Thursday, April 5, 2018

2018 Seibu Lions: How the roster was built


The Saitama Seibu Lions roster was already set for 2018. It's already available in English, but the information is minimal. When scouring the Japanese site, you can see extra material, including where the player was drafted and / or where he played for previously.

Here is the entire Seibu Lions 70-man roster in English, where we've included when the player was taken, which round, what level he was drafted out of and the salary. We've also included the last team each player was part of, whether it was high school, university, the industrial league or another MLB organization/NPB team. 

Starting Pitchers: 

Yusei Kikuchi (16) [1st round draft pick, 2009] HS; {Hanamaki Higashi} ¥240 million
Ken Togame (21) [1st round draft pick, 2011] I; {JR East} ¥60 million
Brian Wolfe (54) [Free agent, 2016]* {Fukuoka Softbank Hawks} ¥50 million
Chun-Lin Kuo (69) [Free agent, 2014]* {Taiwanese National Team U23} ¥20 million
Kona Takahashi (17) [1st round draft pick, 2014] HS; {Maebashi Ikuei} ¥21.5 million
Shinsaburo Tawata (18) [1st round draft pick, 2015] U; {Fuji} ¥26 million
Keisuke Honda (45) [6th round draft pick, 2015] U; {Tohoku Gakuin} ¥7 million
Makoto Aiuchi (41) [2nd round draft pick, 2012] HS; {Chiba Kokusai} ¥5.5 million
Fabio Castillo (47) [Free agent, 2017]* {Los Angeles Dodgers} ¥102.6 million
Hayato Takagi (20) [Compensation for loss of Ryoma Nogami]& {Yomiuri Giants} ¥37 million
Yasuo Sano (34) [2nd round draft pick, 2014] U; {Heisei} ¥15 million
Tatsuya Imai (11) [1st round draft pick, 2016] HS; {Sakushin Gakuin} ¥13 million
Daiki Enokida (30) [Acquired in trade for Yosuke Okamoto]# ¥27 million

Relief Pitchers:  

Tatsushi Masuda (14) [1st round draft pick, 2012] I; {NTT West} ¥115 million
Shota Takekuma (48) [4th round high school draft pick, 2007] ^; {Asahikawa Kogyo} ¥70 million
Tomomi Takahashi (43) [4th round draft pick, 2012] I; {Seino Unyu} ¥38 million
Yosuke Okamoto (30) [6th round draft pick, 2009] I; {Yamaha} ¥23 million
Tatsuya Oishi (15) [1st round draft pick, 2010] U; {Waseda} ¥14 million
Hirotaka Koishi (29) [2nd round draft pick, 2011] I; {NTT East} ¥12.3 million
Shogo Noda (23) [3rd round draft pick ,2015] I; {Seino Unyu} ¥17 million
Seiji Kawagoe (26) [2nd round draft pick, 2015] U; {Hokkai Gakuen} ¥9.6 million
Tadasuke Minamikawa (59) [5th round draft pick, 2015] I; {JR Shikoku} ¥8.6 million
Takuya Toyoda (49) [3rd round draft pick, 2013] I; {TDK} ¥7.7 million
Ryohei Fujiwara (28) [3rd round university draft pick, 2007] ^; {Daichi Kogyo} ¥8.5 million
Kentaro Fukukura (50) [7th round draft pick, 2013] U; {Daichi Kogyo} ¥6.9 million
Tsubasa Kokuba (57) [8th round draft pick, 2015] U; {Daichi Kogyo} ¥5.5 million
Yusuke Tamamura (38) [4th round drafft pick, 2014] HS {Tsuruga Kehi} ¥5.1 million
Koki Fujita (67) [9th round draft pick, 2015] HS; {Hirosaki Kogyo} ¥5 million
Naoaki Matsumoto (66) [10th round draft pick, 2015] In; {Kagawa Olive Guyners} ¥5 million
Shunta Nakatsuka (22) [2nd round draft pick, 2016] U; {Hakuoh} ¥12 million
Katsunori Hirai (25) [5th round draft pick, 2016] I; {Honda Suzuka} ¥16 million
Ichiro Tamura (40) [6th round draft pick, 2016] U; {Rikkyo} ¥7.5 million
Neil Wagner (12) [Free agent]* {Tampa Bay Rays/New York Mets AAA} ¥91.2 million
Deunte Heath (68) [Free agent]* {Toyama Thunderbirds} ¥17.5 million

Rookie Pitchers: 

Hiromasa Saito (19) [1st round draft pick, 2017] U; {Meiji} ¥15 million
Sho Ito (36) [3rd round draft pick, 2017] In; {Tokushima Indigo Socks} ¥6.5 million
Kaima Taira (61) [4th round draft pick, 2017] HS; {Yaeyama Shoko} ¥6 million
Kaito Yoza (31) [5th round draft pick, 2017]U; {Gifu Keizai} ¥7 million

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Catchers:

Ginjiro Sumitani (27) [1st round high school pick, 2005] ^; {Heian} ¥110 million
Tomoya Mori (10) [1st round draft pick, 2013] HS; {Osaka Toin} ¥40 million
Masatoshi Okada (37) [6th round draft pick, 2013] I; {Osaka Gas} ¥23.5 million
Shota Nakata (64) [6th round high school draft pick, 2007] ^; {Naruto} ¥5.8 million
Hitoto Komazuki (62) [3rd round draft pick, 2011] HS; {Kyoto Shiritsu Tonan} ¥5.1 million
Komei Fujisawa (78) [Ikusei pick, 2011] iU; {Matsumoto} ¥5 million

