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The story
It has emerged that SoftBank Hawks right-hander Oki Tohama (36) will be moving to the Hiroshima Carp in a no-compensation trade. The right-hander boasts a strong résumé — the 2017 Pacific League wins title and a no-hitter in 2022 — but his first-team opportunities had dropped off sharply in recent years. On the forum, attention focused on why a player with this kind of track record would be let go without any cash or player compensation, with theories ranging from the state of SoftBank’s active roster limits to speculation that the move was made with an eye toward future player compensation for Tokota and Morishita, both expected to exercise free agency — opinions were divided.
It was learned on the 5th that the Hiroshima Carp will acquire SoftBank Hawks right-hander Oki Tohama (36) in a no-compensation trade, with the two clubs set to make it official on the 6th. The right-hander won the Pacific League’s wins title in 2017 and threw a no-hitter in 2022, and has 76 career wins to his name. Even though his mound appearances had fallen off sharply in recent years, there was a strong sense that a change of scenery could bring his form back — a view that aligned SoftBank, which was looking for a new home for him, with Hiroshima, which wants to strengthen its starting rotation.
The move is official: a right-hander with a wins title and a no-hitter on his résumé is headed to Hiroshima. Tohama carries 76 career wins, and this can fairly be called the Carp’s first reinforcement of the offseason. SoftBank put out feelers about finding him a new club, and Hiroshima — eager to bolster its rotation — answered the call, with both sides reaching agreement on a no-compensation trade.
After starring at Okinawa Shogaku High School and then Asia University, he joined SoftBank as the team’s first-round pick in the 2012 draft. His talent fully blossomed in 2017, when he went 16-5 to win the wins title. In a game against Seibu on May 11, 2022, he threw a no-hitter in just 97 pitches — a so-called “Maddux” (a complete-game shutout in under 100 pitches) — that made headlines.
Source: sponichi.co.jp / Original article here
What people said
Isn't today's Carp supposed to be pretty laid-back?
Coming from SoftBank, this is basically paradise.
What a cruel world.
Gīta (Yuki Yanagita's nickname) is welcome to come too
Hiroshima, purveyors of secondhand goods.
He could probably still be useful in the farm league, no?
Yeah, that's asking too much.
Grab Ogata and Iwai for free while you're at it
Much obliged, SoftBank!
Feels like he never factors into the decision past the 4th or 5th inning.
This isn't just rough, it's on a whole other level.
Though the ones left unprotected, or available in the active player draft, can be hidden gems.
There's the example of Uebayashi, cut loose and picked up by the Dragons, who turned into a key player.
He's from Shimane, so he'd be perfect for a Carp looking to strengthen its Chugoku-region ties
He could bounce back with the Carp.
Nah, Itohara can't field — don't need him lol
Sounds like the Hawks' active roster spots were packed tight — wonder if that played into it.
Same thing happened with Kenichi Nakata.
For the Carp, maybe just think of it as a veteran version of Morishita sticking around.
According to the article, whenever a roster spot opened up on the first team, Tohama would hurt his shoulder
and miss the call-up
and it just kept dragging on like that.
Letting go of a guy who's done so much for the team via player compensation looks bad, so they're dressing it up as a no-compensation trade.
It's Morishita who's going, not Tokota.
If it were player compensation, they wouldn't bother taking an old guy lol
There are more promising young players to pick.
Figured he was overseas by now lol
Easy to mix him up with Takeda lol
Tokyo Yakult
Yokohama DeNA
Yomiuri Giants
Didn't match any of them
Guess even the Swallows don't want him
He's a legit asset and still moves merchandise, no way they'd just cut him loose lol
Well if he still wants to earn pocket change past 40, he can just stay
He needs the money for being a racehorse owner too, right?
What's even the point of a 'no-compensation trade' in this case?
Probably just a matter of gratitude/goodwill
Not sure what Hiroshima's giving up in return, if anything though
In exchange, Hiroshima gets a first-round pick who was Rookie of the Year in the farm league
and an Olympic gold medalist too
If a team picks cash for FA compensation instead, they'd have to cut a foreign player or something to make room.
There's also Minei and others
There could be a second, even third round of roster-clearing no-compensation trades coming
Background and Key Points of Debate
A no-compensation trade releases a player without any accompanying cash or player compensation, and it’s considered an unusual way to handle a player with a track record. Tohama, who won the wins title in 2017 and threw a no-hitter in 2022, counts as a rare case given his 76 career wins. On the forum, one theory floated was that this was a “roster-clearing” move tied to pressure on SoftBank’s active roster spots and to anticipated player compensation for Tokota and Morishita, both expected to exercise free agency — though there was also pushback arguing that teams typically give up younger prospects for player compensation, so the article itself doesn’t confirm the real reason. It was also noted in the thread that Tohama barely pitched at the first-team level this season, and that he reportedly hurt his shoulder on an occasion when a roster spot opened up for him, suggesting the situation may not be a simple case of being deemed surplus to needs, but one tangled up with some bad luck as well. For Hiroshima, this is a move to deepen its starting rotation, and it’s being watched as the first step in further reinforcement amid the uncertainty over where Morishita and Tokota will end up.
*This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Geisports Sokuho+) thread “Hiroshima Acquires SoftBank’s Oki Tohama in No-Compensation Trade! Rotation Shakeup Looms as Tokota & Morishita Eye Free Agency.”
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