Shinji Mori Posted

According to Hochi Sports today, the Seibu Lions have suddenly posted righthand reliever Shinji Mori. Mori has wanted to be posted for a couple of years now and his negotiations after the 2004 season were quite rancorous due to this issue.

The league hit only .234 against Mori in 2005, but he nonetheless finished with an ERA well over 4.00, even though his hits and homers totals weren't too bad, and his WHIP was average at slightly under 1.30. He is 31.

He has pretty decent stuff, a fastball that, when he is on, will top out at 94mph and a tremendous forkball. However, it appears that his command has been a trifle inconsistent over the last two years after he had been one of NPB's premier setup men between 2000-2003.

When you look at how hard the Lions' bullpen got hit this year, and they are about to lose Toyoda, Mori's departure has to be due to management getting tired of him and deciding to at least get some cash for him before he leaves as a free agent after next season. Moreover, it lends Matsuzaka more ammunition in his negotiations with management since Mori's numbers lately in no way indicate that he is a good candidate for MLB.

So right now, unless somebody really steps up, the Lions' and Giants' bullpens will probably be equally as horrible in 2006.