Dragons Sign Former-Dodger Alex Guerrero

Per yakyudb, Chunichi has signed Alex Guerrero

He's spent most of his recent time at 3B and outfield.
At first glance, I like his swing, I think he could do well

Here is a highlight video (note home runs against Madison Bumgartner and Hisashi Iwakuma)

Here is his Baseball Reference Bio

Jordan Norberto Highlights Comp

Some highlights of the newly signed Dragons pitcher from his stint in the Major Leagues.
Posted by Youtube member Pisty Chan

Dragons Bid Farewell to Yamamoto, Wada, Ogasawara and Tanishige (As a Player)

Over the last few weeks several Dragons from the over-40 crowd have announced their retirements, including long-time Dragons Masa Yamamoto, Kazuhiro Wada and Motonobu Tanishige.

Yamamoto, the oldest of the group, was unable to contribute much this year though continues to set records each time he pitches due to his age.  News reports suggest that he will make his final appearance in Chunichi's final game this week.  Yamamoto made his NPB debut back in 1986 and was a consistent member Chunichi's rotation from the late 80's until 2008.  He's pitched infrequently for the last several years with varying degrees of success.  He will be remembered as a Dragons' legend and is one of my favorite Dragons players.

Wada, who I believe should be a future Hall-of-Famer, will retire at the age of 43 after 10 years with the Lions and 8 years with the Dragons.  He is the newest member of the meikyukai, reaching 2000 hits this summer.  He finishes his career still being a productive offensive player, and as one of the more consistent and clutch performers in recent Dragons history.  He grew up in Gifu and had always hoped to be a Dragon.  His dream became a reality when he signed as free agent prior to the 2008 NPB season.  He immediately replaced the production of the departed Kosuke Fukudome and has been one Chunichi's best hitters since.  He will be missed.

Tanishige, Chunichi's current player/manager, will retire as a player but continue in his role as manager.  He is currently under contract for two more years as a manager.  He played in a limited role as a player this year, but finished offensively on a high note, posting his highest batting average since 1999.  He was supposed to play a limited role last year as well but was forced into action by the ineffectiveness of Chunichi's other catchers.  He's had amazing longevity as a catcher, and a very impressive career.  He's also a member of the Meikyukai, due mainly to his longevity, but to do so as a catcher is still extremely impressive.  Hopefully with a focus only on managing he can get the Dragons turned around next year.

Ogasawara joined the Dragons only two years ago after long stints with Nippon Ham and Yomiuri.  He's been an extraordinary pinch-hitter in those two years, matching his average career numbers in batting average and on-base percentage as a pinch-hitter, something not easy to do.  He's an NPB legend based on what he did for other teams, but was certainly a useful player for the Dragons in his role. 

Dragons' Starting Rotation Announced

Per Nikkan Sports and yakyubaka the following pitchers will make up the Dragons starting rotation to begin the year:

Daisuke Yamai - Coming off the best season of his career, hopefully he can follow it up with another quality season

Raul Valdes - New foreign player, he has been very impressive throughout the preseason.

Kenta Asakura -  Not sure why he was included, he hasn't had a successful season at ichi-gun since 2009

Yudai Ohno - Currently the most promising young starter Chunichi has

Tomoya Yagi - Free agent pickup, most recently with Orix.  He's had a nice preseason and earned his spot.  My wife has been rooting for him since she saw him on the TV show "Senryokugai Tsukoku," He's the father of five children.

Yudai Kawai - Solid last year in 18 starts, should be a good end of the rotation guy

Overall looks to be an improvement over last year.  It seems unlikely that Asakura will remain in the rotation for long.  Tatsura Hamada, Shinji Iwata, Junki Ito or someone else will probably take his spot sooner rather than later.  Former ace, Kazuki Yoshimi, has pitched frequently and fairly well this preseason but is still working his way back from injury.  Hopefully he will return to the rotation at some point this year.

A First Look at Raul Valdes and Amaury Rivas

New foreign players Raul Valdes and Amaury Rivas made their first appearances for the Dragons in yesterday's practice game against the Marines.  A replay of the game can be seen on UStream. 