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Infielders:

Ernesto Mejia (99) [Free agent, May 2014]* {Atlanta Braves AAA} ¥500 million
Takeya "Okawari-Kun" Nakamura (60) [2nd round draft pick, 2001] HS; {Osaka Toin} ¥280 million
Hideto Asamura (3) [3rd round draft pick, 2008] HS; {Osaka Toin} ¥210 million
Sosuke Genda (6) [3rd round draft pick, 2016] I; {Toyota Motors} ¥41 million
Hotaka Yamakawa (33) [2nd round draft pick, 2013] U; {Fuji} ¥32.4 million
Shuta Tonosaki (5) [3rd round draft pick, 2014] U {Fuji} ¥27 million
Kyohei Nagae (32) [4th round draft pick, 2011] HS {Nagasaki Kaisei} ¥12 million
Nien Ting Wu (39) [7th round draft pick, 2015] U; {Daichi Kogyo} ¥7.5 million
Haruka Yamada (52) [5th round draft pick, 2014] HS; {Saga Kogyo} ¥5.5 million
Kazuki Kaneko (56) [4th round draft pick, 2013] HS; {Fujisawa} ¥5.5 million
Daichi Mizuguchi (0) [Ikusei draft pick, 2012] iIn; {Kagawa Olive Guyners} ¥8.5 million

Rookie Infielder:

Ryusei Tsunashima (63) [6th round draft pick, 2017] HS; {Itoigawa Hakurei} ¥5 million


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Outfielders: 

Shogo Akiyama (55) [3rd round draft pick, 2010] U; {Hachinohe} ¥220 million
Takumi Kuriyama (1) [4th round draft pick, 2001] HS; {Ikuei} ¥130 million
Ryo Sakata (88) [4th round draft pick, 2008] U; {Hakodate} ¥12 million
Shogo Saito (65) [7th round high school draft pick, 2007] ^; {Kasukabe Kyoei} ¥12 million
Fumikazu Kimura (9) [1st round high school draft pick, 2006]^; {Saitama Sakae} ¥18.6 million
Masato Kumashiro (58) [6th round draft pick, 2010] I; {Oji Paper} ¥10 million
Aito Takeda (53) [4th round draft pick, 2015] HS; {Hanasaki Tokuharu} ¥6.5 million
Daisuke Togawa (71) [Ikusei pick, 2014] iHS; {Hokkai} ¥5 milllion
Yuji Kaneko (8) [3rd round draft pick, 2012] U; {Ritsumeikan} ¥50 million
Shohei Suzuki (46) [4th round draft pick, 2016] HS {Shizuoka} ¥6 million

Rookie Outfielder: 

Manaya Nishikawa (51) [2nd round pick, 2017] HS {Hanasaki Tokuharu} ¥7 million

Ikusei:

OF Wataru Takagi (121) [1st round ikusei pick, 2017] HS {Shiritsu Shinsokan} ¥3 million
C Masato Saito (122) [2nd round ikusei pick, 2017] U {Hokkaido Kyoiku Iwamizawa} ¥4 million

===

Legend: 

U - Drafted out of University/College

I - Drafted out of Industrial League (Shakaijin)

In - Drafted out of Independent League

HS - Drafted out of High School

^ - Drafted in a year where High School and University drafts were separate. From 2005-2007, those taken in high school were separated from those taken out Universities or Industrial/Independent League teams.
  
* - Foreign import signing  

& - Free Agent compensation selection

# - Acquired by trade

i - Ikusei draft pick. It's similar to how an NFL practice squad works, except they're drafted in an ikusei round after the initial NPB Draft.  For more information, you can click here. The Lions currently have no one on their ikusei roster and have three former picks promoted to the 70-man roster.

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Lastly, here is the coaching staff of the Lions both at the ichi-gun and ni-gun level. This is listed on the Lions website.  

Head Manager (Supervisor) 
85 Hatsuhiko Tsuji (田辺 徳雄)

Ichi-gun Coaches
73 Hideki Hashigami (橋上 秀樹) - Head Coach
80 Shigenobu Shima (嶋 重宣) – Batting
76 Masahiro Abe (阿部 真宏) - Batting
84 Kosaku Akimoto (秋元 宏作) – Battery
72 Yoshihiro Doi (土肥 義弘) – Pitching
74 Fumiya Nishiguchi (西口 文也) – Farm Pitching^
83 Toshifumi Baba (馬場 敏史) – Infield defense and Base-running (3B coach)
70 Tomoaki Sato (佐藤 友亮) – Outfield defense and Base-running (1B coach)
92 Shinobu Sakamoto (坂本 忍) – Trainer
98 Takafumi Sato (里 隆文) – Trainer

Ni-gun Coaches 
86 Tetsuya Shiozaki (潮崎 哲也) - Farm Manager
75 Hiroyuki Takagi (高木 浩之) – Farm Hitting and Head Coach
90 Kento Sugiyama (杉山 賢人) – Farm Pitching
91 Ming-Chieh Hsu (许铭杰) – Farm Pitching*
82 Kosuke Noda (野田 浩輔) – Farm Battery*
87 Satoshi Kuroda (黒田 哲史) – Farm infield defense and base-running
77 Shogo Akada (赤田 将吾) – Farm outfield defense and base-running
81 Takanori Hoshi (星 孝典) – Ikusei and development
95 Haruki Kurokawa (黒川 春樹) – Farm Trainer
96 Kenta Kudo (工藤 建太) – Farm Trainer

* New coach
^ Promoted to ichi-gun

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