The Yomiuri Giants, stung perhaps by pennant-less seasons in 2015 and 2016 or their inability to stay within 17½ games of the Hiroshima Carp last year, spent much of the offseason wheeling and dealing. Now one month into the 2017 season, their fans might be wondering what it was all for.
For all their headline-grabbing moves, the Kyojin at the one-month mark look scantly better than they did last season. Their new additions have mostly been either ineffective or injured, leaving the team looking like a victim of its own indulgence, at least early.
The team added to its pitching staff by signing former All-Stars Shun Yamaguchi (formerly of the Yokohama BayStars) and Masahiko Morifuku (Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks) as domestic free agents and trading for Mitsuo Yoshikawa (Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters), the 2012 Pacific League MVP. The team also signed former Seattle Mariner Arquimedes Caminero.