This is a site about Pro Yakyu (Japanese Baseball), not about who the next player to go over to MLB is. It's a community of Pro Yakyu fans who have come together to share their knowledge and opinions with the world. It's a place to follow teams and individuals playing baseball in Japan (and Asia), and to learn about Japanese (and Asian) culture through baseball.
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Michael Westbay
(aka westbaystars)
Founder
Anyway, SanSpo are reporting that Kiyohara, recently declared surplus to Yomiuri's requirements, met with Orix and they expressed their interest in acquiring him, but that Kiyohara maintained his no-comment stance. The article goes on to say that Kiyohara fervently hopes to join Hanshin, quoting a source close to Kiyohara (unnnamed, of course) that Kiyohara said he was waiting for Hanshin to make him an offer.
Conversely, SanSpo reports that Hanshin is not interested. Hanshin player acquisitions chief Masahiro Kuroda is quoted as saying the club is not even considering personnel matters until after the Nippon Series, while on October 1 (the date Kiyohara became a free agent), Hanshin manager Akinobu Okada said he was not considering acquiring the Kishiwada native. On the same day, Hanshin club president Toshihiro Makita stated they had no interest in Kiyohara.
Meanwhile, a separate SanSpo article speculates that a healthy Kiyohara could start at first for Hanshin, with Andy Sheets moving to second.