In a personal appearance he did the other day, shortstop Hirokazu Ibata, who is coming off of his best year ever, stated that his goals for 2006 are 200 hits and to win both the OBP crowns and a Japan Series championship. Ibata, once an often frustratingly
incosistent performer, has prospered mightily under the tutelage of manager Hiromitsu Ochiai, batting .313 since Ochiai took the helm.

As for Ochiai himself, in an interview with Chunichi Sports today, he was pleased with the progress that his team has made over the last two seasons, though excused his charges' second place finish in 2005 by saying that a lot of rainy weather precluded the team from getting in the necessary pre-season practice sessions, contributing to slow starts by some of his players, especially second baseman Masahiro Araki. He also noted that "there is too much of a disparity" between the ability of his regulars and his bench players, but that the second stringers are slowly coming along to the point that he has more confidence in them than he once did. To be sure, if it is one thing that has marked the former multiple Triple Crown winner's tenure in Nagoya, it has been his masterful use of his players, often drawing clutch performances out of them, especially from fourth outfielder Hidenori Kuramoto. 

Hanshin In an exciting prospect for NPB geeks and the Japanese-American community, there are tentative discussions going on about having Yankee Stadium host a late March, 2009 faceoff between the Yomiuri Giants and the Tigers. The game would occur before the Yankees have their home opener. It would be the first ever regular season battle between two Japanese pro teams on American soil. In the past, Japanese teams have held games in Taiwan and, during the Sino-Japanese war, there were regular season games staged in Manchuria to boost the morale of the Japanese Imperial Army there. There had also been discusions about staging a regular season series in Korea, but concerns over money and logistics tabled those plans. It needs to be noted, however, that these discussions have been between the two teams involved and no talks have held with the Yankees about the subject.  

Leftfielder and league MVP Tomoaki Kanemoto, who was one of the chief reasons why his team was steamrollered by the Chiba Lotte Marines in the Japan Series this past season, not only hopes to rectify that by working out harder than he ever has before he has to report for spring training, but by surpassing Cal Ripken's world record for playing every inning of every game, which he has in sight in 2006. The Tigers front office is even tossing around the idea of inviting Ripken for the occasion if it happens. 

Yakult The smart money still seems to be on onetime Swallows lefthander Kazuhisa Ishii re-signing with the team, but both Ishii and his agent, Joe Urbon, are saying that there are four MLB clubs interested to go along with Yakult, Nippon Ham and Rakuten.
Moreover, there has been one report that would have seen one of the Japanese teams paying the big league walk king around $4.5 million despite the fact that he is older, has had a couple of shoulder procedures and no longer runs it up to the plate between 93-96 like he used to. While one can see a pitching desperate team such as Kansas City, who recently exported D.J. Carrasco to the Softbank Hawks, making an offer, it is hard to believe that they would match that purported Japanese number. But then again, the free agent spending this offseason has been ridiculous and it wouldn't be without the realm of possibility in that light.

Yomiuri Catcher Shinnosuke Abe has begged off of Japan's World Baseball Classic squad due to an aching shoulder. With Kenji Johjima wanting to devote his time right now to learning the tendencies of major league hitters and pitchers and now Abe exiting the scene, that leaves the Japanese contingent with the far less offensively potent Motonobu Tanishige (Chunichi),. Ryoji Aikawa (Yokohama) and Tomoya Satozaki (Lotte). With Tanishige being the best of the three from the standpoint of game calling and overall defense, he will likely be the number one backstop when the tourney kicks off. 

There is also a report that 2006 will be the last for third baseman Hiroki Kokubo in a Giants uni, as he is not only in the final year of a three year deal, but that there had been talks between Yomiuri and Softbank that cleared the way for Kokubo to end up back in Fukuoka in 2007. There has been some very tentative MLB interest in the 34 year old, though given his age, it is now unlikely that anyone would actually sign him for the kind of money he commands in Japan. But then again, the Twins signed Tony Batista after a lackluster debut Japanese campaign, though Batista just turned 32. 

Miscellaneous Will Kazuo Matsui be part of a four team blockbuster trade? Here is a quote from Florida radio stationWDAE:"In the proposed trade, the Rays would ship Baez to the Mets. The Mets would also get Ramirez from Boston, while sending Kris Benson to Baltimore. Meanwhile the O's would ship Tejada to Boston in exchange for pitcher Matt Clement, and they would acquire shortstop Julio Lugo from the Rays to fill the hole when Tejada leaves.The Rays would pick up some much-desired prospects in the deal, including Seo and Heilman from the Mets. The Mets would also reportedly send underachieving shortstop Kaz Matsui to the Rays as a stop-gap at shortstop until B.J. Upton is ready to fill the position. The Red Sox would also send prospect third basemen Andy Marte, acquired from Atlanta last month, to the Rays."