BASEBALL

Lions eye 46-year-old lefty Kudo

Tuesday 27th October, 05:19 AM JST

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11 Comments

some14some at 07:24 AM JST - 27th October

Job offer? a pitching coach or for administrative clerk(guess). Although, the opponent teams would like to welcome Kudo as a pitcher.
pawatan at 07:43 AM JST - 27th October

If you can't stay on the BayStars roster, you are washed up. Good news for the rest of the PL.
aintgottimetobl at 08:02 AM JST - 27th October

This guy is a legend,pitched in the Japanese system for nearly 30 years and wants more..you Kikuchi doomsdayers paying attention ?
hoserfella at 09:13 AM JST - 27th October

Either he's in financial trouble (he does have a history with the Yakuza) or cant give up the limelight. In any case, his fastball couldn't break a pane of glass. I doubt Seibu would be stupid enough to waste a roster spot on this has-been.
Altria at 09:26 AM JST - 27th October

If you can't stay on the BayStars roster, you are washed up.

Quoted for truth.
pathat at 09:46 AM JST - 27th October

I guess they are thinking he could be an extra lefty out of the 'pen and pitch a good number of games by facing just a batter or two each time out, as he did this year with the Bay Stars, albeit with poor results.

http://bis.npb.or.jp/players/51553865.html
mansen at 10:13 AM JST - 27th October

wow...he be 47 when he picthes for the Lions. hope he do better next yr, since he was terrible this yr.
Junnama at 10:21 AM JST - 27th October

The fans will love it - even if he is washed up!
Blacklabel at 11:19 AM JST - 27th October

Yep, he's done, he was leading the league in home runs given up for quite a while and he didnt even pitch that much. But why not give him the chance to go back to his original team, play a game or two then have a retirement ceremony? The fans would love that and I think he deserves as much considering how long he played and the player that he USED to be.
pathat at 09:11 PM JST - 27th October

blacklabel: Is it worth it to Seibu to pay Kudoh something like 50 million yen for a year just for an "intai shiai"? This seems to be your thinking.

They're not going to sign him to a contract without him going through what the rest of the team has to do from January onwards. Why do that just for an inning or two?

Kudoh didn't show the ability to get hitters out the last two years with Yokohama. But then again, Seibu shows a remarkable propensity on a regular basis to do things which defy business logic.
Blacklabel at 11:43 PM JST - 27th October

pathat: well, of course they arent "planning" on that happening or they wouldnt even bother. But I do think that is going to be the end result.

I didn't literally mean 1 or 2 games but I would be surprised if he plays in more than 10. I also don't imagine he will get the 50 million yen per year from last year, probably more like 30 million? Still it is kind of an unusual decision on the baseball side, so it has to be more of a "thanks/fan service" decision to let him go back to where he started and retire?