They will also pursue Aichi Kogyo University lefthanded ace Kohei Hasebe, who has been clocked at 94mph. Hasebe may be the lone amateur to make the Japanese olympic team. He is currently on a shortlist of candidates. Yakult and Hiroshima are also interested. 

Manager Trey Hillman will be making one hell of a trip Monday, as he will leave Japan to be part of a press conference in Kansas City to formally announce his hiring. Then he will get back on the plane and arrive in Japan in time for the start of the Japan Series on the 25th. Crikey, couldn't they wait?

The Fighters will hold an intrasquad game on the 23rd at 1 p.m. at Sapporo Dome. It is free to the public. 

Orix The Buffaloes are said to have their eyes on Lotte outfielder Benny Agbayani. 

Rakuten The naming rights to Miyagi Prefectural Stadium will be sold for 200 million yen (a little over $1.6 million) a year. However, no buyers for that are yet known. Fullcast, a temp firm, had it the last couple of seasons, but a government investigation into improprieties at that firm resulted in them foresaking their naming rights to the facility. 

Softbank Lefthander Tsuyoshi Wada may have elbow surgery to remove bone chips. He's had them since 2004 and his velocity has declined somewhat as a result. 

Pitcher Keisaburo Tanoue, who was released a little while back, retired. He will become a conditioning coach with the team. 

Ace Kazumi Saito will go to the U.S. to have his balky shoulder looked at. 

It was announced that first baseman Brian Buchanan will be released.