On the 30th, the Rakuten Eagles announced that they have acquired Takuya Kai through a cash trade.

During his time with the Softbank Hawks, Kai won the Golden Glove Award seven times and the Best Nine Award three times. He was selected for the Japan national baseball team for the Tokyo Olympics and the WBC, flourishing as a catcher who "represents the baseball world" before transferring to The Giants in the 2024 off-season. With The Giants, he played 68 games in his first year, but this season, his second year, he spent a long time in the minor leagues, and his number of appearances in the first team was limited to only 13 games.

At the Rakuten Eagles, his transfer destination, it has been reported that Hikaru Ota, who was in the starting line-up for a team-high 87 games this season, is highly likely to exercise his domestic free agency rights. The player with the next highest number of games in the starting line-up was Kengo Horiuchi with 34 games. Although YG Yasuda, known for his hitting, is registered as a catcher, he only appeared in the starting line-up as a catcher for 5 games and was in the starting line-up as a first baseman more often, leaving the catcher situation somewhat thin.

This off-season, the team released Hikaru Ito, Tsuyoshi Ishihara, and Toshiya Osakae. While they selected two catchers in the draft—Kai Watanabe (Aoyama Gakuin University) in the first round and Yoshiki Hagiwara (Toshiba) in the fourth round—it was likely a positive move to be able to acquire Kai through a trade.

If Hikaru Ota leaves via free agency, it would be a major boost to have acquired Kai in addition to Watanabe, who was selected as the first-round draft pick to bolster the thinning catcher ranks. If Hikaru Ota stays, it would be possible to rotate Ota, Kai, and Watanabe while giving them rest. Since Kai played for the Softbank Hawks until 2024 and is well-versed in information regarding each team in the Pacific League, his joining can be considered a significant advantage for the Rakuten Eagles.

The Rakuten Eagles catcher situation this season

starting line-up catcher

87 games Hikaru Ota

34 games Kengo Horiuchi

13 games, Hikaru Ito

5 games, YG Yasuda

4 games, Tsuyoshi Ishihara