Tokyo Yakult Swallows

Yoshinori Sato

Last season: 6th
Manager: Shigeru Takada

Former Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters manager Trey Hillman was fond of saying he was "focusing on the guys still here" last year when questioned about the players the Fighters were missing from the 2006 championship team.

New Yakult manager and former Fighters General Manager Shigeru Takada may find himself repeating that statement often as he takes over a team that incurred massive losses.

Takada will be without the services of All-Stars Seth Greisinger and Alex Ramirez, as well as pitcher Kazuhisa Ishii, as he tries to lead the Swallows back to their glory days.

There is some pop in the lineup, even without Ramirez, with Aaron Guiel, who finished second in the league with 35 home runs in 2007, and CL batting champion Norichika Aoki (.346) still roaming the outfield.

In the infield, Yakult will be hoping Adam Riggs can put up big numbers and that second baseman Hiroyasu Tanaka can become an offensive threat alongside veteran shortstop Shinya Miyamoto.

Ryo Ishikawa, Masanori Ishikawa and Kenichi Matsuoka will likely be asked to shoulder much of the load for the pitching staff with the hope that highly touted youngster Yoshinori Sato and Tatsuyoshi Masubuchi can have solid seasons.

The Swallows also brought in Daniel Rios, who was last year's Korean Baseball Organization MVP and could become the top pitcher in the Swallows rotation.