Hanshin Manager Kyuji Fujikawa Decides to “Acquire Garcia,” but the Farm System “Puts Up Resistance”… A “Deep Divide” Between the Farm System and the First Team

Debeney’s reflection…

Aiming for the team’s first-ever back-to-back league titles, the Hanshin Tigers have made a new addition to their roster ahead of the second half of the season. On July 21, the team announced that it had signed outfielder Delmis Garcia (28) from the Kochi team in the Shikoku Island League Plus.

“His appeal lies in his power—he has 132 career home runs in the minor leagues—and he made his Major League debut with the Athletics in ’22. Hanshin had been considering Garcia as a potential reinforcement since last year,” said a former Hanshin player.

Manager Kyuji Fujikawa (45) was reportedly quite cautious about acquiring Garcia.

“He’s still haunted by the Cam Devaney (29) debacle. Devaney was a foreign player acquired at the initiative of the front office. The video his agent produced and showed to the front office featured nothing but highlights of him performing well—it was practically a promotional video. Executives who were won over by it recommended him.

However, when they checked his movements during spring training, it became clear that his defensive range was far too limited.Manager Fujikawa lamented, ‘It’s completely different…’ Feeling a real sense of crisis, the manager set his sights on Garcia, who was excelling in Kochi—his former team. This time, he personally reviewed both the good and bad footage before deciding to sign him,” said a team official.

However, the farm team leadership is reportedly angry for some reason over this signing, which was a top priority for Manager Fujikawa.

“They say there are several pitchers and position players with high potential in the farm system, but they’ve been stuck in a situation where they just can’t seem to get promoted. Even when the farm system leadership recommends players to the first team, permission never seems to be granted. We’re starting to hear voices of anxiety from the players themselves, asking, ‘What are we supposed to be working toward?’

Kochi is Manager Fujikawa’s former team—a club where his older brother once served as general manager. Regarding the decision to sign foreign players from that team for two consecutive years, some staff members have even gone so far as to make the extremely disrespectful remark, ‘Isn’t this a blurring of the lines between business and personal interests?’” (Team official)

However, a certain former team official casts a cold eye on the indignant farm team staff.

“Do you really think we’re developing young players who can come up here and hit right away?! The only one hitting decently in the farm system is Rinshiro Shimamura (23), isn’t he? And even he struggled quite a bit at the plate when he was called up…

It would be great if we had energetic young players like the Giants who were hitting hard down in the minors, but as things stand, there’s no sign of that. Besides, if we don’t win the championship this season, who knows when we’ll achieve back-to-back titles? Since this year is our best chance, it’s only natural for Kujiro to do everything in his power to boost our chances of winning by bringing in reinforcements.”

Will Manager Fujikawa’s decision pay off, or—?