“I Couldn’t Stop It” — Aikawa on DeNA’s Controversial Yamamoto Trade and Front Office Power

There’s nothing to be surprised about

For fans, it was an unbelievable surprise personnel move. The 1-for-2 trade between DeNA’s Yuta Yamamoto (27), SoftBank’s Takuto Ogata (26), and Tomoya Inoue (23) was announced by both clubs on the morning of May 12.

“I’m a little surprised.”

Yamamoto, who was informed of the trade that morning, appeared unable to hide his shock over the midseason move in front of reporters.

“Yamamoto joined the team as the 9th-round draft pick in 2017 from the BC League’s Shiga team. He played in over 100 games in both last year and the year before, and was one of the key figures in the team’s Japan Series championship in 2023. This season as well, he frequently served as DeNA’s starting catcher,” said a former club official.

The shock of DeNA suddenly parting with its regular catcher was immense, but a Central League team source commented, “The club had been steadily preparing to move Yamamoto. There’s nothing to be surprised about.”

“His hitting had been highly regarded from the start, and he had particularly strong trust from former manager Daisuke Miura (52). However, his expected offensive development did not progress as hoped, and the front office’s evaluation declined. The executives decided on a policy to develop Shion Matsuo (21) as the regular catcher over the long term and turn him into a star of Japanese baseball. Matsuo, an elite from Osaka Toin High School, also has many female fans. Even during his time in the minors, he was highly regarded by the data-focused front office.

As can be seen from the unusually frequent meetings between the front office and on-field staff—something rare in other teams—the current DeNA front office holds strong power, and the on-field staff has almost no decision-making authority at either the first-team or second-team level. Former manager Miura, being a club veteran, might have strongly opposed Yamamoto’s trade or Matsuo’s prioritization, but new manager Ryoji Aikawa (49), who took over this season, does not have that level of influence.”

What does it mean that he has no influence? A DeNA team source explains:

“Aikawa was originally only the fifth-choice candidate for manager. After Miura stepped down, the club negotiated with candidates such as Kimiyasu Kudo (63) and Hirokatsu Tsujii (67), but each reportedly declined, saying they could not manage a team where the front office lacks a proper voice in on-field decisions. In the end, the front office selected Aikawa, who had served as a de facto head-coach figure under Miura. It was a very typical DeNA front office decision: ‘If we can’t bring in a big-name manager, we’ll promote someone internally who is more likely to follow instructions.’

In fact, there had reportedly been an offer for Yamamoto’s trade in the previous offseason as well. At that time, Aikawa strongly opposed it and managed to block it, but it seems he no longer had enough influence to overturn decisions from above a second time. Losing Yamamoto is a major blow, but given the internal situation, it is hard to blame Aikawa.”

Reason for the delay in selecting the compensation player

Yamamoto, who ended up being pushed out by the front office’s “Matsuo development plan” after losing the backing of “Bancho” (the former manager), was reportedly first subject to signs of change around last offseason when outfielder Masashi Kuwahara (32) decided to transfer to the Saitama Seibu Lions via free agency, according to a Pacific League team source.

“Because a compensation player was required, DeNA decided to acquire catcher Takeru Furuichi (23), known for his strong throwing arm. Kuwahara’s transfer agreement was reached on November 26, so normally the protected list would be used to select a compensation player within the same year. However, the announcement of Furuichi’s acquisition came on January 8 of this year.

Considering how long it took to finalize the compensation player, it’s fair to assume that from that point the DeNA front office was already considering moving Yamamoto and continued discussions with the field staff. In fact, around that time DeNA had secretly initiated negotiations with multiple Pacific League teams, including SoftBank, which is rich in pitching depth.”

However, it remains unclear whether this trade will be a success for DeNA.

“The batting average of Matsuo, whom the front office wants to develop, has been hovering around the .200 range. While it’s understandable to try to push him by cutting off his retreat, it might actually be better for his development to let him grow more freely while learning from Yamamoto. This trade is also said to be front-office driven, but the two foreign pitchers they also acquired under the same front-office direction—John Duplantier (31) and Austin Cox (29)—have not worked out at all.

Perhaps as a result of those failures, the idea was to compensate for the weakened starting rotation by trading away a regular catcher. But if that’s the case, couldn’t they have acquired a pitcher with more starting experience instead?” (said the former club official)

There is no doubt that manager Aikawa and Matsuo will now face even greater pressure than before.