Sean Douglass to Carp?

I haven't heard anything about Douglass and signing with the Carp.

Though if he was to sign, it would probably mean that Romano and Rayborn probably won't return at least. Davey will most likely return as he had a decent year going 6-6 with a 2.98 ERA in 18 games. [2005 Carp Stats - Borisov's Pro Yakyu]

It sounds like more than a decent year. I'm not sure how many other pitchers finished with under a 3.00 ERA with over 100 innings pitched. Especially playing for a team like the Carp who are terrible defensively and very inconsistent on the offense. Romano fared alright. I personally thought he was better as a reliever and Rayborn was just too inconsistent.

Also, with Kuroda, Davey, and Ohtake in the rotation, I think the Carp have the best 1-2-3 punch in the league. Look for Ohtake to break out this year and Kuroda will continue to get better. Take Bale out of the closer's role and put him in the rotation and this might be the best rotation.

Sorry I missed this, I just checked the Hochi Sports web site, and indeed there is a report about the Carp having interest in Sean Douglas. Apparently the Carp have been interested in him since Spring of this year, and the Carp owner stated that they were heading into negotiations. Marty Brown stated that he'd be going with a 5 man rotation, but no details as to which pitchers would be starters. The report was dated November 4, so I don't know any information further than that.

[Original article from Hochi Sports (in Japanese)]

Here is a link to some stats on Douglass. He had an awesome 2005 in Toledo. [Link - Roto Wire]

If the Carp have a 5 man roatation, who would the number 5 be? Douglas, Kuroda, Ohtake - after that I can't think of another two.

I have heard that they will go with a 5 man rotation. Get's a bit thin after the 1st three guys, but just guessing it will be Ohshima and either Oyamada, Hasegawa, Romano, or maybe even Sasaoka. By the way, do the other two gaijin kantouku, Bobby and Hillman, use 5 man rotations?

The Hiroshima Carp and Sean Douglas have come to an agreement on a one year contract. Sean will receive $500,000 plus incentives, and is expected to join the starting rotation. [Original article from Nikkan Sports (in Japanese)]

The problem with Hiroshima is that unless Katsuhiro Nagakawa begins to take off (and he has the stuff to do it, just not the command as yet), they have middle relief of little value. Sasaoka is just flat done. Hasegawa and Takahashi are longball throwing machines. Kanei Kobayashi retired due to elbow problems.

That isn't helped by the fact that their shortstop situation is unresolved, and their outfield defense is deteriorating as Maeda and Ogata get older. Also, Shima is largely a creation of his home ballpark (look at his home/road homer splits, for example) and is largely a liability at the plate at all the road parks except Jingu.

And, to make up for losing LaRocca, third year second baseman Yoshinori Ogata will have to start having monster years right now (if they had kept LaRocca, they could have moved Ogata to short since Takuya Kimura and Akihiro Higashide aren't the answers there by a long shot).

Can Kurihara hit anyone but the Giants? Kuroda has some of the best stuff in the league, but Ohtake is inconsistent and I would be more comfortable by having Oyamada and Bale change places. Which Ishihara will show up this year?

Marty really has his work cut out for him. Gambatte!

Ogata had his third knee surgery and is probably unable to play shortstop. More likely they will give Matsumoto or newly drafted Soyogi a shot at short. That position is still a weak spot.

No doubt the outfield is getting older, but they are still all quality offensive players. Suenaga is the only future starter I can see within the organization in the outfield.

You are absolutely correct about the bullpen, that's why Bale will probably stay in the closer's role. Plus Oyamada has been nursing a sore shoulder. Umetsu, Yokoyama, Satake, and Nagakawa will need to hold it down for the starters, who aren't that deep either (Kuroda, Ohtake, Douglass, Ohshima?, and ???).

Well, how can anyone expect too much with the way the draft system work nowadays? Idiotic. You can't realistically expect parity with this system. What ever happened to worst team picks first, best team picks last? That's it.

Anyway, Brown does have his work cut out for him, but he has nowhere to go but up.