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The Dugout: Out of the Cellar



For those of you who have followed the Dugout from its infancy in the middle of a Progressive Boink article to its years of thankless cursing on WordUpThome.com and on to our announcement of our selling-out to Fanhouse in our sold-out engagement at Varsity Letters, you know two things to be true.

You know that the Royals would never climb out of last place, no matter how many dead bodies turned up in the fountains.

You also know that arguably our most popular character hasn't made the trip over to Fanhouse with the rest, partially because of how absurd he is in premise and execution and partially because of how we'd need to start over with his backstory and explain everything for those people who click a Dugout, check which team is featured, and leave a completely unrelated comment about how we should cheer for that team/fire that team's manager/visit their website.

Tonight, after the jump, two truths about The Dugout are destroyed and reborn. It's what you've been waiting for. Cheer for the Royals. And fire Trey Hillman.

Royals Sign Yasuhiko Yabuta, Will Aim Higher

After weeks of rumors, the Royals finally made it official and signed reliever Yasuhiko Yabuta away from the Chibe Lotte Marines.
"Yasuhiko has been one of the best relievers in Japan the last several years," general manager Dayton Moore said. "He will be an important veteran arm that will help add stability to the back end of our bullpen."

Yabuta, 34, is a 6-foot-2, 185-pound right-hander who spent the last 12 seasons pitching for the Chibe Lotte Marines in Japan's Pacific League. He was 4-6 last season with a 2.73 ERA and a career-high 38 holds in 58 appearances.
It doesn't hurt the Royals that Yabuta's new manager, Trey Hillman, has an understanding of the Japanese game and Japanese league players. Yabuta should not only fit right in, but thrive under Hillman. And now that the deal is finally done, the Royals hope to bring another pitcher from the far east to the land of good barbecue.

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