Valdes is a 37-year old Cuban lefthander with some experience as a reliever in the Major Leagues, but was mainly a starter in the minors.  I don't know which role Chunichi plans on using him, but he did start this game.  His severely short-armed delivery looks more like a reliever's to me, but it looks like he has a variety of off-speed pitches so he has a chance to be successful as a starter.  He pitched three shutout innings yesterday and his fastball was topping out around 140 km.

Rivas is a 29-year old righty from the Dominican.  He looks more like a traditional power pitcher with a big windup and a mid-140's fastball.  Rivas was tagged for a couple solo home runs yesterday, one on a breaking ball and the other looked like a first-pitch fastball.  He did have a nice strike out on a changeup.

Overall, I had a good first impression of both pitchers.  You can't take too much from the results of a preseason game, especially a first game, but based on their stuff I think both of these guys could be useful this year.

Upcoming Free Agency

Lots of NPB free agency rumors out there right now as the period for free agents to declare themselves is now open.  Eligible players with free agency options still have several days to declare so at this point it's still unclear who exactly will be available to sign.

After missing the last two post-seasons Chunichi should be a player in the free agent market, but based on recent history they probably won't be much of one.  The Dragons have obvious needs at catcher, middle infield and starting pitching and there are some potentially useful players out there.

Lets take a look at their options at the following positions:

Catcher:
This may be Chunichi's greatest need, but unfortunately it looks like the two most promising catchers eligible for free agency will be remaining with their current teams.  Motohiro Shima would be a great pick up, he's a good all-around player and from the Chubu region.  Unfortunately he has chosen to remain with Rakuten.  Ginjiro Sumitani of the Lions was another potential target, though his offensive numbers are nothing special, he probably would have been upgrade for the Dragons.  He was linked to the Dragons in several articles during the season, but in the end he chose to remain with Seibu for at least one more season.

Middle Infield:
There are a few potential difference makers out there.  Hiroyuki Nakajima, Kensuke Tanaka, Yuichi Honda, Tsuyoshi Nishioka and Eishin Soyogi could all be on the market.  If I could have my choice I'd take Tanaka or Nishioka.  Tanaka is just a pro in every way, he'd look great as the two hitter in Chunichi's lineup and at second base every day.  Sounds likely though that he will be returning to the Fighters for the upcoming season.  Nishioka is one of the youngest of the group and though he's coming off of a tough injury, he has already re-acclimated himself to the NPB and had some success in 2013.  Nakajima will likely be expensive and may not be what he once was, I highly doubt Honda will exercise his option and I've never really been a fan of Soyogi though he's coming off of a couple solid seasons and I doubt he'll be leaving the Carp.

Starting Pitching:
Chunichi's first order of business in free agency was to lock up Daisuke Yamai who earned his free agent option for the first time after last season.  Yamai, coming off of his best season, will be staying with the Dragons and at a reasonable price.  Some interesting potential free agent starting pitchers are Chihiro Kaneko, Yoshihisa Naruse, Atsushi Nomi and Hiroki Kuroda.   The Dragons haven't been linked to any of these other starters so it's probably a long shot for them to go get any of them.  If they have a chance at any of them it's probably Naruse, he's going to end up somewhere.

UPDATE:
Yakyubaka has posted a list of the players who have filed for free agency, linked here.
Ryoji Aikawa has filed and would be a nice pick up.  He's 38, so not a long term option, but could be a useful catching option for a couple years.  None of the domestic infield options I listed filed, like usual, a very limited NPB free agent class.

Some Mildly Surpising Names on Chunichi's Senryokugai List

Over the last week or so yakyubaka has been posting each teams' players who will not be offered contracts for next season, at least at this time.  It's always seems strange to me that these are released prior to the end of the season.  The teams that are still alive in the playoffs now each have a handful of guys that are like dead men walking going into the biggest games of the season.  I guess it could have a motivating effect on those guys given they get a chance in the playoffs, but sadly that is not an issue for Chunichi this year as they failed to make the playoffs for a second straight season.

