Padres Press Clips Wednesday, February 22, 2017
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Padres Press Clips Wednesday, February 22, 2017 Article Source Author Page Former Padres reliever Akinori Otsuka to serve UT San Diego Lin 2 as Triple-A bullpen coach Manfred, Clark tussling over rule change proposals UT San Diego Sanders 4 Padres' Jon Edwards looking forward to healthy spring UT San Diego Lin 6 Padres' 32-player ping pong tournament had a Cut 4/MLB.com Cassavell 8 'championship game atmosphere' from the start Padres considering new way to use SP depth MLB.com Cassavell 9 Rule 5 picks have legit shot of making Padres MLB.com Cassavell 10 Padres set with current crop of players MLB.com Cassavell 12 1 Former Padres reliever Akinori Otsuka to serve as Triple-A bullpen coach BY: DENNIS LIN San Diego Union Tribune February 21, 2017 A few beads of sweat were still visible on Akinori Otsuka’s face as he stood in the shade of the bullpen area at the Peoria Sports Complex. The same, wide smile that endeared him to teammates, coaches and fans across two continents was more obvious. “This is for my growth and experience,” Otsuka said Tuesday. “This is my challenge, to become a major league coach. And I want to help the players. Everybody helped me a lot when I was a player, so now I want to give back.” Otsuka, who pitched for the Padres from 2004-05, has returned to the organization with an unprecedented title: Triple-A El Paso’s bullpen coach. The job, created over the winter, brought the gregarious right-hander back to San Diego’s spring-training site over the weekend. By Monday, Otsuka was roaming the complex’s fields in uniform, assisting friends old and new. A little past noon Tuesday, he was still shagging fly balls on the main field as the Padres wrapped up their workouts. He would be one of the last to leave. “I don’t know how many years I can be here,” Otsuka, 45, said, “but I’m going to be here a long time.” A trade sent Otsuka to the Texas Rangers in 2006. Elbow surgery ended a brief but memorable big-league career in 2008. Not ready to call it quits, Otsuka returned to his native Japan, where more surgeries derailed hopes of a comeback and where he later served as a player-manager for an independent-league team. He eventually dove into the second act of his career as a pitching coach for the Chunichi Dragons, one of the country’s preeminent clubs. Now, Otsuka has rejoined his first major league organization, another link in a bridge across an ocean. In October, he called Acey Kohrogi, the Padres’ director of Pacific Rim operations, to ask about potential coaching opportunities. The front office brainstormed a position in which Otsuka will assist El Paso pitching coach Bronswell Patrick and manager Rod Barajas, whom Otsuka played with in Texas. “The Chunichi Dragons gave me a good opportunity to coach here,” Otsuka said. “I want to learn everything — coaching style, meetings. I want to be a manager or coach.” 2 Traditionally, many minor league affiliates employ just three coaches: a manager, a pitching coach and a hitting coach. “He brings a lot to the table,” General Manager A.J. Preller said. “We try to have good relationships with different teams and different organizations, try to learn from baseball in Latin America, try to learn from baseball in the Far East. Aki’s obviously had success both in Japan and here in the States.” A successful closer in Japan, Otsuka signed a three-year deal from the Padres before the 2004 season and quickly established himself as a setup man for a franchise great. Pitching ahead of Trevor Hoffman, Otsuka recorded a 2.57 ERA and three saves over two seasons. Though he originally spoke limited English, his assimilation impressed those around him. “Aki’s always been a ferocious learner of the game, not that he hadn’t had a clear understanding of it before coming over here,” Hoffman said. “He’s a very humble human being, a hard worker.” Said longtime Padres pitching coach Darren Balsley: “He wanted to learn the American game, which is basically the same, but he asks a lot of questions. And he’ll ask anybody. He’ll ask Trevor, he’ll ask me, he asked our bullpen coaches back then. So he’s gathered a lot of information.” The outgoing Otsuka also brought levity to the Padres’ clubhouse. Accepting an invitation from broadcaster Mark Grant, he appeared in a Corky’s Pest Control television commercial that became part of franchise lore; in the 30-second spot, Otsuka, dressed in full uniform for a turkey picnic, defends against an invasion of