On the 20th, Seibu announced that it has formulated the "Saitama Seibu Lions Overseas Strategy" with the aim of strengthening its forces by acquiring foreign players and, by utilizing its past development know-how, expanding its system for discovering and developing foreign players who are expected to be successful in the NPB in the future.
This strategy will be promoted in collaboration with various external partners, and as part of this, the company aims to expand its network with Asian countries, and has entered into a business partnership with the independent league baseball team Saga Asia Dreams to collaborate on information on promising players and scouting in Asian countries.
Furthermore, with the aim of strengthening scouting in Latin America, primarily in the Dominican Republic, the team has signed an international scouting contract with Abner Abreu, who was with the team in 2014. Additionally, the team has signed development player contracts for the 2026 season with Carlos Tobar, a pitcher from the Republic of Slovenia, and pitcher Chadze Fred and Isabile Musa Azed, both from the Republic of Uganda. This marks the first time an NPB team has signed players from Slovenia and Uganda.
In recent years, the number of baseball players has expanded not only in Latin America but also in Europe, Africa, Asia, and other parts of the world, with players with high potential emerging. Based on this background, by promoting this strategy, we will discover promising players regardless of country or region and support their development, thereby contributing to the development of baseball as a whole in Japan.
▼ Hiroike Koji, General Manager of the Baseball Team
"Our partnership with Saga Asia Dreams and the acquisition of development players from Slovenia and Uganda marks a major step toward our dream of bringing baseball to countries and regions where baseball culture has not yet taken root. We hope these players will grow to become valuable assets for The Lions baseball have a positive impact on baseball culture in their home countries. Furthermore, the addition of Abreu, affectionately known as "Abu-san" during his playing days, as an international scout will be a tremendous asset in strengthening our scouting efforts in Latin America. We are confident that Abreu will utilize his knowledge gained as a scout for eight years at an MLB team to identify promising players. By promoting our newly formulated "overseas strategy," we will welcome young, talented foreign players. We will utilize The Lions' accumulated development know-how to develop players who can excel on the first team and build a team capable of competing for championships."
