Chunichi Manager Kazuki Inoue Wants to Stay On Next Season Despite Team’s Slump — Dragons Sit Dead Last

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After opening the season with five straight losses, the Chunichi Dragons have never recovered and now sit in last place. Manager Kazuki Inoue has signaled he wants to continue next season, but 5ch users are split — debating the team’s chances in the third-place race, the lack of any real successor, and the front office’s rebuilding strategy.

21Anonymous2026/08/25(火) 12:25:53.34ID:7SQ7DKbs0
Ibata and Yoshimi got exposed as incompetent over the WBC thing, but Chunichi would probably still love to offer them the job.
40Anonymous2026/08/25(火) 12:31:49.69ID:LuQXJyVX0
>>21
Whether they're incompetent or capable doesn't even matter — just look at Inoue and you'll get it.
26Anonymous2026/08/25(火) 12:27:21.01ID:ZteTGZvR0
The karma's finally caught up with the Chuni-Dora fans who wrote off Ochiai's baseball as "boring." (Chuni-Dora = slang for Chunichi Dragons fans)
28Anonymous2026/08/25(火) 12:28:16.32ID:SWz4hl6O0
>>26
Nagoya fans don't care about being strong, so that call was correct.
30Anonymous2026/08/25(火) 12:28:43.75ID:djIJFMuS0
The roster's stronger than last year, and yet they're deeper in the red than last year — Inoue has to be fired. Are they planning another sub-.500 finish next year too?
37Anonymous2026/08/25(火) 12:30:45.05ID:4sU61u230
>>30
.220, 18 homers, 38 RBI — calling that an "upgrade" is a stretch.
31Anonymous2026/08/25(火) 12:29:00.46ID:SqeCy5vx0
Does nobody want the job?
There's gotta be someone out there.
35Anonymous2026/08/25(火) 12:30:28.79ID:ptqOI8JcH
>>31
Word is someone's angling for it just to be a wrecking ball, or chasing that cursed "666" number (a jab implying a doomed tenure).
33Anonymous2026/08/25(火) 12:29:31.18ID:YtihOUmUH
Aichi's the one region swimming in cash, so people have money to burn on leisure — other sports there sell out too.
45Anonymous2026/08/25(火) 12:34:51.21ID:MRT5APLo0
>>33
Aichi has such a huge economy and population, so why does it only have the one soccer team?
50Anonymous2026/08/25(火) 12:37:49.03ID:zTz+F8us0
>>45
Iwata's team is based in Mikawa, which is basically half Aichi already — just settle for that.
51Anonymous2026/08/25(火) 12:37:49.59ID:4sU61u230
>>45
Grampus, backed by Toyota, is just too big a presence — no room for anyone else to break in.
38Anonymous2026/08/25(火) 12:30:45.20ID:NTAn5g6P0
The wholesale roster overhaul that Tatsunami (nicknamed "Datsu") pushed through ended up being pointless. Might've been better off sticking with Yoda's team.
56Anonymous2026/08/25(火) 12:39:18.26ID:nL7KXk6J0
>>38
Nah, it wasn't pointless.
43Anonymous2026/08/25(火) 12:33:00.10ID:0zF1Z3q30
>>39
Honestly, the lineup from Yoda's peak years was flat-out stronger than the current one. This team has straight-up regressed.
46Anonymous2026/08/25(火) 12:35:49.26ID:fy5LhFDW0
>>43
You think the players from Yoda's peak just never aged a day? That argument doesn't hold up.
47Anonymous2026/08/25(火) 12:36:26.75ID:FCRFLnPV0
Yoda's lineup in his final year was garbage, though.
57Anonymous2026/08/25(火) 12:39:28.13ID:y5G92hJ60
>>47
That was clearly because the front office just wasn't putting in any effort. They ran the draft themselves, and the only real outside reinforcement was Garber.
61Anonymous2026/08/25(火) 12:41:14.53ID:TCuV/WlU0
>>15
If you think this roster can actually compete, you've got Chuni-Dora brain. (i.e., blind homer optimism)
65Anonymous2026/08/25(火) 12:42:59.89ID:4sU61u230
>>61
Even if the pennant's out of reach, the Climax Series is totally within grasp. Their last CS appearance was 2012, so even that alone would be an achievement.
63Anonymous2026/08/25(火) 12:41:33.18ID:y5G92hJ60
>>56
It was pointless. Abe ended up coming back and becoming a starter anyway, and Sunada, who was supposed to replace Kyoda, got cut. They drafted position players and still ended up with zero regular outfielders, and in the infield Muramatsu and Fukunaga are only passable. On top of that the pitching staff is a wreck — I have no idea what they were even going for.
66Anonymous2026/08/25(火) 12:43:16.50ID:xxRtVLg+H
>>63
Signing Nakata was genuinely bad. And then there's dumping Gunji, who actually had prospect upside.
72Anonymous2026/08/25(火) 12:45:07.99ID:8DsOSwEZ0
The Hanshin Tigers were like this too during their dark age — "even if we're weak, fans still show up and we still turn a profit, so who cares."
76Anonymous2026/08/25(火) 12:45:54.79ID:nTp8rFm3a
>>72
During the dark age the stands were empty, though.
95Anonymous2026/08/25(火) 12:55:19.43ID:OqwDgmHy0
>>72
Why are you lying? Hanshin fans don't bother showing up unless the team's actually good. It's nothing but fair-weather fans lol
73Anonymous2026/08/25(火) 12:45:28.38ID:4sU61u230
They just swept the Swallows (six straight wins if you count the series before that), and people are still being this negative. Today's three-game set against last-place Hanshin at the Dome is the real key.
79Anonymous2026/08/25(火) 12:47:15.88ID:xxRtVLg+H
>>73
More than the Hanshin series, sweeping the Friday-Saturday-Sunday set at Hama Stadium (Yokohama Stadium) is what would actually get them into the third-place race.
124Anonymous2026/08/25(火) 13:10:04.82ID:yP6XMA/v0
The real mistake was making "Pink" the manager in the first place. Nothing changes unless they overhaul the front office itself, the way Hanshin did.
126Anonymous2026/08/25(火) 13:10:59.16ID:Q3N/q/u90
>>124
Can't argue with that — the front office and parent company are trash.
127Anonymous2026/08/25(火) 13:11:32.43ID:YmVzO3kT0
>>124
They probably did it on purpose — someone's got to be around to pull the boneheaded plays…

*This article is compiled and summarized from the 5ch (Nanademo Jikkyo G) thread “Chunichi Manager Kazuki Inoue Wants to Stay On Despite Slump… Team in Last Place Too.”

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