Lotte Marines manager Norifumi Nishimura said Wednesday the club will acquire former Hanshin Tigers infielder Makoto Imaoka after a successful tryout at Lotte's spring training in Okinawa camp.
''He is a player who has produced results,'' Nishimura told a news conference. ''I thought he would pass the test if he played as he normally does. There were no problems.''
When Imaoka took part in a joint tryout with all 12 baseball clubs on Nov. 11, none of the teams were interested in acquiring the 35-year-old's services.
But Lotte later decided it would make a final decision on whether to offer Imaoka a contract during spring training after talks among club executives.
Imaoka won the Central League batting title in 2003 with a .340 average and had 147 RBIs in 2005, the third most in a single season in Japanese baseball history, helping guide the Tigers to the CL pennant in both years.
Partly due to injuries, he has seen a dramatic drop in production in the past four years and batted just .133 with no home runs and two RBIs in 23 games last season.
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