Not Lotte or reportedly Chunichi..! Sho Nakata, who opted out of the Giants, “a surprising team to fit in”.

Sho Nakata (34) had not moved by November 14, the deadline to apply for free agent rights (FA), and it seemed likely that he would remain with the Giants. However, on the same night, it was revealed that Nakata had exercised his opt-out right (the right to review or cancel his contract mid-term) and was leaving the Giants on a free-agent contract. The baseball world was shocked.

Shinnosuke Abe, 44, has stated that he will use Kazuma Okamoto, 27, and Hayato Sakamoto, 34, regularly at first base and third base, respectively, next season. Therefore, Nakata, who plays the same position as Okamoto, was effectively “out of the lineup. Nakata was aware of the situation he was in and sought a possible team to move to behind the scenes. He wanted to spend time with his family, so he considered a team in Tokyo as his first choice.

His salary was of secondary importance, and his first priority was to be able to play in games. If that is the case, then Chiba Lotte, which has a problem with batting ability, would be a good fit. However, if he were to become an FA, his 300 million yen salary for this season would be a bottleneck. When it was first reported that he would not declare his intention to remain in Japan, it was predicted that he would try to move to Lotte in a trade, but if he becomes a free agent, the story would be much quicker. There is no need for an exchange partner and no need for discussions between the two teams,” said a baseball team official.

As early as 2:00 a.m. on November 15, Chunichi Sports reported that “the Dragons are moving to investigate the acquisition of Nakata.