On October 1st Chunichi officially announced the following players will not be back:

Takehiro Tsuji
Kosi Inoue
Kento Yachi
Kohei Oda
Daisuke Tanaka
Ryoji Nakata
Yuto Morikoshi
Shingo Ito
Takehiro Donoue
Sang-Hoon Song

Kohei Oda is not a surprise as he's been a career backup at catcher who has managed to have a 17 year NPB career despite never getting more than 95 plate appearances in a season.  Though he has never been on the field much he has had some memorable playoff hits and has contributed at times when given a chance.  He's definitely been a good bench guy, but at 37 years old he probably knew that his time could be running out.

The two names that I was most surprised to see were Takehiro Donoue and Ryoji Nakata.  Both are under 30 years old and had solid years at ni-gun.  Nakata has yet to develop the power that Chunichi had probably hoped when they drafted him; only two home runs at ni-gun this year, but slugged .423.  He's currently pretty deep on the depth chart at the positions he can play and struggles with weight problems, but at 26 years old I still had hope for him.  Takehiro Donoue is a little older at 29 years old, but has shown some ability to hit at the ichi-gun level.  He was a guy that I had hoped would get more playing time a couple years ago.  I think that it could be a bit of a mistake to let him go though Hirata seemingly has looked down the right-field position and Fujii is now the go-to fourth outfielder.  Still, guys get hurt and Wada probably doesn't have more than a year or two left.  Donoue gives you a little depth, I can't understand why they are letting him go.  I wouldn't be surpised at all if both of these guys are picked up by other teams.

Dragons Trade Kyohei Iwasaki to Orix for Taiki Mitsumata

In one the few trade deadline moves Chunichi sent Kyohei Iwasaki to Orix in exchange for Taiki Mitsumata.  I don't know a ton about Orix's roster, but I imagine this was a move to add a little depth to their middle infield as it doesn't appear to be a move that would improve Chunichi's playoff chances, at least for this season. 

Iwasaki is 28-years old and wasn't seeing much time with the ichi-gun team this year.  He had less than 100 plate appearance at ichi-gun in his career with the Dragons.  He's a bit of a light hitter and hasn't had much success as a hitter in his ni-gun career either, though he did have a fairly high OBP this year.  I'm sure Orix is looking to add him for his defense and hoping he'll at least be able to get on base at a reasonable rate.  I don't know if they are planning to use him much, maybe for late-inning defense.

Though this looks to be minor trade, Mitsumata could eventually turn out to be an interesting player.  He is only 22-years old and was a 2nd-round draft pick of the Buffaloes out high school in 2010.  So far he's been about a .230ish hitter in ni-gun and has had limited opportunities at ichi-gun.  He showed power in high school hitting double-digit home runs in his final year at Shutoku HS.  He's not likely to give Chunichi much this year, but he's young and still has time to improve.

For the time being I'm liking this trade.  I think Mitsumata has a chance to be a better player than Iwasaki is or will be and hopefully can be a future middle-infield piece for the Dragons.  Chunichi needs more middle-infield prospects, it's kind of a weakness right now as they've had to sign a foreigner to play shortstop, pretty uncommon, and have an aging second-baseman.  So far the prospects they have haven't stepped up and though Shuhei Takahashi is looking promising right now he's probably more of a corner infielder than a middle-infielder long-term.  This hopefully will end up being a trade that benefits both teams, Orix in the short-term and Chunichi in the long-term.

Matt Clark Signs with the NY Mets

Matt Clark, Chunichi's main first baseman last year, signed a minor league contract with the New York Mets yesterday.  The contract also includes an invitation to spring training.  Clark had an okay year for Chunichi in 2013 and certainly provided the power threat that their lineup needed, but things never entirely clicked.  He struggled to make contact at times and ended up one of the league leaders in k's. 

