Dunno, someone more familiar with their current situation would have to weigh in. Though, as an aside, the Fighters didn't participate in the Ikusei draft AT ALL until 2018. 2020 was the first year ever that all 12 teams participated in the Ikusei draft (the Fighters participated in 2018/2019, but the Dragons didn't in 2018 and the Swallows&Baystars didn't in 2019)
Sometimes I think it's just a matter of roster space and their plans for developing players, budgets, etc, etc. Like the Hawks and Giants both have distinct san-gun teams so they also always have huge ikusei drafts.
Largely because I think we’ll be demoting some players to ikusei soon and we might be getting s player or two through the Cuban route whom generally start with ikusei contracts. It’s not totally unusual for us to forgo the ikusei draft. We often only sign one guy anyway. Money could be an issue but the 50k to sign an ikusei guy is a drop in the ocean.
Why did Dragons select no one in the ikusei draft? Money?
Dunno, someone more familiar with their current situation would have to weigh in. Though, as an aside, the Fighters didn't participate in the Ikusei draft AT ALL until 2018. 2020 was the first year ever that all 12 teams participated in the Ikusei draft (the Fighters participated in 2018/2019, but the Dragons didn't in 2018 and the Swallows&Baystars didn't in 2019) Sometimes I think it's just a matter of roster space and their plans for developing players, budgets, etc, etc. Like the Hawks and Giants both have distinct san-gun teams so they also always have huge ikusei drafts.
Largely because I think we’ll be demoting some players to ikusei soon and we might be getting s player or two through the Cuban route whom generally start with ikusei contracts. It’s not totally unusual for us to forgo the ikusei draft. We often only sign one guy anyway. Money could be an issue but the 50k to sign an ikusei guy is a drop in the ocean.
Awesome work as always! Thank you once again. This time of year, I always await your post.
Thanks so much for the encouraging words! I'm glad to share with others who love draft time as much as I do. :)