I've mentioned in the last couple posts that I've been trying to pick up cards of ikusei players whenever I can lately. My main reason for this is to try to get as complete a representation of NPB as I can. Another reason is that it gets interesting to see when players start out as development players and then move onto the 70 man roster. The Hawks have been very successful at this over the past 10 years with Kodai Senga, Takuya Kai and Ukyo Shuto all having started out as ikusei players. The Giants had former ikusei players win back to back Rookies Of The Year in the 00's with Tetsuya Yamaguchi and Tetsuya Matsumoto winning in 2007 and 2008. It's also been a route for teams to bring foreign players in and try them out. The Carp signed both Xavier Batista and Alejandro Mejia that way and the Hawks did the same with Oscar Colas.
I recently discovered that Aarom Baldris, who had an eight year career in NPB with the Tigers, Buffaloes and Baystars, was originally signed by Hanshin as an ikusei player. His first Japanese baseball card is from the 2008 BBM Tigers set (#T-071) and shows him as a development player - the three digit number is the giveaway:
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