Clark came to the Dragons from the San Diego Padres organization where he was putting up impressive numbers in AAA.  Despite his success, his path to the majors appeared to be blocked by other prospects.  He now joins the Mets who's current first basemen include Ike Davis and Lucas Duda.  Davis was a first-round draft pick, but has underachieved so far in the majors to this point.  Still Davis will probably be given the greatest opportunity to win the first base job.  It may be a bit of a long shot that Clark will make the major league roster, but stranger things have happened.  He's got some serious power, so he may impress.  Even if he doesn't make the roster and I hope he does, I think he will at least stick in their organization and will hopefully get other opportunities down the road.  

Here's a blast from last spring:

 

 

You can also see a compilation of all of his 2013 home runs here

 

Tanishige Named New Manager, Ochiai Returns as GM

It's been nearly a month now since Motonobu Tanishige was announced as the new player/manager of the Dragons.  When I first heard the news I was surprised, then a little disappointed, then finally okay with it.  I do think that Tanishige will be fine manager, he's probably seen everything that can be seen in Japanese Baseball as a catcher for twenty-five years and counting.  Still the player/manager thing is weird, it doesn't seem like the best possible scenario.  It's hard to say if management is really high on Tanishige and expecting him to transition into the full-time manager for the next decade or if they are just looking for a place holder.

It will be interesting to see how things work in the upcoming season.  Tanishige played in 130 games last year, but will he still be the main catcher now that he's also the manager?  There isn't currently a viable option at catcher to replace him, though there may be a couple free agent options.  If Tanishige continues as the main catcher he will have to rely on his assistant coaches quite a bit, which may not be a bad thing, but we shall see.  In Tanishige's press conference he mentioned that he will emphasize the defensive aspects of the game, which makes sense with him being a catcher and also fits with the skills of the current roster and the philosophy that led to the Dragons' success over the last decade.  Under Tanishige, Chunichi's "boring" style of baseball is likely to continue, but if it wins games I'm all for it. 

In what seems like a synchronous move with Tanishige's promotion, Hiromitsu Ochiai was named the new General Manager.  This is a move I like a whole lot, even if he isn't exactly a general manager, as has been rumored.  I believe that Ochiai is commited to winning and I think that will help in any role that he's given.  I know he's not afraid to make tough choices, and that will be important as the team begins a transition away from it's current veteran roster.  He has a lot of experience with this team and though he's had disagreements with upper management in the past, the fact that he's back already shows they have confidence in him, even though they don't always agree.  I think that will be a positive moving forward.  I believe Ochiai is the right guy for the job.

Dragons Ink Hector Luna to Contract Extension

Roughly a week ago Chunichi and third-baseman Hector Luna came to agreement on a contract extension.  The deal adds an additonal two years to Luna's current contract and has a club option for a third year.  Extending Luna makes a lot of sense, not only because he's leading the NPB in hitting, but because he's a capable third-baseman leaving first base open for other foreign players. 

Luna's signing is interesting because it seems to show a change in team philosophy concerning foreign players, at least in this instance.  Over the last near-decade that I've followed the Dragons their management has been unwilling to do multi-year contracts with foreign players, even productive players and fan favorites like Tyrone Woods and Tony Blanco.  I'm not sure if Luna's production alone led to his extension at this time or if the consequences of not re-signing Blanco over the last offseason had something to do with it.  Blanco has been a beast this year for Yokohama, currently hitting .341 with 23 HR and 62 RBI, but I don't think too many people expected him to hit quite that well.  I certainly wasn't expecting that from Blanco, I was a little more than 50-50 in favor of re-signing him because he'd had trouble staying healthy the last couple years and hadn't produced as much as when he first came to Chunichi.  I was also curious to see what other foreign first-basemen could be acquired.  I'm not sure what exactly has led to Blanco's success this year, likely a combination of a fresh environment, the "new" NPB ball and Yokohama's stadium, but in hindsight Chunichi looks pretty bad for letting him go.  Clearly the Dragons didn't want to let Luna get away in free agency and fortunately Luna was interested sticking around.

