Source: Daily

The Hanshin Tigers have reached an agreement in principle with former Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim infielder Justin Bour (31). It will be a one-year contract and the deal will be officially announced by the club in December. Bour is a big man, at 193 cm (6’4″) and 122 kg (268 lbs), plays first base and bats left. His 92 career home runs include opposite-field power, and team chairman Osamu Tanimoto says he has similarities with Randy Bass, the most famous import in team history. The hope is that he and newly re-signed infielder Jefry Marte (28) will play together and help solve the team’s run production problem.

“The way he effortlessly swings at the ball goes over the left field fence is much like Craig Brazell or Randy Bass from back in the day. Whack! And the ball is in the stands. We might be in for a surprise when he gets to Japan.”

This slugger fits the team’s offseason needs, as the lineup required bolstering. Bour hit 25 home runs in the majors in 2017, and reached double digits in homers four times in his career. Chairman Tanimoto has seen his power in person.

Back on June 30, 2015, the chairman (who was then head of Koshien Stadium) was in America watching the Miami Marlins face the San Francisco Giants at Marlins Park. The Marlins’ #4 hitter was first baseman Bour, who hit an upper-deck home run to right-center off former Hanshin pitcher Ryan Vogelsong.

Ichiro was also starting that game, batting 8th and playing right field, but Bour made a more lasting impression on Tanimoto that day. He is certain that the problems that Koshien Stadium poses for lefties will not be a problem for Bour. He has had his eye on him for four years, after all.

Bour’s salary in 2019 was $2.5M, which is about ¥270M. “He’s got a ton of power, and I’m sure the fans will be thrilled when he hits one over the wall in right-center at Koshien.” Tanimoto showed his loyalty to Bour with the contract offer and its conditions, and after five years of waiting for his unrequited love to answer the call.

By adding the big cannon to the lineup, Hanshin hopes to beef up the lineup that produced an NPB-worst 538 runs in 2019. Though Bour and Marte play the same position, Tanimoto said, “Marte was originally a third baseman. He’s also played in left before,” indicating that the team plans to use the imports together. If Marte plays third, Yusuke Ohyama could be shuffled over to second base, and if they do that, the lineup will be quite strong.

The chairman also added that they “want to explore all possibilities,” indicating the team could acquire another import bat. There’s no compromise in the mission: to win the team’s first pennant in 15 years.

T-Ray’s Thoughts

As always, I’m excited to have new imports on the team. It’s been a while since the team has tried to acquire a true slugger straight out of America. (Wilin Rosario was signed out of Korea, remember.) It will be interesting to see if his game translates well to NPB, and especially to Hanshin. But honestly, people… can the team’s officials, the press and the fans PLEASE stop comparing every import to Bass or other legendary imports? There will never be another Bass, and even if Justin Bour does the impossible and wins two straight Triple Crowns while leading the team to a Japan Series championship, let him build his own legend and not have to be “the next ___.”

Also, I have heard a few people from across the pond say that Bour’s performance has dropped significantly in recent years, so while I have no doubt that he hit a huge home run in front of Mr. Tanimoto, I do not know if we can expect to see the same things that Tanimoto saw from the man while in his prime.

Curb your expectations, Hanshin fans! What happens, happens! But since we have not had a productive slugger since Mauro Gomez (2014-16), and we’ve seen a ton of imports come and go since then, I will wait before passing any judgment on this pick-up.

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