Trades are not a common occurrence in Japanese baseball, and deals involving star players — or at least starting players on most teams — are rarely made.
Sure, there have been some trades in the past where the term "blockbuster" might have been used, but they happened long ago.
In 1987, the Lotte Orions traded superstar and three-time batting Triple Crown winner Hiromitsu Ochiai to the Chunichi Dragons for three players: pitchers Kazuhiko Ushijima and Sadaharu Hiranuma and second baseman Seiji Kamikawa.
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