Rakuten announced on the 12th that Kazuhisa Ishii, General Manager (GM, 47), will also serve as Director starting next season. Director Hajime Miki (43), who served as director this season, will be reassigned to the second director of the army.

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Behind the birth of Rakuten Ishii, GM’s concurrent director, oozes the intention to pursue the results of the two rabbits “in the short term” and “in the medium and long term”. The discussions raged from the middle of the season based on the continuation of director Miki in his first year in office, but after the end of the season, the discussions were held again with the owners of Mikiya and other executives of the team. . After last year’s hiatus, Mr. Ishii was given the “GM concurrent director” idea. He was asked for a “short term” result to win the league title for the first time in eight years, and he was entrusted with the tact for the next season.

The change in drama director for the second year in a row does not deviate from the “medium / long term” point of view. Take a look at the entire 1st and 2nd Army and understand individual skills and conditions in detail. Based on approximately two years of GM experience, training can be assisted directly from the field, and team strengths and weaknesses felt in the field can be brought back to the organization’s side. Also this season, it was noted that he was in close communication with Director Miki and the coaches on the field, but he is expected to enter the bench and further improve cooperation.

On the other hand, Miki is highly rated for his ability to coach young players and coaches and has a multi-year contract with the team with the possibility of filling various positions, not just the coach. Drawing from the experience of the 1st Army trainer who served for the first time, while he was charged with raising the level of the farm as a 2nd Army trainer, he will train while also considering the re-escalation of the 1st Army trainer.

Director Ishii, who also serves as general manager, made four trades in the middle of this season. The weak points were supplemented by the release of Wheeler and Takanashi to the giant and the acquisition of young pitcher Takada and catcher Takashi Tanaka. Next season, Waseda Hayakawa, who is first in the draft, will join the slimmer starting pitchers. We are trying to lay the foundations of the eternal army.[Mikihisa Kuwahara]