Akamatsu for Arai

I would say that it might be a bit much to say Akamatsu will be a better player than Arai, but it was a great loss and a piece of prize stupidity not to protect Akamatsu.

Arai is a different kind of player from Akamatsu. The comparison is not right to the point.

Also, the Hanshin Tigers have Akahoshi Norihiro, but the Hiroshima Toyo Carp do not have such kind of players, specially among outfielders.

It is a tough comparison, granted, but I would bet you that from the start of this season to the end of their careers, Akamatsu will produce more value than Arai, who is now in the decline phase of his career.

Akamatsu is still capable of significant growth, and I really believe that his minor league decline was caused by Hanshin's lack of interest in him. I understand their dilemma with Lin, Sakurai, Kida, and Akamatsu all coming up at the same time. The Tigers' mistake was in giving up on Kida and Akamatsu. They went into decline on the farm and ended up being giving away for nothing.

I guarantee you they could have gotten some real value for Akamatsu 1 1/2 years ago from the Marines.

Arai may take a year to adjust to playing in Koshien, as Kanemoto did, but he is past his prime now and has no speed to start with.

Kida and Akamatsu both suffered from Okada's prejudices. As I have said, the failure to protect Akamatsu was a piece of gross stupidity. Whilst Kida was merely useful, Akamatsu had the potential to develop into something special.

However, with Arai you maybe underestimate him. He has shown considerable speed (surprising me) and has shown he is one of the Tigers who can steal bases (the other two being Akahoshi and Hirano). He has also shown great speed around the bases and that he is adjusting very quickly. Arai is a match winner rather than a contributer like Akamatsu.

That said, I would have liked Akamatsu as a leadoff because I think he could be similar to Aoki.

I would like to think I have underestimated Arai, because with one exception, he has been friendly, thoughtful, and talkative - which is gold in my business.

The exception was in Okinawa, where he just looped through a rote answer and wouldn't vary. He'd probably heard the questions before.

The talk among Tigers fans is that, whilst Arai is nice he is also sensitive. In fact, Hoshino asked the Koshien fans to go easy on him and not to tease him (as they are prone to do with other players). The Osaka sense of humor can be incredibly biting.

Yes, he is sensitive. That's why his batting stats fell when he became a cleanup hitter for the first time after Kanemoto left the Hiroshima Carp.