Tatsuro Iwasaki to join Rakuten

Over the weekend Chunichi's front office made the decision to deal Tatsuro Iwasaki to the Golden Eagles for cash considerations. I haven't seen it reported as to how much money will be headed to Chunichi, but it's unlikely that it will be very much.  Yakyubaka has a post on the move.  Iwasaki has been with the Dragons since 2006 when he was a 5th-round draft pick, selected from ENEOS of the industrial leagues.  Iwasaki is a very skilled middle-infielder, but he's 28 now and hasn't hit much at either NPB level.  I'm guessing that Rakuten is looking at him as either a late-inning defensive player or ni-gun filler.  Hopefully he can be a useful role player for the Eagles, as they look to have a pretty competitive team this year.

Dragons Sign Matt Clark

According to several reports and his own twitter account, Matt Clark, a Padres farmhand will be a Chunichi Dragon in the very near future.  Clark is a first baseman and has played some outfield.  He's 26 years old and has spent the last two years with the AAA Tuscon Padres.  He's never appeared in a major league game, but his minor league numbers are solid.  Had the Padres not had so many other 1B prospects he probably would have gotten a look in the majors, he has attended major league spring training.  It sounds like he's most known for his power and for being somewhat strikeout-prone, but his overall batting average and on-base percentage numbers look plenty good.  Here's a video about him from last year:

It's been reported that former Dragon and current professional hitting coach Alonzo Powell may be involved with the acquisition.  According to yakyubaka Powell has also been invited to be a special instructor at the Dragons' Spring Camp, something that could help with Clark's acclimation to Japan.  Clark is a little younger than most foreign players who come to the NPB and may still have a shot at the majors should he succeed in Japan, so he's got a lot to play for.  As far as how he would fit on the Dragons, if he can do for Chunichi what he's done for the Tuscon Padres the last two years, he will fill the power bat, first base hole that was left by Tony Blanco's move to Yokohama.  From what I've been reading, he sounds like a good guy and ready to go wherever baseball leads him.  I'm excited to see what he can do in 2013.

Here's a link to an interview with Clark from last year here.

Update: The deal is official

Chunichi signs Daniel Cabrera

Earlier this week the Dragons signed former MLB pitcher Daniel Cabrera to a one-year contract for not a lot of money, reportedly $450,000 US plus a signing bonus of $200,000 US.  Cabrera last appeared in the majors in 2009 and spent last year at AAA.  He's a big dude, 6' 7" and 225 lbs, and a power pitcher who at least in the past could throw in the upper 90's MPH without much effort.  I remember him from his time with the Baltimore Orioles.  He's always been considered a project, a guy with the tools to be successful, but who still needed to refine his game.  The Orioles eventually gave up on waiting for him overcome his inconsistancy and control problems and let him go after the 2008 season.  He's been bouncing around the minors with moderate success since then. 

There isn't much risk with this move for Chunichi, but it is sort of a questionable move to sign him at all.  Over 11 years of professional baseball, Cabrera has yet to gain control over his arsenal of pitches, so it's hard to believe that is something that will change this year.  He may show some flashes of dominance, he should be able to overpower most NPB hitters, he was even able to do so in MLB, but overall he's never been consistent enough to relied upon when it matters and that's what NPB teams expect from their foreign players.  I wish him the best in his Dragons career, but I won't be expecting a lot from him as a pitcher and I definitely won't be expecting anything from him as a hitter, he's never recorded a hit in his entire professional career.  His batting skills can be witnessed in this video.

Foreign Players Roster Reload

The Dragons look like they have decided to start over with their foreign players roster by allowing Tony Blanco, Enyelbert Soto and Jorge Sosa to become free agents last week.  Chunichi had already cut Maximo Nelson loose prior to that.  All of the players listed were major contributors to the team, but Blanco, Soto and Nelson had flaws as well.  Jorge Sosa was excellent in his sole season with the Dragons but it's been reported that he was interested in moving on and wasn't entirely pleased with his role last year.  Nelson wasn't able to help the team much last year due to injury, he pitched only 11+ innings, and it's unclear when he will be healthy again, so it's understandable why the Dragons let him go.  Soto has been a top-of-the-rotation starter when he's been healthy, but he hasn't been healthy all that often, including during the last two postseasons.  Tony Blanco has had injury problems as well, but he's played well, and has provided the only true power bat in Chunichi's lineup the last couple years.  On the negative side Blanco has also struck out quite a bit and his production has gone down since his first year, mainly due to injuries.  I'd would have liked for Chunichi to have re-signed Soto and Blanco and they still might, but at this point it's looking unlikely.

