One of the hardest news times in sports is ongoing in NPB. It's the annual time of the year where several players are senryokugai, meaning they won't be offered a contract for next season and will become free agents. Majority of these names will not be in baseball much longer after a formal tryout.
The Saitama Seibu Lions made the final cuts of players not returning for 2021 on Friday. Here is the full list of players who won't be on the 70-man roster for next season:
Shinsaburo Tawata, 27, is the most significant name of this list given he was a first round draft pick in 2015 and was the Pacific League wins leader of 2018. An injury and poor performance led to an awful 2019 and he wasn't physically fit for majority of 2020 to be under contract. Unlike everyone else listed, Tawata will return to the Lions organization under a ikusei contract, hoping to recover and reach full condition.
Kyohei Nagae, 27, was known as one of the best defensive infielders on the team. He appeared in 99 ichi-gun games for 2013, but his bat held him back from being a starter. Once Sosuke Genda emerged as a regular infielder in 2017, Nagae became expendable and he didn't appear in an ichi-gun game in 2020. He was originally a 2011 fourth round draft pick out of high school.
Daichi Mizuguchi, 31, was the first ikusei in Lions history to play in an ichi-gun game. Initially taken in the ikusei draft of 2012 out of the Shikoku Island League, he earned promotion to the 70-man roster in the middle of the 2015 season and made his debut in 2016. He was a decent part-time player in 2017, but fell out of favor when the infield was stable and other bench players took his spot. Mizuguchi was mostly a pinch runner.
Shogo Noda, 27, was a shakaijin third round draft pick in 2015. He initially had success in middle relief as a lefty specialist, but his innings went down in 2019 in favor of Ryuya Ogawa. In 2020, he had an inherited runner situation where he walked multiple batters and failed to record an out. His ERA wasn't hit, but he couldn't stay at the ichi-gun for long as other passed him on the depth chart. Noda was also a productive middle reliever in the during the 2016 Melbourne Aces season.
Makoto Aiuchi, 26, was suspended for being involved with breaking COVID-19 team rules when going golfing. He had several law breaking incidents, including drinking underage and driving without a license. In 21 ichi-gun games from 2014; 2016-2019, he recorded only 43 innings where he had low leverage and spot start outings. He had a career 10.45 ERA and plans to become a fighter. Aiuchi was initially a second round pick in 2012 and spent two stints with the Melbourne Aces.
Koki Fujita, 22, was a ninth round draft pick out of high school in 2015. He had an injury early on in his career and couldn't impress coaches in ni-gun. Fujita had zero ichi-gun appearances through five seasons with the Lions organization.
Yuto Morikoshi, 32, was signed by the Lions last offseason after the Hanshin Tigers let him go. He was initially on the Chunichi Dragons for four years and this is his third time becoming senryokugai. Morikoshi stayed in ni-gun the entire time with the Lions as others ended up being defensive replacements in front of him on the depth chart.
Tsubasa Kokuba, 26, was drafted by the Lions in the eighth round of 2015. He saw several meaningful innings in 2019 with a bullpen shortage and ended the year on a high note, including his only career win. Kokuba couldn't keep that momentum in 2020 as he saw low leverage outings and couldn't keep his status at the ichi-gun.
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With these recent players not returning, it's reflective of how poorly the 2015 draft class has aged. Going pick by pick, here's how it looks:
Round 1: P Shinsaburo Tawata: Now an Ikusei
Round 2: P Seiji Kawagoe: Converted to outfielder and has been below average with his bat.
Round 3: P Shogo Noda: Senryokugai after 2020
Round 4: OF Aito Takeda: Part-time outfielder who saw very little time due to poor hitting in 2020.
Round 5: P Tadasuke Minamikawa: Senryokugai after 2019
Round 6: P Keisuke Honda: Rotation starter
Round 7: IF Nien Ting Wu: Part-time infielder, started games to end 2020.
Round 8: P Tsubasa Kokuba: Senryokugai after 2020
Round 9: P Koki Fujita: Senryokugai after 2020
Round 10: P Naoaki Matsumoto: Senryokugai after 2019
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