out before hiring him?

As, for the team's poor start, maybe Manager Tao isn't a good manager. Maybe if Iwakuma's ERA wasn't over 7.00. Maybe if Ichiba wasn't sent down to the minors. Maybe if the team batting average was higher than .225 and the team ERA was lower than 6.26. Maybe if the team wasn't a compilation of Orix and Kintetsu rejects. Then maybe this team would be better.

But to just blame a few foreigners for the whole team's poor start is cowadice. I say to Rakuten management "You are a bunch of cowards." Take responsibility for the team's bad start.

I totally agree with you Dylan. Rakuten panicked and needed a scapegoat, so Kuehnert took the fall. I thought Tao's comment was totally idiotic, but then I realized that Mikitani probably put him up to it. What does having connections in Japanese baseball have to do with running a baseball team? Once you become general manager you automatically make connections and deal with other teams.

Rakuten is obviously a poorly run team and this decision to fire Kuehnert probably set the team back about 5 years.

This development certainly appears to have the word "ugly" written all over it, especially with such enigmatic explanations about the dismissal. Everyone should know that "expansion team" is a synonym for "patience." But I am curious to hear more details before making conclusions. Let's have more information on this striking and important situation.

The part about "connections" is most galling. Several of MLB's recent GMs have been enormously successful without traditional experience - Oakland's much-admired Billy Beane was an unknown when he took over the GM duties; the Cubs' Jim Hendry never played or coached in the majors but worked his way up through his post as director of minor league operations; and Boston's Theo Epstein was a child by baseball management standards when he became GM at the age of 28!

Connections, schmonnections! The foreign players haven't been any more awful than the rest of the team and Kuehnert is being used as the scapegoat for the Eagles' poor play.