With Blanco, Soto, Sosa and Nelson out of the picture Chunichi has some work to do this offseason.  Their main holes are first base, third base and the outfield.  It also never hurts to have more pitching, as was evidenced at the end of last season when nearly the entire rotation went down to injury.  Looking at available free agents (Gen posted a list on yakyubaka) there aren't a lot of impact players available.  Kosuke Fukudome isn't on the list but is available though it's likely he'll have better offers.  I could dream about Ichiro and Daisuke Matsuzaka joining Chunichi, but there's about a 0.001% chance of that happening.  Each should find a MLB team to give them a chance, plus I'm not sure exactly how much either of them would help.

So far Chunichi has signed Hector Luna and "Big Bad" Brad Bergesen.  Both players have multiple seasons of MLB experience and I think should be good pick-ups.  Luna has played all over the field, both infield and outfield, but he hasn't shown a ton of pop, so I think he would be suited well for 2nd, some 3rd and possibly RF.  He's listed as 6'1" and 190 pounds, but he looks at a little heavier in his more recent pictures.  I'm hoping he can still be useful in multiple positions, because if they mean for him to be strictly a first-baseman things may not go well.  Brad Bergesen is a 27-year old right-handed pitcher formerly of the Baltimore Orioles and Arizona Diamondbacks.  He's not really a hard thrower, which is a bit unusual for imports, but he's had some success as a major leaguer so he should have a good chance in the NPB.  Luna and Bergesen join Victor Diaz, the only import holdover from last year as Sang-Hoon Song was moved to Ikusei status, and so Chunichi still has some available slots to fill.  They absolutely need to bring in a slugging first-baseman who can battle with Luna, Diaz and Masahiko Morino for time there.  Hopefully Shuhei Takahashi will take over at third, but Luna and obviously Morino are options there as well.  I'd like to see the Dragons pick up another pitcher that's capable of starting as well as being a relief option.  I feel good about Chunichi's young starters and the bullpen, even if Iwase can't return to form, but it would be good to get someone, along with Bergesen, that can fill either spot depending on what is needed.

The offseason is still young, but with some of the bigger names having already signed, it will be interesting to see what the Dragons come up with over the next month or two. 

    

Keep up on the Hot Stove Talk

It's the time of the year when rumors fly. Not much has happened yet in the way of free-agent signings, but there is plenty of talk and that's often more interesting than what eventually results.  Here's a few things that are out there:

• The BayStars would like to aquire most Chunichi's foreign players: Blanco, Soto and Sosa
• Hisashi Iwakuma got a two-year deal with an option for a third from the Seattle Mariners.
• The L.A. Dodgers submitted the highest bid for Korean (Hanwha Eagles) pitcher Hyun-Jin Ryu at nearly $26 million.

The two websites I check most frequently for hot stove updates and rumors are yakyubaka for NPB/Asia and MLB Trade Rumors for MLB.

Blanco is Back!

Big Tony was back in the lineup last night against the Giants.  He played most of the game at first, batted cleanup and went 2 for 4 with 2 RBI's.  He's recovered sooner than I expected so should have plenty of time to get into a groove by the playoffs, if he isn't in one already.  Two more big games against Yomiuri, a golden opportunity for Chunichi to really get back into the hunt.  Get fired up Dragons fans!

Kosuke Fukudome Finds a home with the Chicago White Sox

Earlier this week Kosuke Fukudome signed with the Chicago White Sox.  It seemed to be a move that not a whole lot of people saw coming, but in hindsight makes a lot of sense.  Kosuke won't be making much money, $500,000 (just over league minimum), but I'm sure he's still living well off of the contract he signed with the Cubs.  It's a major league deal so it's very likely he will be with the team coming out of spring training. It also has a team option for 2013 worth $3.5 million with a $500,000 buyout if they choose not to retain him after this year.  It actually seems like a pretty unique contract, I don't remember seeing any others with so little pay (relatively) for the first year with an option worth so much more for the second year.  I'm sure most people's first thoughts were that the White Sox have no intention of picking up his option even if he meets expectations for this year.