cartoon ants with a baseball bat. “I don’t regret it,” Otsuka said, laughing. “I want to make more funny commercials.” Prior to the 2006 season, the Padres pulled off their best trade to date, sending Otsuka and Adam Eaton to Texas in exchange for Adrian Gonzalez and Chris Young. Otsuka, for his part, continued performing, saving 36 games over two seasons with the Rangers. “Aki actually came in and performed really well,” said Preller, who was in the Rangers’ front office at the time, “but obviously, (the Padres) got two pretty good players. One outstanding player.” Otsuka continued to maintain friendships in San Diego. In the spring of 2006, Hoffman received a voicemail that, owing to the language barrier, he interpreted as a request involving one of his sons. The closer called Otsuka, seeking clarification. “No, no,” Otsuka told Hoffman. “Song. I want to use your song.” During the final of that year’s World Baseball Classic, played at Petco Park, Otsuka came in from the bullpen to “Hells Bells”; Hoffman had happily granted permission to use his entrance music. Otsuka recorded five outs, sealing Japan’s victory over Cuba. 3 “He’s just not full of himself, and he’s just a good dude,” Hoffman said. “He’s a really good dude. “That,” Otsuka said of his homage to Hoffman, “is one of my favorite memories.” He hopes to create many more stateside. Otsuka’s son, Tora, will be a freshman on USD’s baseball team next season. His daughter, Hikaru, plays softball for Rancho Bernardo High. Compared to Japan, El Paso is a quick flight from San Diego. Otsuka, of course, will spend plenty of time around the rest of the Pacific Coast League. “I think (the Dragons) wanted him to have an opportunity to come here and serve a dual purpose — hopefully help our prospects but, probably more importantly for them, scout and see players in the PCL,” Preller said. “So he’s going to wear a couple different hats this year, working for Chunichi but he’ll be around our group, which is a nice association for us.” El Paso is expected to field one of the PCL’s best bullpens in 2017; relief prospects Phil Maton, Jason Jester, Kyle McGrath and Brad Wieck all could open the season there if they don’t make the Padres’ roster. “It’s kind of a unique role to have,” Padres farm director Sam Geaney said of Otsuka’s new job. “’It’s a chance to go through the preparation and spend a lot of time with someone who’s had a career like Aki has.” Added Balsley: “It’s hard not to have a good relationship with Aki; he’s just such a great dude. But he can be intense when he needs to be. He’s going to be a good coach. There’s no doubt in my mind. A very, very good coach.” Manfred, Clark tussling over rule change proposals BY: JEFF SANDERS San Diego Union Tribune February 21, 2017 For now, baseball puritans can relax: No new, substantive rule changes will be crammed in before Opening Day. Next year could be a different story. Citing a “lack of cooperation” with the players’ union, Commissioner Rob Manfred delivered the update ahead of a Q&A with reporters Tuesday afternoon. The tone was as frustrated as he’s sounded since replacing Bud Selig two years ago. No pitch clock. No strike zone changes. Not even a limit on time stoppages. 4 Nothing. “There were points in the conversation where we thought we were going to get an agreement on some changes and it didn’t turn out to be the case,” Manfred said. “I will say that Tony’s statements over the weekend probably were the most emphatic statement on where they were going to land on this topic.” Tony, of course, is Tony Clark, the former San Diego sports star-turned-15-year-baseball-veteran and now the 44-year-old head of the Major League Baseball Players Association. What happened was a general dismissal of a number of rule proposals in consideration, the most radical being the intent to test starting extra innings with a runner at second base in the low minors later this summer. Would players go along with such a radical change? “No,” Clark said with a laugh at a similar jam session with reporters Sunday. “No.” Clark talked that day about the new bargaining agreement. He addressed ongoing concerns about veterans in the open market, the standardization of medical record-keeping and lots of chatted about rule changes, from raising the strike zone to quirks designed to cut into baseball’s inherent “dead time.” The first former player to lead the union, the latter is of specific interest to the former first baseman. Whether cameras catch it or not, there’s always something going on in a baseball game.