Yakult Swallows club president Yoshikazu Tagiku said Tuesday he has already offered the manager's job for next season to veteran catcher Atsuya Furuta.
Furuta, whose two-year contract expires this year, has expressed his desire to continue his playing career in baseball, leaving open the possibility the team could negotiate a deal for him to act as manager for the team while remaining a member of the team.
Tagiku said Furuta, who would replace Tsutomu Wakamatsu at the helm, would take on the skipper's post as a way of increasing Yakult's fan base and is not focused on the terms of the deal.
''We have to see how much we are able to put Furuta's thinking into effect,'' Tagiku said.
The 40-year-old Furuta has made no comment so far except to say he does not plan to talk about the course of negotiations with the Central League club.
''I don't know which way this thing will fall. I have things I want to say (to the club), but I haven't said anything (yet),'' Furuta said.
email this
print this
