He did not make the Opening Day roster. Not sure what his future will be. He never worked out for the Reds and may be moving on. He just couldn't adjust to the American majors. Maybe a change of scenery will help. I personally never felt comfortable with him at the plate.

Shogo couldn't hit the major league fastball, but he definitely had a good glove. I credit the Reds for finally dipping into the Japanese player pool and hope the bad outcome doesn't make them shy away from it in the future.

(04-04-2022, 09:58 AM)TecmoBengals Wrote: Shogo couldn't hit the major league fastball, but he definitely had a good glove. I credit the Reds for finally dipping into the Japanese player pool and hope the bad outcome doesn't make them shy away from it in the future.

Oh yes he made some great catches out there. Just as you say couldn't get around on the fastball.

He is 34 years old. He could go to Reds minors, but don't count on it. Are there other American teams that want him, probably not. However Japan teams would love him to come home to Japan where he is kind of a Star.

Now where this leaves Reds on his over paid contract, I do not know. Are there clauses if he refuses to go to Reds minors and quits the Reds to seek out another American team or a Japanese team. I would think the Reds have to pay him until he quits, but like any job, once you quit, you quit. It is not like getting fired or cut if you quit. This has bearing on Unemployment in USA, you do not get Unemployment money if you Quit. We have seen players on high salaries retire, which is a variation of quitting, and teams no longer have to pay the remainder of contract. So he can go to Reds minors and keep getting paid pretty good money, or he can probably go back to Japan and play and make maybe even more money. My guess he goes back to Japan, where he is treated like a Hall Of Famer and gets the Red Carpet treatment. Better to be a star in his homeland than be a nobody in Nashville Tennessee.

i want to roll out 2 important numbers. 28 and .182 and what they are. 28 is how many players the Reds can have on their roster. .182 is Akiyomo's batting average and his OBP this Spring after getting more at bats than most to make the team.

Now we can talk about his GLOVE all you want, but he has never hit a homer in the USA and this Spring his BA and OBP is floundering at .182 and so he just stinks at the plate. He doesn't hit for power or average or OBP. The Reds that stole all the bases, Billy Hamilton, he had a much better GLOVE than Akiyomo. MUCH BETTER. If you can't Hit, you don't stay.

Also the Reds have players ripping the cover off the ball this Spring. Schrock has an OBP of .630 and i would make a huge list of Reds this Spring with an OBP over .400 or at least over .300 in a good amount of Spring at bats. So how can The Reds in dire need of Hitting with Castellano, Winker and Suarez gone justify sending away players getting on base and keeping Akiyomo not getting on base ? They couldn't.

I Give Reds Credit. I didn't think they had the smarts or guts to send his weak bat down and keep a player hitting or pitching better that Reds need more.

I can not cry for Akiyomo. If he goes back to Japan, he will be treated like a God in his home Nation. In Japan, he has Rock Star Status. The upside for Reds is, if he fails to go to Minors and goes back to Japan, that should mean Reds do not have to pay rest of his contract and that money could be used for other Reds payroll needs. I see it as a Win /Win for Akiyama and Reds if he refuses to go Reds Minors and goes back to a Japanese team where he will be treated like Royalty in every place he goes. Better to be a Super Star in Tokyo than to be a nobody playing in Small Town USA Minors like a 34 year old has been. As Dorothy would tell him, " There's No Place Like Home " . ET, Phone Home.