The Sox should be a good fit for Kosuke as their outfield is a bit of a crapshoot right now.  They ended last year with Alex Rios and a couple of prospects as their main outfielders.  The White Sox are pretty high on those prospects, Alejandro De Aza and Dayan Viciedo, but Viciedo in particular is still very young and neither has proven themselves yet at the Major League level.  So though Kosuke is projected as a fourth outfielder heading into the season he will likely be getting a few starts and maybe an opportunity will emerge for him to be an every-day player again in the Majors.

Jorge Sosa to join Dragons on a 1-year deal

Jorge Sosa has been offered a contract after an extended tryout with the Dragons.  According to a report from Nikkan Sports; the Dragons' pitching coaches were pleased with what they saw from him.
Sosa has experience as both a starter and a reliever and pitched most recently as a starter for the Leones de Yucatan of the Mexican League.  He also pitched nine seasons in the major leagues with Tampa Bay, Atlanta, St. Louis, NY Mets, Washington and Florida.  By far his best year was 2005 when he went 13-3 with an ERA of 2.55 over 134 innings.  His overall MLB numbers are not nearly as impressive as he bounced around from team to team. 
Sosa began his professional career as an outfielder, but switched to pitching because of his throwing velocity.  Early in his career he could throw in the upper 90's; his other pitches include a curveball, slider and changeup.  He also has some pop at the plate with five extra-base hits and three home runs in 102 plate appearances in the Majors.  Jorge gave up only one run over six innings as a member of the Dominican team at the 2006 World Baseball Classic.
Sosa joins Tony Blanco, Maximo Nelson and Enyelbert Soto as the foreign players on the Dragons roster.  Victor Diaz has also been practicing with the team, but has yet to be signed.  Blanco, Nelson and Soto appear to be locks for the ichi-gun squad, so if Diaz is signed they will have to choose between Sosa and Diaz for the last foreign-player spot.  Either way, this looks like it was a good opportunity to add depth to the starting rotation.  That is definitely never a bad thing, as injuries always take their toll on starting pitchers over the course of the season.

Victor Diaz to Tryout with Dragons

From Japan's Daily Sports Online via yakyubaka.com Chunichi will be giving 30 year-old outfielder Victor Diaz a tryout at the end of the month.  He had 485 plate appearances for the New York Mets and Texas Rangers from 2004 to 2007 and most recently played in the Korean and Mexican leagues.  From what I could find about him; he is a guy with a lot of power that strikes out a lot and is somewhat of a liability in the outfield.
While he definitely deserves a look, I'm not sure he solves many of the team's current problems.  The team could use some more power in their lineup, but they also need to improve their ability to get on base (they hit somewhere around .220 as a team last year) and drive in runs.  I was hoping they would be looking at someone more in the Matt Murton mold, there probably isn't anyone of his calibre available, but there must be somebody out there that can handle the bat a bit and not be a liability defensively. 
I not sure how Diaz would fit with this team, they don't have much of a margin for error defensively.  I don't think they could play him in the outfield with Wada, even Oshima can't cover for both of them.  Maybe they are looking at him as a first base alternative, he did play on the infield early in his career.  Blanco is in a make-or-break year, I don't think Chunichi will cut him any slack if he doesn't bounce back and have success early in the season.  Wada I think will get more slack, but they may be looking at him to split time this year due to age and having a rough year in 2011.  So if I had to guess, I think they will sign him and see what he can do with the bat in limited time and then see how they want to proceed with Blanco and Wada.  I'm definitely not seeing a situation like last year where I expected Guzman to play a lot to begin the season.  This also isn't the standard "just add power" situation as for most NPB teams, the Dragons offense is just to deficient for that to work.

They should definitely keep looking to sign other foreign players even if they sign Diaz, if necessary they can keep him in ni-gun as insurance and see how the season progresses.