From our other sites
The story
Right after the Hanshin Tigers clinched the franchise’s first-ever back-to-back Central League pennant (their 12th title overall) on October 3, freelance announcer Kazuo Tokumitsu — known as a Yomiuri Giants fan — let slip on his radio show that the Giants might finally start winning if Hanshin’s Teruaki Sato moves to the majors next year or the year after. Sato is this season’s Central League triple-crown winner (batting average, home runs, RBIs) and one of the team’s key players. The thread debated when such a move might actually happen and how the looming expiration of MLB’s collective bargaining agreement (a possible lockout) after next season could affect it, with some commenters questioning Giants fans for simply waiting around for a rival’s star to leave.
October 10, 2026, 7:36 AM
Freelance announcer Kazuo Tokumitsu appeared live on the 10th on Nippon Broadcasting System’s “Kazuo Tokumitsu’s Tokumori! Kayo Saturday” (Saturdays, 5:00 a.m.), the show he hosts.
The show reported that on the 3rd, in the “JERA Central League,” Hanshin had clinched its 12th pennant overall (including four from the one-league era), achieving the franchise’s first-ever back-to-back Central League title.
Source: hochi.news / Original article here
What people said
They only know Ohtani.
The headliner among pitchers is Taira
No idea how the lockout's going to affect that.
Poaching Satoteru and Taira would actually fit their team needs, and in that ballpark he could hit 50 homers.
To begin with, joining the majors right after this season ends is going to be tough because of the lockout.
it's gross.
Can't be helped — pitching quality has gone up and the ball doesn't fly like it used to.
More than the raw numbers, he just doesn't give off a "big slugger" vibe, so I can't tell if he'll actually mesh well with MLB.
Go look at everyone else's stats this year
league-wide hitting is in the gutter right now.
Show a little more fighting spirit.
It's shaky whether they can even beat Yokohama (DeNA), so they've probably already given up on the CS.
Satoteru's posting timeline is actually the fastest possible one
There's a rule that to get real money from MLB you need to be 25-plus or have 6-plus years of service
Last year Satoteru hadn't cleared that 6-year mark yet, so he'd have ended up with a contract about as limited as pitcher Roki Sasaki's.
Background and talking points
Hanshin clinched the franchise’s first-ever back-to-back Central League pennant (its 12th title overall) on October 3, and Tokumitsu’s remarks came right on the heels of that. Sato is this season’s Central League triple-crown winner in batting average, home runs, and RBIs, and while several commenters speculated he could move to the majors as early as next year, the thread’s central debate centered on the possibility that MLB’s collective bargaining agreement (CBA) will expire after next season, triggering a lockout. Under a lockout, new contracts and free-agent signings freeze up, which would leave the timing of Sato’s move uncertain. Worth noting as a lesser-known detail: MLB’s posting system caps a player’s earning potential unless he’s either 25 or older or has six-plus years of NPB service, and since Sato doesn’t yet meet that threshold, he could end up with a contract as limited in size as pitcher Roki Sasaki’s even if he does move to the majors. Opinions in the thread split between those who called it “pathetic” for Giants fans to simply wait around for a rival’s star to leave, and those who saw it as a clear-eyed, realistic reinforcement strategy.
*This article is compiled from excerpts and a summary of the 5ch (Geisoku+) thread ““Teruaki Sato will probably go to the majors next year or the year after, so maybe we’ll win then?”…Kazuo Tokumitsu reveals how Giants fans really feel [Ailuropoda melanoleuca★]“.
Leave a Reply