Hillman said Wednesday that he will dedicate the Asia Series to the victims of the tornado that killed nine and injured 26 others in Saroma-cho, Hokkaido Tuesday. 

Nippon Ham's number one high school draft choice, 5'10" 160 pound pitcher Mitsuo Yoshikawa, was brought on board after being given a 70 million signing bonus (somewhere north of $560,000) and a salary of six million yen (about $50,000). He said that he hopes to be another Toshiya Sugiuchi. He also hopes to win 200 games during his career. 

Rakuten Infielder Tatsuya Shiokawa is experimenting with switch hitting. 

Seibu The deadline to submit sealed bids for pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka has passed and the U.S. east coast press is already speculating that it will be either the Yankees or the Mets who will win the bidding. Also thought to have put in bids were the Cubs, Boston, Texas and San Diego. 

According to Sankei Sports, nobody had made any bids on Matsuzaka until the very last day, with the Yankees said to be filing their offer five minutes before the deadline. The interested teams were apparently afraid that the amount of thier bids would get out if they proffered them early, so they held off until what they felt was the last minute. At least some of the clubs involved ended their bids with non-round number figures in fear that they would get topped by a dollar or two if they didn't. 

A rumor that Matsuzaka would fly into the U.S. Wednesday proved false, as he spent the day at home. 

Softbank The Hawks are reportedly interested in former Minnesota and San Diego outfielder Brian Buchanan. He is currently with the St. Paul Saints.